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Stand-Off

(Winger #2)

Andrew Smith

4.27 · Rating details · 3,714 ratings · 841 reviews

It’s his last year at Pine Mountain, and Ryan Dean should be focused on his future, but instead, he’s haunted by his past. His rugby coach expects him to fill the roles once played by his lost friend, Joey, as the rugby team’s stand-off and new captain. And somehow he’s stuck rooming with twelve-year-old freshman Sam Abernathy, a cooking whiz with extreme claustrophobia an ...more

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Kindle Edition, 448 pages

Published September 8th 2015 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

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YA Novels of 2015

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4.27 ·

Rating details

· 3,714 ratings · 841 reviews

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Feb 14, 2018 Jesse (JesseTheReader) added it · review of another edition

I have mixed feelings on this one! Overall I did enjoy it enough to keep reading, but I found myself so aggravated with the main character. He definitely grew a lot in this book, which I appreciated seeing, but it took a looooong time for him to stop being annoying. I also hate the way the female love interest was treated and how she was written. Can somebody say one-dimensional?? Regardless of the issues, there's something about these books that I love. If Andrew Smith decides to write a 3rd bo ...more

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Feb 17, 2014 Raeleen Lemay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, lgbtqia, young-adult

Andrew Smith gets me. He really does.

This is sitting closer to a 4.5 for me, but it was so great that I'm just going to round up and call it a day.

Of course I was comparing this to Winger the whole time, and my only real complaints are that I wish there were more of the comics, and just a bit more stuff going on. I felt like something was lacking, and I think it's just because of what a huge shocker there was at the end of Winger, so, comparatively the plot was slightly less WOW for me. (but on ...more

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Jul 07, 2014 Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, contemporary

I didn't like this one as much as the first one, but I knew going into it that nothing could be as hard hitting as the first one. But overall it was a great duology!

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Jun 09, 2014 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it really liked it

Shelves: liburrrrrry-book, read-in-2015, teenie-bopper-books

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“In his senior year at Pine Mountain Academy, Ryan Dean West came to appreciate things that he’d tried to resist, and one of those things was change.”

Let’s begin this review by noting that it might potentially piss some people off, shall we????

So yeah. Don’t bother trolling. I have zero of the f*@s to give when it comes to haters of Andrew Smith.

Stand-Off was probably not a great book. But again, I am giving zero of the f*&^s t ...more

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Jul 20, 2014 Brigid ✩ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction, young-adult, arcs, edelweiss, favorites, on-my-kindle, romance, yes-yes-yes

Thank you Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC of this book!

I rarely review a book five minutes after finishing it, but I feel like I have to make an exception for Stand-Off. You know that feeling when you finish a book and it's so good and you just want to run outside and grab the first person you see and scream "READ THIS" in their face? ... Yeah, it's one of those books.

In case you don't know, Stand-Off is the sequel to Winger, which I read a couple years ago and absolutely ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 Edward Lorn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

WINNER: BEST SEQUEL OF 2015!

Andrew Smith is one of my new favorite authors, and Ryan Dean West is one of my favorite fictional characters because he doesn't feel like a fictional character. He deals with real problems and usually fucks up because he's human. There's a big difference between Winger and Stand-Off, but that's not a bad thing.

Stand-Off reminded me a lot of the video game Bully, whereas Winger reminded me of that eighties flick Lucas. Who out there remembers Lucas? Corey Haim and Ke ...more

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May 06, 2015 Carole (Carole's Random Life in Books) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, edelweiss, 2015, reviewed

I love Ryan Dean West. I would have never guess that I would enjoy reading a book about a 15 year old boy as much as I did. This book had the same kind of humor mixed in with heartfelt moments that were found in the previous book. I have to say that I think I enjoyed Winger a bit more than this book but I still felt like this was a solid story. I do think that you will need to read Winger prior to this book to really understand the impact of the things that are happening.

This story picks up at t I love Ryan Dean West. I would have never guess that I would enjoy reading a book about a 15 year old boy as much as I did. This book had the same kind of humor mixed in with heartfelt moments that were found in the previous book. I have to say that I think I enjoyed Winger a bit more than this book but I still felt like this was a solid story. I do think that you will need to read Winger prior to this book to really understand the impact of the things that are happening.

