You Don’t Have A Shot by Racquel Marie follows a high school girl, Vale, and her passion for soccer. Vale goes to her childhood soccer camp but is upset when her nemesis, Leticia, is co-captaining her team. The stakes are high as college scouts will be attending the game, which could determine Vale’s future as a soccer player. Vale is forced to rely on Leticia to join forces to coach a successful soccer team but it ends up blossoming to something more than a shared love of soccer.

Racquel Marie has become an auto-buy author for me because she captures such important perspectives in her novels. Her books are alway five stars reads! I absolutely loved Ophelia After All and thought it was going to be a tough book to beat. However, I loved You Don’t have a Shot just as much, but for different reasons. This book not only represents such an important component of latinx culture, fútbol, but also blends the perspective of being a latinx daughter with high hopes for college, while exploring their sexuality.

Vale is a flawed character but I love that Marie depicted her in this way. As insufferable as she was in the beginning, Marie uses this as a foundation to create a compelling character development arc. Vale makes mistakes by selfishly focusing on her future but Leticia perfectly compliments her and encourages her to zoom out her perspective to help others succeed. It was heartwarming seeing Vale and Leticia come together to empower a group of women to work together to win soccer games.

In addition, I also highly respected and sympathized with Marie’s inclusion of losing a mother, based on her own experiences. This was delivered in such a personal and vulnerable way that made it extremely touching to experience.

This book has it all: enemies to lovers trope, latinx representation, LGBTQIA+ representation, character development, underdog trope, and so much more! There are so many reasons to read Marie’s books. Consider this your sign to pick one up next!

A YA story about learning what you are worth, and how to prioritize yourself. While this book does have an enemies to lovers' romance, the book’s true core is about finding yourself.

This book is all about the character development and overall I really enjoyed it. The romance is also very cute and I loved all the queer soccer girls, it gave it a classic Bend It Like Beckham feel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Thank you for the chance to read and review but after further consideration, I don’t think that this is the right book for me so I will not be completing it. At least, not at this time.

racquel marie is one of my favorite authors, ophelia was one of my favorite books, so i had really high hopes for this. it was slightly underwhelming and predictable but it was still a fun read. would recommend ophelia first but would still recommend you dont have a shot.

This was a great YA book!! Tons of queer rep in this one, and a great message about family dynamics. I loved that the main character had a lot of shit to work through. And there were so many really awesome side characters. Loved it!! 4.5 rounded up!

🌈 Queer rep: main FF romance, main character is pansexual, asexual, and slight agender vibes. Also tons of other FF couples, trans girl, gay male brother, older adult lesbian couple!

One thing about Racquel Marie? She can write a realistic, deeply flawed and also relatable teenage girl lead. Our main character in You Don’t Have a Shot is Vale and she’s kind of a mess. She’s been booted from her position as soccer team captain after an incident with an opposing team’s captain, is constantly at odds with her father who puts way too much pressure on her, and is a tiny bit selfish. Obviously, she grows from all this at soccer summer camp, where she also forms a romantic connection with the captain that got her in this mess in the first place.

The setting is fun. I love summer camp. And Vale ends up having to captain a real team of misfits at camp, which is a great setup for her character arc. The one issue here is how many characters we meet at this camp. We have Vale’s besties from home that she came with, the love interest and her whole team of about ten or so girls. When it comes time for Vale to right her wrongs, it almost seems like she doesn’t spend enough time with all of them. Still, her journey is so rewarding. There are moments of her pure joy. And there are moments of sadness as we learn about her late mother and her complicated relationship with her brother (a highlight for me). It’s well done and Vale feels so real. It’s impossible not to root for all these misfit soccer players. Raquel Marie created a diverse, fun and likable cast that so many young people will relate to. I can’t wait to recommend this more.

Me after reading another sapphic sports romance: no THIS is my favorite

I took a month-long break while reading this, but that doesn't mean I wasn't loving every second!! I knew this would be a 5-star read as soon as I started it and I love being right.

