We Are the Wildcats

by Siobhan Vivian

A toxic coach finds himself outplayed by the high school girls on his team in this deeply suspenseful novel, which unspools over twenty-four hours through six diverse perspectives.

Tomorrow, the Wildcat varsity field hockey squad will play the first game of their new season. But at tonight’s team sleepover, the girls are all about forging the bonds of trust, loyalty, and friendship necessary to win.

Everything hinges on the midnight initiation ceremony—a beloved tradition and the only facet of being a Wildcat that the girls control. Until now.

Coach—a handsome former college player revered and feared in equal measure—changes the plan and spins his team on a new adventure. One where they take a rival team’s mascot for a joyride, crash a party in their pajamas, break into the high school for the perfect picture.

But as the girls slip out of their comfort zone, so do some long-held secrets. And just how far they’re willing to go for their team takes them all—especially Coach—by surprise.

A testament to the strength and resilience of modern teenage girls, We Are the Wildcats will have readers cheering.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary, Mystery

368 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2020

About the author

Siobhan Vivian is the author of THE LAST BOY AND GIRL IN THE WORLD (April 2016), as well as THE LIST, NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL, SAME DIFFERENCE, and A LITTLE FRIENDLY ADVICE. She also co-wrote BURN FOR BURN series with her best friend JENNY HAN. She currently lives in Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[— nova]

not gonna lie, i immediately thought of high school musical

[Larry H · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Other people believing in you is important; believing in yourself is vital if you want to succeed. That's one message I got from Siobhan Vivian's latest book, We Are the Wildcats .

“Team first, always.” That’s the mantra of the coach of the West Essex Girls’ Field Hockey team. Some say he’s too hard on the team, some say he’s manipulative, even abusive. But this mantra seems to be working—the team has won four of the last five state championships.

Last year, however, things fell apart and they lost in the championship game. No one was even sure if Coach would come back this year, since he deserved to be coaching on the college level. The girls are all determined that what happened last year won’t happen again, and all battle to make the team for another year. They say, and try to prove, that they’re stronger, faster, tougher, and a few new, younger recruits show promise.

Coach doesn’t agree, though. He doesn’t believe this team is ready to go all the way. He doesn't even think they can win their first scrimmage. And over the course of one night—which is supposed to be the team’s traditional Psych-Up Party—Coach injects himself in ways that cause the girls doubt, yet they are even more motivated to prove, especially to him, just how much they want to win.

At the same time, though, Coach’s subtle manipulations magnify the girls’ vulnerabilities, and it’s not long before secrets are revealed (and discovered), lies are identified, and crucial decisions need to be made. It may be more than Coach bargained for.

I thought this was an interesting book but it was a little different than I expected. I was expecting more Mean Girls but it wasn’t cruel like that. The book was narrated by a number of team members so at times it was tough keeping everything straight.

Vivian did a great job creating tension throughout the whole book, and I was definitely hooked. I kept worrying that the plot might veer into uncomfortable territory, and there was lots of potential for that. But she remained true to her story, and while there might not be a lot of surprises, this was a good read.

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Ashley Nuckles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t a huge fan overall. I liked the friendship between the girls and how dedicated they were to something they loved, but a majority of this book dragged on very slowly and certain parts made me a bit uncomfortable. The end was a bit better as realizations were made, but it still wasn’t super satisfying. Enjoyed certain moments but overall was only okay-ish. It is what it is!

[sam]

saying "fuck that fucking bitch" in response to a college student choosing a book about our corrupt criminal justice system written by a black author instead of your white friend's ya contemporary for their common reads program is a big yikes from me!!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. This one was a HUGE miss for me. I played softball year-round when I was in high school, so I was excited for a book about the bond between a girls' field hockey team. When I read this, though, there were quite a few issues for me.

First, the pacing. This book takes place in one night and has six POVs. That means for the first 70 pages of this book, we got the intro chapters to each POV and only had exposition. FOR 70 PAGES. Not a good start. Then, in every chapter, we had the girls in the present time and they would ALWAYS have a flashback of some sort to last year and what went on in the team. I would get confused and not know if a scene was currently happening or if it was a flashback and it made the story seem to drag on.

The main conflict of this book was the coach and I was not a fan. At all. The coach was manipulative and unprofessional and not at all okay. He had been the coach for four years and had done shady things, but none of the girls ever said anything to each other? Only ONE parent had said something in all of those years? That seemed unbelievable and I hated how his character was so malicious and overdramatic. I just wasn't a fan and I didn't like how the book ended with that situation.

