Book Review: The Striker
Whoop! Another Ana Huang book down and done! This time it's her jaunt into the world of the English Premier League. I personally am not a football fan, but even I know, as a Brit, that football is a big deal. It’s one of the most popular sports in the world, people get obsessed with their teams, follow them around the world, and even indulge in a little bit of anti-social behaviour when rival teams come to clash. The point being, this is a smart move for Huang. Football is a global phenomenon, and what a way to attract an even wider audience than writing about one of the most loved and most played sports worldwide? People become obsessed with football players - look at Beckham, Messi, Ronaldo, they have huge followings and are treated as idols, to the point where they have become mythic. As Huang’s characters, particularly her male leads, are in an entirely different league of their own - wealthy, powerful and pull strings to make wonders happen - it makes sense.
Asher Donovan is our male lead and the current wonder kid of his generation. An exceptionally talented striker, he has switched to a rival team, ‘Blackcastel’, from his home town team of ‘Holchester’, much to the chagrin of his family, former teammates and well, the entire city of Holchester. He is a consummate bad boy, indulging in street races and generally being a dick, mostly to his biggest rival and teammate mate Vincent DuBois. And yet… naturally, he falls in love with his biggest rival's sister, Scarlett Dubois. The plot thickens.
Here is what I like about the book: I like that the plot and the characters are now outside of the United States; it was feeling a little US-centric, which is fine, but I think even Huang realises that her fan base is worldwide and therefore makes the setting a bit more global, even with her multicultural cast of characters. I also like that Scarlett and Asher are a lot more complex than her previous ones; the stakes are a lot higher for these two, but I do lament that it seems all of her characters have tragic backstories. Does it make for an interesting plot line? Yes. But after. A while the books do start to feel formulaic. But then again, so were the books byAgatha Christie, and people still and always will adore them. I also do like that she taps into football rivalries; she absolutely nails it on the head that rivalries get messy, and when I say messy, I mean pretty damn violent, as Huang shows with Asher’s street racing. So kudos to Huang for doing her damn research - I wonder if she has a team that she now supports?
While there is the odd typo here and there, I really don't think that readers of Ana’s books give. Damn. They love her, and they love the characters she writes about. The Ana verse is far-reaching. What readers love is the romance, the spice, and the small glimpses of past characters we have all fallen in love with. We grasp for any more details about their Happily Ever Afters. Huang’s writing makes you wish the story would never end. That is her main strength as a writer and one we all love her for. It would take a lot for BookTok to turn on their favourite author. I don't see it happening any time soon. And as long as Ana keeps writing, we’ll keep eating up her works.