The Misdirection of Fault Lines has what it takes to grab sport manga enthusiasts' attention: the title, the cover style, the blurb that indicates competitive tennis, friendship, and tournament. Alice, Violetta, and Leylah are roommates in Bastille Invitational dorm, and together they eventually get to know each other, all the good and the bad, while thriving in the competition for eleven days. Each character has their own struggles and secrets that uncover what it is like to compete in professional field as a teenager.

My math for tennis + roommates + camp is Prince of Tennis' U-17 camp arc, so I was expecting more or less like that, minus the spectacular borderline-impossible tennis moves. I found that the tennis matches on-scene are less than I would like to see, and the story is more focused on how the three main characters face their real life problems—family issue, economic struggle, self-image and health, even child grooming. It's all important to explore, and what Alice, Violetta, and Leylah do could be an insight for readers alike.

Lack of fun tennis battle and lots of realistic issues steer my expectation to contemplative, character-driven read, only to find that the plot runs SO fast. There is only a little room to breathe. I also have to keep up with the switch of POVs, so when I just feel for Alice, I'm forced to jump into Violetta's life, then Leylah's, then Alice's again. They also only have eleven days that make their progression seem too quick to happen. The book is written in first person, and while it's distinctive enough, the writing style reads more juvenile than their age, hence it doesn't really feel matched to carry and deliver those heavy problems and secrets.

Some things keep me up to read it until the end, such as Bastille complex (faux France is surprisingly interesting and familiar), Noah's relationship with Leylah (the height gap where the girl is taller!!!), and emotional layers that add depth to what seems like 'typical'. I wish I could read it in a form of series, one volume for one character, with less catchphrase repetition. For now, I'm glad at least I could meet them.

Thank you Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for the digital advanced copy of this book. Reviews are entirely my own.

I actually forgot that I was reading this book.... look it's not bad there is just so much going on

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A little heavy on the tell instead of the show, but cute friendships and heavy topics tackled, if not in the best way. This was an ARC via NetGalley, and a new to me author, and I did overall enjoy reading and will watch for more from her.

This coming of age story of friendship explores the pressures of parental expectation, loss, discrimination, and self.

Each of the three girls come from very different family backgrounds, but all share complicated relationships with their parents and with tennis. They all feel varying degrees of pressure to prove themselves as they try to figure out just what it is they want out of the game and their lives.

Violetta is my least favorite of the three girls. While she is suffering from the pressure to be the best and feels so distant from her mother. She uses risky behavior as a way to cope and feel like she has some type of control over herself. She befriends Alice and has a complicated relationship with Leylah, but doesn’t always treat them very well.

Alice is very timid and lost, suffering from debilitating grief and questioning her entire life. She feels like her family continues to keep things from her and doubts her tennis abilities with the loss of her coach. Her friendship with Violetta and Leylah helps her to accept that she truly belongs at the tournament and helps her to believe in herself again.

I felt the most connection with Leylah. She knows what she wants, but feel like she has to fight against everything to even have a chance. Her parents want her to explore a different path, discrimination from the tournament director keeps her perilously close to being disqualified, and a falling out with Violetta in the past keeps things tense. Add her diabetes to the mix and Leylah is constantly battling for the sport she is so passionate about.

All three face ups and downs throughout the story, ultimately figuring out what it is they truly want, who they can trust, and what really matters.

Of the male characters in the story (all very minor characters), the only one I liked is Noah. He has interactions with all three, but really helps Leylah to figure things out. Dick (tournament director) is a bigot and a totally jerk to all three (but especially Leylah and Alice), and Cooper (trainer) is just a creep.

All in all I really enjoyed this one and look forward to the author’s next book.

Disclaimer: I received a DRC through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately this one felt a little bit too young for me with the way the "morals" of the story are written. I normally love a really good YA contemporary book, but I felt like I was being beaten over the head a bit with what I was supposed to be learning. Maybe this would work for someone in their teens, but it also may even be a bit heavy handed for anyone. I also wanted the sports aspect of the book to be more involved since that's really what drew me to the story to begin with. This really needed to pick a specific topic and run with it instead of trying to do too many things and not really delivering on any of them in a real insightful way.

Misdirection of fault lines is said to be a tennis version of sister of the traveling pants. Overall I think the book is fine. The thing I didn’t like is the lecture-y quality of some of the dialogue. Yes there is importance in discussing these topics but the way the author writes the teens discussing it is… awkward. I also thought that the sporting tennis aspect would be a larger portion of the story and plot.

thank you netgalley for this arc. i loved the representation. anna gracias writing flows so nicely, im in love.

I absolutely adored this book and its characters! It was such a nice change of pace for someone who reads primarily sci-fi and fantasy. I picked up this book because I played tennis all through highschool and college, so I was already interested from the get-go. Then, I fell in love with all 3 girls and their character development. I would read anything else this author puts out as I enjoyed her style of writing, it was a perfect summer light read for me!

