by Alexander Voccia

YA Science Fiction, Independently Published in 2026, 273 Pages 

What I Didn’t Like:

• Some scenes feel a bit rushed. There’s big decisions made too quickly and character deaths that are almost glossed over. 
• The Aztec mythology isn’t completely accurate. I won’t go into details but some names or purposes, upon investigation, prove to be incorrect. 
• Low character development. The romance is instalove, you don’t have much reason to root for anyone outside of we want the species to survive, and the sports play by play is excessive and relies on you already knowing these players’ famous names. 

What I Did Like:

• Interesting concept. The fate of species are decided by epic football (soccer) games? Intriguing. 
• The author has a good use of descriptive language. You’ll never wonder what something or someone looks like, it’s all described in detail for you. It makes picturing the scenes easier. 
• The names and integration of Aztec mythology is cool. There’s a lot here that’s correct and a lot of liberties taken make sense. Plus Aztec mythology is underrepresented so it’s nice to see that. 

Who Should Read This One:

• Soccer fans who also want Scifi with dangerous stakes would be the audience for this one.

My Rating: 3 Stars