Ruth is at the top of her career when she finds out that she is pregnant. This is a story about whether you can have it all. Can you have the career and motherhood? Why does a woman have to choose either? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the complex characters within it.

I just wasn't feeling this book. I'm all for a good women in sports and going after your dreams story, but this one was lacking a bit for me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was about it, but I think it probably had a lot to do with the way the daughter was always missing her mom. It wasn't a bad book, and it certainly had some good parts, but it was just lacking something for me.

Emily Adrian's book Second Season is a home run! Or..er... an ace! Oh wait, a slam dunk! You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy the story of college basketball star Ruth. After a career-ending knee injury, Ruth marries her college coach and has a daughter. She becomes a sideline reporter and analyst for the NBA, and is absolutely dedicated to her career, and the potential promotion in the near future. Ruth navigating the difficult task of balancing a career, motherhood, and other aspects of life make for an engrossing story.



*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Blackstone Publishing for a chance to review this book.*

Excellent, easy to listen to narration. Thoughtful story that dissects the difficulties of motherhood with a high powered job. This book is a neat story and a unique career to look at, but not especially relatable if you're a working mom looking to read about working moms. I liked the story well enough, but I found that after sitting on the review for a bit, it's very forgettable.

Thank NetGalley and Blackstone Pub for a copy to review.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for my copy of the Audiobook for The Second Season by Emily
Adrian in exchange for my honest review.

This is my second book from the author, and I feel like her writing was consistent with this book. I will for sure check out any books she has in the future. She writes stories that make you think. They have a lot of heart and grit to them, with out a lot of fancy bells and whistles. I constantly felt myself thinking of how I would have felt and what I would have done if I were Ruth Devon. I also really liked the sports caster and insider aspect of this story, it was different than anything I have read, so that made it even more interesting, All the relationships were complex, but without too much drama to them. I was totally invested in Ruth's storyline and loved how it all came together in the end.

The narration was spot on. I don't think that I have listened to anything from this narrator yet, but I will keep an eye out for her work in the future. She brought Ruth to life perfectly and enhanced the whole book for me. I was easily able to speed it up to 2x.

I liked this story of a female sportscaster trying to get ahead in the world of the NBA. I related to Ruth's struggles with her changing body and her conflicts between motherhood and career. I also appreciated the discussion of how men tried to test her knowledge - it felt infuriatingly real. The narrator did a very good job and had a soothing voice that added to my appreciation of the story.

I literally don’t understand the pregnancy trope. Why. Why is that the only option to make a book interesting? Not for me

Although I had hoped to really like this one with my love of sports and coaching, it wasn't really for me.

The Second Season would be great for any basketball fans! Unfortunately, I am not one. As a result, I struggled with this one a bit. However, I think the premise - a woman in the male-dominated sports industry - always has potential to tell a great story. And the story is great, just not one I could personally get into.

{I alternated reading and listening to The Second Season on audiobook via NetGalley. I found the narration for this character driven novel to be well done and the voice for Ruth really embodied her character.}

I was sold on Emily Adrian's writing when I devoured her 2020 novel, Everything Here Is Under Control. I felt totally connected to the characters and storyline and found the pacing of the writing to be spot on. Her ability to swept you away into a book that covered the complexities of motherhood, trauma, friendship, and womanhood was exceptional. So when I saw that she had a new book on the horizon, The Second Season, I couldn't wait to dive in.

The Second Season offered an extremely interesting (and much less common in my reading experience) premise of a female working in the male dominated profession of sports. Ruth, a past collegiate athlete has worked tirelessly for two decades in pursuit of her career goals of being an NBA sideline reporter while also juggling being a woman and a now a mother.

What I appreciated most about Every Here Is Under Control is how Adrian described the complexities women face with the idea of wanting it all, and the reality of what that really looks like. While the premise of The Second Season combined with Adrian's nuanced storytelling felt like the perfect mix, I really struggled with this one.

The pacing just felt off, and while I appreciated that Ruth's feeling were honest and relatable, I hard a hard time connecting with the overall storyline. The writing felt choppy and. the jumps back in time made me more confused than adding details I was hoping for and ultimately, a lack of a reading rhythm.

I loved the premise, I just struggled with the execution of this one. As always, I appreciated having the opportunity to read and review this book and share my honest opinions. Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for my gifted copy.

4 stars

A meaningful story of a woman carving out a career in a male-dominated sphere (sports reporting), the joys & sacrifices she’s had along the way. I cared a lot about Ruth & was able to invest in her as a character.

[What I liked:]

•I appreciate the candor with which this book discusses aging female bodies, fertility, & sexism. All of which are addressed from several angles, with no neat, trite answers.

•Ruth is a very engaging character, & her goals & the stakes are clear early on. I was very invested in her career success, her longing for meaningful relationships, & her drive to work hard & do well. At the heart, this is a story about basketball, & Ruth is clearly passionate about the game.

•I enjoyed the narrative around the unfolding NBA semi-finals & finals, including the Emery & Darius rivalry & the underdog team. It wasn’t just an emotionally rewarding backdrop to the story but helped me understand Ruth better through her reporting, & her rapport with the players & coaches.

•I appreciate how Lester is a well-rounded character. Yes, he is sometimes a huge jerk, but sometimes he’s not. His relationship with Ruth was nuanced & real. Ruth knows they’re better off divorced, but they still care about one another. It would have been easy to make Lester a one-dimensional villain, so I appreciate the complexity.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The epilogue left me hazy on a few things. First, do Joel & Ruth stay together? Second, why did Ruth make that decision about her pregnancy—job reasons? Because of Joel? That was very unclear.

