A review by just_one_more_paige
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 
I read, and LOVED Sebastian's first novel in this "series," We Could Be So Good, last year. It was one of my favs of the year. So, while I thought I was done with baseball romances for a while after The Prospects (which was amazing, but just, baseball is not my preferred sport/pastime), the publication of this one said otherwise. And I'm glad I overcame my baseball hesitancy because Sebastian hit this one out of the park (see what I did there? *elbow, elbow*). 
 
It's 1960 and it's setting up to be a terrible baseball season for Eddie O’Leary. He's offended his new teammates and coaches, he can't settle in NYC because he's homesick for the midwest, and he's (maybe, probably) in a hitting slump. When the owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’d rather do anything else, but it doesn't seem like he has much of a choice. Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. In fact, these days, he's barely a writer at all. He’s had a difficult and lonely year, mourning the death of his partner (privately, since they were able to be public about their love). But maybe writing about the (terrible) New York Robin’s obnoxious new shortstop can both get the struggling newspaper more readers and distract him somewhat? Finding themselves mostly alone, but now together in that, Eddie and Mark slowly realize, and give in to, the attraction and connection growing between them. But with laws and society against them, can they find a way to be together - open enough for Mark and subtle enough for Eddie - that works for them both? 
 
Yes. Just, yes. I don't really have a lot of interest in this time period nor in the primary topics (probability/slumps, baseball as a metaphor for life), but Sebastian made me care.  First, it's the fantastic historical fiction setting development; NYC in the 60s comes alive in her hands. Second, it's the characters; at only like 40 pages in, I already had soft spots for both Mark and Eddie. How is it possible that Sebastian can do that? I didn’t even really know them yet! Then, as I got to know them better, their development was just as good as the setting. They were full and nuanced, sweet and spiky, wholesome and flawed, each in their own ways. And those ways, in particular Mark’s prickly fearful love and Eddie’s earnest openness, were the literal perfect match for each other. The push and pull between them was so good. Delicious, really. The growing care is tender AF and I could not get enough of it (this was a highlight of We Could Be So Good too, so that's apparently a vibe that Sebastian has on lock). And the fact that they have to be so careful to hide something so tender is heartbreaking. The bittersweetness of that tears me upppppp. And the fact that it's all so unnecessarily heartbreaking - like, just let people love! - makes it all that much more emotionally devastating. 
 
A few other aspects that stood out to me included a really nice acknowledgement of the ways that the queer community received support from allies in the time period. Things were different, yet the importance of those allies, how they communicated and made themselves known and offered what assistance/cover/misdirection they could, was touching. This was explored in conjunction/comparison with racial discrimination, the ways each population was oppressed similarly and differently, and how allyship looked similar and different between them. And while I obviously have no direct experience, nor done my own research, I felt like the picture Sebastian painted conveyed the frustrating and enraging aspects of each, while also highlighting the ways that the human spirit still found ways to rise past/around that. On the other hand,  oooof most of these teammates are so dang petty and dramatic...and people think that’s what (only) women are like. Please. Ugh. No wonder unaddressed mental health challenges and unhealthy coping mechanisms abounded. 
 
Against my expectations, I also did find the reflection on luck, and how sometimes bad things happen with no reason or not "within a bigger picture" - they just...are - but you can also still get past it, to be fascinating. Often, a higher power is used to explain these unexplainable bad things, but that has never worked for me (if someone could stop these bad things from happening, why wouldn't they just do that? Why do we have to learn resilience and recovery if we could ensure not needing it?) This consideration of it, using the most superstitious and statistical sport as a backdrop story for the discussion on the inevitability of failure (and coming to terms and being ok with that), was really high quality literary juxtaposition that appealed to my atheist self. 
 
Overall, another banger of a recent historical queer romance from Sebastian. I loved the pacing, the dialogue (oh goodness was the dialogue great), the setting, the cameos from Nick and Andy (my heart smiled big during those), the story development, and, especially, Eddie and Mark. Their ending got me, in all my feels. The heart-filling hope and warmth and affection. I could not love them more. 
“Sometimes when bad things happen to you, it’s just because the dice get rolled a certain way. He finds that almost impossible to believe about himself, but would fight anyone who even suggested that [other people] were anything but blameless.” (but for real tho…) 
 
“But maybe it was just a bad thing that happened […] But […] even after a disaster, there’s still tomorrow.” 
 
“I’m not saying things happen for a reason – I hate that. I’m saying that things happen. And it doesn’t have to mean anything except what it means to you. Nobody else gets to decide.” 
 
“He wants to believe in the possibility of a second act.” 
 
“He feels like every part of him is wrapped around Eddie, like they’re tangled up in something dangerous and lovely and terribly, terribly precious.” (anddddd there goes my heart, a puddle) 
 
“They both know you can be happy and afraid all at once; maybe that’s easier to do when you aren’t alone.” 
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