Winner Take All

by Laurie DeVore

[readingwithwrin]

“Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone around who doesn’t expect anything from you.”
See reviews first on myblog

We have two teenagers Nell and Jackson, who are pushed and expected to be the best at everything they do in order to succeed in life.
Nell has to try extremely hard at everything she does when it comes to school and sports. Then we have Jackson who is a party boy who seems to be naturally good at everything.
Both of them always end up being 1 and 2 with Nell being just behind Jackson, and that rivalry is starting to cause problems at home for her. This is because of her mom being the principal at school, and wanting her to be number one and constantly pushing for better results.

Overall I did find myself enjoying this book. Are both Nell and Jackson morally grey characters? Yes. But they are also realistic when it comes to how much pressure is being put on some young people to be the best, and how they will do almost anything to get there.
Their relationship is obsessive and toxic on so many levels. Due to how they switch their focus from school/sports to each other and just completely focus on that instead to some extent.

“That doesn’t sound like love. That sounds dangerous.”

I was not expecting the twist towards the end that ended up making all hell break loose between them. So that part really threw me but also showed how rocky they were in all areas of their lives because of how much pressure was put on them.
Winner Takes All covers the social pressures teenagers are put on them and the consequences of having to always be the best.

Devore did an amazing job with this book, and I can’t wait to see what her next book ends up being about.