Out of Left Field

I haven't picked up this book in weeks so I give up

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I don't read many sports-themed books and when I saw this one on Netgalley I thought I should rectify that. Many people like reading about sports or like the sports aspect with romance, so because this sounded cute and dealt with Baseball, one sport I know decently well, I gave it a try.

I'm glad I requested it because this is quite a cute story. I love how they called where they played baseball with friends the sandlot – gave me The Sandlot vibes. Heck, the movie was even mentioned! So, I might be a tiny bit biased, since that was one of my fave movies as a little kid.
But, back to the book.
It is a cute, fun, easy, and quick read.

I really enjoyed reading it, even if I the main character annoyed me. She is so snarky! I usually don't mind, but dang... this was like every word. She didn't show or speak about her sad or confused emotions, instead keeping it bottled up and sassing people instead. Even with her friends, their way of communicating is usually through arguing. Then wonders why people would be intimidated by her – really?
But, she does have problems she's working through that make her feel like a real person. Her interactions with other people don't always make sense to me, but her inner thoughts did.

A great thing about this is that Marnie and her friends don't always talk about romance. They talk about baseball, rivalries, and the future (i.e. after high school plans). Absolutely fantastic! The romance was pushed more into the background and felt more natural, letting Marnie's issue with pitching for a boy's team take center field.

Now, there are a few things you have to suspend your relief for. First, a girl gets to pitch for a guy's team. Professionally, I think the last time this happened was in the '50s and they kicked her out for essentially being too good (striking out Babe Ruth). Second, even in a good neighborhood, I doubt parents are okay with their kids running at midnight in order to help them fall asleep – or if the parents don't know she really didn't try hard to sneak out so.... shrugs. Third, some things that happen with the baseball team and when playing against other teams.

It is a fun story though!! And while I wanted to scream at the characters to just kiss already, (seriously, how can they not tell if they like each other?! It is so obvious!), I thought the wrap-up was cute. I like friends to couple romances too ^^Oh! And going back to the talk about the future conversations: I thought it was awesome how Marnie's girl friend brings up how she doesn't want to go to college. This is a thing people need to know they aren't alone about thinking about. And there are other moments when the friends speak about how unsure of their future they are AND THAT IS OKAY! They are Juniors in high school –THAT IS ALLOWED. Not everyone knows what they want to do since they were 5 years old, or has their top colleges picked out by freshman year. Take your time, you;ll figure it out sooner or later. I do wish more time was dedicated to talking about this, but I'm glad there was so time. Okay, I'll end it here – I know this is one of my longer reviews ^^.
I will recommend this book to people who want a lighter romance in their contemporary and are interested in baseball.