Overall, I had to force myself to finish this one. I didn't like the characters, the pacing, or the main conflict. I'd skip this one.

[Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
That's it? Really?! For the first half of the book nothing really happened then, everything started happening at once. I went into this book with no expectations, but I still hoped that I would like it more than I actually did.

This book follows this all girls field hockey team called the Wildcats. Over 24 hours we see how they bond, how they leave behind their misunderstandings and start coming to the realisation that their coach is not actually the person they thought him to be.

I wish we got to know more of the characters. This books has 370 pages and six POVs. It was hard for me to know all the characters. Through out the book I felt like Mel, the team's captain, and Luci, the only youngest member, had the most POVs and the strongest plotline. But I didn't really like neither of them. I liked Grace the best, but she was the one who had the least POVs!

The girls were so naive. The coach manipulated them for years. He never cared for them or for the team, he always care about himself. He used the girls to try to make a better reputation for himself! He constantly lied to the girls, and he always made them feel like most bad things that happened where their fault, when 100% of the time it was his damn fault! I hated him sooo much! At the tryouts he thought Grace was a really good player, he choose her for his team and then he started making fun of her just because she dyed her hair blue! He called her "weird" or "weirdo" and that annoyed me so much. What the hell is wrong with blue hair?! Let her be! Let her have whatever color she wants!

Okayyyy, after getting a bit sidetracked with my review, I'm gonna say I had higher hopes for this book. I'm not really into sports, but I picked this book up since I really hope that I would like the relationship between the girls. And in the end I did, but I just hope I woudl get more of that and about that.

[Cortney - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was disappointing.

I've read a lot of Siobhan Vivian's books, and this one was definitely my least favorite. There were too many points of view (none which were that different) which made the teammates and the brief background on each hard to keep straight.

This all took place over 1 day, and I feel like not much happened.

I had high hopes for this one, but it fell flat for me.

[Katie Mauger]

How's this author supposed to write a feminist book when this is how she talks about young women?



This is extremely gross behavior.

[Riley (runtobooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

this gets the big ole NOPE from me.

this novel follows 6 girls on the wildcats varsity field hockey team as they embark on a mission the night before their first scrimmage of the season. most of the book explores the back stories of these girls and how they got to where they are in the present, but aside from that, there's not much plot.

while some of the characters were marginally enjoyable, the book dragged to no end... and it only took place over one day/night. but this book focussed heavily on the girls' relationship to their coach (referred to only as 'coach'), and while this relationship is VERY inappropriate, much of the book tries to justify it. even though the girls eventually see his behaviour as unacceptable, it's still VERY NOT OK.

also, i don't really want to support this author any more, due to the very Not Cool twitter responses. (authors needs to not engage with readers' reviews, unless to say 'thank you.') see more here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

all in all, this was very very Not Good.

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Hannah French

A book all about a girl hockey team? Yes please.

I’ve never played a team sport, but after reading We are the Wildcats I wish I could join a powerful and fearless group of girls so we could kick some butt together.

In the novel, 20 girls are chosen to be on the varsity hockey team, but they didn’t win last season and are all still recovering from the loss. The next 24 hours see them come together as a team. They spend the entire night together, they pull some pranks, have a sleepover, and make some dark realisations about their coach and his unconventional methods.

I loved that this book was all about girls supporting girls. All of these girls have each others’ back and band up together. They are a team, no matter what.

This book has a large amount of characters and it is written from the views of six different girls on the hockey team. They are all different and we get an insight into Ali who is Korean and how racism has impacted her life; we also see Grace struggle with not being conventionally “beautiful’; and Phoebe recovering from a severe injury. As there were so many characters, it was difficult to connect with all of them, but each reader will definitely connect with at least one of them.

I really liked Grace and Ali as they were both strong in their own way and always stood up for each other and the rest of the team. I think Mel was a very interesting character, but her relationship with Coach was what made me dislike her as I think we needed more development of these two characters and their relationship. Mel and Phoebe’s friendship was really heartwarming and I thought it was great that they both had flaws and that they had made mistakes in their friendship.

The book is set over 24 hours and the pacing was a bit difficult to read at times as we jumped back into the past quite a few times and it pulled me out of the story.

