DNF Review: Wild Cards

Author: Simone Elkeles

Date of Publication:  October 1, 2013

Pages: 342

Source: Library

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

Review:

I’m going to start this review by stating that I’m a huge Simone Elkeles fan. I've been one since I read Perfect Chemistry for the first time in 2009 and that respect and absolute devotion has never wavered, even now.

From the title of this review, you can tell that I wasn't impressed by Wild Cards. The book is introduced to the reader as YA contemporary fiction romance based around a football team. The female protagonist is a tomboy captain of the boys' varsity football team, Ashtyn. That’s pretty kickass if you ask me, but Ashtyn was anything but. 

The downfall of this story stared with its premise and football playing Ashtyn. Immediately, I envisioned something like Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. What I got was a lot of telling that Ashtyn was a state level football player but I didn't see any football. 

I didn't much care for any of the characters. They were all very stereotypical: jocks, cheerleaders, 20 year old bimbo step-moms. Add some angst, instalove, family drama and there you have it.

The story felt very awkward which was probably a result of Ashtyn and Derek's awkward relationship. Step-aunt and Step-nephew. That wasn't really the awkward part though; this could've made for a few funny situations. It was mostly the characters themselves. All Ashtyn did was brood about her bad family situations, her gloomy boyfriend and how Derek should stop looking at her because she hates him but she can't stop herself from wanting to be held by him.

As for "bad boy" Derek; expelled from private school, Derek: all he did was rake the leaves, wear cowboy boots, have an estranged relationship with his grandma and oh, paint the outhouse. 

From the first meeting, there was something wrong with the two of them. They never actually sit down and talk to each other. All their conversations result in a brawl, where they are plain mean to each other. Then somehow they fall in love, but she already has a boyfriend and he doesn't want a relationship. Oh boy.

It did have some positives and that goes to Ms. Elkeles’ skill of keeping the reader engaged. Despite not caring much for the characters or plot, I still felt driven enough to continue reading for as long as I did. The writing was great, clear and vivid, as one would expect. 

Wild Cards isn't a bad book at all, but it fell flat to my skyscraper expectations and that's okay. Many others have enjoyed it and maybe I will too if I ever come back to it. I’m still looking for that great YA sports novel and this one missed that mark. 

-MARI