I really enjoyed this! I loved the cheerleading and the emphasis on doing what’s right despite what other people might say. I really loved Jack the female quarterback and I hope this is turned into a movie someday. I liked the plot and subplots, because everything is being tied up in a bow.

I enjoyed this twist on the stereotypical high school romance between quarterback and cheerleader!

When the small town Alligators lose their QB1 in a tragic car accident, he's replaced by a girl. The football team and cheerleaders are dead set against her and work hard to make her life a living hell, with the exception of Amber, who has captain aspirations.

Through a complicated set of secrets, these teens figure out how to be themselves. There is a TON of homophobia and misogyny from small-minded characters, but you get to really know the leads in a meaningful way. Jack and Amber are fully fleshed out, they have great chemistry but aren't afraid to push each other.

The little details--from pep rallies to locker decorating and poster making--definitely brought me back to High School (thankfully we didn't have to wear godawful green!) There was even a bit of a twist in the plot that I didn't expect. Another solid read from Dahlia Adler!

Thank you to Goodreads, NetGalley, Wednesday Books and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this one! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

OMG this was adorable!! This is definitely one of those books that would've been an amazing book to have as a teenager. I love the addition of her being a quarterback, as someone who loves football and wants to see more representation in the sport. Can we have a sequel following Jack to college please??

Happy Publication Week to Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

Thank you @ Wednesday Books for my eARC copy of Home Field Advantage

What is this book about?:
Amber McCloud has dreamt of becoming a cheer captain at the end of the school year but it’s hard to be happy when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal and what makes it worse for them is when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn.

The football players refuse to be led by Jack and the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she's only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.

However, there’s just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can't stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.

Overall Thoughts:
Overall, while Home Field Advantage featured well-developed characters, explored the difference between great friendships and toxic ones, explored and discussed sexuality, portrayed a great relationship between Amber and her mom (who is also queer and whom Amber can confide in) and featured the complex dynamics of Jack’s family (as Jack and her mom move to a different city for her to follow her football dreams while her brothers & dad stay behind), the relationship between Amber and Jack felt a bit too instant love for it to be believable at first. 3.8/5

Who would like this?:
Anyone who likes queer sports and sapphic YA books.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Sexism, mention of drunk driving, mention of threatened outing, alcohol consumption, mention of abortion, mention of miscarriage, grief, mourning, mention of a car accident, bullying, homophobia

A very cute YA read

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Another book, another slay, y’all. Home Field Advantage has been on my most anticipated list for this year since it was announced and I was so nervous that it wasn’t going to live up to my expectations, but it very much did!
Home Field Advantage was inspired by that photo that circulated on sapphic/lesbian Tumblr years ago, the one with the cheerleader fixing her QB girlfriend’s pony tail. People were screaming for it to be a movie, but a book is just as good!
So yeah, I went into this book very apprehensive that I wouldn’t like it, but it was 5/5 stars!
Home Field Advantage is about Jack Walsh, the first girl quarterback at Atherton Highschool, and everyone hates her. Amber is a closeted cheerleader, trying to become cheer captain. But something about Jack pulls her in…..AND THEY FALL IN LOVE OF COURSE BECAUSE THIS IS A ROM COM AND THE QUARTERBACK ALWAYS GETS THE CHEERLEADER!!!!!
This book got so many things right, from the discussions about outing people, to being closeted, to the sweet butch/femme romance between Jack and Amber. I literally ate it up, I need five more books about them immediately! Honestly, while there were a few subplots, this book is specifically about their relationship and I loved that. It felt like reading a book version of every fun cliche highschool movie, but make it sapphic and better. Jack and Amber were great characters, they acted and made decisions that teenagers do IRL, they had flaws(Amber’s a bit selfish but hey, that’s allowed considering everything) and their chemistry was off the charts. Nothing worse than a romance book where the characters have zero chemistry, but Dahlia Adler definitely knows how to write good chemistry. Anyways, this book is going to be living rent free in my head for the foreseeable future. 5/5 stars!

