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Sooley
New York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams...and even bigger challenges off the court.
In the summer of his seventeenth year, Samuel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basketball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.
Samuel is an amazing athlete, with speed, quickness, and an astonishing vertical leap. The rest of his game, though, needs work, and the American coaches are less than impressed.
During the tournament, Samuel receives devastating news from home: A civil war is raging across South Sudan, and rebel troops have ransacked his village. His father is dead, his sister is missing, and his mother and two younger brothers are in a refugee camp.
Samuel desperately wants to go home, but it's just not possible. Partly out of sympathy, the coach of North Carolina Central offers him a scholarship. Samuel moves to Durham, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season. There is plenty of more mature talent and he isn't immediately needed.
But Samuel has something no other player has: a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America. He works tirelessly on his game, shooting baskets every morning at dawn by himself in the gym, and soon he's dominating everyone in practice. With the Central team losing and suffering injury after injury, Sooley, as he is nicknamed, is called off the bench. And the legend begins.
But how far can Sooley take his team? And will success allow him to save his family?
Gripping and moving, Sooley showcases John Grisham's unparalleled storytelling powers in a whole new light. This is Grisham at the top of his game.
In the summer of his seventeenth year, Samuel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basketball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.
Samuel is an amazing athlete, with speed, quickness, and an astonishing vertical leap. The rest of his game, though, needs work, and the American coaches are less than impressed.
During the tournament, Samuel receives devastating news from home: A civil war is raging across South Sudan, and rebel troops have ransacked his village. His father is dead, his sister is missing, and his mother and two younger brothers are in a refugee camp.
Samuel desperately wants to go home, but it's just not possible. Partly out of sympathy, the coach of North Carolina Central offers him a scholarship. Samuel moves to Durham, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season. There is plenty of more mature talent and he isn't immediately needed.
But Samuel has something no other player has: a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America. He works tirelessly on his game, shooting baskets every morning at dawn by himself in the gym, and soon he's dominating everyone in practice. With the Central team losing and suffering injury after injury, Sooley, as he is nicknamed, is called off the bench. And the legend begins.
But how far can Sooley take his team? And will success allow him to save his family?
Gripping and moving, Sooley showcases John Grisham's unparalleled storytelling powers in a whole new light. This is Grisham at the top of his game.
20 pages, Audiobook
First published April 27, 2021
About the author
John Grisham
429 books82.5k followersJohn Grisham is the author of forty-nine consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,510 reviews
May 14, 2021
WOW! First, it helps if you are any sort of sports fan. Without a doubt, this is my favorite Grisham ever. 10 of 10 stars!
May 1, 2021
What can I say?
Love it or hate it, I will understand.
This is not a courtroom drama.
This is not the usual book that we expect from Grisham.
But one thing is for sure, Grisham is an amazing storyteller.
There were plenty of dramas and the conclusion was truly heartbreaking.
But if you are not into sports, especially basketball, you may have a hard time enjoying this book, unless you have no problem skimming (expect lots of skimming!).
I’m not a fan of basketball, however, because the author describes everything with such skill and passion, I was completely absorbed by the storyline. I even had goosebumps when Sooley hit the basket
The development of the storyline is terrific.
I loved the main character, Samuel Sooleymon.
I was truly entertained and I enjoyed this work.
The best part is that I had no expectations. I did not read any review or the synopsis.
I went blind and I was surprised.
Love it or hate it, I will understand.
This is not a courtroom drama.
This is not the usual book that we expect from Grisham.
But one thing is for sure, Grisham is an amazing storyteller.
There were plenty of dramas and the conclusion was truly heartbreaking.
But if you are not into sports, especially basketball, you may have a hard time enjoying this book, unless you have no problem skimming (expect lots of skimming!).
I’m not a fan of basketball, however, because the author describes everything with such skill and passion, I was completely absorbed by the storyline. I even had goosebumps when Sooley hit the basket
The development of the storyline is terrific.
I loved the main character, Samuel Sooleymon.
I was truly entertained and I enjoyed this work.
The best part is that I had no expectations. I did not read any review or the synopsis.
I went blind and I was surprised.
May 16, 2021
John Grisham’s latest novel released this past week and, like always, rocketed to the top of the NYT bestseller’s list. Unlike most of his novels, Sooley is not a legal thriller but a sports novel focusing on a fictional South Sudanese basketball player. Grisham has made these forays into sports before—Calico Joe (baseball), Playing for Pizza (football), and Bleachers (football)—but they were smaller, shorter endeavors at around 50,000 words. Sooley is a full-length novel birthed out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of 2020 March Madness. Grisham, an avid sports fan, decided to fill the time spent not watching sports toward writing this sports story. To add in an interesting second storyline, Grisham chose to have the titular Sooley—Samuel Sooleyman—come from the war-torn country of South Sudan, home to basketball greats Manute Bol and Luol Deng.
The premise is a promising one, because Grisham is able to tell two contrasting stories. The first story, after Sooley’s work ethic leads to a position on the national team and a college scholarship, combines a fish-out-of-water story with an immigration story with an escaped-the-hood story wrapped out the Cinderella story of a March Madness to remember. The second story is about Sooley’s family in South Sudan. Shortly after Sooley leaves, raiders burn his hometown, killing his father and kidnapping his sister. His mother and brothers escape, eventually making their way to a refugee camp. It’s an interesting study in contrasts that highlights two vastly different lives.
A question I kept asking myself as I read this novel was “Do serious, nuanced themes require serious, nuanced storytelling?" Sooley, for all its thematic elements dealing with the Sudanese refugee crisis, doesn’t really deal with it in any substantive way. He has this deep and tragic storyline and its never used to its full potential or talked about with depth. My reluctant answer is “No, not always.” If Grisham did so, his books wouldn’t be at the top of the NYT list. They wouldn’t be “easy reading.” And in that, many would have even less awareness of the refugee crisis in South Sudan than the little Grisham gives them.
Think deeply enough about Sooley and you’ll uncover a plot that reveals the elitism of American society. Sooley has value to America as an entertainer. And not even a particularly good one. He’s a third-string guard for a small-time university. But because he has the potential to entertain, all roadblocks to his immigration and citizenship are cleared. Meanwhile, there are thousands of refugees—Sooley’s brothers and mother included—who have no value to the United States because they cannot play basketball. It’s a poignant contrast, but one that Grisham fails to draw out.