I was also disappointed in the ending and it made me uncomfortable. The Coach of this team is seriously problematic and I wish these issues had been addressed more. I think sport coaches do tend to get away with more, especially if their team wins and I think the author explored this idea very well but we needed more closure on this issue.

We need more books that draw attention to the fact that men never question the pedestal they are given just for being male and that girls should support each other and not tear each other down. I was so appreciative that these girls loved each other unconditionally and would never intentionally hurt one another.

[char · Rating 1 out of 5]

POST-REVIEW NOTES: I just read up on the twitter drama involving siobhan vivian, sarah dessen, jodi picoult, and other authors. i have A LOT of thoughts regarding that, but will address those later. for now, all i can say is that i am absolutely APPALLED at vivian's comments and reactions, and that i find her extremely laughable. writing a "feminist book" after calling a university graduate who RIGHTFULLY expressed her opinion WITHOUT being demeaning or hurtful a "fucking bitch"? faux feminism at its peak. i'm embarrassed to have ever spent money on this author.

DNF on page 207

Man, this book was so boring, I don't even have words for it. I feel like I was completely set up with an amazing cover, cool premise, and promising characters that all turned out so flat, one-dimensional, and straight-up not entertaining at all. It feels like I have been reading this book forever, and yet, absolutely nothing happened.

All I know is that Mel is a horrible fucking person and should get her "I'm not like other girls because I don't do silly feminine sports like yoga" attitude in check. It's not cute. (Also, Coach thinking that the Truman scouts could make her do "ballet dancing" as casual practice??? I laughed. Ballet is twelve million times as difficult as field hockey. Also, thanks for putting it down, like the only sport that matters is hockey! I hated it.)

This book could have been important. Instead, though, it took itself way too seriously, relying on heavy prose and amateur hints at deep, complex issues. In reality, this book had nothing to say.

[Karma♥Bites ^.~]

Fuck [this] fucking [book]

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of 2020 has been a disaster for field hockey enthusiasts, especially supporters of the USWNT. After a disappointing start with three straight losses in the FIH Pro League, the corona19 virus forced the cancellation of the series. We do not know at present when and how school and NCAA field hockey will be played this fall. But a small mercy—thus far it has been as great year of reading about our sport. So far I’ve read Fiona Campbell’s No Number Nine, Quan Barry’s We Ride Upon Sticks, and now Siobhan Vivian’s We Are the Wildcats. Comparing these three novels brings out the splendid variousness of the sport. Campbell’s is international hockey, culminating at the Olympic Games. Both Barry and Vivian write about American high-school field hockey. Though their settings are similar, the two books belong to quite different genres. We Ride Upon Sticks is clearly intended for the audience for “literary” fiction, so while most of the characters are teenagers in the 1980s, the setting in Danvers, neighboring Salem, Massachusetts is heavily reliant on the mythology of the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. We Are the Wildcats is a YA featuring a common theme of the genre, the moral superiority of teenagers (especially girls) over corrupt and manipulative (especially male) adults.

I had hoped for another story with the intensity of Megan Abbott’s Dare Me, and to some extent Vivian delivered. Both feature a triangle of two high-school BFFs and a demanding coach who wants a state championship and drives the team to their limits to excel. Abbott’s sport was competitive stunt cheerleading, Vivian’s field hockey. Her team is the West Essex Wildcats, and as with Abbott’s Sutton Grove Eagles, we never learn their precise location. The BFFs are Melanie Gingrich and Phoebe Holt, a forward and a midfielder who make a deadly goal scoring combination. Coach is a handsome twenty-something who is supposed to have played on the US men’s national team and imagines himself too good for high-school coaching. Last season the Wildcats were runners up for state championship when Mel failed to score, Phoebe was out with a torn ACL and Kerson, seconded from the JVs to replace her, flopped. Then Ali the goalkeeper allowed Oak Knolls to score the winning goal. Coach is determined that not happen again.

The girls on the team believe his connections are vital to getting scholarships. As in many contemporary novels, much of the narration is conducted by text messaging. As the new season opens, Coach appoints Mel team captain, but she is also Coach’s favorite and throughout the book we share their secret messages. We also discover Coach is developing a new favorite, Luci, who’s just made varsity as a freshman. The Wildcats are commencing their new season with a scrimmage, a “friendly” match against their arch-rivals the Oak Knolls Bulldogs. By tradition the night before the opening game is given over to a “Psych-up” sleepover at the home of the Wildcat captain, who will give the newly chosen varsity team their uniform shirts. But this year Coach doesn’t deliver the shirts, and the girls embark on their own midnight rambling team-building effort, leading to a shocking revelation that Coach has been deceiving and betraying them.