As a queer girl who used to be a cheerleader herself back in the day, I definitely had high hopes for this novel. And this book did not let me down!

This is the sort of book I wish could have been around when I was in high school. It literally would have defined me. I probably would have walked around never letting it out of my sight, always attached to my person or tucked away in my bag – for MONTHS. It would have been transformative.

While I’m no longer that teen I once was – and, coincidentally not the target audience for this novel – I still really, really loved this story. It was just so sweet, and heartfelt, and played on my emotions in just the right way. I literally sped-read through this thing in a day. I could not put. it. down.

A previous critique I made about Adler’s previous novel, Cool for the Summer, was that I felt some of the characters were a little underdeveloped, and I felt like she improved upon that so much in Home Field Advantage. While it is a shorter novel, there are still quite a number of characters, and I felt Adler did a really good job of expanding the supporting cast to have more depth and their own storylines and struggles alongside Jack and Amber.

Speaking of Jack and Amber’s storyline, it was fantastic. I am such a sucker for a good, dual POV romance, and Home Field Advantage truly delivered. I thought for a shorter novel it perfectly walked the line between creating conflict the characters had to overcome (hello small-town homophobia, my old, not-so-dear friend) and spotlighting the swoon-worthy budding romantic relationship between the two leads.

I’m also a big fan of the miscommunication trope (when done properly) because it’s probably the most realistic thing a romance novel could include (haha), and Adler handles that perfectly here. There are very real, believable, and relatable reasons for the barriers Amber and Jack face when trying to make their relationship work, and it was great to see them overcome them and rise above it all, together.

Look, at this point, if I wasn’t already, I am now Dahlia Adler fan-girl for certain. This book was such a cute read that had my stomach all aflutter, and a must-read for anyone who is a fan of queer YA romances.

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

This book was adorable. I’m getting more and more into sports romance and this one was just what I was looking for. I’ve been in such a contemporary mood lately and was so excited to get a chance to read this one.

Amber dreams of being cheer captain but when Jack joins the team as the new quarterback the path to that dream is shaken up. Turns out things for Amber aren’t the only thing that get shaken up. Turns out Jack isn’t the new guy on the team but the new girl and no one is happy about it. Well, maybe Amber is but she’s not out so keeping her feelings towards Jack on the down low are even more important now.

I really enjoyed this book. The banter between Jack and Amber was great. I thought the author did a great job of portraying the tension between the community and players towards Jack and Amber’s internal struggle with her sexuality as it wars with her social status within the community. The thought the characters were well developed and enjoyed watching the relationship between Amber and Jack grow, as well as those within the community, as the book went on.

I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a cute YA contemporary that also deals with the norms around small towns and deep societal issues. I picked up the audio and recommend that format as well!

With the passing of quarterback and blackmailer Robbie, Amber McCloud is dedicated to put the past behind her and become Captain for the school cheerleading team. Just when she goes to welcome the new quarterback, Jack Walsh, she finds out that Jack is actually a girl, and she has the biggest crush on her. Jack, now being the only female on the team, immediately starts getting backlash and Amber tries her best to defend her. Will the school drag down their chances to be together and make it big? Or will they rise to the top?

You guys know that famous image of a female cheerleader helping a female football player do her hair at a game? Yeah, this book is the result of that as inspiration. It's full of drama and it mostly centers around misogyny and the fear of being outed/being hated for being gay. It's nothing new in the story world, unfortunately, but this story takes it to a whole new level with the whole "first female quarterback in a small Georgia town" plot. It's pretty rough at times, so I highly recommend reading this only if you feel you are in a good place mentally.

These characters are MESSY. There are cover-ups being done, fake relationships being made, lies being told. Everyone's motivations can be a bit questionable at best, especially Amber's. She says all these things against Jack to make herself look good in front of her cheerleading squad, and also lies to her best friend/fake boyfriend Miguel and Jack to keep herself and her dream of being Captain safe. It is a messy ordeal that also kinds of bleeds into discussions of how far are people willing to go to come out safely or being outed. The one thing I did appreciate about these arguments was that regardless of what it boiled down to, none of the main cast would ever resort to outing someone, especially since most of the main cast is queer in some form.