The first three-quarters of the novel progress in standard sports book/movie fashion. Sooley is not a good basketball player, but he’s got height (you can’t teach that) and he’s got a great work ethic (which makes him teachable at everything else). He makes the most of the opportunities he’s given and it leads to an improbable run through their conference and into March Madness. Unfortunately, Grisham gives us very little in the way of how this happens. Sooley, for all the weightiness and trauma behind his story, seems not to feel any of it. He plays a mediocre season then, suddenly and magically, he begins to hit threes (which Grisham repeatedly and annoyingly calls “bombs”) at a rate that would be unbelievable if Steph Curry wasn’t a real person. It’s all just a bit much and Grisham doesn’t do the work of convincing the reader to suspend disbelief.
Nonetheless, I was willing to call this an average, rah-rah sports novel—one that will sell well, then you’ll see hundreds of copies in your used book stores in a few months—until the last quarter when Sooley took an incredible twist. Perhaps it was because Grisham realized he’s virtually abandoned the B-plot in South Sudan. Perhaps it was because he’d overwritten his typical sports novella length and, not wishing to edit, deciding to add a shocking twist to push the novel to full-length. Whatever the case, it’s not a good decision.
What happens from the end of the March Madness run through the end makes absolutely no sense given the story that Sooley had set up so far. Then, just so as to not end on such a cynical note (which would have been preferable), he crams in a final subplot about Sooley’s mother and brothers so absurd it makes the rest of the book seem believable.
Grisham, you lost me at about 70,000 words in, which, with some editing, could have come in at the same size as your other sports novels. You had a simple, straightforward story that hid some deeper themes within it. Pushing the novel to full-length through a series of absurd twists took a perfectly serviceable but mediocre sports novel and turned it into an irredeemable mess.
The premise is a promising one, because Grisham is able to tell two contrasting stories. The first story, after Sooley’s work ethic leads to a position on the national team and a college scholarship, combines a fish-out-of-water story with an immigration story with an escaped-the-hood story wrapped out the Cinderella story of a March Madness to remember. The second story is about Sooley’s family in South Sudan. Shortly after Sooley leaves, raiders burn his hometown, killing his father and kidnapping his sister. His mother and brothers escape, eventually making their way to a refugee camp. It’s an interesting study in contrasts that highlights two vastly different lives.
A question I kept asking myself as I read this novel was “Do serious, nuanced themes require serious, nuanced storytelling?" Sooley, for all its thematic elements dealing with the Sudanese refugee crisis, doesn’t really deal with it in any substantive way. He has this deep and tragic storyline and its never used to its full potential or talked about with depth. My reluctant answer is “No, not always.” If Grisham did so, his books wouldn’t be at the top of the NYT list. They wouldn’t be “easy reading.” And in that, many would have even less awareness of the refugee crisis in South Sudan than the little Grisham gives them.
Think deeply enough about Sooley and you’ll uncover a plot that reveals the elitism of American society. Sooley has value to America as an entertainer. And not even a particularly good one. He’s a third-string guard for a small-time university. But because he has the potential to entertain, all roadblocks to his immigration and citizenship are cleared. Meanwhile, there are thousands of refugees—Sooley’s brothers and mother included—who have no value to the United States because they cannot play basketball. It’s a poignant contrast, but one that Grisham fails to draw out.
The first three-quarters of the novel progress in standard sports book/movie fashion. Sooley is not a good basketball player, but he’s got height (you can’t teach that) and he’s got a great work ethic (which makes him teachable at everything else). He makes the most of the opportunities he’s given and it leads to an improbable run through their conference and into March Madness. Unfortunately, Grisham gives us very little in the way of how this happens. Sooley, for all the weightiness and trauma behind his story, seems not to feel any of it. He plays a mediocre season then, suddenly and magically, he begins to hit threes (which Grisham repeatedly and annoyingly calls “bombs”) at a rate that would be unbelievable if Steph Curry wasn’t a real person. It’s all just a bit much and Grisham doesn’t do the work of convincing the reader to suspend disbelief.
Nonetheless, I was willing to call this an average, rah-rah sports novel—one that will sell well, then you’ll see hundreds of copies in your used book stores in a few months—until the last quarter when Sooley took an incredible twist. Perhaps it was because Grisham realized he’s virtually abandoned the B-plot in South Sudan. Perhaps it was because he’d overwritten his typical sports novella length and, not wishing to edit, deciding to add a shocking twist to push the novel to full-length. Whatever the case, it’s not a good decision.
What happens from the end of the March Madness run through the end makes absolutely no sense given the story that Sooley had set up so far. Then, just so as to not end on such a cynical note (which would have been preferable), he crams in a final subplot about Sooley’s mother and brothers so absurd it makes the rest of the book seem believable.
Grisham, you lost me at about 70,000 words in, which, with some editing, could have come in at the same size as your other sports novels. You had a simple, straightforward story that hid some deeper themes within it. Pushing the novel to full-length through a series of absurd twists took a perfectly serviceable but mediocre sports novel and turned it into an irredeemable mess.
May 27, 2021
I'm not an avid sports fan so I was reluctant with Sooley, a story about a young basketball talent from South Sudan.
GR friend Tim, referred this book as his "favorite Grisham ever" so obviously I have to give it a chance. I love Grisham legal thrillers in general and this is my first sport story by him.
I'm glad I decided to read it, although I haven't a single clue what's going on during basketball games, but Sooley is character driven and I enjoyed the story, a human story. 🏀
GR friend Tim, referred this book as his "favorite Grisham ever" so obviously I have to give it a chance. I love Grisham legal thrillers in general and this is my first sport story by him.
I'm glad I decided to read it, although I haven't a single clue what's going on during basketball games, but Sooley is character driven and I enjoyed the story, a human story. 🏀
August 18, 2021
I am in the middle of a reading slump which has lending itself to a reviewing slump! I finished this book weeks ago but have not been inspired to review it . . . or any others I have finished in that time. This is not a reflection on the book, it is just where my head is at right now.
This book is another entry in Grisham’s sports series of books. Along with Bleachers, Calico Joe, and Playing for Pizza – this book helps to firmly plant Grisham in a genre other than legal thrillers. I have loved all of this sports books and I think he does a pretty good job with them. In fact, lately I have been kind of lukewarm on his legal dramas, so Sooley is some of his best recent work in my opinion.
