REVIEW: “The Academy: Game On” by Monica Seles

The Academy is the international sports school. So it’s all about sport, right? Not when there are two ways in. Be the best. Or the super-rich…and insanely powerful.

Maya is a tennis star-in-the-making and a scholarship kid. Her gift earned her a place on the courts. Now she is friends with the wealthiest girl in school and she has the attention of two irresistible brothers. But there aren’t just two players in this game and you never know who your real competition is. As Maya is about to find out.

This glitzy world of sports academies comes to you from international sensation and winner of nine Grand Slam titles, Monica Seles.

Maya comes from a poor family. For as long as she can remember, her parents have invested any money that comes their way into her future – Tennis. Maya has tried year after year to get into the prestigious academy, and is finally successful on the fourth year of applying. But the academy ends up changing more than just her tennis skills…

The main theme in this story is discovering yourself, and it carries the message that you should always stay true to yourself. Maya ends up being the person she never wanted to be.

At times, Maya annoyed me. Sometimes it seemed like she didn’t have any common sense. However, she improved towards the end of the story and I started to like her. I liked her friends Cleo and Renee. They were sweet characters and loyal friends. The two love interests, brothers Travis and Jake, just confused me! I wasn’t sure who Maya was meant to be having a crush on, who she was going out with or which one she disliked. They were interesting characters, but it was a bit confusing when they were in the same scene.

This story was fun to read and I read it all in a couple of hours. The plot was good and I’ve never actually read a book set in a sports academy so it made a nice change. I give this book a rating of 4/5.