Centered on the close-knit Lowe family in coastal Maine, Spectacular Things follows two sisters—Mia, the responsible academic, and Cricket, an energetic soccer phenom, who live with their single mother, Liz. As Mia grapples with caregiving duties and Cricket chases athletic glory, the sisters confront love, ambition, family secrets, and what they’re willing to sacrifice to keep each other afloat.

At it's core, the novel is about the bond between the 2 sisters and what one would give up for the other to pursue their dreams. Their mom was a fledgling soccer star who was derailed by an early preganancy and does not want the same for her daughters. Can Cricket's pursuit of a soccer career undermine all the work that Mia spent taking care of her? This book has strong, well-developed female characters that struggle with relationships and careers, just like the rest of us.

Spectacular Things is a deeply engaging, character-driven novel that celebrates the messy beauty of family—especially sisterhood—against the backdrop of ambition and personal sacrifice. Dorey‑Stein’s storytelling sparkles with warmth and emotional intelligence, even when the plot leans melodramatic. If you enjoy emotionally rich sagas about resilience, loyalty, and growth, this novel delivers a satisfying, heartfelt read.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for an advanced reader copy of Spectacular Things by @beckdoreystein in exchange for my honest review. As an avid reader, there’s nothing I love more than a book that sweeps me up and exceeds my expectations. And although I did not have specific expectations for this book going in, it was such an unbelievably delightful surprise!

Spectacular Things is a literary fiction novel that features two talented sisters, Mia and Cricket, as they come of age and grapple with the sacrifices they are willing to make for each other and to achieve their dreams. I don’t want to spoil the story, but I will say that the novel starts with a bang and immediately sucked me in. It’s a story of sisterhood, motherhood, sacrifice, the importance of living in the moment and being flexible when life throws you an inevitable curve ball. As a daughter, sister, wife, mother and soccer fan, I became completely invested in the lives of the deeply developed characters. So invested, in fact, that my husband had to check on me when I started crying ugly tears. Congrats to the author on a triumph of a novel! I absolutely loved it! 5/5⭐️

Literary fiction lovers, put this novel on your summer TBR list! It will be available 7/1/25

Review posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads on 6/28/2025. Review will be posted to Amazon on release date.

What an utterly delightful book about sisterhood, dreams, and perseverance. After giving up her soccer dream early, Liz Lowe is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to raising her daughters, Mia and Cricket, to chase after their dreams which ultimately revolve around soccer. After tragedy strikes the two sister’s paths diverge but life has a way to bring them back together.
I loved this book so much. The way that the story weaves between the past and present was done so well. This could have easily felt slow or made you wish we could get back to the present action but I felt myself relishing the moments we spend in childhood and young adulthood with the sisters. I loved the relationship between Cricket and Sloane. This book was such a love letter to women’s soccer. Everyone’s watching women’s sports and they should be reading this book.

Thank you to Dial Press and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book.

I am not a sports fan, but this novel of women’s soccer and sisterly love raised my heartbeat in its description of matches!

The story follows two generations of the Lowes: Liz, a young soccer star, is sidelined when she becomes pregnant at 19 with daughter Mia. Liz raises Mia on her own, in the town of Victory, Maine (chosen by Liz for its name). Their days begin with soccer exercises at the beach, and five years later, when Crickett is born (with the same absent father), she joins them.

Though Mia is gifted in soccer, it becomes clear that Crickett is extraordinary, and so both Liz and Mia work to support Crickett both financially and emotionally. Mia also is gifted in other ways, but in her first year at Yale tragedy strikes, and she chooses to return to Victory and raise her sister to be the superstar they all believe she can be.

The story of the choices they both make, in sports, work and love, is an engrossing one, strongly written with some lovely metaphors. There is more than one physical and emotional crisis, and the bond between the sisters is both threatened and reinforced.

I am not sure why the ghost of their mother visits them at different times, but this is more puzzling than detracting. I strongly recommend this book to both those who love sports and those who love their sisters – or anyone interested in either.

5 Stars!

𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 is character-driven novel about two sisters, love, ambition and sacrifice - all set on the backdrop of one sister's journey to become a top professional soccer star.

Such an emotional ride-- the novel starts with a pivotal decision in the life of the sisters, and then takes us all the way back to learn of their teen mother's journey, their upbringing, their triumphs, all the hard work and sacrifice that came to this one moment.

