Book Review: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Portraying infidelity in fiction is one thing. But doing what Holly Schindler did in this book—endorse and reward it—is this whole other thing. Playing Hurt made me absolutely livid. Livid. Because this book is about a girl who cheats on her boyfriend, who fails to understand why it’s not okay, and who, at the end of the book, is happy as a clam, completely oblivious to the fact that she’s deeply, deeply screwed up another person’s life. That disgusts me. I hate this book—and believe me when I say I don’t use the word “hate” lightly.

So here’s the story.

Chelsea used to be a great basketball player. But she was injured and now she can’t play. Through it all, she’s had this really supportive and understanding boyfriend, Gabe. Gabe is sweet and considerate. They’ve never had sex, because Gabe wants to make it special, which Chelsea finds “annoying”—because having a nice boyfriend is just a pain in the ass, right? Anyway. Chelsea and her family are going on vacation for two weeks to Minnesota, without Gabe. Immediately upon her arrival, Chelsea meets Clint, who’s, like, The Hottest Guy Ever.

Naturally, Chelsea and Clint hang out, and there is instant chemistry and all that good stuff. They flirt, they touch, they make out. And all the while, Chelsea emails and calls Gabe, pretending that everything is fine. Like she doesn’t even realize that she’s being unfaithful to her boyfriend.

At some point, Clint finds out that Chelsea has, you know, a boyfriend back home, and is understandably upset, since they almost had sex at one point, except for getting interrupted. Naturally, Clint is upset.

“[…] you’re the most frightened little girl I’ve ever met. […] The most frightened. You don’t even have the strength to choose between guy number one and guy number two.”

So Clint storms off, all upset and feeling betrayed. But as soon as he cools down, he’s back to his lustful Chelsea-related thoughts. The fact that she has a boyfriend ceases to even be an issue! Like, oh yeah, sure she has a boyfriend, who she says she loves. No big deal! Obviously, Clint was thinking with his penis, and not his brain.

I spend the whole time thinking about Chelsea—and how wrong I’ve been. I never should have pushed her away, never should have ignored the way every single fiber in my entire body told me she was what I wanted.

Okay, so yay!!! Clint and Chelsea are deeply in love and they’re totally committed to each other. No obstacles bar their romance and all is fine and dandy. Except, OH WAIT—Chelsea is still “dating” Gabe. She sends him postcards, calls him on the phone, etc. Literally, Chelsea does not understand how life works. Just because your boyfriend isn’t present doesn’t mean you can screw around with other guys. Seriously. Romance 101, girl.

We start kissing as though we’d never once been interrupted—[…] not by nagging guilt. And certainly not by the ancient histories of our own loves.

…seriously, Chelsea? SERIOUSLY? Your relationship with Gabe is not “ancient”! You have not broken up with him. You told him you were in love with him, and then ran off to go get it on with Clint. Does this not strike you as a problem? Does it not?

So anyway. Vacation time is over, Chelsea says goodbye to Clint, then goes back to Gabe. Gabe, being the thoughtful boy he is, has planned this big weekend getaway for the two of them. He spends upwards of $500 per night on a fancy hotel room, so that he can make Chelsea’s first sexual experience special and memorable. The kid is a saint, I swear. Except, whoops! Chelsea already had sex with Clint.

Right about now would be a great time for Chelsea to confess to Gabe that she’s been cheating on him. But of course she doesn’t do it. Nope. She’s going to pretend that everything is okay.

I stare at the address awhile, touching my lips with my fingertip, hoping like hell that being with Gabe won’t make me forget exactly how Clint’s mouth felt, traveling over every inch of my body.

Great! Chelsea plans on kissing Gabe all while hoping that she can still be faithful to Clint. Girl, you have things so backwards right now it’s not even funny.

At some point during the sexual proceedings in the hotel room, Chelsea bursts into tears and explains that she can’t have sex with Gabe because she’s in love with Clint. Understandably, Gabe is horrified and furious. And because Chelsea is seriously a terrible, terrible person, she makes the entire thing Gabe’s fault.

I was ready to go through with this night to keep from hurting him. I was about to have sex with him even though my heart wasn’t in it. Wasn’t that thinking of him? Wasn’t that putting him first? Didn’t he see how much I’d just been willing to give him?

Oh yes. Because everyone wants their significant other to lie to them and just go through the motions of having a relationship even if their heart isn’t in it. I know for sure that my dream date is exactly like Chelsea—selfish, deceitful, and defensive. She refuses to take responsibility for her actions, and at the end of the day, it’s still all Gabe’s fault, and she runs off into the sunset happy as can be.

What. The. Hell. Seriously—what is this book? I hate it. I hate Playing Hurt so much that you cannot possibly know how much I hate it. HATE.

And that is really all I have to say.