Like West Essex, the universities to which the Wildcats aspire are imaginary. Coach is supposed to be an alumnus of Truman University. Its location is undisclosed, but apparently far enough away to require a plane flight for a campus visit (Mel has already been offered a scholarship) and almost but not quite Ivy League: I’d imagine like Duke or Northwestern. “Their field hockey team produced nationally ranked players, many of whom, like Coach, went directly into the Olympic pipeline.” That “like Coach” rang with a large clunk. Although Coach is supposed to have played Division I field hockey in college, there are no American universities with intercollegiate men’s field hockey programs; unfortunately it is exclusively a women’s sport.

There is a poorly supported professional USMNT; if possible its players train overseas.) As there is very little actual hockey playing in We Are the Wildcats, but I couldn’t help wondering what members of Vivian’s audience would make of Mel and Phoebe’s game strategy.

“Okay! So you and I are going to make a run at the Oak Knolls goal with the kind of intensity we’d have if the clock were about to run out and it was our last chance to score. Except we’re going to do it immediately after the face-off.”
“Assuming you win the face-off,” Phoebe teases.
Mel swats her. “I always win the face-off! Anyway. Instead of passing the ball forward, I’m going to hook the ball sideways to you. Then you and I will sprint straight up the field, full throttle, crisscrossing passes as we go. I’m imagining three total, like boom boom boom, with your last one hitting me right at the top of the key. And then I’m going to fire off a shot, as hard as I can, with everything I’ve got.”

Seeing “face-off” and “key,” a YA field hockey player might wonder if Mel and Phoebe think they’re playing ice hockey, men’s lacrosse, or basketball. Since the 1980s, face-offs, or bullies as they’re termed in field hockey, are rare, mostly replaced by a push-back for starting or restarting games. And the goal-scoring zone is a 15 yard semi-circle in front of the goal cage called the “scoring circle” or “the D”—not the “key.” One also wonders what the Oak Knolls defenders and goalkeeper would be doing while Mel and Phoebe were passing the ball back and forth, boom boom boom.

Siobhan Vivian missed an opportunity to accomplish for field hockey what Megan Abbott did for cheer. If Coach had been a woman, like Coach French in Dare Me, her backstory as a Truman University alumna who went on the play for the USWNT would have been entirely plausible. She could actually have been on a division I field hockey team at an elite university like Truman is supposed to be. Surely, a woman coach could be equally prone to favouritism, self-centeredness, and manipulative behavior as any male. And from an artistic POV would be more plausible, realistic, and accurate with respect to American school sport.

The ignorance of the game in We Are the Wildcats is especially unhappy because Vivian wastes an opportunity to display for YA readers who do not have the good fortune to play real hockey—either because they live in the wrong states or are boys—what an exciting international sport it is, very demanding physically, fast and constantly moving, and requiring the most selfless teamwork from the whole squad (quite unlike Mel and Phoebe’s game plan in this book). Some games really are morally and spiritually better than others, and I believe field hockey, whether played on the school, university, club or international level, is amongst the very best.

[lexi ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

not impressed.

i feel like you don't even need to read the book because the whole story is in the summary/synopsis. the actual book is just a long drawn out story about a field hockey team called the wildcats and their manipulative coach.

there were so many things that did not work out for this. i want to touch on the plot of the book which is the field hockey team and their coach. i feel like the main element of the story became the entire story & that leads to a lot of repetition & more opportunity for readers to get bored early on. it really didn't work well because there are only so many ways you can illustrate field hockey, characters who only care about field hockey & a coach that is disgusting beyond belief.

all characters introduced only care about field hockey & place it above their families & loved ones. almost every single character in the story did this & it wasn't exciting having to read about all 6 characters blow off their loved ones or give them the cold shoulder for a sport & a coach who they basically worship. i really just can't believe how naive some of the characters were & how they trusted this man more than themselves or their parents/loved ones, but they were severely manipulated so i understand it's not entirely fair to critique the characters solely based on their naivety, but overall i didn't really like the characters.

another element that did not work well was the structure of the book. at first it steadily rotated between characters & then closer to the middle of the book it started focusing on 1 or 2 characters which isn't a big deal, but it is noticeable & has an effect on the fluidity of the story.

i don't understand how some of the coach's actions were not deemed suspicious by more adults in the book because there were definitely instances where another teacher or another parent could have witnessed that something was very wrong, but i feel like the author wanted the wildcats to be the heroes which is fine, but it just creates a more biased atmosphere & a lot of grey area for questioning, especially since there were a lot of events where adults were around this coach while he has doing highly questionable things like yelling & swearing at a high school field hockey team during a game.

i never dnf a book because i always have hope i'll like some aspect of it, & i only like the bulldog because i'm & dog lover, but none of the events or characters stuck out to me & a grown ass man manipulating teenage girls & texting them at 3am is not exciting to read it's gross.

- arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[eme☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, thanks xtinemay and booktube for recomend this book! Recently I found that I really enjoy reading about sports even if I've never liked playing them lol.

We´re the wildcats it's very unique in its own way: it tells the story about a group of girls who are in the varsity team of field hockey and have this special reunion before the first game of the season. All the book happens in one night and the story has five POVs which at first I found it scary but it's really interesting.
I've never read anything written by Siobhan Vivian and I was surprised to be really conected to both the characters and the story. Every girl is different, has her own background story but the five share the same love for the team. Even if I didn't like some of the girls (Luci and Mel for example) that much, it was pretty interesting to read their POVs and I believe that it made the book better.
The main focus of the book was on friendship. AND. I. TOTALLY. LOVED. IT. Stop with the girl-hate. It's awful. This bunch of girls was really diverse, and some didn't get along at first, others were "the newbies" but the team was always first (sometime in a bad way but still). They always had each others's back.

When the girls are together, they feel invincible.

Also, the way the story develops and how the girls start to find out that something is not ok with the way Coach treated them it was pretty well done. Another point for the Author!
It's only four stars because some things seemed childish to me and the end felt a little rushed.But overall it's a new fave!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The power of this book lies in two separate spheres. The first is in the girls themselves -- how in the oftentimes brutal arena of high school, they choose to lift each other up, to support one another, even (especially!) the younger girls who are new to the Wildcats team. Their kindness is instinctual, their loyalty is resolute. It made my heart swell, as this is all I want for teenage girls everywhere all of the time.

The second is in the way Siobhan Vivian reveals the slow burn of manipulation for what it is: an insidious reach for control over another person. This happened to me! As a 17 year old girl! And I can tell you from experience that the way it's portrayed here is so, so real. Let this book be a guiding force to teenage girls, leading them to find the strength that's inside themselves to reject toxic behavior from terrible dudes. I hope this book sells one billion copies. I'm ready for an underground legion of Wildcat girls to take over the planet.

[Kelly]

The varsity field hockey team of West Essex is legendary, despite their loss at state finals last year. To be a girl on the team is to become a true Wildcat. To become Someone.

So the girls who make the final cut this year get together for their annual night-before-the-first-scrimmage bonding night, a lot is at stake, and little has to do with the game itself. Rather, six different girls reveal secrets they've kept close about the way their coach has been a toxic influence on them individually, as well as a team.

Told over less than 24 hours, the varied perspectives keep the pace of this book moving perfectly while giving a broad and encompassing idea of what it's like to be an elite female athlete on a team known for being The Best. There's a lot here about team bonds, about passion for the game, and about the ways that those very things can be manipulated by an outsider, particularly a "beloved" adult.

The writing is lovely, and each of the voices is distinct. Readers looking for a story about girls who kick ass will do very well here -- as will readers who think they don't like sport stories, as the field hockey plays a role in the book, but it's not central to the book (which, for someone who loves a good sport book, knows that's how most sports books ARE -- the sport is the back drop, not the only story).

[LW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book accomplished everything it set out to do.

Ultimately, it was about a toxic coach and the girls learning that and taking back their lives. It was very frustrating, reading about such a manipulator, but I think it's also really important we read about it.

I've had to deal with toxic people in my life, even a coach like this one, and it helped me identify abusive relationships. Too often, teenagers hurt themselves working too hard, trying to live up to unrealistic expectations projected by toxic authority figures, and it was empowering following the Wildcats as they learn to take care of themselves. Because what really matters? A field hockey game? Or your health and safety?

So, while this isn't a fun book, it's an important one, and I'm so glad I read it.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, this one was just a giant miss for me.

