A dream of playing in the major leagues, while falling for the person who could keep you from that.
The Prospects by KT Hoffman is a debut novel set in Oregon, following the shortstop for the minor league team the Beaverton Beavers.
Gene Ionescu is the current short stop for the Beavers, who hopes to one day make it to the Portland Lumberjacks. He spent his childhood traveling with his dad, who also played for the Beavers, and falling in love with baseball on their own.
The problem is even now, no one can seem to stop bringing up how he is the first openly trans semi-professional player, instead of how he does playing. He has almost everything he could have dreamed of...that is until Luis Estrada is traded to the Beavers.
Luis Estrada is Gene's rival, and former college teammate, who after getting drafted to the pros never talked to Gene again. When he gets traded to the Beavers, it seemingly destroys any equilibrium that Gene has. Luis was called up once before, but never made it after getting in a care accident that led to missing his first professional season and leaving him with tons of left over trauma and anxiety.
When Luis ends up playing short stop, pushing Gene to 2nd base, they can't seem to find a rhythm on or off the field. When the manager of the team, Steph Baker, forces them to room together and figure their shit out, they start to find a way that works, and leads to results on the field.
As their friendship grows, so does Gene's feelings for Luis. Their chemistry on and off the field becomes distracting for him, especially since he knows Luis will one day get called up again. Luis finds himself sleeping on Gene's couch more and more, their friendship growing into something that scares Gene. Gene knows how to hope, but wanting is something different for him. When Luis starts to help him believe that wanting something won't hurt him.
Now, Gene can feel himself wanting those major league dreams, and hoping they can happen for him, even though they make more sense for Luis. As the two's relationship grows stronger, and more spicy, the team starts to do better. But Luis isn't ready to be out to the whole team, or the world. When Luis gets called up to Portland, Gene finds himself jealous, that is until Luis has a full blown panic attack. Now Gene needs to figure out if he should help his friend by telling others about the anxiety, or believe that Luis 'is fine'.
No one probably could have imagined that I would really, really like a baseball book, I found this one very charming. It seemingly tells a story that would be great to see in real life (though Gene's worries about the major leagues allowing that is definitely something). Gene has worked hard to prove who they are, and how they are more than their transness. The story itself shows how hope can help dreams grow, even when Gene finds himself worried about needing to move or being left behind. There is also Gene's love for baseball, that he has to learn can be 2nd behind his love for someone else.
The author does a great job talking about the sport, but also the anxieties and other issues the characters have. Luis' extreme anxiety is brought up in a way of understanding, bonus is he has an adorable service dog.
Even with that other things the book talks about, there is a lot of joy throughout the book. Gene is comfortable in who they are and what they can do. There is a fun vibe of joy and love throughout the text as well.
I will warn, this book does have spicy scenes, so not for the young ones.
A solid 4/5 star read!
This book is scheduled to come out Apr 9, 2024!
Comments