i am in awe of amanda woody! most valuable player was even better than They Hate Each Other, which i adored. the characters had such emotional depth to them, and it’s clear that the author did not treat their issues surface level and took great care to how they were portrayed. i love how cameron developed over the course of the book and became more comfortable in his skin, and mason was able to deal with his inner and outer demons in a way that didn’t tie up in a superficial neat bow. i feel like the romance is a pleasant integration into a story of healing. will definitely read again sometime!

A.M. Woody’s Most Valuable Player is very reminiscent of their They Hate Each Other in the best possible way. There’s an enemies-to-lovers arc, with a side helping of trauma and a topping of family dysfunction.

Both Cameron, our goofy, loveable quarterback, and Mason, the more reserved team waterboy, are well-drawn characters who balance each other out in spite of their very different personalities. It’s a pleasure to watch both boys tentatively open up to each other and to see the way that allows each one to blossom as their real self.

Heed the content warnings, as Most Valuable Player explores both boy’ traumatic pasts and there’s a pretty intense grooming/abuse storyline.

Despite some of the darker aspects, there’s a delightful humor in the pages of Most Valuable Player, which has some true laugh out loud moments. Cameron’s parents in particular cracked me up.

The only thing that kept Most Valuable Player from being a full five star read for me was that I found it repetitive in places. I still tore through it in an evening.

4.25 stars

Cameron and Mason’s story was a delight to read! This book was just the palette cleanser I needed. I look forward to more books by the author.

Book Review: Most Valuable Player by Amanda (A.M.) Woody

Amanda Woody’s Most Valuable Player is a powerful, emotional romance that tackles heavy but crucial themes—bullying, homophobia, dating violence, and toxic family dynamics—through the lens of a high school love story. Aimed at teen readers, this novel doesn’t shy away from the pain of adolescence but also offers hope through connection and vulnerability.

At first glance, Cam Morelli is your typical high school football star: charming, muscular, and not exactly known for his brains. Mason Gray, by contrast, is quiet, introspective, and mostly overlooked as the team’s water boy—except for his striking good looks. When Cam turns his attention to Mason, expecting his interest to be welcomed, he’s stunned by Mason’s rejection. This moment sets off a chain of events that forces both boys to confront the façades they’ve carefully built to survive.

After an on-field altercation and academic troubles land Cam on the bench, he’s paired with Mason as a tutor. What begins as a reluctant partnership gradually blossoms into something deeper. As Cam and Mason spend time together, they begin to unmask their true selves and confront the traumas they’ve hidden—even from themselves.

Woody excels at portraying the inner lives of her characters with honesty and sensitivity. The slow-burn romance between Cam and Mason is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, made all the more poignant by the emotional baggage each boy carries. The narrative is unafraid to explore the damage caused by abuse and societal pressure, yet it also highlights resilience, healing, and the courage it takes to love openly.

Most Valuable Player is more than a romance—it’s a story about identity, survival, and the redemptive power of love. A compelling read for teens and adults alike, this novel will leave you thinking long after the final page.

a.m. woody does it again, and they’re back with two teenage boys i just wanna hug.

i skipped my class to start this and can’t say i regret anything. this author writes the characters and their dynamics just how i like it. it’s like they plucked into my brain and took up all my interests and wants and put them into high school characters. they hate each other was one of my absolute favorites in 2023, and this is now a new favorite of 2025! i cannot wait to see what else this author will give us in the future years (dear author if you see this please never start writing these realistic young adult stories).

we have a similar dynamic to dylan and jonah from theo, but i wouldn’t dare say they’re a copy and paste of each other. i love when authors write about real life issues and situations, and woody did it with theo and now is doing it with mvp, but their differences are noticeable. yes, both young men are dealing with their differences and insecurities, again, but their mannerisms, display of character, passions, and way of coping is different. my heart broke for both of them, of course. mason, with his hidden happiness, fear of rejection, dysfunctional family, and uncertainty of love; cam, with his golden boy facade, cocky attitude, fear of feeling and looking smaller, and uncertainty of his future. it wouldn’t be a woody book if there wasn’t trauma to unpack, and there’s quite the dose here. <b>i’d go as far as saying this is a bit heavier than they hate each other, with content warnings filling the pages from the start, including parental neglect, grooming, emotional abuse, bullying, ptsd, mental health struggles, and homophobia. also, a possible eating disorder??? maybe, maybe not. maybe i’m just thinking too hard on it, but i’m not too sure if mason had one or if he genuinely, simply forgot to eat or couldn’t eat in *those* times. these are integral to the story but instead of forming the story completely, we see how the affect the characters. the mental health representation is spot on, with the author never just adding it for the sake of it and forgetting it. there’s flashbacks that show us how the characters are still impacted by their past, as well as seeing their present lives be limited and challenged.

