June is here, which means two things: the historic thirtieth season of the WNBA is in full swing and everything is a little gayer all month long. Whether you love women’s basketball or you’re simply searching for a good book to add to your sapphic stacks, A Sharp Endless Need by Mac Crane (they/them) is definitely worth considering.
Set in Pennsylvania in 2004, A Sharp Endless Need follows basketball phenom Mackenzie “Mack” Morris. Basketball is everything to Mack, a rising senior at Ekron who is trying to decide which college to commit to. Mack is reeling from the death of her father when she meets Liv Cooper, a captivating transfer student whose talents rival her own. Mack and Liv’s chemistry both on and off the court is instantaneous and undeniable. They team up for an unforgettable season that forces Mack to confront not only her sexuality, but who she is beyond basketball.
There was a lot about this book that I really enjoyed. Crane’s writing is raw and alive. They described basketball with such passion and intensity that it felt like Mack’s true love interest was the game. As someone who was in high school in the early 2000s, Crane’s depiction of Mack’s world was incredibly nostalgic for me. I vividly remember hanging out with my friends in 711 parking lots and putting up angsty AIM away messages with carefully curated song lyrics.
While the book lacked cultural diversity, I appreciated the glimpses Crane gave us into Mack’s gender identity. Crane has acknowledged that, today, Mack would likely identify as nonbinary and use they/them pronouns even though that language wasn’t accessible during the time the book is set.
Something that didn’t resonate for me was Mack’s excessive drinking and drug use. While I recognize that high school students in 2004 had access to alcohol and drugs, it seemed unrealistic to me that Mack could be as successful and dedicated an athlete as she was with the amount of alcohol and drugs she consumed. I also found the book’s ending to be lacking. I felt invested in Mack’s story and was disappointed that Crane left several plot points unresolved.
While I have my gripes about some of Crane’s content choices in A Sharp Endless Need, their strong writing made me want to read more of their work.
Crane is a former college basketball player originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Their debut novel, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, is a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Indie Next Pick, and a Lambda Literary Award winner. Their debut short story collection, Perverts, will be released July 7, 2026. You can find them on marisacrane.org and on Instagram @mac_crane12.
Trigger warnings for drug use, homophobia, self-harm, and sexual assault.
Raquel R. Rivera (she/her/ella) is a Puerto Rican lawyer who lives in New Jersey with her incredible fiancée and their beautiful canine and human sons. She is in a lifelong love affair with books and earned countless free personal pan pizzas from the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program as a kid to prove it.
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