Once more with feeling: I love sports anime!
I thought this was a very enjoyable read. I’ll admit, out of habit I got a little nervous when we reached around the 30% mark and the main couple was already getting involved with each other–I’m too used to third-act breakups–but I’m pleased to say that my nerves were for nothing. Although there are real stakes for our main characters, there’s also good enough communication to get them through it. Things get tense for various reasons but never quite bad enough to actually tear them apart, which I appreciate as someone for whom “tiny misunderstanding gets blown up and breaks up the couple just for them to finally talk it out 20 pages before the end” is a least-favorite romance trope.
One thing I will say is that the “Note to Reader” page should have been more explicit that there would be mention of CSA, even if none is ever shown on page. Referring to it as “past childhood trauma” isn’t quite explicit enough in my opinion. There should also be a warning for terminal illness as this can be quite triggering to some.
However, those things stated, this was overall a really enjoyable read to me, with good pacing and fun dialogue, plus convincing intimacy between some pretty adventurous young dudes.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!