Review: Whatever Life Throws at You – Julie Cross

Life loves a good curveball…

Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas’s life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she’s living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals’ super-hot rookie pitcher.

But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.

But baseball isn’t just a game. It’s life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…

Series:
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Shannon
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Every once in a while I’ll come across a YA book that absolutely blows me away.  WHATEVER LIFE THROWS AT YOU is one of those books.  Julie Cross gives readers a very complex relationship between Annie Lucas, her father, Jim and the pitcher he’s to get ready for the majors, Brody.

Most teenage girls would hate having their life uprooted and moved halfway across the country.  But Annie Lucas isn’t like most girls.  Having to grow up much sooner than she should have, Annie pushes her father to take a pitching coach position in Kansas City hoping it’s the spark that will help both of them move on from the life they had in Arizona.  Annie was one of those characters where I applauded her strength to hold herself and her dad together when her wayward mother tended to tear them apart.  I hurt for her when life seemed to find a way of pushing her down.  And rooted for her when she was brave enough to admit that Jason Brody was the bad boy so worth fighting for.

I felt the same way about Brody.  A kid who made some pretty bad decisions when he was younger, he was doing everything he could to make his baseball dreams come true.  He didn’t need the distraction of his coach’s daughter.  But Brody couldn’t stay away from Annie.  She looked past what he did to see who he was and was right there with him helping his achieve his dream.

The book may have been about the romance between Annie and Brody, but there was a special part of the book, towards the end, that focused on Jim Lucas that had me reaching for my kleenex.  Jim has his own curveball thrown at him and too learn what he went through, where life had taken him and how one of his first loves brought back to him was an emotionally wonderful moment.

Even if you’re not a YA reader, I definitely recommend this one.  It has a little bit of everything, but more importantly two incredible teenagers who truly know how to handle whatever life throws your way.