Review: Front and Center

DJ Schwenk has made it onto the basketball team, but even there she's not happy.  The coach keeps trying to force her to speak up, and if there's anything DJ hates, it's expressing herself.  Which is why she's kind-of dating Beaner when she kind-of likes Brian, but can't tell either of them the truth.  It's why she's shoved college and college sports to the back of her mind, even when basketball scholarships start pouring in, and avoided making a decision.  It's why she feels like everything in her life is spinning out of her control...

Entertainment: ★★★

I'm a little biased here, having read Dairy Queen and The Off Season before.  And I have to say I enjoyed both of them a little more than Front and Center, for the reasons below.

Plot: ★★★

It was just a little windy... slow... tangled... it twisted around a lot without ever really getting anywhere, I felt.

Characters: ★★★★★

As always, I loved Murdock's characters.  She manages to have them grow and progress believably, which is a rare and wonderful thing, and also many of them are just interesting and fun to read.

Writing: ★★★★

For the same reason as the plot, the writing here didn't seem to have any direction.  It meandered around a lot, with a little too much introspection for my tastes, and just seemed a little confused and lost.  That said, though, DJ's voice is still coming through loud and clear and narrating excellently.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.