Review: Joe Football

Joe Football by Autumn Sand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a big fan of Autumn Sand’s Twisted Hearts series, and when I found out she had a sports based romance story I was so excited. In fact, I’m excited about everything the author has planned for the future – a simple look at her Goodreads profile promises lots of great reads in the future. In other words, I’m liable to consume everything Autumn Sand releases.

The Twisted Hearts series is a very dark series. It is not at all for the faint of heart. Comparatively, Joe Football is a very light read. I’m not saying this book is rainbows and butterflies, with a side dish of unicorns shooting more rainbows out of their backsides – no, such is not the case. With Autumn Sand, you always deal with very real issues. These are issues that have a real impact upon the lives of people, issues that will drastically change a life course. The darkness can still be found within Joe Football, yet it feels much lighter in that this is a new adult book rather than an adult book. You’ll still experience a great deal of emotion, yet you’ll come out the other side with less baggage than you do when reading the Twisted Heart stories.

I’ll be completely honest with you here by saying I favour the Twisted Hearts books. I had a lot of fun with Joe Football – it’s a solid four-star rating, there is no question of that – yet I missed the truly dark deeds we get to see in the Twisted Hearts series. Again, I’ll reiterate how this has nothing to do with this book being bad, as it is merely a reflection of my reading preferences. It still has everything I expected from an Autumn Sand read, it kept me gripped throughout, and I cannot wait to read the novella, yet it’s not my number one Autumn Sand book (Mayhem is my number one because my love for Tick has yet to be outdone).

The story begins with a somewhat cliché premise – our female lead is not interested in dating the sports star, and yet the sports star is interested in her. It’s been done before, it’s something you can find for a number of sports, and yet Autumn Sand manages to make it her own. In no time at all, we’re pulled into a heart-breaking story with many complex layers. We have a family dealing with tragedy, we have hate crime, we have people looking for forgiveness, and we have a story of finding yourself, amongst so many other wonderful messages. Although the usual new adult clichés can be found – the jealous ex, the catty female, and the endless drama – the deeper messages of this book are always at the forefront. We’re always aware that there is more to this story than simple drama.

Don’t get me wrong, there were times when I grew bored of the drama. I love drama – it’s what makes new adult books so exciting – yet there were times in this book where I felt as though there was too much. Events would happen and within the space of a chapter, characters would go full circle: happiness, drama, sadness, more drama, and back to happiness. The drama was consistent throughout the entire book, but there were times where the mini drama scenes would result in the circle happening within an entire chapter, and in those moments I felt as though it was too much. The overall story was wonderful, yet certain things I wish would have been paced out a bit more. Collectively, though, it was drama galore, just as a new adult story should be.

My favourite aspect, it has to be said, is the development of the characters throughout the book. It’s not just the main characters who develop, as we really come to know and love the side characters as they grow and change with the story. It really is a great cast of characters, with everyone playing an important role, and all the characters reaching highs throughout the story. One thing I can never fault with Autumn Sand is her characters – they are always amazing.

Overall, it was a wonderful read. I’m excited to see what Autumn Sand brings next!

View all my reviews