TW: bullying, panic attack, toxic/emotionally abusive parent, grief/past loss of mother (cancer), discussions about loved ones with cancer, xenophobic comment

This is peak rivals-to-lovers, so if you love that trope you are in for a treat! This is also a sports romance that has an emphasis on the sport, so if you are bored by soccer you might be skimming parts. As someone who grew up playing soccer for almost a decade, I found myself craving the adrenaline and combination of skill and luck that accompanies the sport. Racquel Marie perfectly captured what so many of us love about soccer.

Set a summer soccer camp, Vale is struggling with captaining her summer team, while also fighting with her friends, reeling from a demotion on her home soccer team, and being co-captains with her long-time rival—who is also injured and can't play her usual position. To top it off, she has her toxic father's disapproval in the back of her head the whole summer. She's unhappy and demoralized, and it shows.

A couple of things you will find in this book:
-WHO DID THIS TO YOU/WHO HURT YOU trope
-Irish twins!! and supportive siblings
-incredibly strong narrative voice, which is perfect for a coming of age
-S L O W B U R N
-amazing rep (see full list below)

I loved reading through Vale's eyes as she grew as a leader, friend, and person, even as that growth took its sweet time. I have seen other reviews say it took too long, but I think that just captures how an unhealthy environment can slow the introspection that healing requires. Vale's character was realistic, even down to the painful parts. I love an "unlikeable" female main character. <3 The way her love of soccer is intermingled with grief from losing her mother, but also pride, is beautiful.

The soccer discussion was very fun, as someone who deeply loves the sport. The characters start off being decent at soccer, but throughout the summer the girls change positions, train intensely, and compete in a tournament. I loved the cast of characters, even with all their flaws. I loved that the exercise formally called "suicides" is referred to as "deadlies" in the book. The balance of coming of age and sports elements and romance is well-executed.

This quote is out of context, but it made me SCREAM and if you are reading this before reading the book just wait until you get to this part!!

"I regret my cruelty, you bask in yours."

Lastly, the REP!! Vale is half-Colombian and asexual, and her mixed race heritage and asexuality are present in the book and important to her. I also loved seeing a trans girl at the soccer camp and how the other girls rallied around her. <3

If possible, read this book the same day you watch a women's soccer game. I accidentally timed it to finish reading the same day as the first USA Women's World Cup game and it was fate. Best decision ever. Loved every second. 10/10 would recommend.

Rep: half-Colombian asexual sapphic main character, Cuban sapphic love interest, bi side character, pan side character, Nigerian side character, Dominican side character, trans side character, gay side character, multiple additional sapphic side characters

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for an early copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

I really loved Racquel Marie's first book and I was so excited to get to this one! As someone who never had any interest in team sports, I still had a good time reading about the soccer camp the main character goes to because this book is about so much more than soccer. Romance isn't usually what I'm dying to read, but enemies to lovers is normally what I gravitate towards. Racquel effortlessly adds representation to her books. Absolutely going to read everything she publishes in the future!

5 Stars

As soon as I laid my eyes on the adorable cover illustration and heard it pitched as “A queer YA romance about rival soccer players,” it made me even more excited to read it! Many authors often struggle with writing their sophomore novel and sometimes it doesn’t always live up to their first story, but this wasn’t the case here.

You Don’t Have A Shot follows Valentina, otherwise known as Vale, who escapes to her childhood soccer camp after getting into a fight with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, during a playoff game. Once she gets there, she finds out that she will be co-captaining a team with Leticia Ortiz that could play in front of college scouts — her dream of playing college soccer potentially falling apart.

One of the main draws of this story is the fact that it revolves around soccer and even though I’m not a huge soccer fan, Racquel uses the sport as a way to develop her main character, Vale, and the relationships she has with others. The story explores Vale’s home life through soccer and how it’s impacted her view of sport over the years. Racquel showcases how her view influences how she plays herself, but also in tandem with her teammates.

