Review: "The End Game" by Kate McCarthy
If you’re looking for a New Adult romance novel that explores life in an honest and non-patronising way, then look no further because Kate McCarthy’s The End Game says all that needs to be said about being a “new adult” in a pressurised world.
Having read my fair share of sport romances (and by that I mean YA novels that have star athletes as the male romantic hero… it’s become a bit of a cliché really), I was excited to read a novel that breaks that mould. The End Game is split between the points of view of its two protagonists, Jordan Elliot and Brody Madden, both of whom are talented and respected athletes in the own rights.
But I wasn’t just excited by the fact that McCarthy has written a sports novel that appeals to the slight feminist in me or the way she has written a book that champions female sports. What really gripped me about The End Game was the brutally honest portrayal of the often hidden realities of sport: the desperate lengths to which one might go to be the best; the devastating consequences of constant public pressure and scrutiny; the true sacrifices of both athletes and their families.
It was refreshing to read a novel that shows the struggles of student life, because contrary to how most literature and television depicts, it is not a walk in the park. Add to that learning difficulties, a reputation to maintain, and years of emotional abuse, and we are presented with a recipe for drama.
McCarthy introduces some interesting family dynamics in the novel that end up being a lot more complicated and devastating than I would have predicted. In saying that, while we really get to explore the relationship Brody shares with his family, I would have liked to have seen more of Jordan’s relationship with her brother—perhaps this is a deliberate choice to represent the distance between Jordan in the USA and her twin in Australia, but I was left wanting a lot more.
The inclusion of a high school nemesis who just so happens to be seeking revenge at college seemed to lower the tone of the book for me, although it does act as a catalyst for most of the drama in the novel. I felt like it took away from some of the more serious issues.
All that aside, though, The End Game drew me in, swept me away in the lives of two very different characters, and left me feeling every bit heartbreak and happiness. It had me in tears, and it had me angry. I thought that I had the story pegged from the start, and even half way through I was sure I knew what would happen. But the final quarter of the book left me reeling, scrambling to work out whether I was up or down and wondering how I could have been so easily duped. It just goes to show that you can’t always predict the end game.
The End Game explores the dilemmas of success, the pressures of failure, and the demands of love. You can’t experience failure without having succeeded, and you can’t appreciate success without tasting failure. But where does that leave love? Well, sometimes we just need love to show us how to be free.