the romance here is delightfully real. i loved the differences between them—their nerd x jock pairing, introvert vs extrovert experiences, cocky x unsure dynamic, “quarterback” x “water boy” banter. their relationships starts off through mason rejecting cam and then offering to tutor him. their banter is delightful, funny and realistic without the author ever forcing it. it evolves so naturally, it never felt like i was reading about two different boys that are older or younger than they are. their high school personalities shine through, reminding me of the joy and love the young adult genre brings me. the bickering, the arguing, the sarcasm, the playful insulting—i was giddy for it all. this is a romance despite the heavy topics and themes it deals with. we see a great amount of time these two spend together. i have to give it to the author for never feeling like these two didn’t get to know each other or didn’t spend enough time together. one week passes yet it felt like longer. their relationship is slow, changing dynamics at a perfectly paced time. they never lost the spark they started off with, which i appreciated, because i hate it when characters change for the other. while they did open up and learn more about each other and their past, the way they acted around each other from the beginning never really change; it just evolved to become more intimate and passionate. we are witnessed to them noticing so much about each other. i loved how open and free they could be around each other once they start seeing past each others facade. they pay so much attention to each other and remember the small details—cam getting mason his cinnamon twist latte? cam trying out vegan/vegetarian options for him and making sure their hang out spots had options for mason to eat? cam noticing mason hides his smiles and laughs and reminds him to not hide them? soooo cute!!!! the coffee, the workouts, the hidden smiles/laughs, the rocks, the painting, the flowers, the guitar, the gallery. even more cute!!!!!! i love it when people notice the smallest things about you, and both cam and mason did that.

i would say this should lean more towards young adultz (emphasis on asults), meaning ages 16 and up. i know there’s different age groups this genre falls under, but with the heavier topics included in the story, the romance is also more mature. i love when ya challenges the genre stereotypes and only offers basic, traditional and convulsed stories. this is one of those fresh breath of air, as opposed to others, and i’m a big fan of how the author wrote it. not a moment felt unreal or unrealistic, but instead reinforced some of the real high school experiences. these boys are on the brink of adulthood, about to be 18 and explore a new world, and we see it. they never felt too dumb or reckless but simply felt like authentic young men dealing with issues i wish they didn’t have to deal with. but sadly it is real, and all this felt real, and i applaud and am thankful for a.m. woody showing us that reality even if fictional. the romance is more mature and graphic, but it’s still a ya story, so there’s never actual detail on their intimate scenes or such. if you’ve read theo, it’s similar to that.

i had some very tiny, small, minor issues, and they don’t exactly have to do with the book but instead are things that i personally wish were more addressed. i kind of wish we got a better ending on mason’s parents and their parental neglect. i didn’t exactly have hope for them as the story was ending, but with the mention of mason’s dad seeing the articles he sent him about family counseling and whatnot, i would’ve liked at least an update. this is more of a me issue, as i said, because it’s more of an open-ended issue that depends on how the reader takes it. i also wish we got a better understanding of mason’s mental health struggles. i feel like he had an eating disorder, but i could also be very wrong. i wish some sort of help or therapy for him was addressed more, as it felt like he needed a lot of work to be done. sometimes it felt like the only solution was cameron, but with everything mason went through, it’s clearly more severe and complex.

i have a feeling readers and fans who enjoyed they hate each other will be a fan of this one. this is how i wish other authors would write young adult coming of age romances. no forced banter, no witty, false remarks. no gen-z slang referring too many pop references and making the read annoying. no dullness. no “bitchy women” and “alpha men.” no “slut shaming.” no unnecessary hate that adds absolutely nothing to the story. instead, everything feels authentic and necessary. it was even awesome to finally see some positive vegan/vegetarjan representation. mason was vegetarian and there was never a bat of an eye to it or unnecessary criticism. the (possible) ED concerns i have for him are completely unrelated to his lifestyle and instead had more to do with his mental health.

overall, i am a huge fan. i cannot wait to see what else this author will bring into this world.