This time the sport is college basketball and you should give it a try if you are a fan of the sport. It also touches a lot on the situation international refugees go through and the contrast between life in war torn countries and the United States. So, while there is a lot of sports to be enjoyed here, there is also a lot to be learned about the world.
If you are just a fan of Grisham’s legal dramas, you may not enjoy this one. But I think it is worth giving it a try no matter what your interests.
This book is another entry in Grisham’s sports series of books. Along with Bleachers, Calico Joe, and Playing for Pizza – this book helps to firmly plant Grisham in a genre other than legal thrillers. I have loved all of this sports books and I think he does a pretty good job with them. In fact, lately I have been kind of lukewarm on his legal dramas, so Sooley is some of his best recent work in my opinion.
This time the sport is college basketball and you should give it a try if you are a fan of the sport. It also touches a lot on the situation international refugees go through and the contrast between life in war torn countries and the United States. So, while there is a lot of sports to be enjoyed here, there is also a lot to be learned about the world.
If you are just a fan of Grisham’s legal dramas, you may not enjoy this one. But I think it is worth giving it a try no matter what your interests.
May 22, 2021
Sooley follows 17 year old Sudanese basketball player, Samuel Sooleymon (Sooley), who has the chance to travel to America for an international tournament and be scouted by college coaches. While he’s a great player in Sudan, he’s not up to par with most of the others at the tournament. He also receives devastating news about his family back in Sudan when he’s in the US. This of course shifts Sooley’s focus from basketball to family — Heeding the advice from his coaches to stay put for now due to the dangers and limited communications in Sudan, Sooley commits to do whatever it takes to help his family, including playing for and working at North Carolina Central College.
Sooley is different than the handful of Grisham legal stories I’ve read over the years — The basketball focus is heavy here. As an avid bball fan, I enjoyed this, but can see how others may not enjoy it at the same level.
Sooley is a classic underdog story — You want to root for this young, ambitious man who has been through so much already. The story took some turns I did not see coming, and didn’t necessarily like, but overall, it was a good read.
Sooley is different than the handful of Grisham legal stories I’ve read over the years — The basketball focus is heavy here. As an avid bball fan, I enjoyed this, but can see how others may not enjoy it at the same level.
Sooley is a classic underdog story — You want to root for this young, ambitious man who has been through so much already. The story took some turns I did not see coming, and didn’t necessarily like, but overall, it was a good read.
May 30, 2021
Way too many detailed descriptions of basketball games and a really stupid ending.
December 13, 2021
“Give him some time. He's just a kid.”The first 85% of Sooley reads like a fairy tale. Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon is a 17-year-old basketball player in war-torn South Sudan. He earns a spot on their U18 National team and gets to play in a tournament in Orlando. While Sooley and his new friends are in the US, rebels attack his village, kill his father, kidnap his sister, and send his mother and brothers fleeing to a Ugandan refugee camp. Grieving and unable to go home, Sooley accepts a scholarship offered by North Carolina Central University. With his natural talent and limitless work ethic, Sooley eventually begins to earn playing time, and his legend begins.
“They're all kids, Ecko.”
“They are indeed, but this one is special.”
…
Still, venturing out on a raw, cold Sunday afternoon to watch two teams with losing records was not appealing to many fans. Months later, thousands would claim to have been there for his first game, but the number was closer to five hundred.
The first 85% of Sooley is a joy to read. There’s sadness to be sure with what is happening in South Sudan—and be prepared to learn some depressing real world facts about what’s happening there and in the neighboring refugee camps. But Sooley is a relentlessly optimistic character, always smiling, and the reader quickly falls under his spell. The middle portion when Sooley is playing and leading NCCU on its miracle tournament run was an absolute delight (even if Mr. Grisham flubbed a few basic tournament ideas: the University of Florida could simply never be a 16-seed, and a 10-seed can never play a 4-seed in the first weekend). You don’t need to know or like basketball to enjoy this feel good, inspiring story—it’s like The Blind Side or Rocky. But if you are a college basketball fan, it’s a great ride through a one-bid league, as if UMBC was being led by a 6’8” Steph Curry who averaged 40 points a game. Realistic? No, but an absolute delight.
And then.
And then in the final pages, Mr. Grisham apparently decided to take this beautiful fairy tale and make it into something else, a parable perhaps. Something bad happens, I won’t spoil what. But after texting my wife updates of this story as if it were a real tournament in real life, when the bad thing happens I texted: “I’m going to cut John Grisham’s heart out with a spoon. I can’t believe he took this sweet story and turned it into [redacted].” Realistic? I mean yeah, I guess, but I didn’t like it. At all.
So in the end, I really don’t know how I feel about Sooley. I loved it until I didn’t. Mr. Grisham rarely writes a book anymore that doesn’t have some kind of cause angle, but the one here fits perfectly. The story of what’s happening in South Sudan and the refugee crisis there really enhanced Sooley’s character. Recommended I think, but please go into the book with your guard up, prepared for a late emotional sucker punch.
November 6, 2021
John Grisham, master of the courtroom thriller, is back with another of his standalone novels that leaves the law on the sidelines. Tackling a stunning story of a young African boy’s dream to play basketball and fostering a well-paced tale to exemplify that dreams can come true, Grisham offers up a jaw-dropping piece that is full of action, as well as emotional ups and downs. Grisham shows his versatility with this piece and pulls on some wonderful research while entertaining the reader until the final chapter.
Samuel Sooleymon loves to play basketball, but has not been able to hone his skills, as he lives in war-town South Sudan. When he is given a chance to travel to the United States to play in a tournament, Samuel leaps at the opportunity, leaving his family behind. The Sooleymon family are proud of Samuel and he soon becomes the talk of the town.
While Samuel and his teammates do a decent job, their eyes are opened to the opportunities that America has to offer. Through some fast talking by his coach, using connections that he has, Samuel is offered the chance to stay in America on a basketball scholarship at a small college in North Carolina. All this, while new violence erupts in South Sudan, leaving the Sooleymon family in serious trouble.
While he is panicked, Samuel is counselled to stay in America and pursue his basketball dreams, in hopes that he will be able to rescue his family at a later time. Samuel, who is soon given the moniker ‘Sooley’ by those at the college, works hard to better his mediocre basketball skills in hopes of playing. Hours of practice and motivation to save his family allows Sooley to focus all his attention on the court.
