Amber wants to be cheer captain more than anything. Jaclyn “Jack” Walsh wants to play football more than anything. When she finally gets the chance it’s nothing like she thought it would be. The team is cold and unwelcoming and the only person who is friendly is the only one with the most to lose by befriending her…Amber.

None of the characters were very developed. I felt like Amber and Jack were only together because they needed to be for the plot…no actual chemistry. This book has a good premise, but was underwhelming.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I have read many queer sports romances in the last year, and this one is one of the best ones.

There are some couples where I fall in love with their relationship immediately, and Jack and Amber were are the perfect example. They are so cute together.

I also loved Amber's friendship with Miguel. It was very interesting seeing the fake dating trope in their situation. Now that I think about it, their friendship reminds me of Harry and Evelyn from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (with completely different characters).

My only complaint, and it's only because of preference, is the pacing of Amber and Jack's romance. I am a huge fan of slow burns, and I think the book may have benefitted by having more build-up and foundation for them.

Actual Rating: 4.5/5

I loved everything about this book! Interesting, multidimensional characters, a solid plot and resolution - the relationship between Jack and Amber kept me hooked. A quick, captivating read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

i loved this! i got the sporty queer cliché story that i signed up for and i definitely was not let down. amber's struggle with accepting herself felt very real, and despite being conflicted for a majority of the time i think her character development flowed nicely. jack's experience with misogyny was presented and handled well and i was fully rooting for her the entire time. they also had a really cute cheerleader/qb dynamic that i was such a sucker for.

overall their relationship did seem a little fast at first, but i'm glad that they went through actual conflicts and had healthy discussions/solutions revolving around being queer in an unnaccepting social situation. i think it's good that those topics weren't shied away from. a few things felt unresolved, but otherwise i genuinely really enjoyed reading!!

Cute teen/ya contemporary romance. Amber is a junior and a high school cheerleader and is working on her goal to be team captain next year. New to the school is Jack (Jaclyn) who the football coach has brought in to play quarterback. The school's quarterback died in a car accident and no one wants him replaced by a girl. There is a lot of high school shenanigans/bullying against Jack.

The story benefits form being told from both POVs but Amber is the star. She is the one with who is in a position to influence the cheer team and football squad but it will come at a cost. There is a moment where she thinks "I really like Jack. But I love me." and that feels so real. Do you risk your dreams for someone you've know a few weeks? In a light book a lot of serious topics are covered. But I love the lesson of standing up to your friends and calling them out on their hurtful behavior. The attraction (kissing) between Jack and Amber happens quickly and I wish there were more scenes of them getting to know each other better. Lastly I wondered where the adults were in this world. The coach bears a lot of responsibility for the actions of his team which he willfully ignores. But other adults and parents should have been aware and not left things for teens to resolve.

I breezed through the book and would recommend it for teens and up. It is nice to have a sapphic YA where the focus isn't on drinking and hooking up. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I really enjoyed HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE. I thought the relationship between Jack and Amber was a little rushed in the beginning: jumping from lust to feelings. A few more scenes of them talking and getting to know each other would have made the growing feelings more organic. There is a decent amount of bullying aimed at Jack and it would have been nice for the ADULTS that allowed it to happen to be given consequences. As disappointed as I was with Amber for standing back, she's a kid. The adults on the other hand... But Amber did manage to get over her insecurities and showed up for Jack in a big way.

Home Field Advantage is an amazing twist on your typical high school trope of "football player dates cheerleader." The story begins with Amber McCloud who basically has her life formatted into a step by step plan to become cheer captain. Plans begin to change when Jack (short for Jaclyn) replaces their quarterback who died in an accident. The whole school seems to against Jack, the football players don't want a female captain, and the cheer squad doesn't want to cheer on a girl, with the except of Amber. Who begins to fall for Jack with every interaction they have, but Amber can't risk outing herself for fear of ruining all she's worked for. She is met with difficulty of choosing between cheerleading or Jack.

I loved the format of the book! I'm a sucker for dual POV romances, but it is clear from the start that Amber is the main protagonist. We witness her struggles to a much deeper degree, and in my opinion I found Amber's character to feel more fleshed out in comparison to Jack. Despite this, I did love both characters equally, and they had great chemistry. Their back and forth dialogue was so cute!

