The Knockout

These book was a great story about breaking race and gender norms about female athletes. I loved all the information I learned about Muay Thai and how passionate our main character was about it. I also REALLY loved the romance between the two characters. They didn't let their relationship or feelings get in the way of their dreams. Highly recommend this book!!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I really loved this. I loved how it was both feminine yet sporty - which is something you don't really see a lot of in YA - the main character (Kareena) is so relatable and I love the insight we get into her family life. I love the supportive Mum and Dad and how the community reacts to her Muay Thai.

I loved that we got to read about Muay Thai as a whole. It's a sport I don't know very much about and this was a great introduction to it.

The book paces itself well but I thought the ending was quite rushed and the climax could have been lengthened.

Other than that, amazing!

I couldn’t put this book down. The main character is a freaking strong, caring, hard working, overall bad*ss young women. She has felt the crippling effects of her family’s situation and does everything in her power to help her parents while doing the one thing she loves (oh and having to attend high school and dealing with grades and navigating the issues of high school drama). Her story is one of everyday struggles and finding the will and power to overcome. I especially loved the community of female athletes who become her supporting base; a powerful connection that all girls (of any age need).

This is a super fun YA romance. I loved Kareena's focus on Muy Thai, and it definitely made me remember what it felt like to be in high school and participating in a sport that not everyone understands. The romance with Amit is really sweet, and does a great job understanding the tension between being serious about a sport and trying to date as well. It's a great book, and I really enjoyed reading it.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Below is my honest review.*

**I don't spoil what happens in the story or how it ends, but I do mention some of the overall concepts.

~~SPOILER WARNING~~

🥊𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖪𝗇𝗈𝖼𝗄𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄. 𝖨𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗋𝖾𝗐 𝗆𝗒 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋. 𝖨 𝖺𝗆 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗂𝖺𝗋 𝗐𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝗂𝗑𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗆𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗍𝗒𝗅𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗇𝖼𝗈𝗋𝗉𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗂𝗍, 𝗌𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌𝗇'𝗍 𝖺 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗌𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖨𝗇𝖽𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗍!

𝖨 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗋'𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋, 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖿𝖾𝗅𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝗂𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗋 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝖺 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗃𝗈𝖻 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖬𝗎𝖺𝗒 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗂 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖺𝗅 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝖺𝖼𝗍. 𝖨𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾, 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾, 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾, 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗎𝗅𝗍𝗂𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗒𝗉𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖺𝖽𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗒 (𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖺𝗅, 𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅, 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅, 𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿-𝖾𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗆, 𝗉𝗈𝗈𝗋 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗁, 𝖾𝗍𝖼.).

𝖨 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 ➄ 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝗌.

I really enjoyed this #ownvoices debut! It’s a classic YA novel through and through, so if you don’t like the language and structure of YA, maybe don’t pick this up. If you do though, get ready for a fun, moving read. I really enjoyed the maturity of the issues this book tackled. From cultural pressures, to health/financial concerns, to the stigma that female athletes face (especially in physically demanding sports like Muay Thai), this book really dug in to explore these very real life challenges in depth. I loved the maturity that Kareena and Amit had as characters, while still being fully high schoolers. Usually I struggle with character motivation in YA, but not in this book because Kareena and Amit were so fully realized!! Also, the romance was incredibly sweet.

This book was awesome! Kareena is an amazing MC. She is dedicated, loving and powerful. She deals with the harsh judgment of some part of her community and the feeling of not belonging, her family problems, her objectives in Muay Thai and a blooming romance. We saw Kareena's personality completely and her struggles to fit in. The feeling she can't be a "good" desi girl and a fighter, feminine and muscular. Her romance with Amit is just so sweet and intense and he is, truly, a dream boy. It´s beautiful seeing her slowly accepting herself and put the prejudiced and malicious people their face, she's a warrior. A book with a very good plot, writing, characters, and representation.

I absolutely loved everything about The Knockout. Patel has created a fascinatingly unique and still universally relatable main character. The family relationship in the book was refreshing and wonderful. I loved seeing Kareena learn to accept support from those around her. And her relationship with Amit is something YA readers will complete swoon over. This is a phenomenal story that will have young readers cheering and begging for more from S.A. Patel.