While the Sooleymon family are displaced because of the ongoing violence, they soon learn of Samuel’s successes and he becomes a hero for everyone. Hype and media attention grow, so much that those in the African nation take notice and use his success as a rallying cry for their own obstacles.
While Sooley and his teammates make an improbable run through an important basketball tournament, all eyes are on the tall, South Sudanese player who has captured the hearts of everyone watching. Sooley cannot do it alone, but he is eager to make a difference, while never forgetting his motivation, to save the family he loves so much. However, the rise to glory comes with a cost, one that Sooley may not be able to handle.
John Grisham has long captured my attention for great legal novels that push the limits of the justice system. There are times when he can dazzle while leaving gavels and closing arguments out of the narrative. This is one such occasion, as Grisham tells a heart touching story about determination and how one young man can make all the difference in the world, simply by putting his heart into everything he does.
Sooley is a well-developed character who sees a great deal throughout the novel. From his early days in South Sudan, Sooley learns the importance of hard work, as well as maturing and trying to make a name for himself. Themes of growing up, prioritising, and the pull of fame enter the story at various points, forcing Sooley to find his own path and make mistakes along the way. Many readers will surely find themselves drawn to the story and its protagonist, who is sure to go through a number of emotions along the journey, with an emotional ending.
Grisham packs a punch in this novel with a number of key moments throughout the narrative. There is so much to synthesise that I cannot even begin to list everything that happens. The narrative builds well and gains momentum as the plot takes a few twists. While I am used to cut-throat action, Grisham offers up some wonderfully warm and emotional moments to help push the story along. Mixing in some action and a great deal of thrills, the story moves effectively to its climax, which will have many readers captivated. While I will always love a good Grisham legal thriller, this was a refreshing example that some authors can step outside of their genre and still perform magically!
Kudos, Mr. Grisham, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what else you have brewing, outside of your legal thrillers.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Samuel Sooleymon loves to play basketball, but has not been able to hone his skills, as he lives in war-town South Sudan. When he is given a chance to travel to the United States to play in a tournament, Samuel leaps at the opportunity, leaving his family behind. The Sooleymon family are proud of Samuel and he soon becomes the talk of the town.
While Samuel and his teammates do a decent job, their eyes are opened to the opportunities that America has to offer. Through some fast talking by his coach, using connections that he has, Samuel is offered the chance to stay in America on a basketball scholarship at a small college in North Carolina. All this, while new violence erupts in South Sudan, leaving the Sooleymon family in serious trouble.
While he is panicked, Samuel is counselled to stay in America and pursue his basketball dreams, in hopes that he will be able to rescue his family at a later time. Samuel, who is soon given the moniker ‘Sooley’ by those at the college, works hard to better his mediocre basketball skills in hopes of playing. Hours of practice and motivation to save his family allows Sooley to focus all his attention on the court.
While the Sooleymon family are displaced because of the ongoing violence, they soon learn of Samuel’s successes and he becomes a hero for everyone. Hype and media attention grow, so much that those in the African nation take notice and use his success as a rallying cry for their own obstacles.
While Sooley and his teammates make an improbable run through an important basketball tournament, all eyes are on the tall, South Sudanese player who has captured the hearts of everyone watching. Sooley cannot do it alone, but he is eager to make a difference, while never forgetting his motivation, to save the family he loves so much. However, the rise to glory comes with a cost, one that Sooley may not be able to handle.
John Grisham has long captured my attention for great legal novels that push the limits of the justice system. There are times when he can dazzle while leaving gavels and closing arguments out of the narrative. This is one such occasion, as Grisham tells a heart touching story about determination and how one young man can make all the difference in the world, simply by putting his heart into everything he does.
Sooley is a well-developed character who sees a great deal throughout the novel. From his early days in South Sudan, Sooley learns the importance of hard work, as well as maturing and trying to make a name for himself. Themes of growing up, prioritising, and the pull of fame enter the story at various points, forcing Sooley to find his own path and make mistakes along the way. Many readers will surely find themselves drawn to the story and its protagonist, who is sure to go through a number of emotions along the journey, with an emotional ending.
Grisham packs a punch in this novel with a number of key moments throughout the narrative. There is so much to synthesise that I cannot even begin to list everything that happens. The narrative builds well and gains momentum as the plot takes a few twists. While I am used to cut-throat action, Grisham offers up some wonderfully warm and emotional moments to help push the story along. Mixing in some action and a great deal of thrills, the story moves effectively to its climax, which will have many readers captivated. While I will always love a good Grisham legal thriller, this was a refreshing example that some authors can step outside of their genre and still perform magically!
Kudos, Mr. Grisham, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what else you have brewing, outside of your legal thrillers.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
May 2, 2021
I know that it has been said many times before, but John Grisham is a master storyteller. He has a way of bringing his characters to life with his words. Sooley is a very different type of book for Grisham, although I have now discovered it is not his first book about sport. His love of the game of basketball shines through in this emotional novel that will break your heart.
Samuel Sooleyman is 17 when his dream of playing basketball in America comes true. He leaves his family in Sudan and travels to the US to play in a showcase, where he needs to impress to earn a scholarship to stay. He is a very talented player, and can jump higher than most other players. But tragedy strikes his family while he is away. His village is ransacked and his father is murdered. His sister is taken by rebels and his mother escapes with his 2 younger brothers to a refugee camp. He immediately wants to go home but this is a chance of a lifetime and what could he do if he returns. So he stays and throws everything into his game, practicing whenever her can to be better, to be the best - for himself and to make his family proud.
You will fall in love with Sooley, I certainly did. He is a loveable, strong willed character and he knows what he wants. His family and basketball are the most important things to him. The US is like another planet to him and he struggles to find his way through a normal teenage lifestyle. He is not a character that I will forget.
Thanks to Hachette Australia for sending me a copy of this book to read.
Samuel Sooleyman is 17 when his dream of playing basketball in America comes true. He leaves his family in Sudan and travels to the US to play in a showcase, where he needs to impress to earn a scholarship to stay. He is a very talented player, and can jump higher than most other players. But tragedy strikes his family while he is away. His village is ransacked and his father is murdered. His sister is taken by rebels and his mother escapes with his 2 younger brothers to a refugee camp. He immediately wants to go home but this is a chance of a lifetime and what could he do if he returns. So he stays and throws everything into his game, practicing whenever her can to be better, to be the best - for himself and to make his family proud.
