This was just not a good book. While the history was fascinating, Lisi has no sense of narrative and would get stuck in "word-ruts." It was odd how the book ended, with a paragraph about the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal Match - maybe there was a deadline to meet or something, but for a writer who spent pages on innocuous early international friendlies to end with just a paragraph on the most recent thrilling game for the team seemed poor form.

I couldn't even get through this. I love the Women's soccer team, and I have several books on the subject, but this one was so dry and boring, it was a chore to read. ( )

The prose style of this book resembles that of an electronics instruction manual. I came away from the book less interested in the topic than when I started. ( )

I found this book to be an enjoyable, quick read. Each chapter focuses on a major tournament that the U.S. women played in and describes how the games unfolded and how the ultimate result of the tournament affected the team’s development. Each chapter was filled with quotes and play-by-plays of games, but I felt that they were a bit short and simplistic. The sheer number of quotes that were used often made the chapter and narrative a bit disjointed it – I felt it could have used more analysis to tie everything together. I was often left wanting after each chapter, hoping for more in-depth analysis of the people and/or events.

I’ve followed the U.S. women’s soccer team for almost a decade now, and would consider myself a pretty well-informed fan. Because of this, I was already familiar with many of the events being described. But they would be an easily accessible and informative introduction for someone less familiar with the team. However, I had never learned so much about the early days of U.S. women’s soccer and how the team was first established. So I especially appreciated those sections and the wealth of personal interviews conducted by the author that provided insight into how the players were feeling at the time and what they thought about the events. It was very interesting to see how the U.S. team and women’s soccer worldwide have evolved and grown over the last few decades.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any fan of women’s soccer or anyone looking to learn more about a group of remarkable women that have made history and changed the face of women’s sports. ( )

Beginning with the introduction, you can feel the passion of the author for the sport. However, the book is not particularly compelling or well written. I wanted to enjoy the book and I have colleagues and friends that would enjoy the topic but I would not be comfortable recommending it. It could use a good editor. ( )