A wonderfully written story about three girls learning to cope with their own struggles and lean against each other during a tennis tournament. From grieving a loved one, to wanting to make the perfect comeback, to realizing that this was not the path you want. The three girls navigate what it means to be a friend, and how to help each other become who they want to be,

Thank you to netgalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, Peachtree Teen for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This was a cute read. I was expecting more but in the end it was okay.

A tennis championship. Alice, Violetta and Leylah. Three teenagers who find themselves competing against each other but at the same time having to rely on one another to grow and to find their place in this world. What seems perfect on the outside might not always be the same on the inside, and viceversa.

A book that yells "difference matters" in all kind of ways. I loved this book; slow at the start, but after chapter 7 it went down like a cinnamon-bun (Violetta would love this quote).
Friendship, grief, sport, teenage lives: all this topics carried out perfectly, in a really soft but direct way.
Although all the characters are teenagers (what I'm not from a long time), I really felt so close to them all, everyone in their own different way. Many times I wanted to enter the pages and just give each one a big hug and encourage them.
The writing is really fluid but keeps you entertained, I couldn't take myself to stop reading it.
Hands down one of the best reading of the year. Can't wait for it to be published.

In Anna Garcia's compelling novel, "The Misdirection of Fault Lines", three young women find themselves at the prestigious Bastille Invitational tennis tournament, where their ambitions and personal struggles collide. Alice, Violetta, and Leylah face formidable challenges as they navigate the cutthroat world of professional tennis while grappling with internal conflicts and the weight of expectations. Alice, a talented player burdened by guilt and the pressure to succeed, must prove herself worthy of the tournament's hefty expenses following the tragic loss of her coach. Violetta, the daughter of a fallen tennis star, seeks redemption and a chance to reclaim the future her mother sacrificed. Leylah, haunted by past betrayals, strives to reclaim her rightful place at the top after a two-year hiatus from competition. As the tournament unfolds, the lines between competition and personal drama blur. Their pursuit of victory becomes entangled with their evolving relationships, forcing them to confront their inner demons and make difficult choices. The story delves into the complexities of friendship, ambition, and the relentless pursuit of success, exploring the sacrifices and consequences that accompany the path to greatness. Garcia's writing captures the intensity and emotions of the tennis matches, transporting readers to the heart of the tournament. She skillfully weaves together the perspectives of the three protagonists, allowing readers to intimately understand their motivations, fears, and aspirations. The narrative flows seamlessly, building tension and suspense as the tournament progresses. "The Misdirection of Fault Lines" is a captivating tale of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of dreams. It is a must-read for fans of sports fiction and those who appreciate stories of personal growth and transformation. Garcia deftly explores the complexities of human nature, reminding us that victory is not always measured by trophies but by the journey itself.

Thank you Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"The Misdirection of Fault Lines" by Anna Gracia is a contemporary YA novel that intricately explores the lives of three teenagers navigating the challenges of a tennis tournament. The book depicts a beautiful journey of self-discovery, delving into themes such as friendships, grief, and racism. I absolutely love YA books centered around women athletes (I wish there were more!) and the tennis aspect of the novel is what initially drew me in, and the character development and interpersonal relationships kept me engaged throughout the novel.

The strongest part of the book is the character development and the emphasis of female friendship, especially in a competitive field. The narrative is thoughtfully crafted, offering multiple perspectives as it follows the characters through their fears, challenges, and aspirations during the tournament. I thought the female friendship was relatable and wholesome throughout the novel. The main focus of the book was this friendship developing with the main characters, which, unfortunately, put the tennis aspect on the back burner. I wish there was more focus on the tennis aspect and the competition itself, but the tennis matches weren’t really described. One of the characters even lost in the third round of the competition only about halfway through the book. I understand the choice of the author in focusing on the characters as that is the main objective of the novel; I just wanted more of the tennis aspect, especially since there is already a lack of female sports YA novels.

The writing style was relatable, making the characters actually feel like teenagers, especially Alice with her anxieties and wants. Leylah was a fun character, and I love how she was always challenging the other characters, like the head of the competition, when everyone else was too afraid to speak up. Violetta is a character I had the least connection with, mainly because her dialogue and reactions were a bit unrealistic, almost a caricature of a teen influencer. I did like the spotlight on eating disorders and inappropriate coach-student relationships that were addressed in her perspective.

"The Misdirection of Fault Lines" is a book that I recommend for those wanting to read more about the dynamics of female friendship and if you want a book that is centered around female sports (even though there isn’t too much of a focus on that aspect). I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

1.5

Listen, I don’t know if it’s because I don’t know how to play tennis, but I didn’t really enjoy this book. The only redeeming element were the characters. And that’s it.

