All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic try out, so she feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to sacrifice in the water to win at love? (Pub Date: Jul 1, 2017)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
My first story by the author but not my last. A fast read with the thrill I didn't know I was missing in my latest YA books.
Maggie has always focused on he swimming and she hadn't regretted until lately when she has a trauma of a hook-up. But the only one she can think of to teach her how to do it the proper way is her best friend Levi. In fact, she can't stop thinking of him in too many unspeakable ways.
This book comes with a funny story, I've been after it for months and months but I never noticed I had been approved to read the ARC. And even though I was dying to read it, I just learned this was part of a series (and a long-running one with 8+ books in it) by the end when we get a glimpse of the future from a character in the first book. Sorry I had to write this down to say I literally screamed of joy when I received this copy and wish I could have read it ASAP because this was great.
Being honest, it's not a complete 4-star experience for I have the feeling I'll soon forget most of the plot. But it deserved the round-up because it was a pleasure to devour this.
Even though, for me, Maggie is incredibly successful, and this has become a problem for me to relate to main characters in books before, she also felt very real. With the way Kenneally described her relationship with becoming a professional swimmer, it was almost automatic for me to understand her swimming as anything I have really wanted and for which I had to give up others almost as pleasing. I don't know how she did it but she did and Maggie become a character I could identify myself in.Except for her guts to propose that deal to Levi. Oh my, I couldn't believe I was "hearing" that.
This book is obviously for young readers but not too young. This deals with more mature themes and in a more open way than most YA I've been reading. That said, I loved that it managed to be hot without being too graphic—although it was quite close sometimes. This is a frank book.
As for Levi, I wish I had liked him more. He's a great friend and apparently he's really sexy, lol. The way he flirts with Maggie is both cute and exciting, and you can feel his dilemma when she asks him to be more than a friend. So I can't point out what was missing in him for me. Nevertheless, I'm sure he's the right book boyfriend to most of the readers.
The story also brings up key themes for teenagers—and why not grown-ups as well—such as competition, hard work, feeling self-conscious and selling oneself too short. In my opinion, a lot of food for thought not only for a group reading but also for self-growth.
Still, the story was, in general, what one would expect so I don't think it'll be that memorable. I also think the first third or quarter lost steam, which is unfortunate. What really got this rounded up to four stars was the good feeling, the great fun the writer managed to give me. I'm surely curious about the rest of the series—I have no idea which characters here were in the previous books!—and books written by Kenneally. I'm perhaps on my to becoming a fan.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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