You will fall in love with Sooley, I certainly did. He is a loveable, strong willed character and he knows what he wants. His family and basketball are the most important things to him. The US is like another planet to him and he struggles to find his way through a normal teenage lifestyle. He is not a character that I will forget.
Thanks to Hachette Australia for sending me a copy of this book to read.
December 30, 2021
This is my favorite sports novel from Grisham. The saga of Sooley is at times humorous and heartwarming. There is a good amount of sadness too. The refugee situation in Sudan is an integral piece of the story. If you like basketball and you are looking for a good story, this is your book.
August 17, 2021
Inspired, heart wrenching story of possibility
When I first read the summary of the book, I couldn't help but wonder why one of the most heralded legal thriller authors would write about a basketball player from Somalia; but the question was quickly answered. Grisham's experience with pacing and character driven plots is evident as takes the reader on an impossible journey of a teen boy in a strange country. Living in war torn Somalia, Samuel Sooliemon and is family have become fearless, one of several qualities necessary for greatness. Recruited hesitantly by a small US college coach, Soolie's relentless desire to be his best seem fruitless at the first; but with a coach that believes in him, he dedicates himself to the game and soon finds himself in the midst of a frenzy. Over time, Soolie leads them to unimaginable heights while NBA scouts hover. With a coach as an advisor and his roommate's mother as a protector, Soolie achieves what most teens dream about. At its core, its an inspiring story of an unusual boy that never gives up on his dream, and a roommate whose family believes in him. Whether you're a sports fan or not, this one of the most unusual stories Grisham has written and ranks highly with his others.
When I first read the summary of the book, I couldn't help but wonder why one of the most heralded legal thriller authors would write about a basketball player from Somalia; but the question was quickly answered. Grisham's experience with pacing and character driven plots is evident as takes the reader on an impossible journey of a teen boy in a strange country. Living in war torn Somalia, Samuel Sooliemon and is family have become fearless, one of several qualities necessary for greatness. Recruited hesitantly by a small US college coach, Soolie's relentless desire to be his best seem fruitless at the first; but with a coach that believes in him, he dedicates himself to the game and soon finds himself in the midst of a frenzy. Over time, Soolie leads them to unimaginable heights while NBA scouts hover. With a coach as an advisor and his roommate's mother as a protector, Soolie achieves what most teens dream about. At its core, its an inspiring story of an unusual boy that never gives up on his dream, and a roommate whose family believes in him. Whether you're a sports fan or not, this one of the most unusual stories Grisham has written and ranks highly with his others.
April 28, 2021
This is a rare case of disappointment from Mr. Grisham. BIG disappointment! I am a fan of his storytelling, and it is very much on display here. This is not a legal thriller, but one of his occasional sports-related tales. It's not my favorite subject, but he got me very invested in this story and the character of Sooley. I can't really go into my complaints about this book without spoilers, so I'll simply say it's emotional manipulation, and leave it at that.
June 22, 2021
If you are a huge basketball fan or have an interest in the political situation in South Sudan then this is the book for you.
This was not the book for me. Even so I had such hopes for Sooley and even he was a disappointment in the end.
This was not the book for me. Even so I had such hopes for Sooley and even he was a disappointment in the end.
May 2, 2021
I absolutely loved this book until the end. That is the reason for the low rating.
May 8, 2021
One doesn't become a best-selling author without knowing how to tell a story, and Grisham has obviously obtained a rare level of success that indicates he can effectively connect with readers. In interviews about this book Grisham says he decided to break from his legal thrillers and write a basketball book after the 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled and he was missing his basketball fix.
What he created strives to simultaneously capture college basketball and the issues faced in a war-torn South Sudan, but his laziness as a researcher ruins any chance of a reader gaining insight into either of these settings. As a basketball fan I bought the book to read about a small-college experience, but Grisham has little understanding of the culture, the routines, or how to describe college basketball practices or games. Sooley's development is unbelievable--even with Grisham emphasizing how hard he works--as he becomes the best shooter in college history and puts up unbelievable numbers (14 threes in a game! 58 points!) despite very little actual game experience in his life. Most games are described briefly if at all, but Grisham's inability to write a compelling game narrative means this is no great loss. His favorite adjective is "perfect"--there are an extraordinary number of "perfect passes" for a mediocre mid-major team--and he loves players to throw behind-the-back passes (Sooley's behind-the-back alley-oop shows how little Grishman understands the game; try to find such a pass on YouTube). Sooley begins jacking up 35-40 footers and rarely missing, something Steph Curry can only dream about, despite less than a year earlier having a completely broken shooting form. Even the tournament is nonsensical for anyone who follows March Madness: Florida, at 22-12 with wins against Kansas and Kentucky, .500 in conference, losing in the SEC finals, is a play-in for the 16 seed? And a 26 point favorite in that game? Has Grisham ever seen a bracket?
Then there's this head-scratcher: "Never in the tournament's storied history had a number 16 beaten a number one. Same for fifteen, fourteen, thirteen." (For the record, 16s have won once, 15s nine times, 14s 22 times, and 13s thirty times). I'll add that his editor was apparently absent from this entire process, as Grisham says Florida is scheduled to play Duke on Friday in Memphis, and in the NEXT PARAGRAPH says "They're already talking about Duke Thursday night in Memphis." Thirty dollars for a book and you find this blatant error that any copy editor should have noticed.
Meanwhile, the African scenes are exposition-filled descriptions with minimal emotional resonance or sense of environment; one suspects Grisham read some newspaper articles--at best some long-nonfiction--about refugees in Africa and threw it into his book. Few characters here have depth or resonance, and most of the writing focuses on how people act without insight into how they feel or think. One gets the impression Grisham wants you to be horrified by the circumstances Sooley's family faces, but he doesn't have the talent to make you empathize with their struggles.
Grisham clearly doesn't know how to stop Sooley's meteoric rise, so he relies on the example of Len Bias in a way that is infuriating and empty. He touches on issues of fame and sudden access to everything one could want, but with so little depth it reads like an escape hatch instead of a morality play.
One can't help thinking Grisham decided to toss off a book during quarantine, read some articles about Africa, and threw something together to make a quick $50 million. And I was a sucker for trusting him. Won't happen again.
