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A review by smokedshelves
The Long Game by Elena Armas
3.0
thank you to atria books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
so, i really feel like i had to sit and think about this book before deciding exactly what i was going to rate it. process everything that did and didn’t happen. in some moments i loved cameron and adalyn. in others i felt completely ambivalent towards their romance, their story.
i think my main annoyance came with how long adalyn hid her reason for being sent to green oak to cameron. and cameron was honestly totally okay with her telling things on her own time. but then the second the roles were reversed and cameron didn’t tell adalyn about the club sale for one (1) day, it caused a fairly big argument. it kind of felt frustrating to see how that played out between them. and while, yes, they didn’t break up in that typical sense you see in most romance books. they didn’t not break up either??? i guess, cameron was so damn patient with adalyn, and she didn’t really ever give him much back. he literally would always lay things out on the line, think of her, and she would almost never do the same back. she would think it. acknowledge it. but then say something completely opposite to how she felt. and this went on until the last 5% of the book.
on to the soccer/football aspect of the story. i know its tough for an author to decide how much they’re going to share about it. especially in a romance book, when that’s not really the main point of the story. neither of them really play, its not a rivals story. but i do wish we had a bit more. we only learn of like three of the girls’ names, and only ever interact with maria after the first scene. i honestly wish we got to see more of the team, the practices, the games. but also, i personally didn’t love maria’s character that much either. so… i’m torn.
i think bottom line, while i might not have enjoyed all the aspects of this book. objectively, this might have to be armas’ strongest book so far. you can clearly tell the structure and storyline are so much cleaner than her debut and sophomore novels were. and with the ending/epilogue. i am definitely intrigued enough to read onto josie x matthew.
so, i really feel like i had to sit and think about this book before deciding exactly what i was going to rate it. process everything that did and didn’t happen. in some moments i loved cameron and adalyn. in others i felt completely ambivalent towards their romance, their story.
i think my main annoyance came with how long adalyn hid her reason for being sent to green oak to cameron. and cameron was honestly totally okay with her telling things on her own time. but then the second the roles were reversed and cameron didn’t tell adalyn about the club sale for one (1) day, it caused a fairly big argument. it kind of felt frustrating to see how that played out between them. and while, yes, they didn’t break up in that typical sense you see in most romance books. they didn’t not break up either??? i guess, cameron was so damn patient with adalyn, and she didn’t really ever give him much back. he literally would always lay things out on the line, think of her, and she would almost never do the same back. she would think it. acknowledge it. but then say something completely opposite to how she felt. and this went on until the last 5% of the book.
on to the soccer/football aspect of the story. i know its tough for an author to decide how much they’re going to share about it. especially in a romance book, when that’s not really the main point of the story. neither of them really play, its not a rivals story. but i do wish we had a bit more. we only learn of like three of the girls’ names, and only ever interact with maria after the first scene. i honestly wish we got to see more of the team, the practices, the games. but also, i personally didn’t love maria’s character that much either. so… i’m torn.
i think bottom line, while i might not have enjoyed all the aspects of this book. objectively, this might have to be armas’ strongest book so far. you can clearly tell the structure and storyline are so much cleaner than her debut and sophomore novels were. and with the ending/epilogue. i am definitely intrigued enough to read onto josie x matthew.