I really enjoyed the F1 parts of this book, despite not knowing much about the sport - I found myself getting nervous during the races! I liked Diana’s commitment to being a driver despite the hurdles they made her jump through for being a woman.
However the story felt a bit jumpy - I felt like I was missing something when certain characters were suddenly quite cruel or the love interest was suddenly head over heels. It definitely needed more back story for the main couple’s history, as it all happened quite abruptly, and the characters needed fleshing out a bit more. It was an enjoyable read though, and I was happy with the ending.

The book caught my attention from the start with its intriguing premise, which held significant potential. However, the execution felt somewhat flat for my taste. My main issue was the difficulty in connecting with the characters, a lack of real chemistry that I find essential in these types of stories.

Despite my reservations, I believe the book has an interesting proposal, and it might appeal to someone with different preferences. I would recommend giving it a chance, as it could resonate differently with other readers.

the f1 knowledge in this was very, very good, and I thought the romance was cute, but I just didn't click with some of the characters. 3.5/5 stars.

This book was hard for me to finish. The writing was kind of all over the place. The ending definitely saved it for me, but I probably wouldn’t pick this up again.

I really wanted to love this, because I am a huge Formula 1 fan and I absolutely love the idea of a female driver. It was exactly what I needed it to be, and I loved every second of the book. The banter was top tier and all of the references to the sport of F1 made me so happy. The author hit home on everything, and didn't miss a beat when it came to the sport. I felt like it was really well done, and the enemies to lovers trope is my favorite and Diana and Miguel were great together. The book focuses heavily on F1 though, and romance is really a subplot but I think the author combined both really well. I LOVED this book and hope that others become fans of F1 after this too!

Thank you to NetGalley, Esha Patel, and Avon for the eARC of this book.

I wanted to like this but it just did not work for me. Diana and Miguel felt more like friends than romantic interests - and to be clear they definitely aren't enemies at any point so this is not enemies to lovers! There are several plot points that make no sense. Miguel is a bit of a playboy, but also there's no reference to him even kissing his fiancée. His characterization in general is all over the place. I liked aspects of Diana's character but it bothered me that she seems to have no friends or support system outside of her parents and the people she meets in F1. Sure, it emphasizes the isolation of her position, but the extent of it seems unrealistic.

I also really struggled with the idealization of the UAE, whose glittery facade covers up the terrible mistreatment of migrant workers and queer people. I had to laugh at the line in the author's note about Diana being modeled on the real-life Emirati sisters in F1 Academy and how it's a struggle because people assume they must be wealthy (mind you their dad is CEO of a state-owned investment fund).

Overall this book just feels like it's by a very young author who still has some maturing and growing to do. The F1 knowledge is on point so I hope she can improve in the future!

What a great story! Set against the backdrop of the 2022 F1 season, the novel is told from two POV's - Miguel, an F1 darling whose father races F1 back in the day & Diyana, the first female to rise to the ranks of F1. I enjoyed reading about Miguel's struggles of what is expected of him, winning an F1 championship, marrying a girl from his hometown with no interest in his career. Diyana's story felt more compelling - a woman trying to break through in a male dominated environment. Both stories show how much determination the other one has and whilst the romance is a slow burner, I enjoyed that aspect. Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy

First of all, it’s a 3.5 for me not just 3. I did enjoy this book, especially as a huge Formula 1 fan, but I was struggling with it for maybe half of it. The story is well written and I adore the characters but sometimes it was going so slow that the story didn’t pull me in enough. I was very happy about the fact though that this wasn’t just a book about a formula 1 romance but also focused on the struggles of women in a male dominated industry. It’s inspiring to read about and makes you excited for the changes that F1 academy is hopefully bringing along. All in all, I definitely recommend this book if you’re a fellow F1 fan and like a romance. It being slow is a personal preference/struggle!

Let me dive back in by saying what I did before, I’m still a massive fan of F1 and during a time where it’s more prevalent than ever for the representation of women in motorsport (with current events and the finally televised start of the new F1 Academy season) I can confidently say this new edition was so much more than I was expecting.