One of the biggest themes touched upon in this book was friendship, especially for Amber. We see her genuine care, and concern for all the people in her life, even her best friend who is homophobic. She tries to understand everyone's side to the story even if they're acting terribly which is something many teens can relate to. Often times teenagers will stick with the "in crowd" even if the people in it don't align with their values because at the end of the day everyone wants to fit in and have friends. Dahlia Adler captures this notion perfectly.

This was a wonderful contemporary YA romance. It perfectly encapsulates what would be considered the typical American high school experience, and I think many people will be able to find aspects of this book that reflect them.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Home Field Advantage has an inexplicable magic to it. I thought I would like this book and it would be an easy, semi predictable read with the bonus addition of sports. It was so much more than that. I devoured it in a few hours and loved every second of it. There were so many moments where I couldn’t help but think “this is not going to work” only to be absolutely hooked. I loved it so much.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The age old love story of the high school quarterback and the cheerleader is given a wonderful twist in Home Field Advantage. Jack (Jaclyn) Walsh is recruited to move to Atherton, Florida to fill the void left by their star quarterback’s untimely death. Cheerleader Amber McCloud is driven by her desire to become captain of the cheer squad next year. She desperately needs this promotion to boost her college application so she can leave her small town to live her true queer life. Unfortunately, Atherton is not ready for their quarterback to be replaced especially by a girl. A talented, big, strong butch girl.

Adler creates a splendid YA story filled with youthful angst as her characters discover what is important to themselves in the face of peer pressure and the status quo. The book takes you for a fun yet intense ride until the very end. It is told by both Jack and Amber’s points of view to push the narrative.

I had a whole lot of fun reading Home Field Advantage. It reminds me of the female pioneers in sports. Women pushing to break ridiculously low ceilings that exist in our so called enlightened and modern age. We need more Jacks and Ambers.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Thank you so much, Wednesday Books, for allowing me to read this fantastic story early!

I’m not really a sporty type, and I don’t care about football. But a romance between a cheerleader and the school’s newest quarterback? A FEMALE quarterback? Count me in!

Instead of doing my laundry and preparing for my classes, I stayed up late and rushed through this book in less than twenty-four hours. When people talk about football, I only hear one word over and over again: masculinity, masculinity, and masculinity. And that’s why it’s so important that Home Field Advantage shows a girl in a traditionally masculine sport. So, even though I don’t like sports, especially football, I love this book!

3.5⭐️

This was a super cute(and by super cute I mean every other sentence had a romantic quip) and I really enjoyed the plot! The story is told in a dual POV from both love interest's POV and I think that really added to the story. The story follows a cheerleader desperate to become cheer caption and something to call her own, and a football QB who just transferred in order to play. Both are navigating their lives around a misogynistic and homophobic football team and small town.

I enjoy pretty much everything, from the moments showing how being queer stops a person from truly enjoying their time as a young adult to all of the cutesy moments and thoughts between the two characters. There is wlw/mlm solidarity that I also liked and it is definitely not a slow burn by any means. I read this really quick, which usually means that the writing style is easy to read, and while that is true, the author's writing style always bothered me somehow. It is definitely a preference thing, so don't let this stop you from reading it yourself! I also kind of disliked how the side characters felt more like blank slates without much personality until they are needed? I think they could have been interesting people who's story could have made the book have more depth.

There is a 100% shortage of high school sapphic novels in my opinion, so here is a solid one for your 2022 summer 🥰

https://www.instagram.com/thebookhallucinator/p/CXKnA07lWAP/?utm_medium=copy_link

And the award for cutest high school romance goes to... Home Feild Advantage! This book was so adorable and sweet. Atherton High's football team sucks. That's a fact. Amber McCloud, however, just wants to cheer her way to a scholarship and get out of her small town. However, when Jack Walsh is named their new QB, the last thing anyone expects is for their new star player to be a girl. Especially Amber, who can't help but fall for the new player. Home Feild Advantage is for anyone who loves the Quarterback and Cheerleader dynamic. This book will greatly appeal to teens, it's full of relatable high school material and references to teen culture. Amber and Jack are the sweetest couple and will melt your heart with every page. Although this book was slow in the beginning, the payoff, in the end, is definitely worth it.

Home Field Advantage was a wonderful surprise, from the author of Cool for the Summer the bi, Jewish YA of my dreams). I'm not at all a fan of football (in fact, I couldn't even tell you the rules of the game) but I fell completely in love with the characters in this book, from the protags, to the friendships. In this entry of Adler's, you meet closeted queer cheerleader Amber and the new quarterback for the football team, Jack Walsh, a *gasp* woman.

