Twenty years ago, 42-year-old Leigh Mackenzie wanted nothing more than to play hockey in the Olympics. She trained with relentless focus, pushed herself to the brink of collapse, and visualized herself standing proud on the podium. As an added guarantee, she accepted the advances of her coach, who promised her a spot on the team in exchange for sexual favors. When Jeff Carlson failed to deliver, Leigh's dreams were crushed. Shamed and shattered, she buried their secret affair and left the sport behind, using her athletic drive to become a successful investment banker in Florida. 

When a job opportunity leads Leigh back to her hockey-obsessed hometown, she returns to Minnesota with great reluctance. As much as she doesn't want to face her past, she can't deny that Liston Heights is the best place for her son—a 9-year-old hockey prodigy—to excel. Getting Gus on the right team with the right coach is essential, but it will mean plunging their little family into the cutthroat world of competitive sports on a level her husband and child have never experienced before. Not only is Jeff Carlson in the center of that universe, but so is Susy Walker, Leigh's former teammate and the only person who knows what really happened between her and Jeff two decades ago. 

Leigh is dismayed to discover that despite Gus' natural skill, he's far behind the other kids in his training. When Jeff offers to help, Leigh finds herself in a delicate position once again. How far is she willing to go to get Gus where he needs to be? With rumors of a new sexual harrasment suit against Jeff in the air, she has to decide whether to keep quiet for her son's sake or reveal the explosive secret even her husband, Charlie, doesn't know in order to take an influential predator out of the game for good. 

Before I start dishing about Home Or Away, Kathleen West's newest novel, I should say right up front that I don't have a competitive bone in my body. I've never been into sports and even with games I do enjoy (like, say, Scrabble), I care not at all whether I win or lose. In my (not so) humble opinion, youth sports should be a safe, supportive environment where children can learn and have fun, not a place for hyper parents to relive their own glory days or pad their egos by pressuring their kids to win, then losing their minds when the players don't triumph or perform as well as expected. Because of these pre-existing feelings, I admit I went into Home Or Away with some heavy biases that affected my reaction to and enjoyment of the story. Incidentally, I have to say that the novel did nothing to change these biases. In fact, it just reinforced them...

At any rate, you won't be suprised to learn that I had a hard time relating to the characters in this book. I simply don't understand people whose lives revolve completely around their children's sporting events. It's even tougher for me to conceive of parents who do the kinds of things Leigh, Charlie, and their friends do in the name of hockey. To me, it just seems silly to care as much as they do about the athletic career of a NINE YEAR OLD. So, while Charlie is much more likable than Leigh, I still really didn't care for either of them (if you want a more spirited and spoiler-y explanation of why, you can read my lengthy Goodreads review here). The only person in the story who mattered to me was young Gus. 

All that being said, West does do a good job of bringing the whole crazy competitive hockey culture thing to life. I could really FEEL the characters' emotions, from the highs of winning to the lows of defeat. The tension in the novel, from both the high-strung parents and the too-pressured kids, is palpable. That constant conflict kept me burning through the pages. I definitely wanted to know how the story was going to play out. So, while I can't say I loved this novel (Did I even like it? I'm not sure.), it did keep me reading. In addition, the book's plot and themes provide plenty of food for thought and discussion. If you're on the hunt for a read that will provoke a lively debate at your next book club meeting, you just found it...

(Readalikes: Reminds me of You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott)

There have been some fun Top Ten Tuesday topics over the years, but my favorites are always the seasonal TBR lists.  It's enjoyable to see what everyone's planning to read.  I love seeing which titles my fellow bloggers are excited about, which I need to add to my own list, and which upcoming reads we have in common.  Because I love seasonal TBR lists so much, I actually started mine last week.  If you missed it, here's Part One of Top Ten Upcoming Releases on My Spring TBR.  There are lots of great books coming out in the next few months, so today I'm going to continue the theme with ten more new and upcoming releases that I want to read.

If you want to participate in TTT (and you definitely do), hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

Top Ten Upcoming Releases on My Spring TBR List (Part Two)  

1.  The Block by Ben Oliver (available May 4, 2021)—I enjoyed the first book in this YA dystopian series about a boy who's been incarcerated in a futuristic prison that's (almost) impossible to escape.  Now that he and his motley crew of buddies have done the impossible, they have to figure out what is going on in the outside world.  Hint:  It's not pretty.

2.  The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton (available May 4, 2021)—Not only does this historical have a gorgeous cover, but the story sounds intriguing.  It features three women—one of whom is a New York City reporter, another of whom is a Cuban revolutionary jailed for stirring up trouble, and the third of whom is a courier secretly working for Cuba's freedom.  This trio comes together as their countries brace for war.