We Are the Wildcats is told from six different POV's over the span of one night. While I don't mind multiple POV's, this was pushing it. Because we got so little time with each girl in the beginning, it was really hard to keep them separated. They all sort of blended together in my mind and that made it hard to really connect or care about any of them.

In addition, the main plot was literally them trying to impress their coach by coming a team (more on the coach later). But while I am 100% here for bonding and lifting each other up, this gave off more cultish vibes than team. I know that high school sports can be all encompassing, but this felt almost like a parody of that. And on top of that, Vivian made each girl extremely naive that the powerful message was lost under all of the nonsense.

The entire night is about this team trying to show their coach that they can become a unit and that they deserve their varsity jerseys. However, this coach was one giant red flag. I find it really hard to believe that if these girls were as close as they all said that they were, that there's no way they would not have talked about their coach together. He was never given an actual name and I actually agree with that. He is a man in power who gets off on controlling young girls. By not giving him a name, he stayed this overbearing authority in their lives. But I mean, the flashbacks and the stories that came out - I just don't get how this wouldn't have been noticed by anyone else.

In addition, Coach's relationship with Mel was 100% inappropriate. This man was a predator plain and simple and I kind of hate how that was glossed over in favor of "go team".

Just a giant miss for me.

[Joshua Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's never been her place to question him. It's her job to trust him. And she did trust him.

This is my very first Siobhan Vivian book. If you look at its Goodreads page or Google the author, you might notice a trend: references to the Twitter war last November. I don't want to be redundant, so all you have to know is that Siobhan's way of supporting Sarah Dessen wasn't exactly helpful. Nonetheless, since book reviewers have to be objective, I won't let my opinion on the controversy affect my rating of this feminist novel. Those three stars are for the book, not the author.

We Are the Wildcats doesn't have anything to do with High School Musical. It's about six girls (Mel, Phoebe, Luci, Ali, Grace, and Kearson) who a part of a 20-member field hockey team called the Wildcats. They have a major game coming, so they need to prepare themselves physically and mentally. Luci, the team captain, organizes a meaningful evening event to motivate everyone, but their beloved coach gets in the way and changes the game plan. However, because of Coach's interference, the girls eventually see his true, dark colors.

The book was indeed suspenseful. Coach was a complex character, and I wanted to understand why the girls, especially Mel, adored him. Regardless of his cold and brusque temperament, they claimed that everything he did was to bring out the best players in them. Sometimes, the story made me uncomfortable because Mel's feelings for Coach weren't just respect and admiration. She treasured their conversations and felt special whenever he texted her. Their texts weren't romantic, but it was apparent that Coach was pulling Mel's strings.

The other girls weren't infatuated with Coach, but they all wanted to please him through their athletic performance. It came to the point that I felt sorry for the Wildcats. Were they just too innocent or ignorant to realize his malicious power over them? For most of the book, Coach was an excellent manipulator. He often succeeded in making them feel indebted to him. So when things began to unravel, I was excited to see the girls kick his ass.

The was supposed to cover only 24 hours. I expected a very fast-paced plot but found an intermittent one instead. There were too many perspectives to follow, and all of them had flashbacks to give their relationships with Coach some context. Unfortunately, I only cared about a few of them. Among the six POVs, I enjoyed Ali's the most. She was one of the two Asians on the team and had fascinating interactions with her Korean family. Grace (Wildcat #5) also had a cool big brother, and I loved their shared screentime. Finally, Phoebe (Wildcat #2) had one of the most significant struggles. Her ACL was torn, but she refused to let that get in the way of her dreams.

The most notable aspect of this book was its depiction of female friendship. The protagonists rarely had petty arguments. Coach tried to break their faith in each other with manipulative tactics but failed as a result of their tenacity and loyalty. Still, several side characters behaved differently and were perfect examples of girl hate; they resented Grace and Kearson out of pathetic envy. Perhaps balance was achieved that way?

Overall, We Are the Wildcats shows how girls can break free from the chains of toxic masculinity. It will make you curious, wary, and a little happy. I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, but I would recommend it to anyone looking for something sporty and enlightening to read.

[aileenlucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

That last line was just tooo goood

[Sneha · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5*

[Lost in Book Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello Again!


I am back today with an extra special post! I was invited to take part in the blog tour for We Are The Wildcats. I first saw this book a while back on Goodreads and I have had my eye on it ever since. I was pulled in by the cover and hooked by the summary (kind of a you had me at hello situation). I was beyond excited (I mean sequels) when I was offered a place on the blog tour and I could not be happier to be sharing my thoughts about this book with you all right now. Additionally, because I thought this book rocked I am including a reference to the show I watched while I was reading this book!   


