July 31, 2013

Review: The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock



The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Series: Dairy Queen, #2
Published: 2007, Graphia
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Format: Paperback, 277 pages 
Source: Borrowed from library
Contains spoilers for Dairy Queen (my review)
Goodreads · Amazon · Barnes & Noble
 

I’d promised myself that I’d really work on talking more, talking about uncomfortable things, because I could see from Brian how well things could work out if you did. 



The Off Season takes place right about where Dairy Queen left off. D.J. is not only a part of her high school's football team, but she's doing really well, even receiving some national attention. Her father's hip has healed enough that he can start managing some of the farm work again. She and Brian Nelson, the quarterback of rival high school Hawley's team and also the boy who helped out on her farm all summer, have something good developing between them. She and her best friend Amber are starting to work past some of the difficulties their friendship suffered from in the summer, and D.J. has even gained a new friend through Amber's girlfriend Dale. And, most of all, D.J. hopes that perhaps her family is opening up a little, working past everyone's difficulties in communicating clearly with one another.

Life seems to be good, certainly better than it was for D.J. over the summer, until she comes to realize that everything she mistook as being stable was really descending slowly and surely into chaos. Sure, things with Brian seem great, but only when they're alone or away from people who actually know them. And things may be better with Amber, but Amber's certainly not having an easy time in their hometown anymore. A shoulder injury forces D.J. to choose between football and basketball (and a chance for a college scholarship). Worst of all, however, are the problems that spring up within the Schwenk family. D.J.'s injury pales in comparison to her mother's problems, her father's slow recovery, and a devastating accident that changes the life of one of her older brothers forever. With the stakes raised, D.J. is asked to step up to the plate and support her family like never before.

While Dairy Queen was more focused on D.J. learning how to differentiate herself from her family, The Off Season is about D.J. learning how to apply her talents in a way that benefits her family. I mentioned in my first review how I initially had a difficult time justifying how D.J.'s family treated her. But, honestly, the burdens D.J. carries for her family in the first book are tiny in comparison to those D.J. and her family must endure in the second installment. D.J.'s family undergoes so much drama and trauma that perhaps the story borders on unrealistic. They deal with misunderstandings, strained relationships, and injuries galore. All of the Schwenks are shown to be incredibly selfish in one way or another, especially in the demands they make upon D.J. I found that I could only emphasize with them to a point before my frustration began going down the path of extreme displeasure.

And yet it's in these family dynamics and characterizations that the Dairy Queen trilogy really shines and comes into its own. The first book focuses more on D.J. and her parents (especially her father) learning to understand and come to accept one another. The second book focuses much more on Schwenk sibling relationships, with the only-mentioned older brothers Win and Bill becoming integral parts of this installment. Even little brother Curtis continues his slow progression towards opening up for D.J. What is really wonderful about the focus on the Schwenk siblings is how it further fleshes out D.J. More so than parent-child relationships and perhaps even friendships, sibling relationships are incredibly formative on a person's growth. D.J. becomes a well developed character in her own right in Dairy Queen, and through The Off Season, Murdock places D.J. into context with her family to an impressive degree. The Schwenks and their family dynamics are truly wonderful to behold.

In addition to all the family drama of The Off Season, a large portion of the novel is dedicated to D.J.'s relationship with Brian. After witnessing them develop into independent, fully-fleshed out characters in Dairy Queen, I was more than ready to accept the progression of their relationship into something more romantic. Just as it's impossible for readers (and Brian) to view D.J. as a hick dairy farmer by the end of the first book, so, too, is it impossible not to realize that there's more to Brian than his privileged background. He and D.J. are so good for one another, supporting each other in ways that no one else can (at least for now), so it was with equal disappointment and anger that I witnessed their relationship begin to dissolve. At the end of the book, however, I was still rooting for these two to find a way to work out their differences and be together.

The Off Season is a very different sort of book than Dairy Queen. If I'm being honest, I cannot even say that The Off Season is quite as strong as Dairy Queen. I really enjoyed how the first book focused on D.J.'s personal growth and acceptance of herself and her desires. The Off Season is more a test of mediation between D.J.'s new realized self and the needs her family is forced to place upon her once again. Because of that, I ended up spending a good portion of the novel quite frustrated at the characters and their choices. But that actually ends up being a very good thing; the story ends on a positive note, for, as important as it is that D.J. finds herself, it's just as crucial for her to find her role within her family and be there to support them. Through new trials and tribulations, D.J. is able to emerge that much the stronger and continues to be a protagonist worthy of emulation.

Rating: 4 stars
author image

Amanda

Amanda loves few things better than sitting down with a cup of tea and a book. She frequently stays up far too late, telling herself she just needs to finish one more page. When she's not wrapped up in the stories of others, Amanda works as a children's librarian in a public library.

6 comments:

  1. I liked this book the best out of the trilogy and was just so blown away by DJ's growth and the family dynamics and the general depth of these characters. You made me remember all of that. Lovely review, Amanda!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Keertana! I do agree that family dynamics made this book - and the entire trilogy - so wonderful.

      Delete
  2. Like you, this is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but I really loved how unique it is amongst YA fiction. For one thing, it's more about her brother than it really is about D.J. Also, how many YA books deal with the sort of injury he sustained. I didn't really have any suspension of disbelief issues for what they were going through, mostly because D.J. wasn't all doom and gloom about it. If she'd been persistently morose, it would have been hard for me to take, but her family tries so hard constantly. Plus, they get lucky with things like her brother getting a job.

    I totally knew Brian was going to blow her off in this book. I just read this series a couple weeks ago, thus all the words. :-p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh definitely! It's true D.J. wasn't super upset/angsty about her situation, but that almost made it worse. I just couldn't imagine how that much could happen to a few people and then have them be a little off-put, but not nearly as much as I'd expect. *shrugs* I mean, I read it just fine and got over that issue I had, but I still was just like..really, this is also happening to them?
      And I suspected that, but Brian's behavior still made me sad. Luckily he's redeemed in the third book.

      Delete
  3. This is a fantastic review. I've been seeing this series around more and more, and I can't deny that my interest in definitely piqued even though it's not usually my kind of read at all. It's too bad that this second book wasn't as good as the first... it's definitely a pet peeve of mine when an author introduces drama into the relationship in the second book that keeps the characters apart just so they can reunite in the third book. But overall, I really want to read this! I'm really excited to meet D.J. - everyone seems to love her!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Aylee! I wouldn't consider these to be typical reads for me, either, so this whole trilogy was a rather pleasant surprise. Don't take just my word on the second book, though, as many people seem to have loved this one the most. I do hope you're able to read these. D.J. is wonderful, and it's such a fun, feel-good series (despite the sometimes dark issues, D.J. is just such a calming presence0.

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I strive to make my blog the very best it can possibly be and I appreciate each and every comment on here.