At times, I was having some Carrie Soto vibes due to a lot of the detailed sport talk (in this case, soccer), but at its core, it's really about these sisters and this impossible choice. It's about what it takes to get to the top and what it means to sacrifice. It also takes a look at what true success means and whether or not it truly matters.

I loved Beck Dorey-Stein’s incredible writing style, and the masterful way she brought it all together. This was an emotional ride with fully fleshed out, imperfect but loveable, characters.
Perfection.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for this arc.

Overall: 4 out of 5

This story follows Mia and Cricket Lowe, two sisters to a single mother who made some difficult choices for the sake of the girls. I love family dramas and this book touched my heart deeply. I don’t have a sister, but I’ve always been jealous of the closeness that my mother has with hers.

I feel like if you liked Carrie Soto is Back then you’ll love this because of all of the soccer connections. I personally didn’t connect with that piece of the story and would have enjoyed more of the other aspects. Sometimes it made the story feel slower for me since I wasn’t as interested during those pieces. The writing was beautifully done, but I did have trouble following who was telling the story in some places since it doesn’t have designated chapters for each character. The setting was idyllic and the author did a great job of drawing me into the story.

Overall, I found the story to be deeply moving and heartfelt. Beck Dorey-Stein is new to me, but I would love to read more of her work.

I really really employed this book. The mother/ daughter and sister relationships were so good. Complex but heartfelt. I played soccer all throughout my youth and absolutely loved this aspect of the book and story. I am still thinking about this book even after I read it and can’t wait to recommend it!!

Mia’s Mom was a soccer prodigy on her way to UCLA when she got pregnant and transferred her soccer dreams to her girls. Mia was good but her little sister was great and eventually Mia gives up her soccer to be there for her sister, Cricket, so her single Mom can work 2 jobs to pay for camps and club play. Mia does it willingly and makes sacrifice after sacrifice for her little sister but when Mia needs her the most, will the bonds that bind them be strong enough for Cricket to sacrifice for her? I loved this beautiful and heartwarming story of sisters especially since I never had one and the love they share in pursuit of their goals and dreams.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

Why You’ll Love It:
A compelling look at sisterhood, ambition, and familial duty

Rich character development with heartfelt, witty dialogue

A thought-provoking contrast between personal goals and collective sacrifice

In short:
If you enjoy emotionally intelligent family dramas—with relatable characters, subtle humor, and the push‑and‑pull of shared dreams—Spectacular Things is a touching and engaging read.

I LOVED this. I loved it. I couldn’t put it down. Such an incredibly touching, inspiring story.

I didn’t necessarily think I would love it. It’s a step outside of my comfort genre, and it’s a story about sports and sisters, neither of which I know anything about. However, I’m a DC girl, and I have been fascinated by Beck Dorey Stein ever since reading From the Corner of the Oval (another great book that everyone should check out). So I decided I wanted to give it a try - and I am SO happy I did. It was my favorite book of the month.

Spectacular Things is engaging right off the bat. It sets the reader up by introducing an impossible, heart wrenching conundrum - and then backs way up, taking you through the sister’s lives from the very beginning up until that point. Knowing what the circumstances are at the start of the book, every detail of the narrative is made so much more meaningful, and you can’t put the book down because you HAVE to know how everything works out. It’s a quick and easy read, with short chapters that will have you saying “just one more, they’re short” until you’ve gone ahead and finished the whole thing. I fell completely in love with EVERY character, and was extremely emotional (weepy) at the end. Absolutely beautiful. I already miss them.

I’m glad I read this, and I encourage everyone else to check it out as well! It’s out July 1, 2025.

Thank you so much to RandomHouse Dial Press, NetGalley, and Beck Dorey Stein for letting me read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

4.5 stars
I really liked this story and have happily found a new (to me) author to follow.

Liz is a soccer wiz, headed for the big leagues with the world at her feet when it all comes crumbling down. Liz is a fighter and will not let this keep her down and goes to Plan B which is to make her child Mia, named for a soccer star, to be a soccer star of her own. We all know how sometimes our plans don't always work out, but Liz is not a quitter.

Cricket, her younger daughter is even more of a soccer wiz than her mother ever was, in fact it is all she lives for.

How this family makes the most of their talents and hard work is inspiring and makes you want just one more chapter... and one more. The writing was comfortable and flowed nicely; a great story.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are freely given.