Cute and fun to read, but I was expecting much more to be honest.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

~3.5⭐~
Firstly, thank you to the publisher for approving my request on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was actually surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book considering I'm not a big tennis fan and know practically nothing about the sport. I still felt that the characters were relatable and enjoyed reading about why the competition meant so much to each of them as well as the sacrifices they and their families had made to get them there. Plus, there was a romantic side plot that was really cute, I thought that they had great chemistry and banter which had me smiling and cheering them on. The main theme of this book is female friendship, specifically when a teen, and I felt that it did this pretty well, It portrayed the chaotic mess of it so well and how it can be everything, even closer than family, but also how it can be blown up by the smallest of things. I loved that the girls always had each other's back despite history or different backgrounds, and how eventually they found their way back to each other. I thought this book was funny, sad at times, relatable, cute and wholesome. Highly recommend :)

The book mainly revolves around three teenage girls—Alice, Violatta, and Leylah—and their stay at Bastille for a tournament (or probably more than that).

I won’t say I enjoyed this book nor would I say I disliked it, I think it had more narrations than it should have for a YA book. I did enjoy some parts of the book, like the moments between Noah and Leylah, and Violetta finally admitting to herself that she had her own problems—that she was drowning in them, and Alice slowly going out of her comforst zone. At some parts, I found myself empathizing with the three of them. As a SEAsian myself, I did find myself agreeing and relating to Leylah the most, with parents so worried their children may not succeed in life, and many more.

Overall, I would rate it a 3-star read. It was an okay book!

Thank you to NetGalley for approving my request of an ARC e-copy. <3

Not the book for me . . . too many characters, the plot felt underdeveloped, and the tennis was lackluster to me. This book had great potential, but did not meet the mark for me as the reader. The weed plot lines made this unable to be purchased for my middle grade classroom. Felt superflous and would be better without to me.

The premise of this book is what initially drew me in. The elite tennis tournament setting gives the boarding school/summer camp vibe that I'm always craving, but with a fun twist and raised stakes. I also liked how all three of the girls were at separate but important precipices in their lives and tennis careers - wanting to see how Violetta, Alice, and Leylah would each handle their situations in their own way added enough tension to keep me reading. And, I really appreciate the author for shedding light on the darker parts of youth sports (drug abuse, grooming and inappropriate relationships with coaches, disordered eating, playing through injury, controlling parents) that so many people ignore. I grew up competing in a high-level sport, and these conversations are notoriously difficult to bring to light.

All that being said, a few things kept me from giving this a higher rating. The narrative voices and characterization of the girls felt inconsistent to me. Sometimes, both the inner monologues and retorts/responses to conflict read too mature, like I was watching someone in their 20s navigate the situation. Other times, it felt like I was reading from the perspective of a mean and cranky 13 or 14 year old. Not a dealbreaker, but I struggled to connect with the characters because of this. And somewhat related, some of the problems were resolved a little too quickly, a little too cleanly, for me to really connect.

Overall, this was a fun read! And definitely a book I would reccomend to high schoolers who love sports. Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Misdirection of Fault Lines by Anna Gracia. This book is an engaging YA novel about the lives of three Asian-American teenagers navigating a tennis trounament.
The book explores profound themes such as family dynamics, friendships, grief and loss, racism, and stereotypes, and mental health. The narrative seamlessly weaves through the perspefctive of all three girls, discussing their fears, challenges and aspirations during their time at this tournmant.

One thing that threw me off a few times, were the tennis terms about the matches, I still have no idea how the tournament works. Ultimately they play games and win or loose. But that is easy to look past.

I love the multi-perspective point of view and found myself loving and rooting for each of the girls. I would eagerly anticipate a sequel or even separate books exploring the next steps in the lives of these characters.

Title: The Misdirection of Fault Lines by Anna Garcia

Publication Date- 04/02/24
Publisher- Peachtree Teen
Overall Rating- DNF (marked as three on required platforms)

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Okay here’s the thing…. I love tennis and I played throughout my life. Though I don’t read much YA anymore this stood out to me. It’s a coming of age tennis story which such a lovely cover. Before I say what didn’t work for me, I do think this is a fine story (mostly) for the age group and maybe would be more relatable to them. That being said, before I transitioned, I played tennis as a young “female,” adolescence and I really felt this missed the mark. I also want to hold space for the fact that I did not finish this book so maybe some of these concerns get better.

First and foremost, I don't mind cursing. In fact I think it often makes books better, including YA books. Come on y'all we all cursed at 15, probably more than we do now. But with that being said the f word was used 5 or more times on some pages and I just feel that for a YA book that’s a lot. There are a lot of other ways to express emotion even from a YA voice.

Now, like I said I played on a female high school tennis team. People weren’t always the nicest but there is some really mean language and descriptions in this book. I tried to put myself back in my teen brain and get into the story but these things just really took me out of it and I couldn’t get through it. At times I felt like I was bouncing between the really young side of YA to what felt more adult and incongruent.

By no means should this keep you from picking it up if the premise sounds interesting. I did feel that the premise made it sound way more palpable than I found my own experience. Who knows maybe this will be more relatable for teens now, we need more expressive literature for that age group.