CW: sexism, miscarriage

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A Slam Dunk!⁣
⁣
This story is about Ruth Devon who was a college basketball star from Georgetown. An injury had her in the sidelines, announcing games on radio, and married to her coach. Fast forward twenty years, now divorced, and Ruth vying to be the first NBA sports announcer on national television.⁣
⁣
No one writes books about motherhood and the complexities of unconventional women’s roles like Emily Adrian does. ⁣
⁣
The writing was masterful and deeply engrossing, where I was transported into the world of sports broadcasting and professional basketball. The heart of this novel was about ambition and motherhood, passion and strength, in a warm and poignant story.

Audiobook narration was spot on and I felt that the voice narration truly embodied the character and made the book even more immersive and an enjoyable listen.

Ruth Devon starred for Georgetown Basketball back in college - until the injured her knee, married her coach and found a new career calling games on the radio.

I found this book quite difficult to stick to - I never felt myself wanting to pick it up. It has a lot of basketball talk and that's not really my thing.

Decent enough, but full of basketball references so maybe avoid if you're not a fan!

I enjoyed the exposure of what the struggle really is to try and balance life, career, and family.
this was a fun and entertaining story of reality. I really like the realness of it all.

Ruth Devon aka RD was at star for Georgetown Basketball until a knee injury late in her career ended any hope of playing past college, instead she married her coach and found a career calling NBA games from the sidelines. Twenty years later, she's divorced her husband and his now calling games alongside him, except Lester is an analyst and Ruth is stuck on the sidelines. She's put her career before everything, to get to the top. When Lester decides to retire, nothing will stop Ruth from trying to get his job. Until something happens that stops Ruth in her tracks and she's forced to confront what she wants from her future and figure out if her job is really her number one priority.

Ruth Devon has always been driven—she started on Georgetown’s basketball team & eventually became one of the most famous faces of sports media. She’s driven enough that she feels confident that she’ll get her ex-husbands job, making her the first woman to call NBA games. But one thing changes for Ruth that makes her reconsider her life, motherhood, & her career.

Adrian does it again! After I read Everything Here Is Under Control I knew I had to read The Second Season as soon as possible. I love Adrian for how well she articulates the conversation that I’m hearing more frequently—questions of whether to establish yourself in your career before having kids, whether sooner is better & career comes after, whether motherhood is enough of a career itself, & if you pursue a career whether you’ll feel guilty for prioritizing work over kids.

Adrian is one of the first authors I’ve read to consistently explore these questions women face. In my opinion she does this really well & articulates a lot of difficult feelings in a very eloquent way. Uniquely, Adrian recognizes how fulfilling family/kids can be while at the same time sharing an equal amount fulfillment from careers.

Adrian also excels at creating her characters here, especially Ruth’s ex-husband Lester. I liked how they had a solid working relationship but some of the stuff he said to her during their marriage made me literally want to yell at the book. Any book that can get a strong emotional reaction from me, in my opinion, is a strong one. Adrian does this in her books time and again!

The main character of this novel, Ruth Devon, was a successful college basketball player who, after a career-ending injury, married her coach and had a baby, but then became an NBA sideline reporter and analyst. Most of this book is set during the NBA finals when Ruth’s daughter is about to graduate from high school, and Ruth is pursuing a job as the very first female NBA announcer while at the same time grappling with thoughts about how her career has affected her motherhood and other relationships.

I couldn't get into this book but that's a personal opinion. I think it would be a good read for others.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for sports stories. Weekends growing up (except during the Midwest's relatively short sailing season) were spent in front of the TV watching hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis, (less) football, boxing, and even bowling—not to mention every sport in the summer or winter Olympics—with my dad. [Even better was getting to go to live games—that was a special (and occasional) treat.] Watching so much televised sports really does make a person feel like they know the commentators who visited our living rooms multiple times a week. So, I jumped at the chance to read The Second Season, which offered the bonus of a woman commentator (not common in the 1970s—I'm not sure I could name one from that time).

The book presents the difficulties of women in traditionally male-dominated fields, the challenges of juggling work and motherhood, and the crushing disappointment of career-ending injuries. The book is largely consumed by Ruth's regrets about being frequently absent from her daughter's childhood (the daughter is a high-school senior during the story) and her frustration and worry over whether she'll get the announcing job her ex-husband is vacating.

The action really didn't pick up until around the 80% mark, and then it jumps around strangely between present and future. I wish more attention had been given to some of the relationships, particularly between Ruth and a couple of other women sports reporters. There's also a plot point that seemed incongruous with her supposed strong desire for motherhood.

2.5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Second Season by Emily Adrian was an incredible audiobook! I’m not really a sports fan so I was hesitant about listening to seven and a half hours of a story about an NBA sideline reporter. This book was so much more than that. Protagonist Ruth Devon is a complicated, nuanced woman. She’s not perfect but she works incredibly hard and is driven. This one had me on the edge of my seat until the final buzzer sounded and I saw how it all played out. It’s a quick listen and would be a great read as well!!

I received this audio arc from NetGalley for an honest review. I started this book and listened for a bit but did not finish it. The main character is really unlikeable to her kids, her husband, and people in general.