This story picks up at the beginning of Ryan Dean's senior year. He is now 15 and a lot of things are different at school this year. A lot of his friends have graduated and don't play a part of this story. Ryan Dean is shocked to find himself with a freshman roommate in a tiny little room. Not just any freshman, a 12 year old freshman. Ryan Dean is anything but impressed especially when his roommate, Sam Abernathy, demonstrates a few of his rather quirky behaviors. The rugby team has to make a few changes this year as well. A large portion of the team graduated so there are lot of spots to fill.

I wasn't sure that Winger needed a follow up book. It was such a moving book that stands alone on its own. I still think that you can read that book and never pick this one up and be completely satisfied with the story. I did really like seeing how the events of the first book impacted the lives of the characters in the future. I think that is one of the real strengths of this book. These characters are not as okay as they would want you to believe and I really liked the way that they watched out for each other and helped each other through everything. I don't think that this book would work well as a stand alone novel.

I liked watching Ryan Dean grow in this book. He has been through a lot and doesn't always make the right choices. One thing that I love about Ryan Dean is that when he realizes that he was wrong about something, he is not afraid to admit it and apologize. When his friends give him some advice, he takes it and tries to heal.

This book had a lot of funny moments. I didn't find any laugh out loud moments but I did have a grin on my face for large portions of the story. I liked the artwork even though there wasn't as much of it as in the first book. (I read an ARC copy so it is possible that the final copy has more artwork than the version that I read.) This story didn't have any really shocking moments but it was overall a worthwhile read.

I would recommend this book to fans of YA who enjoyed the first book in the series, Winger. This is the second book by Andrew Smith that I have read and I am planning on reading some of his other works very soon.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers via Edelweiss for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
I love this book!! Ryan Dean West is just a fabulous character and this book had that same magical balance of funny and touching moments as Winger. ...more

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Feb 03, 2014 Glire marked it as to-read

Shelves: young-adult

ACT. 08/12/2014.

Andrew Smith just share this pic on his Instagram account.

description

A matching cover? I approve.

****

Winger #2?!

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Dec 18, 2014 Richie Chagas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, 2015, 5-stars, favorites, feels, funny-and-amusing, lgbt, great-characters, great-writing

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Feb 12, 2015 Estefani rated it it was amazing

5 Stars

Review also on Fiction Jungle

I adored Winger. I loved Stand Off. I know some people practically detest Ryan Dean, I don’t think he’s misunderstood, I think you just like him or not, but I completely enjoy reading this funny, engaging, annoying, irritating, sometimes idiotic and always horny character.

This one wasn’t as impactful as Winger was, obviously, but it did had that same awesomeness that made me fall in love with the first book. These books have a subtle undertone of longing tha ...more

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Apr 16, 2014 Juanpa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, books-i-own, favorites, glbt, male-narrator, read-in-english, sports, ya-contemporary

YOU FUCKING DID IT AGAIN, ANDREW SMITH

At first, Andrew Smith's books seem to be the kind of books that will keep you laughing out loud all the time, but when you least expect it, he crashes your heart with no mercy.

Stand-Off follows Ryan Dean's senior year and how he manages to graduate after the tragedy that happened the previous year.
What I loved the most about this book is that Ryan Dean grew up so much, he is now way more mature than the previous book, and it's really sad to see how he cope ...more

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Feb 17, 2014 Aria marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: excited-for-release

Winger #2?

Winger #2?

WINGER #2?

*cue instant fangirling*

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You know why there's an image error?

It's because there's not a single gif or image in the world that can show my excitement.

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2014 Jon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tissues-needed, wishlist

I can't say much about this because the release date is so far away. What you should know is that this book is awesome, heartbreaking, sexy and just so much fun. Andrew Smith has written yet another masterpiece.

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May 09, 2014 Shannon (leaninglights) rated it really liked it

This book was pretty good. Didn't love it quite as much as Winger, but it was an important follow up. We find Ryan Dean in his senior year following the aftermath of the end of his junior year. Stand-Off still gives you plenty of classic RDW moments to make you laugh and roll your eyes but the book overall had a much more serious tone. Ryan had a lot to learn and conquer in Stand-Off and I enjoyed reading about it :) Andrew Smith has hinted to a possibility of more books in the Winger world, whi ...more

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Feb 17, 2014 Manuel de Acha marked it as to-read

