Title: Tough As Lace
Author: Lexi Bruce
Publisher: West 44
Genre: HiLo, Poetry, Teens, YA
Release Date: 1st December 2021
BLURB from Goodreads
Lacey "Lace" Stewart knows who she is. She's the star of her high school's lacrosse team, she's confident and brash, and she doesn't seem to worry about what other people think. Lace tries hard in school, works weekends at a coffee shop, and is counting on a lacrosse scholarship for college. She's got it all figured out. At least that's what she shows everyone at school. But underneath her brave face, she's battling deep-seated anxiety, and she's one panic attack away from losing it all.
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REVIEW
I had mixed feelings about the cover it looked a bit dark but when reading the book, it does kind of make sense, as the main characters name is Lacey and she is continually being told to “be tough.” The lace on the book cover is pretty but has that small hole within it, representing the character Lacey really well.
The main character Lacey, though people do call her Lace for short is the star of the lacrosse team, she appears to have it all. Lace dates Owen, the star of the male lacrosse team. Lacey appears to have everything, be good at everything and comes across as confident, “in your face”, loud girl. However, behind the wall Lacey has carefully constructed around herself she is more unsure, reserved and has anxiety too. Lacey works hard at school and in her weekend job in a little coffee shop but sadly things start to slip. First, it’s Lacey’s grades and then missing assignments, which has a knock-on effect of her beloved lacrosse being taken from her. Lacey is told if she wants to play at the lacrosse games, she needs to keep up her grades too. With pressure from her teachers, along with peer pressure from her lacrosse team mates saying they need her in top form is a heavy enough weight to carry. Then every attempt at initiating a conversation about the anxiety this is all causing with her parents is met by being told to “fake it till you make it” and “push through it” etc it’s no wonder poor Lacey ends up suffering panic attacks, she literally has no outlet, she feels like she has no one to speak honestly with and confide in. The book goes on to tell of her panic attack, luckily for Lacey a teacher at school notices the signs and offers her help and guidance. Its not long until others realise and step forward to help her.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that it had been a good read that covered an important subject in a short book. Though I have to admit I did feel annoyed with the reaction of Lacey's parents towards her in the book, the whole "fake it till you make it attitude" certainly wasn't helping her.
Summing up I really like the concept of these books being HiLo in that, they are short reads, but they tackle important issues. The book is also classed as poetry, which I’ll be honest I wouldn’t normally read, in fact I would usually just dismiss poetry altogether but I do really enjoy these novellas. I think they would make an amazing tool at schools to tackle certain subjects as well as encouraging those who are not used to reading. They would be a shorter commitment to read, yet still interesting for not so keen readers. It would be a great conversation starter when dealing with anxiety etc within the school environment.
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