When the reader first meets Vale, she comes off as unlikeable and incredibly focused on winning the game that she loses sight of the important things in her life. She cruelly judges her teammates based on first impressions something ingrained into her after internalizing the flaws her own father has pointed out to her. As the story progresses though, Vale slowly starts to regret her mistakes and change her initial perspectives. Vale learns what it truly means to be a good person. Vale’s character comes off as a real person — she’s flawed, showcasing how she knows she’s wrong but doesn’t know how to change. Her character growth is beautifully well written.

This sentiment of changing perspectives reflects in Vale’s developing relationship with Leticia. When the reader is first introduced to their rivalry, Vale plays against Leticia in a playoff game with them engaging in back-and-forth banter during the match that ends up with Vale getting aggressive. Once Vale finds out that she will be co-captaining one of the summer camp soccer teams with Leticia, she’s upset and begins to quarrel. The gradual nature of their relationship aided the story well as the two of them begin to warm up to each other and learn who each other really are. Even when both of them are on good terms, the rivalry never truly ends. Racquel pulls off the classic rivals-to-lover trope by adding fun banter and teasing that will leave readers smiling.

While this story tends to be more lighthearted and heartwarming in nature, Racquel isn’t afraid to tackle more serious subjects and the narrative does a beautiful job of balancing between the two. The story touches on Vale’s relationship with her father who acts controlling and unsupportive — unconsciously affecting Vale’s attitude towards others and casting expectations of perfection onto her. While Vale faces all manipulation from her father, she’s able to break past her father’s presence and find a newfound belonging from her friends.

You Don’t Have a Shot is a beautifully well written sapphic rivals to lovers story that readers will be able to relate to regardless of their age. Racquel once again wrote another brilliant queer comfort story.

I spoke about this book on a bookmail/bookhaul video on instagram and how much I enjoyed this book. I loved Racquel's previous book and felt that I would love this one as well & was correct. Hearing me talk about it is better than reading it!

First off, I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I got the email that I was approved for You Don’t Have a Shot, I was so excited. One of the first ARCs I ever received was Racquel Marie’s debut, Ophelia After All, which became one of my favorite books. So, I jumped at the chance to read her sophomore novel, and it did not disappoint.

Vale Castillo-Green is a soccer player that has a complicated relationship with the sport and with her father, who is the only parent she has left ever since her mother passed away a few years ago. After an incident between her and Leticia Ortiz, her arch rival, out on the field during their last game, she joins her best friends to a soccer summer camp where she does not have to deal with her dad at home and so the stress of competition gets to take a backseat. That’s what she thinks at least, until she finds out that she has to take the games at camp more seriously and realizes how it can help her future. However, the issue is that her co-captain is the last person she wants to be working with and who she did not expect to see at camp: Leticia.

Her whole life, she has strived to be perfect at soccer, trying to meet her father’s high expectations. Now, she can’t remember what it was like loving to play the game at all. All she knows is that it makes her dad happy and it makes her feel more connected to her mom, who played as well. But this summer changes her outlook on the game and on herself.

I love how Marie writes her characters. Vale is flawed and makes mistakes, but you can’t help but want it all to turn out alright for her in the end. Reading about how she has these expectations to be perfect from not only her dad but from herself, and she knows she’s talented but still undermines her own wins was extremely relatable. But we all deserve to celebrate our wins and have fun.

There’s also more to Leticia that Vale, and us the readers, didn’t know. I could really relate to her, remembering what it was like being shy at that age as well and having it come off the wrong way, making it hard to make friends. It was nice seeing these two rivals really get to know each other and form a bond. Also, the banter!! I thought the romance was written really well! I also loved how literally everyone could see what was going on between them and that they were also rooting for them to finally get together.

What I really loved was seeing Vale’s growth as a character. Seeing her start to have fun again with soccer and realize that she, as well as others, do not deserve to be treated cruelly for not being perfect was so great to see. What I loved about Ophelia After All is that it is about Ophelia discovering more about herself. While You Don’t Have a Shot is different since it is a romance, it never strays from that introspection and coming of age aspect of Ophelia that I, and many others, loved. It really feels like we go on this journey with Vale as she learns some hard truths and realizes that she does not have to be so hard on herself or others. She can have fun too.