Shelves: favorite-authors, top-tbr

NEED IT NOW OMG! FAVORITE BOOK AND LAST PERSON TO KNOW ABOUT THIS. I CANT EVEN HANDLE MYSELF

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Apr 28, 2014 ashley (saidthestory) rated it liked it

I went into this excited yet cautious. I loved Winger so much, I was worried this would fail in comparison - but it didn't (not really!). It was quite different - seeing as Ryan Dean is now WITH Annie, and no longer in O-Hall, and of course he is now dealing with a hole new set of issues (those of you who read Winger know what I'm talking about, i.e. the part where tears spilled from my eyes). The difference in content in no way changed the tone of writing (which I loved!) or the spunk of Ryan D ...more

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Dec 27, 2014 Maria (Big City Bookworm) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-new-releases, arc, lgbtqia, pretty-covers, read-2015

This ARC was provided to me from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rated up

* WARNING: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ OR FINISHED READING WINGER BY ANDREW SMITH *

I hate to admit that I jumped onto the Winger bandwagon a little late in the game. I kept seeing it around and I kept hearing other bloggers talk about how amazing it was, but for whatever reason I kept putting it off. Earlier this year I finally had the opportunity to read This ARC was provided to me from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rated up

* WARNING: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ OR FINISHED READING WINGER BY ANDREW SMITH *

I hate to admit that I jumped onto the Winger bandwagon a little late in the game. I kept seeing it around and I kept hearing other bloggers talk about how amazing it was, but for whatever reason I kept putting it off. Earlier this year I finally had the opportunity to read and review it and I must say I fell in love with Ryan Dean West and his story very quickly. Fast forward to a couple of months later and I was contacted by Simon & Schuster Canada who offered me an ARC of the sequel to Winger titled Stand-Off. Of course I immediately accepted and although it took me a little longer to read due to a crazy couple of weeks, I finally got around to finishing it and I must say, I think I may have liked it even more than Winger!

As mentioned above, I fell in love with everything about Winger. So when I heard that there was going to be a sequel, I was a little worried. Winger had such a strong an emotional ending that it was hard for me to picture where the story could go from there and if it would even be beneficial. I was worried in the same way I get worried after connecting deeply with a film only to have it ruined by a terrible sequel. I am so extremely glad that this was not the case with Stand-Off.

Stand-Off deals with the aftermath of Ryan Dean losing his best friend to an extremely terrible incident that still makes me angry just thinking about it. Ryan Dean is clearly and understandably struggling to get past the loss of his best friend and is dealing with some pretty dark emotions.

Stand-Off starts off with a darker and more serious undertone than that of Winger, but if you are familiar with the writing style of Andrew Smith, you know that there is always a little bit of quirky comic relief just around the corner.

Enter Sam Abernathy, Ryan Dean’s new 12 year old freshman roommate. In typical Ryan Dean West fashion, nothing seems to go the way he intends which leads to some hilarious internal monologue. The introduction of this new character provides the story with a new relationship between two characters that are more similar than they think.

I think that Stand-Off dealt with the concept of loss from the point of view of a young teenager very well. The idea of N.A.T.E. (the Next Accidental Terrible Experience) was a unique and relatable way to deal with the concept of anxiety. I love that Andrew Smith was able to depict this in such a way, especially within the comics and illustrations from Ryan Dean’s imagination.

Both Winger and Stand-Off deal with everyday social issues that everyone can relate to. I believe that both these stories are beneficial for anyone who has suffered from the loss of their best friend or anyone who suffers from anxiety and/or depression. I highly recommend both of these novels as they will remain a personal favourite for a very long time. ...more

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Mar 19, 2014 Gordon Ambos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 5-stars

5 Sterne, was sonst?

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Dec 08, 2014 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: boy-appeal, favorites, friendship, heartprint-books, ya-lit, sports, 2015-novel-length-reads, own

In this sequel to Winger, fifteen-year-old Ryan Dean West is now a senior in high school and is still dealing with the aftermath of what happened at the end of the first book (no spoilers here!). Not talking about it however has resulted in some psychological torment that seems to be playing out most noticeably in his dreams and in his drawings, which once used to bring him solace. Now his rugby coach wants him to play a position that will no doubt dredge up a lot of painful memories despite the ...more

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Oct 08, 2015 Yonaily marked it as to-read

Shelves: soon

Me: Is this a sick joke??? do you really expect me to read the sequel after you murdered my favorite character in the first novel????
Andrew Smith: Well--
Me: Damn it, I'm in.