This was a very quick read as we follow these three girls over the course of a tennis tournament. I would have liked to get to know the characters better and actually maybe .. have a bit more tennis in it? I get the tennis was mostly a background setting and a vehicle to showcase the struggles in the sport for people from – example – a more socioeconomic challenged background but it would have been nice to learn something about the sport that was described.

All in all, a pretty good book.

Beautiful cover and it definitely drew me in, however I did end up enjoying the story too even though it was slightly different from what I first thought.

The cover for this book is the first thing that grabbed me! The second was the comparison to the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants goes to the US Open. I am a huge tennis fan and was prepared to love this, especially in the lead up to the Australian Open. I didn't get the full Sisterhood-vibes, but I still enjoyed the story.

Its a very sweet read, with a lot of self-exploration and self-discovery. This book focuses on three young girls, each going through their own struggles and issues. They all learn a lot about themselves as they go.

I enjoyed this book! It's sweet and the perfect YA book about identity and friendships. The cover art is absolutely gorgeous and I will most definitely be checking out the artist after this review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC of this one!

Originally, I picked up this book because of the summary and cover, and I have to say, it was enjoyable! The three main characters, Alice, Violetta, and Leylah, were complex, with their own share of struggles and flaws. Throughout this story, they learned more about themselves and began to understand what type of people they wanted to be. I really appreciated how this book touched on things like addiction to weed and inappropriate relationships between teenagers and adults, topics that aren’t often discussed. While I enjoyed this book, there were a few elements I disliked! There wasn’t as much tennis as I expected and the writing felt a bit juvenile. Other than that, I enjoyed my time reading ‘The Misdirection of Fault Lines’.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the author, Anna Gracia, for providing me with an e-arc of this book!!

♟️Rating:2/5⭐
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Thank you Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

This is one of the books where it wasn’t entirely good or bad but somehow just boring. When I first picked this book up, I was expecting something akin to Haikyuu but a tennis version. I thought I would be able to read through exciting tennis matches coupled with friendship and magic vibes and I was all for it. However, I was devastatingly mistaken when I realised that there weren’t a lot of tennis scenes in it which would make the book far more interesting.

The writing style was pretty mediocre and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. There were lots of instances where the sentences were “I (action)” or “I feel (emotion)”. This kind of made it frustrating for me as a reader since the sentences seem increasingly repetitive. Not a good start to maintain my attention span. On top of that, the writing just doesn’t seem memorable enough. Also, there were some typos here and there but I hope they will get fixed before this book is published.

Moving on to the characters, oh where do I even begin? The characters felt so artificial and more of like a parody of actual teenagers (imagine teenage characters on Disney shows). Even though the writer did attempt to not make the characters a full on 100% optimist, I can’t help but feel that there was something uncanny about the characters. There’s just something off about the way the characters speak which makes me cringe sometimes. For example, Leylah’s point system and the petty bicker between Violetta and Leylah. Plus, Alice being reckless was just so out of character. Like, you don’t need to do all of these dangerous stuff to be cool for once and destress. Then again, I’m not sure how teenagers in the states speak but I’m 100% sure that teenagers are capable of speaking in proper sentences without using slang.

The character development was heavily rushed towards the end and the romance plot in Leylah’s story was sort of left abandoned at the end. Also, I feel that the author was trying to bring up the issue of racism in this novel but the person who repeatedly made racist comments seemed to make no impact on the characters themselves. In my opinion, us readers were unable to empathise with these characters because of how those comments were just easily swept to the side. I think this was due to how the characters are mainly made up of Asians descent which made it hard to compare between the main characters and characters who are more privileged. I feel like this book can try to have more nuances by actually showing how white people can have more opportunities on court and rob the chances of those who actually deserved it. The cheating scandal was a decent attempt but these incidents could be more impactful if the controversy was dragged out.(like how the Asians characters had to struggle in order to get the justice they deserve)

Overall, this was a pretty mediocre book that was a pretty meh experience for me. I wouldn’t really recommend this book due to how it lazily tried to address racism and age gap relationship issues (This was so uncalled for and it was written in a very iffy manner).

a really beautiful self discovering and journey of three young girls figuring out their place in the world and in the tennis world. i think this book did an amazing job shedding light on parents death, eating disorders in sport, and inappropriate relationships between coaches and athletes. these are issues we are always hearing about in a daily basis and i think it was so important to include them. i do wish this book was marketed differently. it was said to be "the sisterhood of the traveling pants" vibes, and it was not. i went in expecting certain vibes and was met with the opposite. i think it would've been more fascinating if we got to see more of the tennis aspect. overall this was a cute book (:

thank you netgalley for the arc <3

✰ 3.5 stars! ✰
I liked the three different POVs we got, especially since they each had a distinct voice. The book tackled important topics such as pressures (from self and family), losing a parent, coping mechanisms, and self-discovery, which many teens will probably be able to relate to in some way.
I think I would have enjoyed the book even more if some things like the coach issue were handled a bit better (it felt a little rushed). I also would have loved for there to be more tennis.
Overall, I found the book to be an easy read that kept me interested!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.