The Way We Play (The Bradford Boys #2), by Tia Louise



Cover of “The Way We Play” by Tia Louise, book two in The Bradford Boys series. An illustrated tattooed man holding a football and a blonde woman sit apart on a seaside bench at sunset, framed by flowering vines.


My rating: 1 of 5 stars


“The Way We Play” is a miserable reading experience, not because its tropes are inherently objectionable, but because they replace characterisation, logic, and genuine chemistry. The premise has workable ingredients: a cautious thirty-year-old caring for her younger brother, and an injured former kicker with a repairman’s trade. Yet the novel turns every element into a contrivance designed to prove that Rachel and Zane are destined for each other.

The book practically announces this problem itself:

»Zane Bradford appeared at the perfect time.«

That is not foreshadowing. It is the author waving a large sign labelled “plot convenience”.

Nothing feels credible. Rachel’s responsibilities exist mainly to make Zane indispensable, while Zane alternates between wounded alpha hero, miraculous rescuer, and muscular plot device. Their supposed conflict never develops into convincing friction. They announce attraction, trauma, and eternal devotion at one another, and the narration treats these declarations as emotional depth.

The novel’s idea of romance is similarly reduced to destiny clichés:

»Life always seems to put people together in the way they’re supposed to fit.«

That is the sort of sentence that would be harmless in a greeting card, but here it substitutes for any convincing explanation of why these two people belong together.

The prose is even worse. It repeatedly swells into overwrought melodrama, sounding like emotional wish-fulfilment written by someone who has confused desperation with profundity.

»Rachel’s green eyes shine like the sun rising over the meadow when we take the horses out on a dewy spring morning.«

This is not passionate or poetic. It is embarrassingly excessive, turning what should be an intimate moment into theatrical self-parody.

The relationship then leaps straight from attraction to supposedly permanent emotional salvation:

»Already she feels like home. I could be here forever and die a happy man.«

Compared with stronger grumpy-sunshine sports romances, “The Way We Play” has no patience for gradual trust, believable personal change, or dialogue that sounds as if actual adults are speaking. It simply piles on virginity, protectiveness, chronic pain, family burdens, instant recognition, and supposedly irresistible attraction.

The possessiveness is presented with equal solemnity:

»She’s always been mine. We only had to find each other.«

This is not earned devotion. It is an assertion masquerading as a relationship.

This is the only Tia Louise novel in my reading record, so I cannot judge whether it represents her usual work. On this evidence, however, I have no desire to investigate further. “The Way We Play” is dull, implausible, emotionally overinflated, and populated by characters who seem to exist solely to fulfil romance conventions.

One star out of five.



Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam




View all my reviews




https://turing.mailstation.de/the-way-we-play-the-bradford-boys-2-by-tia-louise/?fsp_sid=2657

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Das Sommerbuch, von Tove Jansson

Image
Sommerbuch von Tove Jansson Meine Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen Schon vor Jahren gemocht, aber jetzt mit "älteren Augen" nochmals gelesen und jetzt verdienen das Buch und ich auch eine "ordentliche" Rezension. ;-) Tove Janssons "Sommerbuch" ist für mich ein leises, präzises Buch über Nähe, Autonomie und die seltsame Zärtlichkeit, die im Streit steckt. Die Handlung ist eher ein Sommer zustand als eine lineare Story: Sophia und ihre Grossmutter leben auf einer winzigen Insel, und das Buch beobachtet sie beim Umherstreifen, Trotzen, Fragenstellen, Schweigen, Lachen. Gerade diese Episodenhaftigkeit fühlt sich nicht beliebig an, sondern wie eine Form, die dem Gegenstand entspricht: Familie als Wetterlage. » Faulbaum und besonders Ebereschen riechen, wenn sie blühen, wie Katzenpipi. « Solche Sätze sind für mich typisch Jansson: sinnlich, unerwartet, komisch, und zugleich poetisch genau. Das ist keine “schöne” Natur, sondern eine, die wirklich riecht, nervt, kleb...
Read more

Failure to Match (Bad Billionaire Bosses #2), by Kyra Parsi

Image
Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi My rating: 3 of 5 stars After the police procedural version of a “grimdark” novel , I needed “light” - and quickly! “ Failure to Match ” by Kyra Parsi got the job done. Of course, everything was highly predictable and, yet, I enjoyed reading how Jamie fell in love with Jackson. In the beginning, I was highly sceptical considering character descriptions like these: » Minerva Sinclair was a tall, willowy woman with stark white hair and cutting features, and her signature “look” consisted of cherry-red pantsuits, vintage cat-eye sunglasses, and knife-sharp stilettos. Per our client paperwork, she had her personal tarot reader (Imogen) on speed dial and kept her wrinkly sphynx cat (Harry) cradled against her bony chest everywhere she went, as per the guidance of her spiritual advisor (Velma). « Or eye-roll inducing humour like this: » Also, she’d literally named her hairless cat Harry, and I didn’t think she’d intended the pun. « (Since it’s so bad: It...
Read more

The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike #8), by Robert Galbraith

Image
The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith My rating: 4 of 5 stars A thrilling yet tangled chase through secrets, ethics, and emotional turmoil. This eighth instalment of the Cormoran Strike & Robin series doesn’t quite reach the brilliance of its predecessors. The primary case Strike & Robin are investigating is very convoluted and complicated. At some points I actually had to search for and go back to earlier parts to remember the connections. As such, this novel was somewhat more challenging to read. It was nevertheless worth it: It was suspenseful, interesting, and - despite the complexity - believable and very, very engaging. Much room is given to the relationship between Robin and Strike, and countless were the times when I wanted to grab one of them and shake them and shout at them to finally talk to each other. (I confess to loudly yelling at my Kobo to that effect.) Coming from the previous novel’s ending, I had hoped for, but did not expect, big developments - which m...
Read more