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Jacob Proffitt's Reviews > The Play
The Play (Briar U, #3)
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This is third in a series and characters from the others show up and play important roles. Not to mention that lots of Hunter's background involves screw-ups from his past on display there. In addition, characters from the Off-Campus series are thick on the ground and knowing them is useful, too. Personally, I'd recommend reading all the books before this one as a result.
Hunter has been off-putting in the past, particularly in The Risk where he played jealous marplot. Having this start with him on an honest reform-kick trying to live up to his responsibilities as hockey team captain was a brilliant move and Kennedy made it understandable and heartwarming. Seeing him struggle to remain true to his self-made pledge of celibacy was engaging and watching his friendship with Demi grow was just awesome.
Demi was engaging, too, though with rough spots. She has a long-term boyfriend and they're explicitly "doing it" and that never sits well with me in my romances (where one of the leads are having sex with someone not-the-eventual-partner), even when it isn't cheating. I think it actually works here, though, and not least because it gives both a sense of safety from which to explore their friendship without having to guard against the potential of indulging their attraction(s). I really liked her honesty and that she is open about her friendships and what they mean to her even though they're mostly with guys. I was a bit impatient with her kowtowing to her father, but some of that is because I never felt that pull myself (or needed to as my parents were pretty chill about my career and goals—such as they were).
While the main couple were a great deal of fun, I don't think Kennedy did very well with two of the important side characters and that grated on me. Nico's actions were all over the place as the cheating cheater who acts like he owns Demi while warning everyone else away (even after their breakup). His sense of ownership was extreme only to have it (view spoiler). And I kind of hate that Demi's friend TJ never got called on all the douchy manipulations he tried to pull to undermine Hunter. There were a handful of them, all very sly and yet he never gets called on it and when (view spoiler)
Balancing that out are the antics of the hockey team that had me laughing out loud more than a little. The whole Pablo Eggscobar running bit just slew me at every turn because I could picture it so well. And Hunter's roommates shone, too, even if not always in a "good" or comfortable way.
So this is a solid four stars and I was glad to be back in Kennedy's broniverse. Very well-done.
A note about Audiobook: Teddy Hamilton was outstanding with Hunter's parts but Ana Osorio seemed less sure of herself. I suspect she was selected because she shares background with Demi but I don't know that or anything. Her accent was spot-on and it wouldn't surprise me if she was specifically of Cuban cultural descent like Demi. And her acting was well up-to-speed, so it wasn't that. But there were a dozen or more words that she mispronounced. And since those tended to come in clusters it made the whole thing seem very unprofessional. Did nobody listen to this before publishing it? Two examples (because the contrast is amusing): "Debauchery" pronounced with "ow" in the middle and "Chastely" with a short ă (so Chastly). Very weird.
A note about Steamy: There were three or four explicit sex scenes putting this in the middle of my steam tolerance. They were what you'd expect in a New Adult story, but still did a decent job illustrating their shared intimacy and care for each other. So pretty well-done.
Hunter has been off-putting in the past, particularly in The Risk where he played jealous marplot. Having this start with him on an honest reform-kick trying to live up to his responsibilities as hockey team captain was a brilliant move and Kennedy made it understandable and heartwarming. Seeing him struggle to remain true to his self-made pledge of celibacy was engaging and watching his friendship with Demi grow was just awesome.
Demi was engaging, too, though with rough spots. She has a long-term boyfriend and they're explicitly "doing it" and that never sits well with me in my romances (where one of the leads are having sex with someone not-the-eventual-partner), even when it isn't cheating. I think it actually works here, though, and not least because it gives both a sense of safety from which to explore their friendship without having to guard against the potential of indulging their attraction(s). I really liked her honesty and that she is open about her friendships and what they mean to her even though they're mostly with guys. I was a bit impatient with her kowtowing to her father, but some of that is because I never felt that pull myself (or needed to as my parents were pretty chill about my career and goals—such as they were).
While the main couple were a great deal of fun, I don't think Kennedy did very well with two of the important side characters and that grated on me. Nico's actions were all over the place as the cheating cheater who acts like he owns Demi while warning everyone else away (even after their breakup). His sense of ownership was extreme only to have it (view spoiler). And I kind of hate that Demi's friend TJ never got called on all the douchy manipulations he tried to pull to undermine Hunter. There were a handful of them, all very sly and yet he never gets called on it and when (view spoiler)
Balancing that out are the antics of the hockey team that had me laughing out loud more than a little. The whole Pablo Eggscobar running bit just slew me at every turn because I could picture it so well. And Hunter's roommates shone, too, even if not always in a "good" or comfortable way.
So this is a solid four stars and I was glad to be back in Kennedy's broniverse. Very well-done.
A note about Audiobook: Teddy Hamilton was outstanding with Hunter's parts but Ana Osorio seemed less sure of herself. I suspect she was selected because she shares background with Demi but I don't know that or anything. Her accent was spot-on and it wouldn't surprise me if she was specifically of Cuban cultural descent like Demi. And her acting was well up-to-speed, so it wasn't that. But there were a dozen or more words that she mispronounced. And since those tended to come in clusters it made the whole thing seem very unprofessional. Did nobody listen to this before publishing it? Two examples (because the contrast is amusing): "Debauchery" pronounced with "ow" in the middle and "Chastely" with a short ă (so Chastly). Very weird.
A note about Steamy: There were three or four explicit sex scenes putting this in the middle of my steam tolerance. They were what you'd expect in a New Adult story, but still did a decent job illustrating their shared intimacy and care for each other. So pretty well-done.
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