SPOILERS AHEAD


The Wildcat varsity squad has been set! There are new members, returning members, and even a member who will be joining as a 9th grader. This is the night before the first game of the season and the squad is going to have their team sleepover. Like all sleepover's this is supposed to be about bonding the team, building trust, and getting to know all your teammates. However, the night of the team sleepover hinges on a midnight initiation ceremony, a big Wildcat tradition that helps to bond the team. But things change when the Coach (a former athlete) changes the teams plan and sends them on many new adventures in one night, and not always the best of adventures.


There were multiple very different perspectives in this book which is something I really enjoyed. I liked seeing all the different points of view, there are so many different people on the team, all with their own lives outside of the team and this night. I think a full cast audiobook of this book could be something super awesome (I have not listened to the audiobook, so it may already be full cast)! I already mentioned the cover above but I absolutely adore this cover and love the colors they chose (this will definitely be a feature on my shelves this year). I really enjoyed my time with this book and I am giving this four and a half stars on Goodreads.


Now as promised some show recommendations because we are in quartine and once we finish reading a book we all need something to occupy our time while we have the struggle of picking out what to read next (or waiting for our next great read to come out). While I was reading this book, I was also watching the Netflix show Cheer at night! I slept on this show way too long and it goes well with this book. Cheer focuses on a cheerleading team trying to win their championship. I highly recommend checking out both Cheer and We Are The Wildcats!





***Thank you so so much to the publisher for inviting me to join this blog tour!

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 2 out of 5]

When the first line of a book's description tries to sell you on how it's "suspenseful" and takes place over only 24 hours, you expect a fast based, action packed read. But this isn't that. Most of We Are the Wildcats' opening is spent introducing us to what was in my opinion, far too many POVs. I think this could have worked a lot better if it introduced characters more efficiently to get into its plot and themes or if a ton of the POVs just remained characters instead of narrators but as is, it was a let down.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m torn between a 3 and a 4. I loved the ending and the relationships between the girls, but I can’t buy into the central conceit of the sport mattering so much or losing a game being so awful.

[katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's a book purely about friendship and camaraderie between girls and getting back up after failing and it was absolutely amazing. It was focused on six girls, so obviously not the whole team, but that's fine. Apparently field hockey teams have 11 players, and there are probably more if you include alternates and stuff (I'm not actually entire sure how sports work), so it's hard to write a book from at least 11 perspectives. It was written in third person close and it would in no way have worked if written in third person omniscient.

Every character was incredible. I want to say flawless, but of course, they all had many, many flaws. Which is great because it makes them so realistic and human and I felt like I could imagine going to high school with them. There were some parts I cringed at, but who doesn't do that when looking at real life? I loved every part of this book, and the ending especially. I'm really sad how it ended, but at the same time, I'm so happy and proud of these girls. Their friendship and the love they had for each other as a team and as individuals was so beautiful and so well written. This is like, actual friendship goals. I do have to say that I am the proudest of Mel, I think. Her relationship with Coach was weird and just gross because like, ok I get it, she's crushing on an older guy she idolizes, but it really went a lot further than that, on both sides (I think, I'm a little unsure how it was from Coach's side because he really did seem quick to just replace her with Luci). I'm really glad they were careful and that Mel realized what a prick he was. Gordy seemed great and I really liked him. Much better choice than Coach. Yeah, so Coach gave me some weird vibes the second we found out in Mel's POV that they had a close relationship. Like, he would call her? Super late at night? And text her a lot? And that was a huge part of how her crush on him developed a lot further. Also, although I'm not entirely sure if he really did like her or if he was just leading her on, it was pretty obvious how manipulative he was being.

Every girl was absolutely amazing. The way they grew over the course of a single night was incredible. I mean, obviously it's not as much as, say, a character who lives throughout 10 books in one series, but still. The amount of confidence they had in themselves and each other was inspiring.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. Everything about it was beautiful, and there wasn't really any part I disliked. Disagreed with, yes. Disliked, no. It was just so well-written and I really do like character-focused books. None of the girls annoyed me, and I feel like I could physically see them bond as a team. I highly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a book about friendship, girls, sports, or just a good book in general

[Tala · Rating 1 out of 5]

i liked this better than STAY SWEET, which is why it’s coming in as a 1.5 star-er. RTC

[Jaye Berry]

I deadass spent like 3 weeks trying to read this and for what?

