Well Played

Well Played by Katrina Ramos AtienzaWell Played by Katrina Ramos Atienza
Publisher: KRAtienza
Number of pages: 121
My copy: Kindle edition

Patrice Reyes is starting her junior year at the University and she’s convinced it’s going to be the best semester ever. For starters, it looks like this is the year her team will win the regional football (soccer, for you Yanks) championships. Her subjects are looking good, and there’s even a chance she might finally get somewhere with her rock star crush. But a new classmate—arrogant, cold math nerd—is seriously throwing off her groove. Will she ever get rid of him and have the awesome semester she deserves? Or is there truth to never judging (math) books by their cover?

* * *

I’m a fan of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, although perhaps not as much of a big fan as other friends (I’m still very partial to Persuasion, because hello, Captain Wentworth and that letter!), but I like reading books and watching adaptations of Pride & Prejudice because it’s my first Austen and you don’t forget your first. :) When I heard of Katrina Ramos Atienza’s retelling of P&P set in the Los Banos, I knew I had to read it. Even if I’m not a huge fan of football.

Patrice Reyes is an incoming junior and she believes that it will be her best semester ever. She’s sure her team will win the regional football championships, her grades look good, she has good friends at the dorm, and oh look, there’s a crush. But when cold and arrogant math guy Paul becomes her partner in one of her major subjects, her days are thrown off course. How will she get rid of him to get her perfect semester back? Does she even really want to get rid of him?

I had a lot of fun with Well Played, mostly because it was so much fun matching the characters to the original. Almost everyone had a match, save for a few, which would have complicated the plot a little. I appreciate that the plot wasn’t that complicated, though, because it made the story easier to read, with just enough drama to make me hang on. I liked Patrice and her wit, her loyalty to her friends and her fierceness and her passion for her sport. I wasn’t always fond of her, to be honest, but she made for a great Filipino Lizzie Bennett. :) I also really liked Gia (the equivalent of Jane) and and Deenie, although I can’t decide if Deenie is less or more annoying than Lydia. I really liked Migs (Bingley) too, and he seems like such a nice guy. Paul is such a true Darcy, with the angst and the grumpiness, and all the hidden layers that makes him a Darcy.

My favorite part of the book is the setting, most definitely. I loved how the setting just worked for the story. The setting was based on University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna. I didn’t study there, and the last time I was there was in 2003, but even if I can barely remember anything there, the setting in this book felt so real. I liked the dorm setting and how the setting seemed to be a character in itself. I liked it so much that it was so easy to imagine everything there, and I don’t even have to suspend any kind of disbelief.

I think the only thing that niggled at me was how sometimes the characters didn’t sound like they’re Filipinos at all. They seemed just a tad too foreign when I read their dialogue, like they’re all foreign exchange students. But other than that, I liked Well Played a lot, and I think it’s a pretty faithful and entertaining Filipino adaptation of P&P. Oh, and even if I still don’t really understand (or even watch) football, I must mention that I liked how the sport played a role in the story, too. And that really cute ending after that football game? Oh, I definitely approve. :)

Number of dog-eared pages: 5

Favorite dog-eared quote(s):

When it came down to it, she mused philosophically, there were girls like Deenie to whom romantic attachments come easy; they followed their hearts, got into sticky situations and got up to pursue other adventures. More power to them, but Patrice wasn’t like that. She had too many responsibilities and, to be honest, she was much too afraid of being hurt to fling her heart open the way Deenie did.

“How can there be any hard feelings when there weren’t any feelings to start with?”

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
Sab the Book Eater
Book Junkie Joint