READING: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Publication date: December 1st, 2011
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: 4/5

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

Catching Jordan reminded me so much of Friday Night Lights which is only one of my top 3 favorite shows ever, that I couldn't help but like it. Aside from that though, it's such an addictive read, that anyone who's a big sucker for contemporary romances will certainly love it.

Catching Jordan started really strong, describing the life of a high school senior quarterback. "Big deal", I hear you say. Well, this quarterback is a girl, and her name is Jordan. 

In the 1st half we see how Jordan struggles to balance everything that goes on in her life. Football, a father who-in her opinion-doesn't care about her hopes and dreams, the new guy,Ty, who might be the first thing to get her mind off football and her best friend since forever, Henry.

I liked how Kenneally didn't make everything appear all fine and dandy in Jordan's life. She is a female quarterback. It's unusual and a lot of people have a problem with unusual. This apparently comes as a shock to Jordan when she realises that college coaches don't take her seriously as a football player. Her dad had told her like a million times, but did she listen? I'm not implying that his behavior was awesome and Jordan was wrong all along, but she could have cut him some slack and understand that he is her dad and whatever he says, he always has her best interest at heart, instead of putting her ego first. So yeah, I didn't like how she talked about her dad, especially after he pulled in some huge favors for her friends.

Now about the romance part. Annoying thing in love triangles? Hello, we meet again. You know what I'm talking about, when girl meets guy and he is so hot and sweet she falls immediately head over heels but then suddenly she realises she loves another and hot guy #1 becomes a jerk. 

I hate that. Why? Because when I am introduced to a character whom my protagonist lusts, swoons and drools over and the writer spends page after page working up to the first kiss blah blah, I emotionally "invest" in him. I like him because he is a couple with my heroine. And since my heroine adores him, all the more reason for me to get attached to him. So you understand my frustration when the heroine, out of the blue, not only stops pining over him but also "invents" bad things about him and his behavior to make the other guy look good. 

I'm NO fan of that. Even though in this particular book, I liked both guys equally.

That being said, Catching Jordan is an undoubtedly enjoyable book. That's what I love about contemporary YA novels. You may not like some stuff in there but when you turn the last page, you wish you could turn back the time and read them again for the first time. Catching Jordan is definitely one of those books.