3.  Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva (released March 2, 2021)—This thriller revolves around a woman who was born to replace a dead child, then left alone to raise herself in a walled-off rural property.  When she sees something she shouldn't, she escapes, only to find herself in a modern world she's not prepared to inhabit.  Although she tries to lose herself in virtual reality, her traumatic childhood has a fierce hold on her, which forces her to return and confront her past.

4.  Girl in the Walls by A.J. Gnuse (available May 11, 2021)—When a new family moves into the home of a girl who has been orphaned, two brothers start catching disconcerting glimpses of a girl who seems to be living inside its walls.  Is she real?  As they try to cast her out, they bring a whole heap of trouble down on their own doorstep.  

5.  The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (available May 25, 2021)—This time travel novel featuring a boy with amnesia sounds fun!

6.  A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia (available May 25, 2021)—I've mentioned this YA novel before.  It concerns all the residents of a Louisiana plantation, both those who live in the big house and those who reside in the slave quarters. 

7.  Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian (available May 4, 2021)—The Salem Witch Trials will never not make an intriguing backdrop for a historical novel.  I've enjoyed many titles by Bohjalian, so I'm interested to see what he does with his newest book.

8.  Are We There Yet? by Kathleen West (available today, March 16, 2021)—I enjoyed West's first novel, Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, about suburban moms behaving badly.  Her newest concerns another smug mother whose perfect life is upended when she discovers her daughter is struggling, her teenage son has a secret life, and her own mother is keeping a shocking secret.  As she tries to deal with these bombshells under the judgmental eyes of moms just like her, she learns some hard truths.

9.  You'll Thank Me For This by Nina Siegal (available March 23, 2021)—The Dutch tradition of blindfolding teens and tweens and dropping them in the middle of the forest to see if they can find their way home is disturbing to Grace, an American married to a Dutch man.  When her daughter engages in the practice and disappears, Grace is terrified.  On her own in the wilderness, 12-year-old Karin fights for survival against something more sinister than just a silly Dutch tradition while her mother launches a desperate search to find her before it's too late.

10.  Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (available March 16, 2021)—This YA novel has been getting tons of pre-publication buzz.  It concerns 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine, a young woman who has never quite fit in on her Ojibwe reservation.  She's eager to make a new start at college, but she's pulled back to her hometown because of a family emergency.  When she meets a dashing hockey player, she's intrigued, especially since he seems to be hiding an intriguing secret.  Recruited by the FBI to go undercover in order to root out an illegal drug ring, she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous world that could mean the end of everything that's good about hers.

There you go, ten more new and upcoming releases I'm excited to read this Spring.  Have you read any of them?  What's on your Spring TBR list?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Isobel Johnson considers it her duty to challenge the entitled thinking of the students she teaches at wealthy Liston Heights High.  Sure, her liberal methods occasionally garner a raised eyebrow from the administration or the occasional criticism from a tightly-wound parent, but that just means they're effective, right?  Still, when Isobel receives an anonymous voicemail accusing her of going too far, she's surprised.  She's even more stunned to learn she's become the target of a smear campaign that threatens not just Isobel's position at the school, but also her entire teaching career.

Julia Abbott will do anything for her two kids, including buying her son a coveted role in the upcoming high school musical.  After all the volunteer hours she's put in over the years, she figures she's owed a few favors now and then.  When one of her helicopter mommy maneuvers lands Julia in a hot spot thanks to a video gone viral, however, she discovers she can no longer bribe her way out of trouble.  This time, the consequences of her actions will have far-reaching effects on everyone in her family.

As the two women deal with their separate, but intertwining battles, they will have to decide when to back down, when to stand up, and when to hurl themselves into the ring and fight with everything they've got.

In the vein of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, Kathleen West's debut takes a sharp, cutting look at the politics, privilege, and power plays that parents wield in order to push their children to the front of the pack in a competitive, high-pressure school environment.  Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes shows just how far some parents will go and how little administrators and teachers can—and will—do to stop them.  While Julia's actions seem outrageous, West, a veteran middle and high school teacher, insists it's par for the course.  Unbelievable.  In promotional material for the book, West says her aim was to produce a "discussable" novel.  She has certainly done that, while also creating a story that's engrossing and entertaining.  With short, punchy chapters; interesting, recognizable characters; and bright, snappy prose; the book is a quick, easy read.  However, the questions it asks are not so simple:  What is a parent's role in their child's education?  How involved should they be with homework, extracurricular activities, and teacher/student conflicts?  How far would you go to help your child achieve?  Questions like these will certainly lead to lively book club discussions.  

Personally, I liked Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes but didn't totally love it.  While most of the adult characters are relatable, none of them are particularly likable. I did enjoy the role reversal of the adults behaving badly, letting the kids shine as examples of honesty and fairness.  I also liked that the novel kept me reading fast and furious to find out what would happen next.  Overall, I enjoyed it.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder expletives)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes from the generous folks at Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!