The book deals with serious topics such as homophobia, sexism, and bullying, but does so deftly and always in context of the story. Also, don't be fooled, because the cute (YA) love story between Jack and Dahlia makes this swoony, fun, and centers queer joy. From dates at bowling alleys, to personal cheers, this book soars when it focuses on its leads, and their easy comradery with each other. It may also be the first time recently that I can remember a queer parent in a YA storyline, and I loved the way in which Amber's mom is both supportive and gently pushing her to be her better self.

This is a great read for making you think about where you can interrupt hate and bigotry, and what others lose when you don't speak up. For the younger crowd reading this, I think it can serve as a helpful guide for the reasons why, and easy ways for how, to be more than just a bystander when someone is the target of hate. It also very carefully navigates the line of how challenging this is when you also share some aspect of marginalized identity (be it race, gender identity, etc).

I'm so excited every time I read an excellent LGBTQ+ YA novel coming out in our world (especially those that are sapphic), and Home Field Advantage is one to celebrate. Thanks to NetGalley for the early review copy, all opinions are my own.

I don't often read a lot of YA contemporary, but Adler once again proves why she's the exception to that rule. Home Field Advantage crackles with energy and life -- compelling plotlines, voice-driven prose, and a cast of characters that really resonate and have great chemistry.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE was an absolute delight. I could not put it down!

This is a story about owning your queerness on your own terms and creating a space where you belong as you are, rather than what other people expect you to be. It’s also about realizing that maybe the path you had planned for yourself and the things you want might not be what is right for you after all and figuring out what to do instead. I adored Amber and Miguel’s friendship, Amber’s mom (a QUEEN) and I felt as if the romance between Jack and Amber was genuine rather than “we’re two queer people in high school so we’re dating” like some stories are. I really appreciated how they built their relationship out of mutual respect rather than just convenience or coincidence - so kudos to Dahlia for that. I do not want to include spoilers, but I will say the end of the book and the preceding 100 pages were absolutely wonderful, badass, and one of the best stories I’ve read all year.

Trigger Warnings: there is some homophobia - but it’s almost entirely implied and not explicit on the page. Additionally, there are some tricky conversations regarding religion and sexuality, including a mention of pregnancy loss. I really think those made the story more grounded and real, but it’s nice to be aware of them.

Jack is a QB that would make me sit down and watch an entire game of football. Her and Amber's enthusiasm for what they do on the field is infectious, it makes you care about them and the outcome of the game so much. It puts you on the edge of your seat just as much as their romantic chemistry and the complicated field they have to navigate to deal with it. And it is really nice to have a young queer story that does deal heavily with their hidden sexualities, but the negativity is not coming from the parents. Knowing that Jack and Amber have a safe place to land at home makes it easier to see them get through school and how hard it is. This is an excellent mix of the complex nature of high school politics, a coming into your own knowing who you are story, with a lovely dash of romance and queer solidarity.

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this title!

Two queer high school football stories in the span of a month?? Huh...

This was a really great book! I felt for the protagonists, even though I sometimes have trouble understanding that small town, southern US mindset of sports (particularly football) being god...unless you're a girl.

Jack and Amber's arc's through the narrative were both very strong. Obviously, I think Amber goes through the biggest change from start to finish, but they do both go through a lot. The romance between them was sweet, when they butted heads it was understandable (as long as you looked at it from their POV), and the you couldn't wipe the smile off my face once it got the the climax and ending.

The supporting cast were good. I had a little trouble relating to them all the time, but maybe that was a me thing.

No real issues I had with the book. As I said, great book! 4.5 stars.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley # netgalley

I've been waiting a long time for a book like this! And boy it didn't disappoint. 5 ⭐

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a chance to read this ARC for an honest review. This story was so cute I loved everything about it, it’s a sapphic sports romance about a cheerleader and a football player and I absolutely loved the chemistry between the two main MCs. The main conflict and storytelling were so interesting to read and also so complex. I just couldn't put the book down, I literally read this in one sitting. Jack will forever have my heart.

Dahlia Adler is one of my all time favorite LGBTQ+ authors. I read Cool For The Summer by her earlier this year and I was so excited to get to this one and it didn’t disappoint. You’ve got feminism, you’ve got queer rights, you’ve got everything you could ask for in a queer book. It’s like the cliché football player and cheerleader romance but sapphic and it was just so good.