There's nothing dramatic about roller derby.
*****
Moving to Connecticut had never been in former figure skater Wren Wu's plans, yet there she is. She's there for her brother's sake...
I've never thought of myself as a force to be reckoned with. Maybe I should start thinking of myself that way; maybe I deserve to.
Taylor Jenkins Reid — The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
No matter who you choose to go down the road with, you're gonna get hurt. That's just the nature of caring about someone. No matter who you love, they will break your heart along the way.
Taylor Jenkins Reid — Daisy Jones & The Six
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SYNOPSIS
WREN WU has never been a particularly great team player. When you're used to doing things your way, when you're used to controlling every single aspect of your life, that sort of thing just comes naturally. So, when her brother gets checked into a rehab clinic all across the country ("if Mom and Dad can afford it, why not?"), her world is pulled out of its axis.
Connecticut isn't that bad, depending on how one chooses to look at it. Wren supposes it could be worse; after all, she could be lost in a new college, surrounded by people she doesn't know, unsure of what to do with herself and her crippling perfectionism . . . oh. Wait. Wren decides she has officially found her own personal hell.
A flyer stuck to the door of her dorm room insists everyone should try out for the roller derby team, and Wren knows it's a terrible idea to get involved. It's violent and dirty and she bruises easily and Corinne Freaking Fontaine is the team captain.
Corinne is everything Wren would have hated back home: stubborn, impulsive, probably shouldn't be allowed near sharp objects or that stupid motorcycle she rides. Corinne also has an unnerving habit of managing to talk people into doing what she wants, which might be partially why Wren finds herself holding a pair of roller skates.
There are certain things that bring people together: figuring out how to grow into an adult while trying to knock down as many people as possible to score a point or two is just one of them. Corinne's determination to succeed is certainly inspiring and contagious—not to mention it rivals Wren's, which is a true recipe for disaster.
(Besides: Corinne is, like, totally, impossibly, infuriatingly, annoyingly, dangerously gorgeous. You know. That's just a minor detail, really.)
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