This is exactly the sort of hurt/comfort story that I ate up back in my fanfic reading days, and seemingly, very little has changed in that regard. It had and did everything that I wanted in a story like this. The characters themselves as well as their growth as the story went on; their relationship dynamic with them trying their best to be vulnerable and let the other person in; and the moments of tenderness throughout the story. They were all very well executed. My only complaints are how the writing was bordering on juvenile at certain points, especially at the start, and how it felt like Cameron's relationship with his parents as well as his own trauma was put on the backburner for a lot of this book. All in all, this is my favourite A.M. Woody book so far, and I can't wait for them to release more books (sooner rather than later plz).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to start this off by saving I love Amanda Woodys writing and adored her two prior releases, but I had quite a few issues with this one. My first problem is the poor marketing, in both the cover and description the book is made to seem like a cute queer sports romance but really a majority of the book is the two main characters acknowledging and dealing with their dark trauma.

Characters:

Mason: Mason was dealing with a lot during this book but sadly I felt his personality was only his trauma and wished we could have seen more, though we did get a glimpse of a deeper personality towards the end.

Cameron: I really enjoyed Cameron’s character! Though I wish we got more of the separation between “Cam” and Cameron


Relationship’s:

Cameron and Mason: I really enjoyed the characters chemistry and thought they were adorable cute BUT the fact that Mason had ended things with Liam only 6 months before they got together rubs me the wrong way. I almost feel like this story could have been more powerful, given the circumstances if the two were just friends helping each other heal.


Cameron and his parents : I was very confused on Cameron’s relationship with his parents because in the beginning it seems like there may be tension and pressure, but then it seems like there is only pressure with his dad but then it gets totally ignored.


The football team: This could have been a great opportunity for found family (which there was a little bit at the end) but the team was barely in the book, this could have also been due to the fact that the book never takes place in the actual school. I still wish there was more of the team individually.


Even though this was not my favorite,I think there are very important messages that need to be addressed in YA and I will definitely continue to read Woodys next books.

This is queer YA romance at its best. You can tell that so much love and care was put into this story and its characters. The balance between heavy topics and sweet romance was healing and lovely to read about.

The character development? The romance? Flawless. I'd blink and 50 pages had passed - I just couldn't put this one down.

I want to protect Mason and Cameron with every fibre of my being. I wish there was a sequel or a 200 page epilogue because I could literally read about them doing nothing. Side note but I'm hit or miss when characters use nicknames but the nicknames in this book? SO cute. (Big Princess Bride vibes.)

Really loved this one - highly recommend it for fans of They Hate Each Other.

Most Valuable Player was a book that I picked up because I saw the football x nerd, enemies to lovers vibes, but I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. I haven't read any of Amanda Woody's previous novels, although They Hate Each Other has been on my to read list for a while, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Most Valuable Player.

I will say I thought it would be more light-hearted because of the premise (my fault for just skimming the content warnings because I was afraid of spoilers), but it was a lot heavy than I expected. It definitely contains a lot of tough topics, which isn't a bad thing, I just wasn't fully prepared for the exact weight of it. I would highly suggest reading through all the warnings before you begin. I think the plot covers a lot of important topics though, and I enjoyed the dual point of view because the characters have a lot going on in their personal lives that it helps reveal plot information to the reader by having both perspectives.

I really liked both Cam and Mason. The writing style took a while for me to get into the groove to - it felt a bit juvenile and almost fanfiction vibey at first. And it made it harder for me to like Cam at first because of the way he was voiced and less because of his actual character. But overall, Most Valuable Player was a really good read, and I will definitely be reading Woody's other books after this. I recommend it for those looking for a realistic, contemporary read featuring queer main characters and themes of navigating trauma.