Kyle Lindsay is heading off to college in central Texas to begin her first days of college as a D-1 soccer player. Kyle has been out to her bestie for a bit now but as she heads to college she wants to experience dating and as well as thriving in the classroom and on the pitch.

Kyle meets two ladies that have a major impact in her first year in school. One is another freshman, Joey Carver, a goalkeeper that lives on the same floor. Joey is fun, easy going and immediately befriends Kyle. There is some heat there too. These two fit together easily, one big problem though, Kyle doesn't know what she is ready for it and a relationship with Joey would be big.

The other character that has a big influence on our leading lady is Jax. Jax is a junior on the team and an enigma to many. No one knows much about her family or her past, she doesn't talk too much but she makes enough overtures to Kyle to let her know she has eyes for the newbie. Kyle has an overcoming sexual attraction to Jax even though she knows virtually nothing about her off the field.

Is this a romance, I have to lean towards no. There are romantic elements but this is more a coming of age story of Kyle finding her footing while navigating school as a college athlete. She struggles with sex, love, family, alcohol, grades, and athletics. I think Sam Ledel told a great story. I adored Kyle even though a few times I wanted to shake her and say enough girlfriend. I wish the ending was a bit longer, but that's the romance addict in me. I look forward to Ledel's next book.

3.25 stars out of 5

On the whole, I thought Rocks and Stars was good for what it was. Not mind-blowing, but also not bad by any means. It was a light read, but it was enjoyable for what it was, which was the queer coming of age of Kyle as she adjusts to college and becomes comfortable with her identify as a lesbian.

My favorite part of this book was definitely how relatable it was to me personally, and I'm sure would be to other young LGBTQ women. Like Kyle, I started figuring out my sexuality in late high school/early college, and some of the things she went through really resonated with me, like hoarding a collection of LGBTQ literature, or having a crush on the girl who works at the smoothie shop (interestingly enough, the first time I really realized that I was attracted to girls was when I got a crush on the girl who worked at the smoothie shop near my high school). Kyle goes through a period of wanting to explore relationships and sex with women, but is also nervous about it, which is another thing I really related to. She gets confused about whether girls are actually flirting with her or just being friendly, which I think is an essential part of the queer girl experience. She gets into a relationship that's not so great, but the sex is good and having someone who likes you and is attracted to you is a new and exciting feeling, so she sticks with it longer than she should. And then she figures out that she needs out. I had flashbacks to one of my previous relationships the whole time I was reading about hers, and I think a lot of readers would too.

To sum up, I would say that the highlights of this book were the little glances into the life of a young college lesbian learning about herself and her relationships. It felt very real, and reminded me of my time as a young college bisexual. I also appreciated that Kyle only started figuring out her sexuality when she was older, rather than "always having known," because it shows that everyone's process of coming out to themselves and others is different. I also really liked that she had a very supportive best friend, and a circle of teammates who weren't homophobic. The way that Kyle's relationship with her family changed was also something that I enjoyed, although it wasn't explored all that much.

However, there were a few things I didn't really enjoy about this book. At its core, this book centers around a love triangle, and Kyle constantly confused about the fact that she's attracted to two girls. Not that this doesn't happen, but I am not personally a fan of love triangles, and I felt that this one was written in a way where it was very obvious who we were supposed to root for her to end up with (as soon as one of the girls had a conversation with Kyle about rocks and stars, the title of the book, it became obvious that she was the "right" one for Kyle).

On a related note, I felt like I never really got a full sense of any of the characters. Kyle likes soccer, geology, and rocks, and beyond that I'm not sure I could tell you much about her. The two love interests are fairly one-dimensional to me too: Joey is a tall and caring person who jokes around with Kyle a lot and cares about her, and Jax is an untrustworthy seductress who drinks a lot and is very sexy, but not very nice. Like I said, it's very clear who Kyle is supposed to end up with, which makes it even more frustrating to read when Kyle spends most of the latter half of the book dating Jax, drinking copiously, pushing away both Joey and her best friend Emily, and generally making bad decisions. I wish that the characters had gotten a little bit more development, or even some scenes where they interact with someone other than Kyle. Kyle kind of seems to live in a bubble that consists of her best friend and her two love interests, with cameos from the rest of the soccer team and her family, and I wish we saw a little broader view of her college life.

On the whole I thought this was a simple, but enjoyable book that will let you get a feel for the college experience, and how it feels to be young and excited about exploring yourself and others. It's not the kind of book that I personally tend to seek out (I'm not a huge fan of realistic fiction), but I did enjoy it for the most part, and think that for fans of realistic fiction, it would be a good read.

I start off noting what this book is, and, later, something that it isn’t. What this book is: a young adult coming of age story told through one person’s eyes over a period of two years. What it is not is a romance with a capital R. There are several relationships on display in this book, and many different characters, and personalities to tangle with, but capital R Romance? No.

I had no real idea what I was getting into when I decided to request this book. I mean, yes, I read the description. I knew the book was about a young woman who is, or very recently had come to the realization that she had particular feelings that mean that she might or might not be a lesbian. And that the book would ‘deal with that’. In the sense that that means this is a coming of age story, yes, that’s what this book is about. In the sense of ‘dealing with being a lesbian’? Well . . . yes, but I worded that wrong since that isn’t what I said before. What it isn’t is a struggle to determine if the main point of view character might or might not be a lesbian. No, despite how the book description is worded, she knows at the start of the book that she’s a lesbian. She admits it to herself. In the prologue. This occurs two months before the start of the book and consists of her playing with herself. Hehe, I worded that sentence that way on purpose – she was ‘playing with herself’ in that she was playing soccer. While thinking about the various people she’s lusted after. Mainly Beth, a fellow soccer player, but also other women.

