I do not review very many novels on this site. When I do, the general rule is that the book has to have some meaningful connection to tennis. Over the years, that requirement has led me to some interesting reads that explore the sport directly or use it as a narrative device within the story.
Moms Like Us by Jordan Roter is a novel with arguably the flimsiest connection to tennis that I have published to date. The cover features a posterized cartoon bear holding a tennis racquet, which initially suggests that the sport might play a meaningful role in the story. In reality, tennis makes only brief cameo appearances.
Two of the central characters are involved in a social drama revolving around membership in an exclusive tennis club, but the sport itself remains firmly in the background. If you are coming to the book expecting a tennis-centric plot, you will not find one. That said, the club politics surrounding membership and social standing will likely feel familiar to anyone who has spent time around competitive recreational tennis communities.
It is also worth noting that this book lands on the raunchier side of the spectrum compared to what I typically like to consume. The humor can be dark, the characters are messy, and the social dynamics are sometimes more chaotic than polite society might prefer. The racy themes will not be for everyone, but it clearly aligns with what the author set out to create.
On a personal note, this book sent me on a side quest that probably says more about me than it does about the book. One of the characters, operating in a drug-induced haze, writes down a string of apparent gibberish. Naturally, I immediately began trying to decode it. I spent an embarrassing amount of time experimenting with possible keyboard hand shifts, accidental key offsets, and other typographical errors that might explain how the message had been generated.
That is simply how my brain works. If I ever publish a novel, and it is becoming less and less of a secret that I harbor those aspirations, any encoded message you encounter will absolutely be decipherable. In this case, however, the most likely explanation appears to be exactly what the story implied. The character was high and wrote nonsense.
While I genuinely enjoyed the fool’s errand of that diversion, I also genuinely liked the book. The dark comedy worked for me, and the author does a good job capturing the absurdity of social competition among tightly connected communities. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the story and found the ending satisfying.
Even if tennis only makes a cameo appearance, Moms Like Us still managed to earn its place on this site.
Moms Like Us (<- Sponsored Link)
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