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Knockout Girl #2

Standup Guy

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"Facing your fears" has a nice ring to it.

Best friends Elli and Julian are back and this time, they'll be fighting in a huge boxing tournament with an even bigger prize. Julian struggles with his new identity as both an academic and an athlete while Elli fights for equality...and true love.

Things get rough for Julian with his focus split between school, boxing, and Cherry. When a poor decision causes him to almost ruin his friendship with Elli, he must decide: is his dream worth the risk?

Elli's boxing team struggles for the attention they deserve from the school, so she steps up and puts everything she has into saving her team. Can she depend on Adrian for his support when he seems too preoccupied with partying, looking good, and playing hockey?

With Elli and Julian each fighting for what is true and good there's a lot more at stake than just a championship.

252 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2019

1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read

About the author

Natasja Eby

49 books38 followers
Natasja is a librarian and the self-published author of the Swapped Lives series, the Knockout Girl series, the Onepian Chronicles, the Less than Perfect series, the Building Bridges series, and the CanEdania Chronicles. She is an avid fan and participant of NaNoWriMo and has completed several novels over the past few Novembers.

In 2019, Natasja received two Indie Original awards for Knockout Girl, one for Best New Author and the other for Best Young Adult Novel.

When she's not working on her many unfinished novels, she can be found playing video games with her husband and three kids, singing, or curled up with a good book. Natasja lives just outside of Toronto–close enough for good shopping and far enough to avoid the traffic.

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Robin.
Author 3 books29 followers
April 28, 2019
Such a great sequel! Natasja Eby continues the story she began in Knockout Girl and we hear the tale from two different points of view. Standup Guy is just as well done as Knockout Girl, the tale just as rich, while remaining a clean read. I don't always like sequels because I feel like they more often fall flat rather than adding something of value to a story. I'm so happy to say this sequel was more than worth my time. I've added it to my favorite books.

I was pleasantly surprised by the healthy, positive messages in both this book and the previous one. The strong heroine, supportive friends, people working through their problems and not giving up...it's all so well done! I absolutely will purchase the next book from this author. I'm looking forward to it so much!

If you enjoy teen stories, teamwork, strong characters, and drama that is neither over-done nor melodramatic, you should read both this book and Knockout Girl.
Profile Image for Filip Markovic.
Author 7 books18 followers
August 28, 2019
And Natasja continues with her story (from Knockout Girl) to impresses us readers. Such a wonderful story, changed opinions and different point of view.
- Story starts smoothly, rich vocabulary and amazingly easy read. The point of the story, as its message is such a powerful motive for living a real life more as this story ; positive thoughts in every next page.
- Magnificent emotions expressed by characters, their life and real-person moments.
As in my previous review, I'll not spoil the book too much for you. You should give it a read and believe me, you'll not regret it.
- Je dois dire ça en français, pour les lecteurs en France. N'hésitez pas vous lancer, car ce livre est magnifique et si vous lisez un peu en anglais, vous allez l'adorer.
- My next read : The B-Boy.

XoXo #TheBloodyRanch
Profile Image for Lea Carter.
Author 20 books43 followers
February 18, 2019
Nobody's one-dimensional. Nobody's "just" anything. This story does a fabulous job of bringing that out as the characters struggle to navigate the mine field of emotions and decisions that is high school.
Jules and Elli continue facing some of their challenges head-on in the boxing ring, but not every problem can be solved with a right cross. And not every arena has a referee to make sure the other guy plays fair.
Lies, truths, doors opening and closing. See how the the "nerd" and the "princess" handle things in Standup Guy, the delightful sequel to Knockout Girl.
Profile Image for Lea Carter.
Author 20 books43 followers
February 28, 2019
Nobody's one-dimensional. Nobody's "just" anything. This story does a fabulous job of bringing that out as the characters struggle to navigate the mine field of emotions and decisions that is high school.
Jules and Elli continue facing some of their challenges head-on in the boxing ring, but not every problem can be solved with a right cross. And not every arena has a referee to make sure the other guy plays fair.
Lies, truths, doors opening and closing. See how the the "nerd" and the "princess" handle things in Standup Guy, the delightful sequel to Knockout Girl.
Profile Image for Emily Hean.
143 reviews7 followers
April 25, 2020
Such a fun story and a great sequel. I felt like the relationships in these books more accurately depict high school romances than other YA books I've read. Can't wait to jump into the next one!
Profile Image for Michelle Wright.
Author 12 books5 followers
March 14, 2019
Knockout Girl ended with a feel-good, but open ending, leaving room for this engaging sequel. Elli and Julian have grown, and while they still have the ups and downs of difficult choices, they're in it together now more than ever. They may have taken up boxing initially to defeat a bully, but now they do it for the enjoyment of the sport and the friendship of the team. When Elli's team faces challenges bigger than a single bully, she learns to pull her resources to once again stand up for herself and her friends.

Unlike the first of the series, which is in Elli's first-person narrative, this novel is written in both Elli and Julian's perspectives, and it adds depth to the story. Reading both together is like watching these characters grow up.
Profile Image for Natasja.
Author 49 books38 followers
February 12, 2019
Probably the most fun I ever had writing a book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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