So. This book made me want to play football. I'm freaking telling you. Miranda made me adore Jordan so much that I started wishing I was her. Why aren't I the girl who plays football? Why aren't I the awesome, but somewhat awkward sporty girl? Why don't I have a gang of cool, weird, and fiercely loyal guy friends? TELL ME WHY!!!! WHY WAS THAT LIFE NEVER GIVEN TO ME??
Somewhere in the middle of Catching Jordan, I thought I wasn't going to connect with this book. Suddenly the romance JUMPED forward. It was kind of hot, but I wasn't sure how I was feeling about it. Suddenly I had all kinds of doubts and reservations; I thought maybe wouldn't end up connecting with it and then the romance would go downhill.. but the it did a complete 180 and blew my mind!!!
What I loved most about Catching Jordan is that I couldn't quite tell where it was going. Maybe in hindsight the plot is kind of predictable, but in the moment my mind was so blown that I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out! When I started the book, I had everything planned out in my head. I knew who the love interest was going to be and then I had an idea of how the relationship would develop. That didn't happen AT ALL! LOL! But that's what I loved about this book. I loved being caught off guard!
Another great thing about Catching Jordan is that it wasn't a contemporary romance with a sports twist. I saw it as the other way around: a book mostly about a girl trying to follow her sports dream, with a bit of a romance on the side. The romance did play a big role in the book, but ultimately I always felt like football was Jordan's priority. She struggles because football is her passion and her dream, but she lives in a world where people don't take her seriously because she's a girl. She's the best player on her team, but everyone EXCEPT her seems to be getting flooded with offers from universities... because she's a girl.
And then there's the romance! I don't really want to talk about the romance much, because the direction it went in hit me totally off guard, and I think the book is more fun if you don't see it coming and I don't want to ruin it! But I guess I can talk about some of the challenges..
Jordan has never had a boyfriend. She's always been one of the guys, and although a few people have shown an interest in her, she was never interested in them. But then the new guy —Ty—comes along and he's FREAKING SEXY! And he's pretty sweet too! But then Jordan struggles to deal with her attraction, because she doesn't want to ruin football by dating a guy on the team. What if they broke up? What if it caused a lot of drama? And then there's the fact that all of her friends are guys. Ty struggles to accept that Jordan's best friend in the world is a guy. They regularly hang out, and he even sleeps over sometimes—something they've been doing since they were like eight.
I read a few reviews where people thought that Catching Jordan was over dramatic. I actually thought the opposite. This book felt so real to me. Jordan's voice was really fresh and genuine. Her concerns about dating and life in general were very realistic and I think the way she dealt with them was exactly how a real person would. The main problems in the book definitely exist in the world: women struggling to prove themselves in a male-dominated society, dealing with your first kiss and your first boyfriend, trying to impress your parents, juggling your best friend with your boyfriend (and if you have to pick one, who do you pick?), and more!
Also (and I can't believe I didn't mention this sooner), this book is HILARIOUS! Jordan is so sarcastic and has a brilliant voice and personality! She puts a hilarious spin on simple observations without even trying.
"Didn't you know that Tennessee is, like, the pajama capital of the world?" Ty grins slightly.
"No—I don't wear pajamas," I say without thinking.
Ty coughs. "What?"
"Uh, I meant I wear, like, workout clothes to bed—you know, T-shirts and mesh shorts and shit."
"Right..." Ty says, smirking.
—Catching Jordan, Page 93
The end itself was also kind of bitter sweet. I loved the messages in the book. Sometimes you can't get all the things you want in life, or sometimes life doesn't work out the way you expect, or sometimes what wasn't your first choice ends up being the better choice.
This book was everything I hoped it would be, and it deserves every single rave review it gets! Catching Jordan is fun, it's different, it's romantic, and it's absolute joy to read!