Speaking of messy, it was hard at times to root for Amber and Jack as a couple. Amber is selfish at a lot of points and it makes it seem like she has some other motivations, but they don't read through well. Jack is absolutely cocky and in her head about herself, so it comes off a certain way when she confronts the guys on the football team. Miguel doesn't stand up for Jack even though they're both on the team and he fears of being singled out/getting outed. Every character has a massive flaw that comes to bite them back in the butt, but it works out somehow, although I will admit that Jack is still a tad cocky at the end.

There were a few threads of information that I felt could have had a much greater impact on the story, such as Robbie's relationship with some of the main cast and other things with Cara, Amber's best friend. There could have been room for some really great discussions on abortion and religious trauma, but it felt toned down at the end to make room for the romance. It's fine, but for a book that preaches so much for women empowerment and individuality, I wish it was highlighted more. I do really love that homophobic comments are absolutely shot down in the best ways possible at the end, and made me cheer in my seat reading.

Home Field Advantage is a drama-filled queer romance that will make you yearn for your own queer football player and cheerleader romance.

I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from both NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book so much, I read the entire thing the day it came out! I absolutely loved the premise (based on the photograph of a cheerleader doing the hair of a female football player) and it played off so well! Amber and Jack are both strong personalities, and after some initial clashes, they start to fall for each other. While they have plenty of problems (Amber's cheer teammates dislike Jack, Amber is in the closet and has a fake boyfriend, and Amber's best friend veers towards homophobic) Jack and Amber increasingly realizes they have to make a choice about what to prioritize. Like many romances, the girls have a falling out before they are able to fully be together, but unlike other books I found I actually enjoyed the Grand Gesture because it fit the characters. I highly recommend you read this book! A great sapphic YS sports romance!

This book reminded me why I would never in a million years want to revisit my high school years. Amber is a cheerleader in a small, conservative town with her eyes on the captain spot, because she sees it as her best bet at a college scholarship and a ticket out of town where she can be herself.

After the untimely death of the quarterback, Amber falls for the replacement, Jack. The problem is that Jack is short for Jacyln. Now Amber and Jack must navigate an environment that doesn't want Jack there. Some players are just resentful of the loss of their friend, but most are angry that he was replaced by a girl.

This YA romance novel was deep and introspective, appropriate for the target audience. We see the characters navigating a variety of tough topics, like coming out, not outing others, discovering your own identity, challenging misogyny, all while trying to cultivate new love. I recommend this book for kids in high school and adults who care about kids in high school, particularly those in unwelcoming environments.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2022, and I really liked it, but didn't quite love it. Readers should go into this knowing it's a coming out story, one that can be triggering. This doesn't make it a bad book, but it something to note. I actually think the coming out stuff was well-done, and uplifting in the end, despite the triggering aspects of it.

This book is about a cheerleader, Amber, and her school's first female quarterback, Jack, falling for each other. They live in a small town in Florida, which presents challenges for them as members of the LGBT+ community and as women. I think this romance is great, and the conflict surrounding it is honest and a little sad. Luckily, they have a great support system, like Miguel, a closeted football player, and Amber's mom. I felt that Amber's chapters towards the end were very difficult to read, as her internal conflict grew to a point of her hurting people she cares about. I also think the sexism and bullying Jack faces is tough, but both these things are well-balanced with the romance, and the sports of it all. The ending is sweet, but maybe a little too easy and too rushed. The acceptance of their romance almost felt too easy after everything they went through. Still, I loved the happy ending.

Overall, this was great, but not fully what I was expecting. I liked it a lot, but its not quite a five. I'll recommend it, and proudly add it to the list of queer sports romance I love.

