bookwormriss's Reviews > Playing Hard to Get

First, allow me to rant about the title.

I absolutely HATE the title "Playing Hard to Get." It doesn't truly encompass Joanna and Knox's relationship, whatsoever. Even though, Joanna was all "I hate sports, etc." (I'll get to that character detail, later) which meant she had SOME apprehension towards Knox, there wasn't a long period of time when Joanna kept her distance for her to be considered "playing hard to get." The book should be titled: "College Insta Love."

What I hate most are the implications of the phrase "playing hard to get." This phrase is used so much in conversations, interactions, social media, tv shows, movies, books, the list goes on and on in regards to rape culture and harassment. The amount of times I hear/see men use this phrase or some other rendition to put the fault on women despite them being the one to blame is fucking ridiculous. The usage of "playing hard to get" as a norm is EXTREMELY harmful and perpetuates rape culture and harassment.

I'm not sure how the title became created, whether it was Monica Murphy's or an editor's idea, but that doesn't erase the harm from this language. I don't care about the intentions. Authors (everyone) need to do better.

Now, about the book
Overall, the book was okay--your typical college, sports romance. I'm the type of reader who has 2 college romance preferences. They either have to be a realistic, sweet plotline OR an unrealistic, obnoxiously dark plotline. I don't make the rules. The book 100% falls under realistic and sweet.
📖 Joanna (Jo Jo)

One word to describe Jojo? ✨ quirky ✨
She's not like other girls. JoJo works at the university's bookstore, tutors students, has Taylor Swift tattoos, and most importantly HATES sports, especially football players.

"I don't care about sports. And I really don't like football."

This inner dialogue happens for the rest of book until Knox converts her to be a face-painted, jersey-wearing football fan.

🏈 Knox
Knox is the university's star tight end with a tight end... if you know what I mean...
He's a player, cares about football, and has a reading disability.
Knox and Jojo's relationship grows from their tutoring sessions, and Knox becomes quickly obsessed with her.

I don't really have anything else to say. There was the Natalie x Jojo drama but it's completely unimportant to the plot. It wasn't a remarkable nor rememberable read, but I enjoyed the journey while it happened.