![]() ![]() But one thing is for sure: That was a big step and I am hugely proud of her for taking it. I am not saying I can comprehend how she feels about the trigger and what it must be like for someone with that experience to read about someone else’s experience. I know what she had a hard time with and I completely understand. It’s about family and voodoo and “Hopscotch.” It is more than paper and ink and digitized text. It’s about fierce women who are raw and have a strong sense of self. It’s about people working through differences to find commonalities. This book is so much more than a romance. These are the kinds of stories I want to read. Kennedy is fast becoming one of my favorite authors because she’s not afraid to dig deep, and that’s the kind of work I really respect. In fact, all the books in her HOOPS series involve characters who battle demons-abuse, mental illness, body image, trauma. This is not the first time Kennedy has brought up painful subjects. She knows that her words have power, so she keeps her weapon sharp. She wants people to know they’re not alone. It’s because she wants to help people heal. After I gasped out loud and dropped my Kindle, I took a breath and thought about why she was doing this. Kennedy’s writing is so impactful, so meaningful. What she describes is so real, I felt for Lotus and for every other person who has undergone such trauma. Reliving it through this book was the toughest reading experience I’ve ever had, but I want to give Kennedy credit because she really went for it. Without getting too much into it (for fear of giving anything away), I will say, I experienced some of what Lotus experienced. I’m not big on trigger warnings, but there is one for this book, and there’s a reason why it’s there. It’s about many things, and they all work and blend and flow together. What I mean by that is it’s layered and full of substance. I loved how authentic it felt-the characters are so real, I found I was putting myself in their shoes to process what they’re processing, to decide on what they’re deciding between. Different…and yet they’re completely in synch. One lives on the East Coast, while the other lives on the West Coast. One likes to text, while the other likes to handwrite notes. One is an extrovert, while the other is an introvert. One likes “mumble rap,” while the other likes classic jazz. Lotus, who works in the fashion industry, and Kenan, who is an NBA player, could not be more different from each other. I don’t want to take away from Iris and August ( Long Shot), Banner and Jared ( Block Shot), and Avery and Decker ( HOOPS Holiday), but Lotus and Kenan steal the show with their opposites-attract chemistry and nobody’s-gonna-bring-us-down respect they have for each other. And I gotta say, Kennedy saved the best for last. Hook Shot is the fourth and final book (third full-length novel) of the HOOPS series. I need to say that upfront because what you’re about to read is a little different from previous reviews we’ve written. This is the hardest review I’ll ever write because this book was personal to me. ![]()
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