What he created strives to simultaneously capture college basketball and the issues faced in a war-torn South Sudan, but his laziness as a researcher ruins any chance of a reader gaining insight into either of these settings. As a basketball fan I bought the book to read about a small-college experience, but Grisham has little understanding of the culture, the routines, or how to describe college basketball practices or games. Sooley's development is unbelievable--even with Grisham emphasizing how hard he works--as he becomes the best shooter in college history and puts up unbelievable numbers (14 threes in a game! 58 points!) despite very little actual game experience in his life. Most games are described briefly if at all, but Grisham's inability to write a compelling game narrative means this is no great loss. His favorite adjective is "perfect"--there are an extraordinary number of "perfect passes" for a mediocre mid-major team--and he loves players to throw behind-the-back passes (Sooley's behind-the-back alley-oop shows how little Grishman understands the game; try to find such a pass on YouTube). Sooley begins jacking up 35-40 footers and rarely missing, something Steph Curry can only dream about, despite less than a year earlier having a completely broken shooting form. Even the tournament is nonsensical for anyone who follows March Madness: Florida, at 22-12 with wins against Kansas and Kentucky, .500 in conference, losing in the SEC finals, is a play-in for the 16 seed? And a 26 point favorite in that game? Has Grisham ever seen a bracket?
Then there's this head-scratcher: "Never in the tournament's storied history had a number 16 beaten a number one. Same for fifteen, fourteen, thirteen." (For the record, 16s have won once, 15s nine times, 14s 22 times, and 13s thirty times). I'll add that his editor was apparently absent from this entire process, as Grisham says Florida is scheduled to play Duke on Friday in Memphis, and in the NEXT PARAGRAPH says "They're already talking about Duke Thursday night in Memphis." Thirty dollars for a book and you find this blatant error that any copy editor should have noticed.
Meanwhile, the African scenes are exposition-filled descriptions with minimal emotional resonance or sense of environment; one suspects Grisham read some newspaper articles--at best some long-nonfiction--about refugees in Africa and threw it into his book. Few characters here have depth or resonance, and most of the writing focuses on how people act without insight into how they feel or think. One gets the impression Grisham wants you to be horrified by the circumstances Sooley's family faces, but he doesn't have the talent to make you empathize with their struggles.
Grisham clearly doesn't know how to stop Sooley's meteoric rise, so he relies on the example of Len Bias in a way that is infuriating and empty. He touches on issues of fame and sudden access to everything one could want, but with so little depth it reads like an escape hatch instead of a morality play.
One can't help thinking Grisham decided to toss off a book during quarantine, read some articles about Africa, and threw something together to make a quick $50 million. And I was a sucker for trusting him. Won't happen again.
May 24, 2021
John Grisham is a great storyteller. I have read all of his books and "Sooley" is no exception. However, without giving away any spoilers, I found some events in the book troublesome; others may disagree. If anyone who has read the book cares to have a discussion about it, I would like to do so. I am still going to give this book 5 stars and recommend it highly simply because it is a great story.
January 28, 2022
Wow! John Grisham brings creativity to writing that I don't expect with each book. This will be one that always stays close to my heart.
June 8, 2021
2.5 for most of it, A SPORTS PHENAMONA TAKES TEAM TO THE TOP!
CAUTION - UNPOPULAR OPINION AHEAD with Modest Spoilers
I love John Grisham's writing for the most part and was very intrigued when we are introduced to Samuel Sooleymon, a South Sudanese teenager, looking for success and escape from his dangerous world of tribal warfare via playing competitive American College Basketball. You will love Samuel. He is hard working, driven even to improve himself and nature works with him as he grows more than 6 inches from 6'2 in one 9 month period and adds 50 pounds of muscle to boot, all so he dominates his opponents on court. He is kind, smiles, avoids controversy and is always agreeable. He is laser focused on establishing citizenship, so he can bring over his family after a particularly hostile attack in his village, leaving his father dead and a sister who is missing and perhaps is believed deceased.
Good plot? I thought so, too. My problems is that this story is so basketball driven that I kept waiting for crumbs and tidbits about Sooley (as he becomes known) and his family, that I started getting very bored. What we know about him was basically told to us for the most part. In fact, there is little dialogue except when the coaches are talking about upcoming games. The college women are supposedly throwing themselves at him to the point he goes into hiding but all we actually know about is Robin, his roommate's former girlfriend, visits his dorm room with an offer to reveal her "assets" to which he says no and asks her to leave, this was about six sentences. Oh, yes, and he let his knees touch his roommate's older sister's knees at a meal. Seriously? He is almost 18 and he is pure as the driven snow (I could buy this if I actually heard him dialogue with others). He is portrayed as being gregarious though media shy but we don't see it, we are informed by the observing narrator. I thought his character is very flat and likewise all the other characters in the book. I felt the most developed character was maybe his coach, who hopes to parlay Sooley's success with a career move to a better school with greater notoriety.
If you like sports and action driven stories this story offers that in spades. However, if you are looking for a story with three dimensional characters it is a great disappointment. I have read nearly every Grisham story written, I really used to like his stories and thought his "Playing for Pizza" was okay. However, my lack of interest in basketball made this one big yawn fest, however I did get a few good naps out of it. I was hoping that I would learn more about basketball but that didn't never happened either. What did surprise me was the extent of the money involved in college sports, I knew it was huge (I enjoy football and used to follow my alma mater), but basketball is pretty astounding too.
Even more, the issues surrounding the geopolitical situation in Sudan was just mentioned in passing and used only to set up the story without much depth.
This story had great potential, its delivery for me was an utter disappointment. I'm sure I expected to much since it was written by Grisham. I'm sure this will be talked about by the "virtual" water cooler and book clubs, but for me it missed the mark. I'm glad so many are enjoying this and I am an outlier. So, to those who like action movies and fast paced stories this is probably a good read for you. Isn't that what makes reviews fun, opposing opinions so that we can suit our unique tastes? It is what makes the world interesting.
CAUTION - UNPOPULAR OPINION AHEAD with Modest Spoilers
I love John Grisham's writing for the most part and was very intrigued when we are introduced to Samuel Sooleymon, a South Sudanese teenager, looking for success and escape from his dangerous world of tribal warfare via playing competitive American College Basketball. You will love Samuel. He is hard working, driven even to improve himself and nature works with him as he grows more than 6 inches from 6'2 in one 9 month period and adds 50 pounds of muscle to boot, all so he dominates his opponents on court. He is kind, smiles, avoids controversy and is always agreeable. He is laser focused on establishing citizenship, so he can bring over his family after a particularly hostile attack in his village, leaving his father dead and a sister who is missing and perhaps is believed deceased.
