"Braden has always
measured himself through baseball. He is the star pitcher in his small
town of Ornette, and his ninety-four-mile-per-hour pitch already has
minor league scouts buzzing in his junior year. Now the rules of the
sport that has always been Braden’s saving grace are blurred in ways he
never realized, and the prospect of playing against Alex Reyes, the
nephew of the police officer his father is accused of killing, is
haunting his every pitch. Braden faces an impossible choice, one
that will define him for the rest of his life, in this brutally honest
debut novel about family, faith, and the ultimate test of conviction." -goodreads synopsis I wanted to write my own synopsis and even do a few quotes but I was very fortunate to have received an early copy of Conviction from Hyperion and it happens to be an uncorrected arc. SO when it came down to it I decided to leave this review unquoted and to just use some of the synopsis posted on Goodreads. The release date as of right now is May 19th, 2015.
Conviction was actually a surprise to me. I have a hard time relating too a male's POV. This wasn't at all an issue for me when it came to reading this. With the book starting out earlier in his life and sliding into what his situation became it made it a lot easier for me to get into his story. By the end of the book my heart was broken repeatedly for Braden. Braden lives a pretty simple life with his radio host father. His life takes a dramatic turn when his father is charged with the crime of killing a cop. That would throw anyone's life for a loop but being the key witness to the crime takes his situation to a new level.
Braden is stuck in the position that puts both his fate and his fathers in his hands. What he says on the stand could change both of their worlds. If that isn't enough Braden's brother Trey comes back into the picture to take custody of Braden, and picks up emotionally right where their father left off. Braden is a male protagonist that puts other male protagonist to shame. He is what I wanted out of a leading male character in so many other books. It was crazy amazing to see a character both become so isolated and yet break out of his shell. There are some sub/back characters but hands down Braden over shadows them all.
The plot was perfectly laid out all leading up to what actually happened that night. The way things unfolded one after another will leave you breathless. I thought the title of this book was just about the court case in itself, but it's not. It turned out to be a witty turn of phrase that embodied so much more. It's a word that you forget can mean so many more things. It captured the case, his family, and his religion. Yeah, I know you just heard me say religion and if you are some people you might be turned off by that. I am not a religious person, so when I do hear a story involves a lot of religious aspects it can put me off to reading it. THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH CONVICTION! Religion never takes over the story. This is a book with lots of turns, and an extremely strong message and plot. I agree 100% with other reviewers, This book will win awards.
9/10 Stars
-Angela
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