⚽️ Wow. This book made me feel- in the most beautiful, cathartic way. Spectacular Things is a moving portrait of sisterhood, sacrifice, and the impossible choices that love demands.
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Told across decades and generations, it follows Mia and Cricket Lowe- two sisters raised on the rocky Maine coast with soccer in their blood and loyalty in their bones. When life hands them both a moment of devastating clarity, their unshakable bond is put to the ultimate test.
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I don’t have sisters, but this story made me feel what that kind of devotion must be like. The writing is intimate, raw, and emotionally charged.
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Mia and Cricket love each other fiercely, but the balance of their sacrifices isn’t always equal- and that’s what makes this story so human. It was so emotional, especially m through the final fifty pages.
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This isn’t just about soccer (though fans of women’s sports will love it too); it’s about legacy, love, and the complicated layers of what we owe to those closest to us.
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If you’re looking for a heartfelt, character-driven novel that sticks with you- this is the one.
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📚 Read if you love:
⚽ Sister stories with teeth and tenderness
💔 Generational grief and sacrifice
👩‍👧 Dual timelines and emotional depth
🌊 Small-town coastal settings with big heart
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Out July 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thank you @netgalley & @randomhouse @thedialpress for the ARC!
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❔What sports did/ do you play?
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#SpectacularThings #BeckDoreyStein #LiteraryFiction #SisterhoodStories #CharacterDrivenBooks #WomensFiction #NetGalleyReads #SummerRelease2025 #BookstagramRecs #SoccerAndSacrifice #MaineSetting #BooksWithHeart #EmotionalReads

"Spectacular Things" by Beck Dorey-Stein is my 92nd read of the year, and it's my favorite. Let that sink in for a minute, because I am the stingiest reviewer.

It's the story of two sisters, Cricket and Mia, born to a young single mom, and the way they work together to make Cricket a professional soccer player. But that doesn't even begin to convey what the book is really about or how it will make you feel. It's about family – moms, sisters, dating, marriage, and love. It's about ambition and about sports, and you don't need to be a sports fan (I certainly am not one) to enjoy this.

Let's talk about the structure of "Spectacular Things". First of all, the beginning. What a start. Suffice it to say you'll be hooked from page one and won't be able to put it down until you read the whole book and figure out how you got to where you started (the book starts in 2028 and then goes back to 1989 where you work your way forward to figure out how Cricket and Mia got to where they are in 2028. I love books that take place over that many years, books where you really get to grow up with the characters, so I loved this. And then there were so many twists and turns in this book, the kind you'd usually be more likely to find in a mystery than in contemporary fiction, and it works so well. Every time one comes about you'll be surprised but also it'll feel so right.

I think the word 'bighearted' is over used in describing books, but it's the best one I can think of to use here. The phrase 'must read' is also overused, but "Spectacular Things" is just that. It's been a delight to read Beck Dorey-Stein's work over the last seven years and see her grow as an author and this book cements her status for me as an auto-buy author.

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Random House for the eARC for Spectacular things

3 Stars

First and foremost, I want to give a shoutout to the author because this book was written beautifully. She had such a profound way of describing feelings/situations/things/etc that I could actually visualize what she was talking about.

This book centers around sisters Mia and Cricket (Kristine) and their life being raised by a single mom, then being raised by each other, and their involvement/love for the game of soccer.

This book was HEAVY on the soccer content, so if soccer and/or sports isn't really your thing, not sure how you'd fare with it. The details surrounding soccer leagues, practices, professional teams, and training were so in depth that I had a feeling the author was at one time a soccer player herself.

For me, the pacing was pretty slow and it felt like it took me forever to get through the story. We are introduced to all the characters at present day (aka 2028 post LA Olympics) and then the story flashes through Mia and Cricket's entire history; from being born to single mom Liz all the way leading up to Cricket's role in the National Women's Soccer Team during the 2028 Olympics. It drags on, but obviously the history is important to how the sister's develop in adulthood.

