Dangerous Play

Content Overview

Overall Content
Severity
4.2

Language

10.0/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

1.5/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

5.8/10

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

3.6/10

Potentially Intense Themes

0.2/10

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Dangerous Play

Emma Kress

A fierce team of girls takes back the night in this propulsive, electrifying, and high-stakes YA debut from Emma Kress

Zoe Alamandar has one goal: win the State Field Hockey Championships and earn a scholarship that will get her the hell out of Central New York. She and her co-captain Ava Cervantes have assembled a fierce team of dedicated girls who will work hard and play by the rules.

But after Zoe is sexually assaulted at a party, she finds a new goal: make sure no girl feels unsafe again. Zoe and her teammates decide to stop playing by the rules and take justice into their own hands. Soon, their suburban town has a team of superheroes meting out punishments, but one night of vigilantism may cost Zoe her team, the championship, her scholarship, and her future.

Perfect for fans who loved the female friendships of Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie and the bite of Courtney Summer’s Sadie.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

“We hold more power than anyone told us we could.”

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) This is the ultimate girl power story. I loved it. They’re strong, determined and tough. Each one faces fierce adversity, and while it does bring them down briefly, they work through it and come out on top.

I don’t read sports books. I haven’t been into sports much for years now but I thoroughly enjoyed the field hockey and parkour with this one.  The writing drew me in immediately, not just the sport but to the team and each one of their personalities. That is great writing.

This one is intense. It’s about rape and assault and it’s hard to read at times. It has some details that may be too much for some. The delicate way the author wrote about it was well done and considerate. It left me feeling hope instead of fear or disgust.

I wasn’t impressed with all the things the team did (teenagers can be dumb, right?) but the remorse was there and I felt lessons were learned. Did that make it ok? No, but it made it better. I was glad it was approached.

All in all, it showed the importance of girls being powerful over their own bodies and choices. It showed that women can be better together but still amazing apart. It was empowering and respectful. Bravo.

Content Summary: Language is high, the intimacy is higher than most. Most of the intimacy points come from aggressive sexual assaults or crude comments. Even though they are in the intimacy category, I consider them very violent. It’s easier to separate the sexual crimes from purely violent crimes for my points system. There were definitely both (sexual and violent crimes) in this book.

Thank you to Fierce Reads for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book releases August 3, 2021.

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***- 28

H***- 24

S***- 40

A**- 30

B****- 5

D***- 9

Bas****- 1

Religious Cursing

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 4

L***-

Derogatory terms etc-

Oh fock (used frequently)

Dickhead 

Dick

Dykes 

Homophobic dick 

Whores 

Slut 

Pussy 

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A young woman’s father is sick and he takes pain pills regularly. 

A group of women drink and have fun. 

A young man hands a beer to a young woman. She takes a sip but carries it around so nobody offers her more. One young man is very drunk. 

Many teens drink at a party. 

A group of women drink. One passes out drunk. 

Young men are drunk. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

*Minor LGBTQ+ aspects included* 

A team of young women strip down to underwear and swim in the ocean. 

A young man asks two young women to sit on his face due to their very short skirts. 

A young man thrusts his pelvis as he makes rude remarks about “having” a group of young women.

A young man takes a hockey stick and shoved it between a young woman’s legs then up. Other young women admit to guys lifting up their skirts too. 

A group of women discuss a young woman and sex and what gender would be good.

A young woman asks a young woman on a date.

A young man and young woman kiss a few times. 

A young man snaps a young woman’s bra strap against her shoulder. She doesn’t like it. He pushes her against the wall (she’s unwilling) and asks if she gave a young man a blow job. She tries to push him but he puts his hands under her shirt and roughly manhandles her. She is yelling and pushing but he pulls his pants down and goes for hers. 

A young woman admits to being raped. 

A group of young women hear “sex sounds.” They go to investigate and catch the guy on top of a young woman, his pants down, she’s “out of it” and drunk. 

A young woman talks about a married man putting his hand on her thigh. He kept going up… she doesn’t finish the thought. Many tell their similar stories about being groped, giving forced blowjobs and more. 

A group of young women hear a couple kissing but she then says no and tries to push him. Her shirt is off and his pants are around his ankles. 

A young woman talks to her friend about having sex with her boyfriend. 

A young woman says “no” to a young man but he looks at his crotch and says she needs to take care of it for him then. He pushes her head down. 

A young man makes rude comments about a young woman’s sexuality; “Hey, you’re like a vegetarian too. All bush, no sausage.”

Two women are married.

A young woman kisses a young man. 

A young woman and young man kiss.

A young woman and young man kiss. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

After cat-calling a young woman, she holds a hockey stick under a young man’s chin threateningly. He pushes her into two young men and they hold her. 

A group of young women attack a young man. They knock him down and hit him multiple times. 

A group of young men pour beer on a young woman. She’s crying and they circle her (attempted rape is assumed). A group of young women tackle the young men and fight them. The young men are moaning as the young women run off. 

Young women attack a young man, he fights back, injuring one. Others attack him and he gets a bloody nose and is pushed off a bridge into water. 

A young man frequently tries to run over a young woman with his truck. He will swerve into the sidewalk to get her. Once she is bloody and caked in mud. 

A group of young women hold guns to a young man, threatening him and scaring him. They tell him he will die. He urinates out of fear. 

A young man slaps a young woman’s hand and knocks her over. She falls and breaks her wrist but knocks him off his feet. 

A young woman is taken to the police station and held overnight for alleged kidnapping and more. 

Potentially Intense Themes

Previously, a father fell from a large height and injured himself very badly. His teen daughter frequently has to physically care for him. 

**Any quotes from the book are taken from the advance copy and therefore may not be fully accurate or correctly compare to the final copy of the book.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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