I've been a big tennis fan lately, so reading this book came at the ideal time. I truly enjoyed this book and its three female protagonists. The writing style was really easy to understand, which I enjoy in a book. I adore female friendships and will read anything about them, so this novel was right up my alley.

I will absolutely recommend this one!

Thank you, Netgalley and Holiday House, for this arc!

This was a fun read and a fascinating book! I loved the character development and the multiple POVs, but I did have a few issues with the writing itself. For instance, I was expecting much more of this book to be about tennis since it's set at a tennis tournament, but we only got bits and pieces of actual tennis scenes. Despite that, I still enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in a YA coming-of-age and discovering-yourself story!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

THE MISDIRECTION OF FAULT LINES is set in a world that I'm not at all familiar with (competitive tennis), but it's also full of characters who were going through complex emotional journeys that were relatable and completely riveting. I was so invested in the stories of the three protagonists, all of whom have distinct voices (I didn't even need the character names at the top of each chapter to know whose head I was in). Two of the three characters had unexpected endings to their journeys, which I loved, because they grew so significantly throughout the book that I couldn't predict exactly where they would end up. This was a satisfying story of transformative friendships that I'll be recommending to friends who love contemporary YA books.

In The Misdirection of Fault Lines we follow three girls participating in a tennis tournament, and how they deal with various issues of life. Grief, racism, eating disorder, parents expectations... It touches on lot of things but sadly most of it was in long monologues by the character in the narration. I discovered with this book that I am not a big fan of multiples pages of just the character thinking, no action at all.

While at a tennis tournament, the playing tennis part doesn't get much space in the story, it is more about how each of them view tennis and their relation to it. We don't even get to read about most of the matches the girls play. I would have enjoyed more tennis, the playing part.

Lastly, I found the ending — and the relationships between the three girls — sadly undeveloped. You're in the story and suddenly the end is there, just a few pages. I would have loved more explanations about their backstories, and how it would go from there.

Overall I enjoyed reading this story but found it lacking. More tennis playing and more time for the ending would have been great.

dned 40% through, i couldn’t deal with the 24 year old with a teenager

other than that i really enjoyed the writing & i was enjoying the characters. i sensed a sapphic relationship. would have loved that if it happened but it’s not worth the trigger & uncomfortably

This book was a very relatable portrayal of teen female friendships, especially under constant pressure. The characters are all, in one way or another, using various masks to protect themselves from perceived threats, whether they be real or not. Along the way, they see through each other’s masks in order to encourage and support each other (after some pretty major bumps in the road). While, at times, the writing felt a bit rushed, the characters themselves felt incredibly fleshed out and real, which generally makes you want to find out more about them and cheer them on up to the very end.

Look, it’s not like this has been a bad book so far. I just think this isn’t for me, which is a shame because it sounded really interesting and I LOVE the cover. I only liked one of our three main characters, and I can already tell I will hate her love interest so I’m not super looking forward to seeing that storyline play out either. The writing also just felt very juvenile, and kept me at a distance from what was happening a bit. So yeah, I just don’t see this one working out for me and decided to just put it down instead.

The Misdirection of Fault Lines is a fun read about teen athletes and the struggles they may be going through. We follow Alice, Leylah, and Violetta who are all competing at a tennis tournament as well as rooming together for the week. Alice is struggling with the recent loss of her father, Leylah is returning to competing after a long hiatus and also managing her diabetes, and Violetta is a social media star who is dealing with an overbearing mom and a likely ED. The story also deals with racism a bit (all the girls are Asian-American) as well as a coach who's straddling the line of what is inappropriate behavior with teen girls. I think the writing deals with all of these issues rather well (although the ED and grooming probably should have been given a more resolute "I'm going to deal with this" end).
I will say that this book is marketed as similar to "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and I don't really see that at all, I don't think these three girls are that close or will remain super close for the rest of their lives, especially with them all getting different endings. I thought that the tennis tournament would be a little bit more prominent in the story, the scenes with games were good but there were only a few of them.

Thank you to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the advanced copy, this review contains my own opinions.

Heartfelt and moving, The Misdirection of Fault Lines is reminiscent of Jodie Lynn Anderson and Sarah Dessen. Gracia is unafraid to dive into the complex lives of girls, messy and imperfect as they may be. A fantastic book that will be loved by contemporary fans.

I'm a bit disappointed, I was expecting a tennis version of Haikyuu (sports anime/manga). However, there. was. no. tennis. There was barely any scenes in the book where they actually played a game. The book focused more on the issues of child athletes - the drugs, grooming, etc, which is fine but not what I was expecting or wanted.
Other than that, I didn't really care about the characters. Leylah was the only one I was semi-interested in. I could barely tell them apart, thankfully there were chapter titles with their names.
Overall, not for me.

En bref, j'étais curieuse de lire ce roman pour la promesse d'amitié et de compétition mais l'autrice m'a perdue dans certaines circonvolutions inutiles sur les origines des protagonistes et ce que ça engendre... J'ai trouvé ça donc un peu répétitif au départ et si j'ai apprécié l'alternance et particulièrement le point de vue d'Alice, ça n'a pas su me convaincre. Dommage.