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Jan 31, 2014 Mary H marked it as to-read

Shelves: arc, authors-ive-met, signed, my-books, unfinished-series

Oh, gosh. I can't even. There are too many feelings. I'm so excited for more adventures of Ryan Dean West aka the wild boy of Bainbridge Island, but that ending!

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Feb 01, 2014 Lauren Stoolfire rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, humor, lgbtq

Ryan Dean West is now back for his senior year at Pine Mountain, but instead of focusing on his future all he can think of is his past. The rugby coach expects him to play the position of his lost teammate Joey as fly-half (aka stand-off) and act as team captain, his drawings don't help any more either and he is fully expecting N.A.T.E. (the Next Accidental Terrible Experience) to blindside him at any moment, and to top everything off his new roommate is a twelve-year-old freshman named Sam Aber ...more

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Nov 02, 2015 Saeed Mohamadi rated it really liked it

Actual rating 4.618
This book is brilliant and I absolutely loved it.

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Feb 07, 2015 Dylan rated it it was amazing

There are no words to express how much I loved this book.

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Oct 20, 2015 Rizal rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 11, 2016 Liza rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-favorites, finished-series

Review to come!

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Feb 17, 2014 David rated it it was amazing

Review to come.

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Jan 31, 2014 Jaime Arkin rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015, simon-schuster, galley-arc, contemporary, read-in-2015, series, ya

I heart Ryan Dean West!! Full review to come!!

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Mar 19, 2016 Carrie Gelson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: friendship, glbt, grieving, realistic-fiction, school-setting, ya2015favourite, ya-fiction, mustreadin2016

Ryan Dean West continues to be one of my all time favourite characters. Fan-flipping-tastic.

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Dec 26, 2015 Cassandra (Thebookishcrypt) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One thing this book taught me was... I wasn't ready.
At all.
I was right to be scared of this book. Just opening it up made me cry all over again. The last book destroyed every part of me and threw my life completely off kilter. It shattered me like no other book has ever done before. I know these characters are all fictional but this is what happens when you love a character as much as I loved one in this story. When you wish the BEST (and more) for them. When you want them to be ridiculously ha One thing this book taught me was... I wasn't ready.
At all.
I was right to be scared of this book. Just opening it up made me cry all over again. The last book destroyed every part of me and threw my life completely off kilter. It shattered me like no other book has ever done before. I know these characters are all fictional but this is what happens when you love a character as much as I loved one in this story. When you wish the BEST (and more) for them. When you want them to be ridiculously happy because if anything, they're the ones that deserve it the most. When you just want to see them smile and laugh because that means that you can be happy too. And then Andrew Smith comes in and says 'NO' to all of the above. You just have to roll with the punches and hope that someday, somehow, the re-shattered pieces of your heart will mend themselves. Stand Off opened up all the wounds I received from Winger and poured acid in them.
In this book we got to see the aftermath of what Winger threw at us. We see Ryan Dean struggling with his grief and trying to move on from it. His emotions were so raw and awful that it was torture not being able to hug it out with him. I grieved alongside him and related completely to his inner struggle.
We are also introduced to a new character, Sam Abernathy. I admit, I didn't like him at first but he grew on me by the end. I sympathized 100% with Ryan Dean's wariness of befriending him. Ryan Dean's character development was amazing and powerful. He made me so incredibly proud because of it.
I had also guessed what Ryan Dean was trying to find out about Joey but that didn't make it any easier to read about it. It destroyed me all over again and I couldn't stop sobbing all night after reading it.
This book was as ridiculous, hilarious, and emotional as Winger. What Andrew Smith did to me is atrocious. There is no way I can move on from all this grief he poured upon me. Now every time I look or even think about these books, I will lose my sanity all over again.
This book gets 6 stars from me. ...more

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YA Buddy Readers'...: Stand-Off (Winger #2) by Andrew Smith -- Restarting May 23rd 2016	15	36	Jun 04, 2016 06:40PM
What do you think will happen in Stand-Off	2	30	May 25, 2015 04:48AM

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About Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith

1,600 followers

Andrew Smith is the author of Winger , The Marbury Lens , Passenger , Ghost Medicine , Stick , and In the Path of Falling Objects . Grasshopper Jungle is coming from Dutton/Penguin on February 11, 2014.