He was easy to love and easy to root for, and I couldn't have asked for a better narrator. I hated the way he always put himself down, but I loved his tender heart, the astute and keen observations he made, and how he was able to be this way despite the toxic environment he grew up in. Pro: Being in Wyatt's head was such a treat.That's a lot to chew on, but Kester navigated all the issues so thoughtfully and in a combination, which produced quite an emotional impact. Wyatt dealt with bullying, fat shaming, poverty, emotional abuse, alcoholism, and living in a dying town. Pro: I laughed a lot, but my other emotions got a workout as well.It all worked for me and left me either smiling or in stitches. Pro: This book was so funny! The humor ran the gamut, from nerdy and slapstick to witty and wry.He saw this as his opportunity to foster a real and genuine relationship with Brett, but as he got to know the man under the hero suit, he realized that, maybe, that connection he wanted, was there all along. Wyatt had been obscured by his football hero brother's shadow his whole life, but by some odd luck, he finally got the chance to stand alongside him on the field. Reading a sports book as an act of radical braveryĬhallenging myself to read as many review copies as possible this month because i'm addicted to projects!

In a move that will surprise almost no one.

There was a lot of promising stuff here about bullying, family, body shaming and image (for men, which you rarely see), CTE and sports injuries, the importance of local sports in poor communities.īut in the end, all that amounted to was a ton of info dumping at the start with no follow through.īottom line: I may not have gotten much from the book itself, but I got a good amount of positive reinforcement on my googling-authors habit. Otherwise, it introduced a bunch of important topics it wasn't willing to follow through on. So a book indirectly convincing me that I will, unfortunately, actually have to get married someday (or at least stage a wedding) is nothing to sneeze at. That is not contained as a plot point or background detail in this, which is about two brothers who play football, have body image issues, and get concussions, but it is something I learned when I googled the author, so it's still connected. The best thing I got from this book is the knowledge that you can get married at the Boston Public Library.

Gut check eric kester