One of the biggest things I still love about this book, that I think is a common misconception about Offtrack is that the main focus is not the romance in my eyes. Instead, this book takes a much needed look of a woman’s impact of a male dominated space — whilst still including all the exciting drama and betrayals not far from that of Drive to Survive.

This book is now DUAL POV, and follows the views of Diyana and Miguel as they navigate their complex relationship and connections through the politics of the world of motorsports. On a less serious note, I absolutely adore Esha’s characters (especially her side characters, Petey I’m looking at you my love) and both Miguel and Diana are easy to fall in love with. Miguel with his charm and daring personality alongside Diana’s determined, but respectful manor is the perfect balance that was needed throughout this.

The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars was because one of the things I enjoyed from the initial book was the cute little breaks in the form of texts/tweets that gave me a breather from the serious/fast-paced nature of this race like book.

Honestly, if you’re someone that loves the drama and fast-paced nature of F1 with a splash of a should we/shouldn’t we romance — this is the book for you!

I'm normally a BIG fan of F1 books, I have no interested in the sport in real life but for some reason it hits different in a cute little romance book. Overall the book was fine, but it's not my favorite and I likely won't reread. It was super easy to speed through which was nice, but I kept getting pulled out of the story which isn't normal for me. I didn't really buy/like the chemistry between the MCs which made it hard for me to enjoy the book as a whole if that makes sense.

ARC REVIEW

Thank you to Netgalley and Esha Patel for sending me an arc of this book.

I've been slowly getting into F1 and so this seemed like the perfect book to read. And it did not disappoint.

I loved everything about it. All the F1 information in this book is so accurate and informative. I watched a race after finishing it and I actually felt like I understood what was going on better because of it.
(I did ask my boyfriend about certain things and he was impressed).

And THE CHARACTERS!!

Diyana: our female racer. Such a strong character. I adored her and the way she handles every situation she was in. She fights for what she wants and she gets it through her hard work and resilience.

Miguel: another wonderful character that helps our girl throughout her f1 debut and never doubts her abilities. We need more men like him in the world.

The way their relationship evolved was so sweet and fun to read. They care about each other so much in a world that is so competitive and with a lot of rivalries. They overcome it and have a beautiful relationship.

I also really loved all the secondary characters. I'm not sure if it's something Esha Patel has planned but I'd love to read about some of the other racers povs.

Overall this was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. A 5 star book for me that will definitely be in my top reads of the year.

DNF at 23%

I am disappointed, as I thought this book really had potential to be great, but I just could not go on any more.

The writing, for me, was really messy.
It seemed to jump from one thing to another and had sentances or paragraphs that added nothing to the story and could have been avoided, this just gave it a very over complicated feel. I struggled to actually read it, and not just skim everything. Also there was so many characters and names thrown at you, especially right at the beginning, it was hard to keep up.

I think the overall plot is a good idea, it just needs finessing.

DNFED AT 25%! I’m so upset I didn’t enjoy this! I love F1 racing books and this was super disappointing.
The Writing~
The writing and the way this book was formatted was atrocious. The author didn’t even put the conversations in quotation marks, which made it hard to read and visually unpleasant to look at.
The Plot~
The plot felt unrealistic and unattainable, as did the outcome of her season. I felt like barely any thinking went into this book.
The Characters~
I really didn’t like them. Miguel was super childish, and the romance was not explored at all. This is marketed as a romance but it isn’t one, not even close.
This needs to be pulled off the market before it gets published. It feels like the roughest first draft I’ve ever read, and it needs major work.

But as always, thank you so much to NetGalley and to Avon Books for the ARC!

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. There were a few things that detracted from my enjoyment. However, there might be something about Offtrack that appeals to you.

Here are some reasons why you might consider picking it up:
-FMC navigating the male dominated world of F1 racing
-FMC is an all-around racing goddess
-FMC is a woman of color

Ultimately, it did not work for me for two reasons. First, while it was heavy on F1 jargon, the racing scenes didn't translate well to the page. There was no excitement, no tension. