Thank you Netgalley & st. martins/ wednesday books for an arc of this in return for an honest review.

This was perfectly cheesy & cute sapphic romance! This was only 13 chapters but still the perfect amount of pages. Jack & Amber were so cute together. Dual POV are my favorite type of books so i really appreciate that. This was my first Dalia Adler book and i really enjoyed it! Amber is loudly in the closet still. This was my first lgbtq+ read because i didn't think I would relate to any but I enjoyed this read very much!

Amber and Jack had such great chemistry! Amber is on the cheer team & Jack is on the football team.

Trigger warnings: homophobia, misogyny, sexism.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this title!

I'm a big fan of Dahlia Adler's "Cool for the Summer" so I was excited to read this book. It did not disappoint!

Amber is a cheerleader with a single focus - do the "right" things during her junior year so she can clinch the squad captain spot as a senior.

Jack Walsh's focus is to have a successful year as QB1 for her new school - Atherton. Many schools would not give her the chance to play, but Atherton's beloved (mediocre) quarterback was killed when he was drunk driving so they are desperate enough for someone to fill the spot. Jack is a girl who plays football, a starting quarterback, a new kid in a new school, AND filling the shoes of a martyred football hero. None of these things are easy on their own, but to try to do it all? It's harder than Jack could have ever imagined.

In a hostile environment, Amber is the only person who remotely comes on Jack's side. Amber is torn between toeing the line and continuing down the surefire path of squad captain, or doing what she knows is right by helping and befriending Jack. As their feelings for one another grow, Amber realizes she needs to abandon the prescribed rulebook to fight for what (and who) she wants in life.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have to start this review by saying I read this book in 24 hours (I had to sleep at some point). There are only 13 chapters, but they’re kind of longish and switch points of view between Amber and Jack.

<b>Trigger Warnings:</b> Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism

There’s some MAJOR “hate the sin, love the sinner” going on. It’s not outright, but if you’ve encountered it before in a “subtle” way, then you’ll definitely read it throughout a lot of conversations.

There’s a lot of queer love between Amber, Jack, and their closest friends. (I’m not counting Cara. I have so many thoughts about that, but those are spoilers.) Never once while reading did I feel like any of them regretted being queer, they just don’t like that they had to hide it. That they have to make concessions to ensure others are comfortable while they’re sitting there, being so uncomfortable, but that’s okay because the others are fine with the “totally straight” version of themselves. It ultimately comes down to the queer people protecting the bigots while not knowing if the bigots would protect them if they knew the queer people are queer.

There was a minor fact check. Amber mentions her dad was obsessed with the Blue Angels and became a pilot in the Air Force. First, Blue Angels is the Navy; the Air Force has Thunderbirds. If he wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, then he would have had to go to the Air Force Academy and not go to the local recruitment center. Did it pull me out of the story? A little because it was something I knew and then checked again to make sure what I was remembering was correct. Did it affect any of my feelings about the story? Not at all.

I love that a majority of the time something is presented that could be drawn out, it’s put to rest rather quickly. It made me guess what was going to happen next because it led down a different route. Now, it’s not like the author was reinventing the wheel with the plot points; I couldn’t guess the exact details of the plot points sometimes and that was rather fun.

The most unbelievable thing about Amber’s characterization is that she’s never heard/seen of <i>But I’m a Cheerleader</i>. What queer person doesn’t know this? ESPECIALLY since her mother is queer, too? I say this all in jest, but I was like “WHAT?!?!”

In the end, I really enjoyed it and found it to be rather cutesy.

This is so freaking CUTE!! I love a good sapphic romance, especially one focused on the ins and outs of high school football. Amber is loudly in the closet, and Jack is... well, jacked. But they have such good chemistry, you can't argue with it. I really enjoyed the different subplots - from reconciling with the death of a quarterback to the race for cheer squad captain. It all flowed together so nicely and had the quintessential high school *drama*. I also loved how each chapter had both of Amber and Jack's point of views, letting us get in each of their heads. I'd recommend this for fans of Friday Night Lights and anyone who loves queer cheerleaders.

*Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The classic cheerleader/quarterback trope but make it sapphic! I adored this story and the characters so much. It really captured how hard it is to be queer in a homophobic environment, especially in the teenage years. Coming out doesn't affect just the person coming out; it affects everybody because suddenly people think you're staring at them at the change room when you're just trying to get changed. Their perspective of you changes, even though you yourself didn't change.

The characters were relatable, honest, and really well written. I already miss them!

I finished this book in a day, that's how good it was!!! Funny, cheesy, dramatic, and fast-paced, this book was a really fantastic portrayal of queer high school romances.
The book alternates between two perspectives: Amber, and Jack's. Amber is a loud, outgoing cheerleader who is gunning to be promoted to captain of the cheer team the following year. She sees her junior year at Atherton High School as the time to prove herself, which means staying in the closet and continuing her "fauxmance" with Miguel, a member of the football team. Jack is a transfer student, having moved schools to join Atherton's football team as their new quarterback. Much to everyone's shock, Jack isn't the man they were expecting to fill the position, since Jack is a girl - one Amber finds highly attractive. Atherton is quick to outcast Jack, with both the football and cheer teams determined to make her life hell. As Jack navigates trying to fit in and prove herself on the football team, Amber is torn between her dreams of being cheer captain and defending the attractive new female quarterback.
The romance between Jack and Amber is absolutely swoon-worthy. It's realistic, and not the typical shy, super-innocent depiction of queer teenage girls that is usually in these kinds of books. They have chemistry, and their relationship begins as a series of secret makeout sessions rather than dainty subtle flirting. Additionally, the other characters in this book are really well-written - from the inclusion of Jack's best friends back home (one of whom is nonbinary, which made me absolutely elated as I rarely see completely normalized depictions of people who use they/them pronouns in YA books) and the families of Jack and Amber, to the other girls on the cheer team and Miguel and his boyfriend Malcolm. Everyone is distinct and nuanced, and not intended to be perfect cookie cutter characters. They're flawed, but that makes them all the more lovable. I flew through this book, because it was addictive right from the start, and I couldn't get enough of it. It had me laughing, biting my nails nervously, cheering, and melting the whole time. I cannot recommend this enough, and cannot wait to make all my friends read this the day it gets released.

Home Field Advantage was an entertaining teenage romance about a lesbian female football player and a closeted cheerleader.
I really enjoyed a lot of this book, I found myself laughing out loud more than once. That said, I did have some issues with it.
Amber's sexuality for one, a microlabel. Being attracted to girls, non binary people and trans guys just doesn’t sit right. The trans guy attraction especially, because it was made clear she isn’t attracted to cis guys. I’m not personally a fan, and had I known one of the queer love interests would be using a microlabel, and described their sexuality this way, I probably wouldn’t have read this book. Obviously that’s just my opinion, and if that isn’t something that bothers you, I’m sure you’d enjoy Home Field Advantage more than I did!



SPOILER






My other issue was with Amber’s best friend Cara. She’s religiously homophobic, knew that her boyfriend was blackmailing a gay student and didn’t care or do anything to help the gay student. And yet, Cara gives Amber a half-ass apology and all is suddenly forgiven. All that said, I don’t think this was a bad book by any means, it just wasn’t my favorite. Again, if nothing I’ve mentioned is an issue for you, I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a YA sapphic rom-com.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! I thought the premise of basing the book off the photo that ran in the NYT of the cheerleader doing the female football player's hair was INSPIRED, and this made for such a cute plot in practice.

As someone who grew up queer in the South, I can absolutely relate to some of the struggles these characters face in terms of internalized homophobia and actual homophobia. I thought it was refreshing to have a femme character who was so in touch with her queerness and not having that in question at all was a big step for the genre in my opinion. It was nice to see the characters didn't fall into trope of hot-girl-sees-hot-lesbian-and-questions-sexuality-but-still-thinks-she's-straight. It was also so incredibly cool that Amber's mom was queer too--I thought that was such a nice detail.

I did find it interesting--and Jack touches on this at one point in the book--that the characters are out to their families and close friends, but just not coming out publicly because of certain groups at school. I personally found this to be a little hard to understand, but hey the characters are 16 or so so I won't question it too much.

Overall, I thought this was a light, funny sapphic romance that made me smile a lot. My only critiques were that I think certain things got wrapped up very quickly in pursuit of the Happily Ever After that I think deserved a little more exposition (like the coming out arc) and also there was a chapter that was entirely about football and that just went completely over my head.

Really delightful and definitely recommend!

Amber is one of the star cheerleaders of her high school cheer team in Alabama and is vying for captain next year. When the quarterback for the football team dies over the summer, she is expecting a difficult year of spreading school spirit. As word gets spread about the new transfer who will be the quarterback, Amber is hopeful that the school year will turn out better than expected. Jack is certainly not what anyone at school expects, primarily because she's a girl. Amber is immediately drawn to Jack despite being in a fake relationship with her gay best friend, as neither of them are out at school. What follows is a story of trying to fit in to spaces that are incredibly misogynistic and homophobic.

This was a super quick read for me. I really did enjoy the main characters, though I think both Amber and Jack could have been fleshed out a bit more. I really appreciated that there wasn't a lot of "will they, won't they" between Amber and Jack. I loved Miguel as well and thought he was a fabulous supporting character. YA is often not my genre of choice (particularly contemporary YA that occurs in high school) because of the inherent ~drama~ associated with it. However, I do feel like this was a pretty realistic story line that I could actually see happening in this country.

Overall, if queer YA is something that interests you, I think you'll really like this! It was missing some nuance and further exploration for me, but I think it would be a really good read for teens.

The way Adler immediately pulls you into the story is effortless. You can't help but be fully invested in the lives and struggles of the characters in this book, Like her previous novel, the author has written a lovable cast of individuals, each with their own burdens, loyalties and dreams. How these intersect make for a book that kept me up until the very end! Highly recommend!

This book exceeded all my expectations! I am always looking forward to reading anything with sapphic representation and this book did not disappoint. The characters and storyline were so lovely. 5/5!

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t tell you one singular thing about these characters.

There is no build-up to the relationships, all the mean characters are ridiculous, the word f**k is just randomly scattered into places it doesn’t belong…

It had a ton of potential, I was so excited to read it, and I was sadly disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC.

These type of sapphic books are my guilty pleasure. The only reason I’m not giving this the full five stars is because I wanted more. I liked the way a lot of things went, even if some events and discussions weren’t fully developed and a lot of the conflicts were kind of glazed over I’m a way. I feel like this book was really fun while also dealing with heavy topics and making sure that everyone’s feelings are heard and respected.

I went into this expecting a lighthearted sports rom-com, and it was. Kinda. But it was also very realistic and raw when it explored the themes of homophobia and misogyny, particularly in regards to high school sports, in a small town in North Florida.

Jack moves to Atherton to be the QB1 of the football team and gets a crush on Amber, who’s next in line to be Captain of the cheer squad. Should be great, the star quarterback and the cheerleader getting together… Except neither of them is out at school and their classmates (including their teammates) are mostly assholes about it. So, naturally, complications ensue.

The book bounces back and forth between Jack and Amber’s POV and it absolutely improved the experience with the characters and the overall plot. You could tell where they’re both coming from throughout the story.

Really great secondary characters in Miguel and Malcolm. Less so with some of the rest of the teammates. Interesting twist insofar as both Jack and Amber (and Miguel) all struggle with playing for teams where they’re not particularly welcome.

Really fun read. Proves that all tropes (The Quarterback and The Cheerleader) are better when you make them queer!

*Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read the eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I absolutely loved this! I read this in two days, and I absolutely wish it could have gone longer. The characters were fun, the story was easy to follow, and I couldn't put this book down. My one complaint is that the dialogue felt a bit stilted and missed the mark in terms of "teen slang". There were definitely some strange phrases in there I don't think any high schooler has every used. The cursing also felt over-the-top. Otherwise, great.

This book is about Amber, the cheerleader whose goal is to become the cheer captain one day, and about Jack, the quarterback who has been transferred to Amber’s hometown because of the passing of the previous quarterback. What surprises everyone is that Jack is a girl… and not everyone is all for that. Except for Amber, who slowly begins to fall in love with the new quarterback. But what to do when you’re in a straight passing relationship and no one realizes you’re queer?

This book was a bit of a hard read, at first, mostly because of the homophobia and misogyny and everyone being against Jack being the star quarterback but in a sense that it was emotionally painful. It’s hard to explain, but there was always this sense of hope that things would get better as the book continued. I loved the friendships, between Amber and Cara, and Amber and Miguel. The friendships really won it over for me.

But this is about Amber and Jack, and you can see their relationship grow even as they find themselves in their quarrels, there’s this sense that it only helps to solidify their relationship rather than hinder it.

But even with the sensitive subjects of homophobia and misogyny, I highly recommend this book. I think it communicates these topics well and it informs just how damaging these topics can be, even if you don’t know that one of your friends could be queer themselves. This book is about finding yourself while also finding a place in the world, even when everyone’s rooting against you.

A new sapphic take on the age-old quarterback/cheerleader romance, Home Field Advantage is a delightfully sweet, easy read that manages to take on a number of heavy topics. Dahlia Adler creates two unique narrators who are both equally likeable and frustrating in their own rights as they try to balance a secret new relationship with the sexism and homophobia of a small town.

