T. Glen Coughlin

Wrestling is not a big deal where I live. I know my school has a wrestling team, but I could not name one person on it or the results of any match. Really the only time I've heard about our wresting team was during the ringworm epidemic of 2011. The point in telling you this is that I enjoyed this "wresting novel" even though I know nothing about the sport.

Admittedly, it did take me a while to get into this book. The book is told by a third person limited narrator, which each chapter centering around one of the team members. I took me a couple of chapters to really get a feel for the characters. But once I understood the dynamics of the relationships, I was really interested in seeing what happened next. While I was a bit bored at the beginning because I could not visualize the wrestling, by the end on the novel my heart was racing during the matches. The author does a great job at pulling in readers who, like me, know nothing about the sport.

Before I referred to this novel as a "wrestling book" and I put those quotations in for a reason. Although this novel does center around the sport, it is much more about team dynamics and internal motivation. Anyone who has been on a team for anything or has pushed him or herself to reach a certain goal can relate to the struggles faced by the characters of this novel. That is what I love about contemporary novels, the troubles and struggles faced by the characters are almost always universally applicable.

I mentioned that the novel is told from the third person point of view of multiple characters, each chapter featuring a different member of the varsity wrestling team. What I did not yet mention is that the story is further broken down into parts. The earlier parts feature the sport much more than the later, which I found intriguing. By the later parts, many of the characters find themselves in life changing situations. This novel is far from squeaky clean: there are detectives, federal and misdemeanor crimes, a prostitute, and plenty of explicit wordings. It is real and it is gritty.

I personally love novels that feature male POV's, and Coughlin did it well. Perhaps it is because unlike many YA novels featuring male POV's, the author actually is a male... Regardless, if you are like me and love to read male POV's, this is a good one to check out. One Shot Away is not just about wrestling. It is about teenage struggles and pressures while on the threshold of adulthood - something very real and difficult and not to be dismissed.… (más)