I also really liked the side characters! Marley might have been my favorite. What I really loved about the Purple Princesses is that they not only grew as players but also gained confidence in themselves and their skills. The team really formed a beautiful friendship, and it shows how strong of a bond you can form with your friends, your teammates, to the point where they become family.

I do admit that the beginning was a little hard for me to get into. However, I think that more has to do with this book being different from what I usually read. I am not a sports person, but I wanted to give it a try. Despite the beginning being slow for me, I really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop reading once I got into it. Racquel Marie is an author whose books I will automatically want to read.

Overall, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

TITLE: You Don’t Have a Shot
AUTHOR: Racquel Marie
PUBLISHER:
RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2023
GENRES: YA Contemporary, sports romance, sapphic

A queer YA romance about rival soccer players from author Racquel Marie, perfect for fans of She Drives Me Crazy

Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green’s life revolves around soccer. Her friends, her future, and her father’s intense expectations are all wrapped up in the beautiful game. But after she incites a fight during playoffs with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, everything she’s been working toward seems to disappear.
Embarrassed and desperate to be anywhere but home, Vale escapes to her beloved childhood soccer camp for a summer of relaxation and redemption…only to find out that she and the endlessly aggravating Leticia will be co-captaining a team that could play in front of college scouts. But the competition might be stiffer than expected, so unless they can get their rookie team’s act together, this second chance—and any hope of playing college soccer—will slip through Vale’s fingers. When the growing pressure, friendship friction, and her overbearing father push Vale to turn to Leticia for help, what starts off as a shaky alliance of necessity begins to blossom into something more through a shared love of soccer...and maybe each other.
Sharp, romantic, and deeply emotional, You Don’t Have a Shot is a rivals-to-lovers romance about rediscovering your love of the game and yourself, from the author of Ophelia After All.

Review

I absolutely love this read. It was so comforting to see the language I speak and have representation of characters that mirror my cultura!

With each page, I found myself laughing with some of the characters quick witted responses, responding out loud with some of their choices, and even took me back to a high school sports memory just like the characters had in the novel lol!!

I highly recommend this read if you’re looking for something that will pull at your heart strings and give you some good exciting feels !!

Racquel Marie's "You Don't Have a Shot" is a sapphic YA sports romance with incredibly well developed characters.

It follows Valentina, a high school who has poured all of her energy into soccer. After her season ends with a rough encounter with her lifelong rival, Valentina's friends talk her into attending a soccer camp. Her summer is supposed to be relaxing and fun--until she runs into her rival again.

This book's biggest strength is its characters. Valentina is incredibly well developed. She goes through a lot of internal turmoil, and it's easy to understand why she acts the way she does. She comes off as incredibly well thought-out, like Racquel Marie truly knew her. While other characters aren't as well developed as Valentina, many of them also have compelling moments and storylines. The cast is also incredibly diverse and very queer!

Where this book falls short is the plot. Often, it felt one-dimensional and predictable. The twists were not incredibly surprising, so I wasn't on the edge of my seat. Also, I would note that while I enjoyed the complexity of Valentina as a character, I wish she reckoned with her relationship with soccer more. That part of her arc did not end in a satisfying way.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I picked up Ophelia After All last September and loved it, so when I stumbled on the author’s TikTok a few months ago and saw that she had a new book coming out that was not only queer but about soccer (!!!) I knew I had to pick it up as soon as it came out.

Thankfully, I found a copy on NetGalley the day before it was published, and I’ve never been more thankful about accidentally stumbling on a book I wanted to read. I loved Ophelia After All and was so (cautiously) excited about this book because it included all of my favorite subjects, and I am happy to report that it truly exceeded my expectations.

The story truly has it all—lovable but flawed characters, grief, self reflection, and development—but what I truly appreciated most about it was the underlying belief that soccer (and all sports) are at the end of the day only a game and the players on the field and their needs should always be the first priority. As a former coach and player whose high personal expectations eventually led to burnout and hatred for the game I loved, I fully believe that this book could be a change maker for athletes who are in the same position. I cannot wait to buy multiple copies of this book to give to a few kids who really need this message right now (and buy one for myself so I can read it again).