Home Field Advantage follows two characters: Amber McLoud, junior cheerleader on track to become captain of the squad next year if she has her way, and Jaclyn (Jack) Walsh, newly (don't call it) recruited quarterback of the Atherton Gators. It is practically love at first sight for both of them. The problem is that Amber is deeply in the closet, in a fake relationship with precious (and also closeted) football player Miguel, and Jack is hated by pretty much the entire school for daring to step into the position of their deceased former quarterback. How can they balance a secret relationship with the demands of their teams when everyone seems to be working against them?

Both of our lead characters are given equal chance to shine in this book, and their unique voices lend well to the story being told. From Amber's point of view, we deal more directly with the homophobia side of things, and from Jack's, the toxic masculinity and sexism present in small town football. We also get interesting side characters like Miguel, arguably their only ally for most of the story and fellow closeted queer person in small town Florida, and Cara, Amber's life-long best friend. The topics are handled with a deft hand while still being a fun, quick read. At its heart, this is still a romance novel.
My sticking points with Home Field Advantage are relatively small. One is simply that this is absolutely not a slow-burn story, but borders on insta-love. There is no buildup between Amber and Jack meeting and the two of them falling in love. My second struggle was in the ending, which again, seems rushed. Everything seems to fall into place too easily, or gets waved off to the side and ignored. Just another chapter or two in order to wrap the story up could have solved so much.

But, overall, this is a delightful story. I love Dahlia Adler, and I love that she has taken such a beloved trope and turned it on its head like this. I cannot wait to add this one to the classroom bookshelf!

3.5 stars. This book was super cute and I really enjoyed the way it took a classic high school trope and made it queer. However, I had a couple of issues with it, most notably just the fact that the stakes never really felt that high. It was very much a high school story, but the writing took away from the seriousness and lightheartedness of the story a bit. While this did a good job of being enjoyable and balancing heavy topics with lighthearted romance, there were also some spots where it fell a little flat.

I also had a hard time connecting with the side characters, especially because there were only a few who were even decent people. While I understood the point of having the focus be on the homophobia and misogyny that Jack and Amber faced, I did feel like it was a little overdone at times. I also wish this had gone a little deeper into the surrounding environment outside of just school and home. However, despite my minor issues, I found this to be a super enjoyable and quick read, even if I wasn't completely invested in it. Sapphic twists on classic tropes are the best kind :)

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. I loved Cool For The Summer last year and couldn’t wait to read this one. I’m so thankful for the eARC 😍

First off, the cover is gorgeous! Second, I love YA books and this one did not disappoint at all. I loved Amber and Jack, though I probably relate to Amber the most, even though I wasn’t a cheerleader. I really enjoyed the queer take on a typical high school stereotype: cheerleader and QB. I thought female quarterback was a fresh take and loved that Jack kicked ass. I thought the angst and tension were well done and I loved the ending. High school, especially homecoming, in books makes me feel so nostalgic which is one reason I love YA. Also I desperately want to go to Gutter Kittens 😹

Overall, I think I prefer Cool For The Summer slightly if I were ranking her books. But Home Field Advantage is definitely worth the read and would 100% recommend.

I started Home Field Advantage on my flight to Arizona because I was in the mood for a fun YA read. I really enjoyed reading Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler last summer, and I knew I wanted something similar to read during my spring break. In February my school vacation was spent in Hawaii and I read about a book a day - so much reading! But this vacation I'm backpacking on the Arizona Trail with my friend who's thru-hiking (she started in early March at the Mexico border and I joined her in Pine, AZ, where she has slowed her daily mileage greatly to enjoy my company!) and I knew I needed something to balance my long days on the trail when I finally got a few minutes to read in my tent before passing out. It was a great decision, and I looked forward to escaping to Amber and Jack's high school romance.
Amber is a high school cheerleader (don't even think about saying she's not an athlete), who wants to be cheer captain her senior year more than anything. She even hides her sexuality to be a more typical cheerleader, hoping she'll be able to be a more true version of herself in college. Once Jack, the new quarterback comes to town, the football team and cheerleaders have trouble supporting Jack, short for Jaclyn. Amber is immediately attracted to Jack, and she begins to wonder if she should continue to keep up her facade.
I absolutely loved that Jack's pump-up music to prepare for a game was the Hamilton soundtrack and I found myself singing Guns and Ships to myself on some hard portions of the trail to remain pumped (although I definitely don't know all the words… yet). I can't wait to recommend this one to my high school students when it comes out in June (6/7/22 pub date), but I couldn't wait to read it early. Thank you to NetGalley Wednesday Books and St Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. And if you haven't read Cool for the Summer, check that book out in the meantime!