Good plot? I thought so, too. My problems is that this story is so basketball driven that I kept waiting for crumbs and tidbits about Sooley (as he becomes known) and his family, that I started getting very bored. What we know about him was basically told to us for the most part. In fact, there is little dialogue except when the coaches are talking about upcoming games. The college women are supposedly throwing themselves at him to the point he goes into hiding but all we actually know about is Robin, his roommate's former girlfriend, visits his dorm room with an offer to reveal her "assets" to which he says no and asks her to leave, this was about six sentences. Oh, yes, and he let his knees touch his roommate's older sister's knees at a meal. Seriously? He is almost 18 and he is pure as the driven snow (I could buy this if I actually heard him dialogue with others). He is portrayed as being gregarious though media shy but we don't see it, we are informed by the observing narrator. I thought his character is very flat and likewise all the other characters in the book. I felt the most developed character was maybe his coach, who hopes to parlay Sooley's success with a career move to a better school with greater notoriety.
If you like sports and action driven stories this story offers that in spades. However, if you are looking for a story with three dimensional characters it is a great disappointment. I have read nearly every Grisham story written, I really used to like his stories and thought his "Playing for Pizza" was okay. However, my lack of interest in basketball made this one big yawn fest, however I did get a few good naps out of it. I was hoping that I would learn more about basketball but that didn't never happened either. What did surprise me was the extent of the money involved in college sports, I knew it was huge (I enjoy football and used to follow my alma mater), but basketball is pretty astounding too.
Even more, the issues surrounding the geopolitical situation in Sudan was just mentioned in passing and used only to set up the story without much depth.
This story had great potential, its delivery for me was an utter disappointment. I'm sure I expected to much since it was written by Grisham. I'm sure this will be talked about by the "virtual" water cooler and book clubs, but for me it missed the mark. I'm glad so many are enjoying this and I am an outlier. So, to those who like action movies and fast paced stories this is probably a good read for you. Isn't that what makes reviews fun, opposing opinions so that we can suit our unique tastes? It is what makes the world interesting.
June 3, 2021
Sooley was a beautiful and touching book written by John Grisham in the middle of the pandemic last year spurred on by the March Madness in 2020 being cancelled and leaving a lot of us craving our favorite college basketball teams at the "Big Dance." March Madness has been a delightful family challenge that we have all embraced and enjoyed for many years, but alas it was not to be. While we all sulked and felt deprived of the posting of our brackets, John Grisham wrote a novel about basketball and what a lovely and inspiring book it was. When I first saw that it was coming out and I saw the cover (and how magical it was), I knew that I had to buy it for our grandson who has been a basketball fan since he was five years old. He turns nineteen this year and this is to be his birthday present. So I have had this book and it has been calling to me, and now the book may be "gently used by his grandmother."
I am a John Grisham fan and I especially love when he steps out of the courtroom into a sports venue and this was one of his best. Samuel Sooleymon is a seventeen year-old South Sudanese teenager having a chance of a lifetime to come to the United States to play in a showcase basketball tournament. It is during this time that his village in south Sudan is raided and burned to the ground leaving his family in dire straits. But he works hard and stays in the United States, vowing to bring his family to join him. And what transpires of Sooley's story is sometimes heartbreaking but also soaring as he is able to reach new heights.
I am a John Grisham fan and I especially love when he steps out of the courtroom into a sports venue and this was one of his best. Samuel Sooleymon is a seventeen year-old South Sudanese teenager having a chance of a lifetime to come to the United States to play in a showcase basketball tournament. It is during this time that his village in south Sudan is raided and burned to the ground leaving his family in dire straits. But he works hard and stays in the United States, vowing to bring his family to join him. And what transpires of Sooley's story is sometimes heartbreaking but also soaring as he is able to reach new heights.
"He picked up a game jersey, the same one he had shown the team back in April. 'You've seen this before. It's a plain gray jersey with matching shorts. No fancy logo. No name on the back. Nothing that says, 'Look at me.' We will wear these unremarkable uniforms to remind ourselves of the simple and humble origins of our people. These uniforms will constantly remind us of where we come from. And when we distinguish ourselves on the court, and we are asked why we wear such simple clothes, we will proudly say that we are South Sudanese. Our country is young and poor, but we will make it a better place."
May 7, 2021
5 Stars!
June 1, 2021
4.5 stars
First let me tell you that I am not a basketball fan, which is about the only sport that I know very little about and do not watch or follow. Therefore I could have used about 5 less play-by-play games during this book. However, the plight of Samuel Sooleyman and his Sudanese family more than made up for reading through too many basketball games.
Samuel Sooleyman - better known as Sooley to his team mates and fans - barely made the cut on a South Sudanese basketball team with a chance to play in America. He is just seventeen. And he is not the best player on the team. But with hard work and determination Sooley begins to shine.
While Sooley is trying to make his way in America the civil war is escalating in his home country. His village is wiped out and he has lost track of his family. His only saving grace is his college roommates family.
Sooley becomes an icon and it is on his jump shot that his team makes the Final Four - something thought impossible and never attained before. Sooley knows that going pro is the only way he will ever get his family moved to the United States. He stars on the journey.
There are some twists and turns in this novel and by the time they begin to appear you are fully in love with Sooley and his plight. Even though he is now a basketball star, he is still the underdog and you are fighting right along beside him. Fighting for his personal success and fighting for the removal of his family from a refugee camp in Uganda and into safety of the US. Things do not seem to move along as Sooley had hoped, but then nothing is a guarantee, and of all people Sooley understood that.
As far as the author - this is John Grisham - what else can I say?
First let me tell you that I am not a basketball fan, which is about the only sport that I know very little about and do not watch or follow. Therefore I could have used about 5 less play-by-play games during this book. However, the plight of Samuel Sooleyman and his Sudanese family more than made up for reading through too many basketball games.
Samuel Sooleyman - better known as Sooley to his team mates and fans - barely made the cut on a South Sudanese basketball team with a chance to play in America. He is just seventeen. And he is not the best player on the team. But with hard work and determination Sooley begins to shine.
