Kick

I’ll admit: I wasn’t expecting *Kick* to gut-punch me the way it did. The narration is a masterclass in contrast—Peter Francis James delivers Coach’s lines with the gravelly patience of someone who’s seen too many kids like Kevin, while Michael Smith Rivera *is* Kevin: his voice cracks with frustration, his breath quickens during matches, and his silence in the courtroom scenes speaks louder than any dialogue. The production smartly uses ambient sounds (cleats on pavement, distant sirens) to ground the story in Highland, NJ, without overdoing it. The pacing is where this audiobook shines and occasionally stumbles. The first half moves like a striker on a breakaway—sharp, relentless, with Myers’ signature no-BS prose. But the third act, where Kevin faces the juvenile justice system, feels rushed. I wanted more time in those quiet moments where he grapples with shame, not just the explosive confrontations. Still, the ending lands because the narrators sell Kevin’s hard-won clarity. This isn’t a book about whether he’ll *win*—it’s about whether he’ll *survive* with his self-respect intact. If you’ve ever loved a sport but hated the world that polices who gets to play it, this one’s for you.