My only criticism is that I truly cannot get enough of this team and these characters and would be endlessly grateful for a sequel at the college level…

I was so excited for this premise because I love teammates to lovers and I think this book will be great for teenagers but it took me a while to get through. I had some trouble connecting with the characters and I felt like the plot took a long time to get to the point and then ended really quickly. I do think that I might just not be the target audience for YA books anymore

This is the first in the two books about sapphic soccer players that come out this year that I was hella excited about. The second one is adult and not out yet, so we won’t talk about it. But please know, I hope i like it better than this one. After the masterpiece that was Ophelia After All, I just knew I was going to add this to my list of faves this year. Unfortunately even though I liked it, I spent a lot of my time reading it while I rolled my eyes.

So I guess we’ll jump right into it then. Although I really liked the romance, the main character was not it. I get what Marie was trying to do, but Lordt it was a miss for me. Yes she was doing everyone the way her dad did her, but what troubled me was why was she doing that? She didn’t like it when her dad was doing it to her, so why was she doing it to them? She was a grade a botch and I was glad that she had things taken away from her. Maybe if it had happened sooner, it could have taught both her and her parent a lesson. And as a someone who also played on team sports, she was out there acting like Kobe and not passing the ball, trying to be the whole team and not passing the ball. You can’t do that in team sports. You have to trust your teammates. If you can’t, go run track or something that you do by yourself. (For the most part) I think that’s what annoyed me the most. She acted as if she was the star of everything but hunny hadn’t even gotten anyone from colleges to talk to her yet. It made her seem like she was better than everyone and it made me hate her.

The romance was cute tho. I really liked Leticia tho. It was like she mellowed Vale out, which she needed. Did I think Leticia deserved better? Yes. BUT did I end up liking the Valed that she became when she was with Leticia? Also yes. Idk it’s complicated. But I also thought it was weird. We always say don’t change for anyone. Be who you are always, but to be honest, I only liked them when they were together. They changed to be with each other, and I liked that. Especially since I don’t think I could have dealt with it otherwise.

If you’re not a sports fan, be careful with this one. It’s heavy on the soccer lingo. But I think it was done in a good enough way. I’ve never played soccer a day in my life, but I knew what the terms were and once I Googled the terms I didn’t know (like the positions) and it was cool. But if you’re someone who skips over those types of things, please know this one is heavy with it and you’d be skipping a lot.

Although i wasn’t a huge fan of the main characters, I still enjoyed “going to the camp” and meeting the other characters. Some of them were terrible, but the others were pretty cute. I especially liked her teammates. They all had their own personalities. It was really cute. The camp itself was pretty cool too. I liked the structure and the way they ran the games and the way everyone there had so much fun. Is this what summer sports camps were really like? I was sad I’d never been to one as a teen lol

The setting was good, the love interest was great, but I just couldn’t get behind the main character. I think she overdid it on the unlikeable part for an unlikeable heroine. It was just too much and put me off of her. The plot was a little slow, but it’s a romance. Nearly all romances these days are a slow burn. It took forever for them to get it together. But that made the plot stall a bit. But it was ok. I still liked and will still recommend it, but just know Ophelia is still my favorite!

This book was both fun and uncomfy to read. Our mc Valentina is dealing with immense pressure from her dad about soccer and getting into college (TW: he’s also verbally abusive toward her) while still grieving the death of her mom. Her best friends are in a relationship, which makes her feel like a third wheel, and she’s in constant battle with her rival, Leticia. But when Vale and Leticia end up captaining the same team at soccer camp over the summer, Vale starts to realize her feelings for Leticia are quite complicated, and their banter is *chef’s kiss*

Vale also starts to realize that her relationship with soccer has turned sour due to all the pressure, and that the way her dad treats her is both not ok and affecting the way she treats other people. She experiences a lot of growth, and I was so emotional by the end.

Also, did I mention Vale is ace?? Love this for us.