While Sooley is trying to make his way in America the civil war is escalating in his home country. His village is wiped out and he has lost track of his family. His only saving grace is his college roommates family.
Sooley becomes an icon and it is on his jump shot that his team makes the Final Four - something thought impossible and never attained before. Sooley knows that going pro is the only way he will ever get his family moved to the United States. He stars on the journey.
There are some twists and turns in this novel and by the time they begin to appear you are fully in love with Sooley and his plight. Even though he is now a basketball star, he is still the underdog and you are fighting right along beside him. Fighting for his personal success and fighting for the removal of his family from a refugee camp in Uganda and into safety of the US. Things do not seem to move along as Sooley had hoped, but then nothing is a guarantee, and of all people Sooley understood that.
As far as the author - this is John Grisham - what else can I say?
May 22, 2021
The basketball storyline was interesting in and of itself, but the rest of it -- the character development, the story telling, the ending -- meh. I was really disappointed to not find it enthralling because I had assumed a John Grisham novel would be gripping and suspenseful with a build up, climax and end. Instead the story was basically flat. And the ending made absolutely no sense based on everything the reader had been told about Samuel Sooleymon up to that point. I don't regret reading it but don't recommend it.
May 2, 2021
4 for the story. 2 for the writing. Grisham is a master storyteller and this was a good one but the writing... who wrote this one? Really, did he give the story outline to his summer intern to flesh out? The basketball theme was exciting and the South Sudan situation was heart wrenching but the rest, meh. It felt like Grisham wrote the game scenarios and an intern wrote the rest. Samuel’s totally out of character ending felt like a mean manipulative plot device just to wrap up and it made me angry.
This was a big disappointment.
Book 25 of pandemic year two, 2021
This was a big disappointment.
Book 25 of pandemic year two, 2021
June 16, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of my favourite John Grisham books and surprisingly it does not have a courtroom trial.
One of my favourite John Grisham books and surprisingly it does not have a courtroom trial.
April 10, 2022
Vielschichtiger Sport Roman mit intensiver Story ......
Vornweg:
Ich habe zwar eine leichte Affinität zu Basketball....kenne mich persönlich aber absolut damit nicht aus.....Trotzdem begeisterte mich dieser extrem Sport lastige Roman über alle Maßen!
Samuel kommt aus einem kleinen Dorf im Südsudan....dort spielt er mit Begeisterung Basketball 🏀 auf Sandplätzen....
Als er die Gelegenheit erhält, an einem Auswahl Turnier in den USA teilzunehmen, ergreift er seine Chance...
Doch in der Zwischenzeit wird sein Dorf überfallen, sein Vater kommt dabei ums Leben und seine Mutter Beatrice und seine Geschwister gelten als vermisst....
Samuel erhält viel Unterstützung und darf über ein Stipendium in den USA bleiben....doch seine Gedanken sind bei seiner Familie....
Intensiv, vielschichtig und trotz detaillierter Basketball Spiel Schilderungen spannend...!
Absolut lesenswert!
Vornweg:
Ich habe zwar eine leichte Affinität zu Basketball....kenne mich persönlich aber absolut damit nicht aus.....Trotzdem begeisterte mich dieser extrem Sport lastige Roman über alle Maßen!
Samuel kommt aus einem kleinen Dorf im Südsudan....dort spielt er mit Begeisterung Basketball 🏀 auf Sandplätzen....
Als er die Gelegenheit erhält, an einem Auswahl Turnier in den USA teilzunehmen, ergreift er seine Chance...
Doch in der Zwischenzeit wird sein Dorf überfallen, sein Vater kommt dabei ums Leben und seine Mutter Beatrice und seine Geschwister gelten als vermisst....
Samuel erhält viel Unterstützung und darf über ein Stipendium in den USA bleiben....doch seine Gedanken sind bei seiner Familie....
Intensiv, vielschichtig und trotz detaillierter Basketball Spiel Schilderungen spannend...!
Absolut lesenswert!
June 2, 2021
This is not the writing that John Grisham is capable of writing.
May 10, 2021
Grisham's latest offering was a huge disappointment. Even though so much of the story was unrealistic, the biggest problem was that the author wasn't true to the main character.
May 28, 2021
It may benefit with a bit of skimming but the game plays are like listening to a game on radio. It moves along pretty well.
April 27, 2021
I don't pay attention to the book blurbs from this author, he's an auto read and I request them when they appear on my library's website. But I will say that I expect a law thrill, so color me surprised when as I started to listen to this one I realized it wasn't a law thriller, more a coming of age and one that will break your heart on so many levels.
I don't know how a person could not like Sooley, he was so happy. Happy to be given a chance to play basketball, happy to see all the new things in the US, just happy. But when life back home took a turn, Sooley rolled with the punches, let the people he trusted guide him and Sooley ended up playing college ball. The season wasn't exciting, Sooley was red shirted, the school he was at, not one of the big names, but then things started to happen and the players started to fall, which in turn had the coach turning to Sooley early. From there it seemed like life exploded for Sooley, so many things happening, so many opportunities for him and the other around him that they took advantage of to the fullest. Sooley had the world at his feet and ready to take it on. Funny how one small thing derailed everything and in an instant the whole world changed. I really hated what I was hearing, hated that the smile was gone, hated that the promise was gone. The rest of the book was a bit of a downer, but there were hints that good could still happen and it did. While I still hate the bad that happened, I think what was done in the aftermath was a great nod to the one that started to make it happen.
I don't know how a person could not like Sooley, he was so happy. Happy to be given a chance to play basketball, happy to see all the new things in the US, just happy. But when life back home took a turn, Sooley rolled with the punches, let the people he trusted guide him and Sooley ended up playing college ball. The season wasn't exciting, Sooley was red shirted, the school he was at, not one of the big names, but then things started to happen and the players started to fall, which in turn had the coach turning to Sooley early. From there it seemed like life exploded for Sooley, so many things happening, so many opportunities for him and the other around him that they took advantage of to the fullest. Sooley had the world at his feet and ready to take it on. Funny how one small thing derailed everything and in an instant the whole world changed. I really hated what I was hearing, hated that the smile was gone, hated that the promise was gone. The rest of the book was a bit of a downer, but there were hints that good could still happen and it did. While I still hate the bad that happened, I think what was done in the aftermath was a great nod to the one that started to make it happen.
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