Sweet, sports, romance, representation, so many emotions brought to the surface with this wonderful novel.

This book is an excellent YA commentary on sex, gender, and advocating for your own rights among injustice and discrimination both on the personal and broader level.

I adored this book and it made me feel so seen. I really related with Spencer's love interest (I'm horrible at remembering names) because they were dealing with a religious family and their very strict ways/views on the LGBTQ+ community. I know what that feels like to go through that. And this book just had so many positive messages. I also really enjoyed the team comraderie and how it shows that a team may not always understand but they can still come together and support for their teammate. Strongly recommend!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I thought this was such a great example of wonderful YA writing. I was immediately sucked into the story and invested into Spencer. I enjoyed that his story was not portrayed as smooth sailing post coming out. Seeing how he manages relationships, parents and his own expectations was such a needed narrative. Spencer is a character that I would love to revisit to see how life has progressed.
This is definitely a book I would recommend.

Well-written characters with real-life issues makes this sports book a true winner. Unfortunately difficult subjects are handled the way they should be - as true and believable situations with satisfactory resolutions. Yes, this was a feel good book (and who doesn't want a feel good story?!), but it demonstrates how we as a society should handle challenges and treat all people fairly.

The Passing Playbook does nothing new with it narrative except for the refreshing diversity that is on display in this novel. The Passing Playbook is worth the read just for the diversity reflected within its pages.

I really enjoyed this book and how Spencer chose to use his voice. Fitzsimons did a wonderful job creating a story that is inspiring, brave and positive. Spencer and all of this friends are role models who can only help to create more positive change in the world. This is a great book!

I know this review is very late, but I just recently go signed back into NetGalley! This book was awesome! I was instantly interested in it, and it did not feel slow to me. I really enjoyed reading this.

This was such a sweet YA book! I loved it, loved the characters, loved the story, and even though I don't care one iota about sports, I was still so invested in the sports elements! The trans representation was so good and the description of "passing" was so necessary and refreshing and I think it could open a lot of young eyes to the reality of being a trans kid in high school.

I thought Isaac Fitzsimons did a wonderful job tackling heavy issues while still writing a captivating and creative narrative that explores the world in ways a lot of trans kids experience but don't see in media like this. Looking forward for more from this author.

This was a knockout! Spence and Justice had me smiling from ear to ear. We love a trans mc. I loved it

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

“He was always suggesting people Spencer might be interested in, but Spencer had a hard enough time learning to love and accept his own body, let alone inviting someone else to.”

“Recent current events have shown me that being passive is going against progress.”

OMG I was literally smiling and giggling the whole time! The main characters were just so cute! As a big fan of the niche sub genre of YA Sports Romance (lol), I loved this story so so much! Yes there is the romance and butterflies, but this story also had so much depth and vulnerability that I have never read in a YA sports romance before. I loved reading this story because more than anything I learned how to be a better ally. And that is something we as a society can always improve upon.

I loved this book so much! I'll recommend it to anyone and everyone once my library gets a copy. It is sweet, exciting, has great sports moments, funny at time, raw -- the whole package! The trans rep was so great and interesting, and I think the romance really helped balance out the intense stuff that was going on with the school and team. It ended on such a lovely note too. I especially appreciated that it didn't take a hard line on whether coming out is "good" or "bad" -- it definitely showed some nuance and understanding that being stealth makes sense for some people sometimes and that that's not a bad thing!

I nominated this for YALSA's Quick Picks for Young Adults, and it ended up being in our top 10 for the year! I wasn't able to post it on social because I was reading it for a committee, though.

5/5⭐ to The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons. Thank you so much to Penguin Teen Canada/Dial books for an egalley copy to review! If you want a YA sports romance that features trans joy, this is definitely the book for you! We follow Spencer who is starting off at a new school with a new soccer team after things did not go well last year at his old school when he started his transition. Everything seems to be going just fine and dandy until his coach sees his birth certificate which still has "F" under sex. According to policy (I think it's the school district, but I don't remember for sure) that means he can't play on the boys' team. He now has a choice, come out publically and fight this policy and be able to play, or remain in the closet and on the sidelines. This is magnified when he develops a serious crush on a teammate. The romance aspect of this was adorable. I was rooting for them from the get go and it was just so sweet. I appreciate how it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows as that would be unrealistic, and it paved the way for difficult & important conversations. Some of the things these boys worked through included coming out as trans, dealing with very religious homophobic parents & church, and fighting the discriminatory law. Coming from a background similar to our LI, Justice (I would consider myself a progressive evangelical Christian), that part of the story hit really close to home. I hope that other people & teens can read this and come to peace with their identity AND faith even as Justice has chosen to not be religious. This is such a special book, and I hope to see it back on all bookish social medias soon because it definitely deserves more hype again.

What a amazing book! I feel in love with this one. The story is spectacular, all the characters are super vivid. I recommend with my heart.

5 stars.

I loved the storyline, I loved the characters and I loved the ending.

Terrific young adult read that benefits both trans and cis. In fact, I'm in my 40's and felt it was appropriate for me and would even recommend to adults. Lots of wonderful lessons, coming out stories, growth and all around fantastic.

This was the cutest! I loved the evolution of this story. I’ve been trying to diversify my shelves and this was a perfect addition. The characters were amazing, the plot was interesting. Really enjoyed the writing by this author.