We Are the Wildcats is about a girl's field hockey team on the night before their first game. At their sleepover, bonds are to be formed of trust and friendship to better help the team. Everything hinges on their midnight celebration until their Coach sours the whole evening. Over the night, they get out of their comfort zone on new adventures.

This book takes place in under 24 hours from a bunch of different POVs and I was already lost right there. I've never been a fan of 24 hour books and I'm still on my bullshit. I don't know why I tried to read this book so hard but I guess I didn't want to let it or my reading slump defeat me?? I've never had a book that is so short or that takes place is such a short time make me spend that long but here we are.

There are parts that I thought were okay- the girls bonding and doing wacky things in the middle of their sleepover but other things I just wasn't interested in, like all the talk of sports things. And all the talk of a girl's knee injury like no I can't I hate that.

But this book just felt... unfinished? There is a lot in here that could lead to a more interesting story, like a toxic coach who is abusing his power over teenager girls but the book just shows it but never actually goes very far into it. Near the ending of the book it felt like things were finally starting but then it just ended without an actual conclusion and I'm just mad I spent so long for nothing.

There are so many POVs and I wasn't a fan. They all really sounded the same and I could never tell them apart??

But hey, at least I managed to finish this book.

[Neide Gomes · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75/5 stars!

“Team first, always.”

This book contains: injuries, cupcakes, hockey sticks, hair dye, text messages, photographs, parties, varsity jerseys, cute bulldogs, sleepovers, practice and championships.

I feel like this book could be really good, but I’m honestly a bit disappointed.
For starters, the concept for this book is a bit weird. This story is about a team of teenage hockey players that work together to fight their abusive coach. That sounded so specific, but I honestly didn’t care about that too much when I first picked it up because I love reading books about sports and team spirit.
When I first started reading this, I felt confused (and incredibly bored, but I’ll get to that in a minute). In this book we have six different points of view from six different girls on the team. The thing is, they are all teenage girls who play hockey, so it was really difficult to not mix them all up in the first half of the book. Sure, they all have different stories and backgrounds, but in the beginning you don’t know everyone that well, so that makes reading difficult for the first chapters. I personally think two or three points of view were more than enough - or even no points of view, just narrated in third person would work perfectly fine.
I really liked all the characters in this, especially all the girls in the team. It was really nice to see them supporting each other and their devotion to the team was very inspiring. Can’t complain about the characters, I was very happy with everyone!
A big thing that contributed to me not loving this book was the pacing. It’s so incredibly slow that I considered DNFing this five times. I get that the author was maybe trying to give some context about each girl’s life to the reader, but it was too much. Since there are so many points of view, she wrote a lot about each girl instead of focusing on the story, and unfortunately the first half to two thirds of the book, there is nothing interesting happening.
On a positive note, it does get a bit better. I’m glad I didn’t DNFed this book, because I got into the story after about halfway through the book.
Which brings me to the grand finale. I just started to feel invested in the story, and then you get THAT ending. I was so disappointed with the way the book ends. It just felt incomplete and I wish there was a continuation to the team’s final decision. I wish there were less pages about background story and more of actual story development.
Overall I was a bit disappointed with this book. If you want to pick up a Siobhan Vivian book, I would recommend Stay Sweet from the same author. There is also a “team” of girls working together, but in a different setting... I personally liked that one better!

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[Shayla Kopp · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not great, not the worst book I read but not the worst either. I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, but I did love the dynamics between the girls and getting to watch them interact was great. But the pacing was terrible, this was probably the slowest read I've ever had, even though it takes place over 1 night it felt like it took 1 million years to get to the end, and that nothing really happened. I think the main problem is there are too many perspectives and it took 100 pages easily to get the back story for all the girls which was slow going and boring. And then it never really picked up. Theres really no character development either, I found everyone to stay super static and again I think this has to do with how many perspectives there are. There was no time for any of the characters to grow or evolve. As well Siobhan Vivian brings up some huge topics and doesn't capitalize on them, racism, women in sports, inappropriate conduct from a person in power, passion for a sport. Books about young women in sport are SO important but this book does not deliver on that for me, there was not enough devoted to the girls and their passion and hard work, just drama with coach. I will say I HATED coach, he was the character with the best writing in my opinion. Siobhan Vivian did a great job of creating someone truly terrible.