“There sure are a lot of egos around here.” (…)
“The biggest ones aren’t even on the field.”
Genre: Sports Fiction, General Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Touches on subjects like workplace inequality, double standards, and misogyny. Describes workplace harassment and discrimination.
“Sideline Confidential” follows Blake Kirk, a recent journalism masters graduate, as she starts on her dream job: being a reporter for her hometown professional football team. She expected some resistance from this male-dominated field, but not as much as she ultimately received—as a whole set of rules have been made just for her, with her superiors always second guessing her reliability and professionalism. Because why would a woman want to work on the sports field other than to get with a football player, right?
This was such an eyeopening read—but as a huge football fan, I can’t say I’m completely surprised. I, too, work in a male-dominated field (yay for all my STEM girlies, we’ve got this) but what I’ve experienced is nothing to the extent to what Blake had to face working for her hometown’s football team. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t allowed around the players in private, it was how fraternizing was encouraged for male employees but condemned for female employees. It was how the author of this book was a female sports reporter as well, and how the things depicted in this book, although fiction, hold a thread of truth.
PSA: You don’t need to know much about football to enjoy this book. What you do need to know is that it touches on hard topics, focused on workplace inequality and discrimination based on gender. If you’re looking for quick read that tackles heavy subjects for women, then “Sideline Confidential” is exactly what you’re looking for.
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ARC provided by PR by the Book and Green Leaf Book Group in exchange for an honest review.
andrea's galley 