Then chapter one rolls around – starts I mean, and it’s a high school graduation party. So – that’s another thing that may or may be different than what I thought the book would be about – since I do not recall if I thought more time would be spent in high school. No, looking at the book description, I ‘knew’ the book would be focused on college.

So, I mentioned some of the things the book is not, and some of the genres the book does fall into. But what exactly <i>is</i> the book? Well, as I said, a coming of age story about a young woman – specifically one who plays soccer at the college level (has a full scholarship to college by way of her soccer talents) who struggles less about the fact that she is a lesbian, and more with acting on the fact she’s a lesbian. And the book unfolds from there – watching her descend into madness for two years before attempting a recovery. Okay, not that, but . . . that.

There are three people of major importance in this book who are not named Kyle Lindsay (Kyle being the main character and only POV). There’s Emily, Kyle’s best friend since forever, and the same person who talked her own college coach to watch Kyle play high school soccer (Emily is a year older), thereby helping Kyle get that scholarship. Emily is also the only person, in the beginning, Kyle has told about her ‘situation’. Then there’s Jax – a soccer teammate who flusters Kyle immediately, and who she wants to hump. Jax is also a year older than Kyle. Then there’s Joey, a fellow freshman, who is one of the goalies on the soccer team. Kyle has . . . weird disjointed thoughts about Joey.

There’s massive amounts of drinking in this book. I do not know what it is about soccer books, but the last one I read, that one involving professional soccer/football players in Scotland, did something this book really dove into with a lot of enthusiasm – weirdly inappropriate hazing of new teammates, and including lots and lots of alcohol drinking. I recall a comment about that other book – that they didn’t know how the main character was able to do what they did – being as old as she was, and drinking so much. Well, that’s one thing here, eh? How’d they be able to drink so much and still walk? They didn’t. But when they did, it was because they were kids. Or something like that – able to overcome their self-created attempts at destroying their own talents.

Sorry, dwelt a little long on that. There really was a ton of drinking in this book. A ton. I don’t want to play with spoilers, but will say – I know some people, who would read this, would point towards Jax for Kyle’s drinking, but the first bits were inspired by Emily – she was the team captain, after all, who lead the hazing/initiation drinking thingie.

Right, sorry. Moving on.

What else to say. The book was interesting in the beginning, and I was really gulping it down as I went along. Until I came to the words ‘Part Two’. And started into that section. And, before I even read a page, I had to stop reading for 4 to 6 hours. I just . . . I couldn’t . . .. Disappointment overwhelmed me. This is where we get to ‘this is a coming of age story, not a Romance’. You know what you get in coming of age stories, in growing up? Massive mistakes. Well, the vast majority of this book shows Kyle make mistake after mistake. Then ends <spoiler>with some of the same hints and teasing that were in Part One (so no you can’t just assume things by how the book ended – you really shouldn’t).</spoiler>

Readable book. I look forward to more work by this author. I believe this is the author’s first published work, though the copyright page gave me pause in that thought.

Rating: 3.23

ETA: Of note (maybe): I read, reviewed, and rated this book before I realized that someone had beaten me to first rating/review.

March 14 2018

This is a story that centres predominantly around Kyle’s first two years of college life and coming to terms with her sexual orientation. Kyle has known for a while she was gay especially when she thinks of her high school soccer teammate Beth. After getting a soccer scholarship to college she joins her slightly older best friend, Emily, who is also the only person she is out to. Emily encourages her to be herself and express her sexuality in an accepting environment but Kyle finds that just because she’s in college it’s not that simple to just be open.

One evening after a game of ‘I have never…’ Kyle is kissed by her teammate Joey which sends her mind reeling. But even after this, it is not that simple. Kyle comes from a family of people who don’t express themselves emotionally and this plays a huge role in how she struggles to express herself. She likes Joey but there is also Jax flirting with her and things get complicated.

I found the pace for the first half a little slow because there was a lot of going to and from practice but not much interaction and this is exacerbated by the story being from the point of view of someone who doesn’t communicate well. And because Kyle is non-communicative, I found it difficult to appreciate and understand what she was going through. The pace picks up in the second half and tension between characters is builds up.

While there is a romance element to ‘Rocks and Stars’ I wouldn’t categorise it as a romance novel, it is much more about a young woman coming out and the stupid choices we make when we’re teenagers. On the whole it is a nice read but lacks depth.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

All in all, a decent book, a decent read, up until my frustration with Kyle was evident and all I wanted to do was chop my head off because I was so frustrated. I get the whole being confused and falling for the bad girl so let’s skip out on the awesome perfect amazing girl, it’s a part of life to make a huge mistake but SHE WAS SO PERFECT FOR YOU AND I DIDN’T GET A SATISFYING ENDING. I didn’t get to see the bad girl admit she was a disgusting dirty CHEATER. I didn’t get to see a dramatic break up. I didn’t get a ending stating that the perfect girl and Kyle were going to be meant to be or even a future. Not even a future. The only thing I got was frustration from knowing she was going to make this stupid mistake with the stupid girl. The ending also seemed a little rushed, it jumped from falling relationship to parents broken relationship, what about the brother? How’s he doing? Moms reaction to coming out? Anything, something?