Kat & Mouse: A Crosscannon Roller Derby Romance

This book is not going to speak to everyone. I can guarantee you that right off the bat. It’s gritty, it’s got rough edges. It’s downright raw. Like walking the entire length of a gravel driveway barefoot, it’ll jab you in unexpected places every time you think you’ve finally figured out the rhythm. 

But it’s also tender, warm-hearted, and so suffused with love it’s running off the pages. 

The titular Kat loves to watch the Mouse (real name: Dot) at play from afar, refereeing roller derby bouts while daydreaming about the beefy blocker. Mouse, by contrast, can’t stand Kat’s calling of penalties … until they get to know each other better, and Mouse is ensnared in her trap. 

As an avowed aficionado of roller derby (and a one-time aspirant who made it a whopping five practices before breaking her leg and deciding it was safer in the bleachers), this book was a given as soon as I saw it. 

But I was hardly expecting, much less ready for the avalanche of emotions and heavy moods this book foisted on me. I’ll pause here for content warnings regarding lengthy depictions of mental illness, substance abuse and religious quackery in the book, and discussions of same below. 

Rather than skirting around or shying away, we go deep into these characters’ psyches. Dot’s struggles with mental illness are both structurally important as well as extremely emotional. I sometimes struggle on re-reads of this book because Dot’s heart is so raw and tender, I can barely stand to read the torture she goes through. 

I do not pretend to understand the realities of her illness, but I empathize deeply about seemingly uncontrollable feelings rising up in an attempt to drown out all other emotions and thoughts. 

This book may not wind up at the top of everyone’s favorites list, but I consider a must-read nonetheless. 

It’s important from an intersectional standpoint, for sure (mental illness and queer and happy ending), but it’s also just a damn good piece of writing filled with believable characters in realistic situations. I only wish I could head down to the track to catch a bout.