A fun twist on the classic cheerleader fighting to be cheer captain and star quarterback fall in love, happily ever after. Except the quarterback is brand new to the school (toootally not recruited *cough cough*) to replace the previous one and she's a girl named Jack, and wow, most of the school is absolutely not happy about either of two things. Our cheerleader (Amber) though makes it her mission to make people come around to the new QB that keeps getting touchdowns.

Overall, it was a really great book and I sped through it in a day or two. The dialog and a lot of the details felt really natural - sometime YA authors have trouble making teenagers actually sound and act like teenagers - and the enemies to reluctant allies to lovers between Jack and Amber was great.
And I will also note that I really loved Amber's mom, Miguel and some of the other side characters as well!

Many of the other side characters, though were pretty awful - fantastically written, just wow, pretty terrible people. Which brings me into my warning for the book: it gets pretty heavy and it takes a while for things to get brighter. While as a YA it easily could've veered into darker territory, but it was definitely not the light-hearted rom-com I was expecting, which is fine but I would've gone into this book with a different frame of mind if I knew.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am embarrassed to say that June being Pride Month really hasn't been on my radar the way, say, Black History Month and Women's History Month are. I have been noticing references to it the last week or so, though, and as random luck would have it, I just finished reading a book that marks the occasion

I wasn't attracted to Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler by the romance. I don't care for romance by itself. Person meets person stories end with our leads getting together, so I feel I know the ending before I even begin. I need a surrounding story for my romance reading. And I wasn't attracted by the football, because I am only a sports fan during the Olympics, and pretty picky even then. What did lead me to ask for the galley was the knowledge that both the cheerleader in Home Field Advantage and the quarterback are girls. I haven't read a lot of those. To date.

Amber McCloud is a popular cheer leader who is shooting for cheer captain, because it will help her chances for college. Jack Walsh is a gifted football player who has been brought in to replace Amber's high school's late lamented QB who was nowhere near as good as Jack is. In fact, the whole team is not on Jack's level. But they are grieving their dead teammate who died unexpectedly, and Jack, being Jacklyn, becomes a target for both misogyny and homophobia.

Goals, Goals, Goals

Amber is a somewhat closeted lesbian--what happens at cheer camp stays at cheer camp--dating a somewhat closeted gay football player, Miguel. One of the particularly interesting aspects of this book, I thought, was that neither Amber nor Miguel have any problems with their sexuality. Nor is family acceptance a major issue for them. They are not out, because coming out will hinder them reaching goals. Amber sees making cheer captain as a stepping stone to college and getting out of town and she doesn't see the cheer team embracing a lesbian no matter how good she is. Miguel wants to play football. His one experience with another player knowing his reality did not go well for him.

Jack, too, is very goal-oriented. A high-achieving female football player has few options. Playing with this loser team may be the only opportunity she will ever have to play football. It may be a stepping stone to some kind of sports-related career.

What these characters want to achieve makes their behavior make sense. Giving characters something to want is cliched writer advice. Give them a goal!

Oh. Wait. Football has goals, doesn't it?

I am not fond of alternating points of view, and sometimes I felt Amber and Jack got too introspective for my taste. But this was a narrative with drive and some unique characters for this reader. I was even up for a football scene. I've only been vaguely aware that LGBTQ books are a thing in YA. Home Field Advantage definitely encourages me to read more.

What a fantastic queer sports book! I really enjoyed that we got layers to so many characters, and that I could root for folks even when they weren't getting things right the first time around. The pacing was fantastic, the obstacles were completely believable, and the pockets of romance were delicious.

🏈 PRINCEMAN REVIEW 🏈

If you could choose one book 📕 that should be a required reading for high schoolers, what would you choose? For me, it's #homefieldadvantage by @missdahlelama.

Also, this cover is 🤩! Kuddos to @kerriresnick & @acaball.

📝 Junior, Amber McCloud, is doing everything she can to become captain of the cheerleading squad. 📣 But, her goals are questioned when a new quarterback, 🏈 Jack Walsh, comes into town. The whole school can't seem to get behind having a female quarterback. Amber must figure out how to create unity, while also hide her attraction to Jack at the same time.