Long story short, only my fellow gays can make me care about sports.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read! I had really loved Ophelia After All; it was one of my favorite books last year. This didn't quite live up to that book for me personally, but it was still a fun read. I loved the rivals to lovers trope, and of course all the diverse representation, especially sapphic, trans, and ace characters.

I tend to really enjoy LGBT+ sports romance books, and since this was compared to the amazing She Drives Me Crazy, I did had really high expectations. Vale was a hard character to love, although I understand that was the point of the book was her character arc and becoming a better person. I did love her and Leticia's banter and rivalry, and I thought their romance was sweet. An enjoyable read overall and I will definitely read Racquel Marie's next book!

(4.5 Stars)

Racquel Marie proved herself to be an immense talent with her debut novel, Ophelia After All, and with You Don't Have a Shot she solidifies herself as an auto-read author.

If you're someone who enjoyed Running with Lions by Julian Winters, then trust me when I say that You Don't Have a Shot is like its beautifully messy, sapphic counterpart. The two stories actually share a lot of the same base components: sports gays, summer soccer camp settings, and deliciously tense childhood friends-to-rivals-to-reluctant-teammates-to-lovers dynamics, just to name a few.

What I love about You Don't Have a Shot is that, in many ways, the story follows a traditional rom-com sort of structure, but it's also angsty, emotional, and told from the perspective of a character who is deeply hurting and actively makes horrible decisions because of it. I appreciate that this story delivers on a fun and satisfying sapphic summer romance, while at the same time pulling no punches when it comes to the consequences of grief, trauma, and insecurity.

After Vale's mother passed away, she put all her effort into becoming the best soccer player she could, not just because soccer was the only way she could still connect with her father, but because it helped her avoid her own grief. From that, she created a very unhealthy relationship with the sport, becoming obsessive about winning, hyperfixating on her own mistakes and her teammates' mistakes, and convincing herself that results can only be achieved through aggression and relentlessness.

Vale begins the story as an incredibly destructive person. She's closed-off, she's aggressive and hostile, she's a selfish soccer player, and she's a horrible teammate. Even though it can be hard to read about her internalized negativity and how that branches out to effect every aspect of her life, I appreciate the honesty with which her struggle is depicted. She's a self-sabotaging character who makes horrible choices time and time again, but that's also what makes her story arc so incredibly satisfying to read as she learns how to take accountability and overcome that.

This is a story about how throwing ourselves into the things we're good at isn't always good *for* us. It's about how the ways we're parented inadvertently teach us how show love to ourselves and others, for better or worse. It's about doing the work of divorcing personal fulfillment from toxic "productivity" and learning how to fall back in love with the truest parts of ourselves, not because they bring us some type of gain, but because there is inherent value in doing things that bring us joy.

At the end of the day, soccer is a team sport, and this story is really about Vale learning how to let herself be supported by other people, as scary or uncertain as that might be.

I also loved the romance. Vale and Leticia has such great banter and chemistry. The whole rivals-to-lovers dynamic really works here, because what starts off as shared animosity actually provides a foundation for brutal honesty between both characters. They're used to quipping at each other and pointing out each other's weaknesses. So by the time they're slowly establishing a friendship, they know they can handle when the other person is going to tell them a hard truth that they might not be able to hear from anyone else. So it's great to see them growing together in that way.

And while this story does navigate difficult topics like grief, emotional/verbal abuse, insecurity, aggression, and self-sabotage, it's also just a quintessential summer read. There's soccer camp, team bonding experiences, summer romance, and an epic summer soccer tournament to boot. It may seem kind of obvious to say, but I think this story does a great job of delivering on soccer content. Sometimes in sports romances, the actual sport is just an interesting hook that fades in and out as needed, but if you actually enjoy soccer, I think this book has a lot of great gameplay to sink your teeth into, and that makes the whole thing that much more exciting to read.

I took off half a star because sometimes the flirty banter/scenarios were a little too over the top in my opinion, but that's based on personal preference and other people might feel differently. Overall, I think this story accomplishes everything it sets out to do with nuance, heart, and charm, and I would highly recommend it!