I will say, every single one of the main characters pissed me off at least 1 time during the book and I had a really hard time liking a few of them, regardless of any character growth. Here's a few examples that made me want to throw my kindle across the room.
-Liz seemingly providing unconditional love/support only to the 1 child that showed any soccer promise (Cricket) and basically forcing Mia to quit her soccer team in order to help support Cricket and Liz's soccer dreams. I can respect her single mom hustle and working multiple jobs in order to support Cricket's soccer dreams, but putting more responsibility on Mia's shoulders at such a young age was not the way to do it.
-Mia, who literally just took it from everyone and really didn't have a backbone or stand up for herself against her mom or sister her entire life.
-Coach, who devoted his life to coaching girls' soccer and watching Cricket's whole career takeoff and suddenly, when his wife (Mia) needs a kidney, BASHES Cricket for not giving up her soccer career to save Mia's life. Both him and Mia literally put their lifelong time/energy/money in to making sure Cricket was able to be the professional soccer player she was becoming and were so disrespectful to her when she wasn't sure she wanted to give up her dream of playing in the World Cup
-Cricket, immature and very one track minded and dedicated her whole life to soccer- which I guess to play at that caliber you kind of have to be. Ultimately ruining relationships with Yaz, Mia, Coach, and eventually Sloane. It takes a whole stunt of not talking to Mia, who raised her from the age of 14 and dropped out of Yale to take care of her, for 10 months post-kidney failure for her to really understand the importance of family.

All in all, this was a good family drama and it was somewhat easy to relate with the sisterhood aspect, having a sister myself. Regardless of some of the characters and their issues, I think the author did a good job weaving everything together.

Pub Date: 7/1/2025

4.5/5

my first and forever love will always be the game of soccer and this book solidified that.

this arc has been sitting in my email for MONTHS and not a single soul told me this was about elite soccer players. the cover doesn't give that away and the synopsis doesn't either so what the actual hell. as a former competitive soccer player, i feel duped. i mean this is a family story, a soccer story, and its set in maine. perfect for me and i think it'd be perfect for you so look to the bookstores on july first! if you do pick it up, listen to the song my little love by adele. its so liz talking to her girls!
mia and cricket are the two daughters of liz lowe. a woman who got pregnant early and had to make sacrifices because of that. sacrifice and what we do for our family are the biggest themes in this story and i enjoyed every page. both daughters have different talents and different lives but in the end they have each other which is the most important thing. this spectacular (haha) family drama is told with the backdrop of soccer and that makes the book even better. life is high stakes but adding in the sports drama makes the stakes feel even higher. we follow these women through love, loss, motherhood, failure, secrets, friendships, and so much more. i feel so connected to them, mia is my girl though, older sisters unite!!

if you happen to be looking for a mix of carrie soto is back and blue sisters, you've found it. just change tennis to soccer and four sisters to two. while the pacing did struggle at times, the overall story was very dear to my heart. some of the quotes in this book made me stop, turn to my wall, and repeat them. even though no one was listening i felt like they needed to be spoken aloud. if anything i've said sounds remotely interesting to you, pick this up next week!!

as a final note, remember, "you can only use your head if you keep your eyes wide open."

*thank you lots to dial press marketing and netgalley!*

Such a great read - if you liked Carrie Soto is back you’ll love this book. I loved Mia and Cricket’s relationship and the journey that we went on with them through their life. Absolutely devoured this and it’s going to be a favorite of the summer.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this advanced copy of Spectacular Things.

Overall: 4 out 5 Stars

Spectacular Things tells the story of two talented women born from a single mother who gave up her future soccer career for them. It’s a story about sisterhood, perseverance and love, and how grief shapes us.

My main critique is the authors writing style is not my favorite. It’s written in third person which is fine but sometimes I would get lost between which character we were receiving the story from because it shifts multiple times per chapter without a clear voice shift.

Other than that, I loved this story. The ending is beautiful, and you truly understand both sisters perspectives by the end.

I hadn’t requested this book, but I got an email from someone in marketing at the publishing house asking me to give this book a look and I’m so incredibly glad I did! This book has so much heart, it has everything that was missing from Carrie Soto a few years ago. You just can’t help but root so hard for the Lowe sisters. I will say that I don’t love the cover, and it might have made me skip the book if I saw it in a store. The thing is, the book is excellent and I wouldn’t want anyone to miss it. I don’t even like sports that much, but I was on the edge of my seat. Read this book!

I loved this book. The story centers around two sisters, Mia and Cricket, as they navigate life, grief for their late mother, and realizing their dreams. A huge decision is quickly introduced into their relationship and the plot moves back and forth between their past and current lives. Mia and Cricket felt so layered and real in their love for one another, I felt deeply for them both. Soccer plays a big role in the story but as someone who know very little about the sport, it did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. In the end, I guessed how the plot would wrap up but I enjoyed every page. I only wished we could have met the women's mom, she was such a force in their lives. Thanks to Beck Dorey-Stein, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you like soccer and sisters, you will love this book. Even though I fall into neither of those category, I liked it anyway! It moved quickly and the emotions felt very real.