What I 🤍:
🌈 Swoony Pansexual/Lesbian Romance
⁉️ Are They/Aren't They Dilemma
🚪 Desire to Come Out
💔 Isolation/Loneliness
🏫 High School Setting
👫Supportive Parents

This book was so much more than an LGBTQ+ romance. Yes, it was swoony, but it also tackled the topic of teens being queer in high school. Themes such as navigating your sexuality, being in the closet, wondering if someone is also gay, coming out, and the loneliness that can often be associated with wanting to belong, but not showing your "TRUE" self really dominated this book.

🙏 Please, read this book. It gives such pheonminal insight into being gay, and the struggles that many of our teens face. This is why suicide is so high among our LGQTQIA+ community. I learned a lot from HFA and gained perspective. I encourage all allies to read this book.

Prince's Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+
Steaminess: 🔥🔥🔥
Read If ➡️: You liked Heartstoppers, love high school romances, 🏳️‍🌈

HUGE thank you to Adler, @wednesdaybooks and @netgalley for an ARC of HFA. 😊 This will forever be one of my favorite books of all time and one that I point others to read.

As with most YA books, it took me a minute to get out of my mid-30s, adult headspace and into a teenager’s POV, but I was totally in once I did. I’m gonna recommend this one if you liked Shara Wheeler, because it had a lot of the same “growing up closeted in a small Southern town” vibes, but fully stands on its own. Amber starts off seeming like a typical cheerleader, but Adler does a great job fleshing her out to be a real person beyond a stereotype. I had my frustrations with her, but they mostly had to do with her being a teenager struggling with decisions she shouldn’t even have to make, and she is wrapped up so well. And Jack is just my favorite. I loved how she is portrayed, and being inside her mind was such a treat. I have been interested in this book since I saw the author talking about it being inspired by the photo of a cheerleader fixing her QB girlfriend’s hair during a game (seems like that was years ago!), and it absolutely lived up to expectations. The dual narration for the audiobook was absolutely impeccable and added so much to my reading experience!

This sapphic spin on the high school quarterback-cheerleader love story is so much fun! Dahlia Adler writes the most realistic teenagers and tackles heavier topics like misogyny and homophobia in a way that never feels preachy.

I gave this to my teen to read and they loved it, too. If you're looking for great representation, a sweet romance (or two!) and witty dialogue, 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 is a touchdown. (I had to do it.)

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the copy to review.

this was cute! i'd definitely add it to the list of "queer books i wish i could've read when i was in high school" that i would recommend to lgbtq+ teenagers now.

i absolutely love the queer & feminist spin with the f/f quarterback / cheerleader romance and i am absolutely dying to read more like this :') i think this is also the first time i have ever seen "polysexual" used in a fictional book, and i'm especially happy to see more lgbtq+ identities represented in YA books. i kind of hate that the main characters had to have a "what are you" conversation (and especially since it was pretty much worded like that in the book lol) for this term to be briefly mentioned but i'm still happy to see it.

anyway, i flew through the majority of this in one sitting since it was a (mostly) lighthearted and also readable romance that i really enjoyed! it's not particularly a new favorite and i'm not sure if i would reread it in the future, but i would definitely recommend to teens and young adults looking for a new sapphic YA.

3.5/5 stars

Home Field Advantage is a YA LGBT contemporary sports romance between a quarterback and cheerleader.

The book has two 1st person female POVs (Amber and Jack - both high school Juniors).

This book focuses a lot on high school football. I absolutely loved that there was a female high school quarterback. And I loved the fact that Amber wanted to be cheer captain. But honestly how the football team and cheer team acted was so maddening.

I really liked Miguel as a supporting character. And I liked both Amber and Jack!

The homecoming game was definitely the most interesting part of the book. And I think that the ending was really good. Overall this was a cute YA romance.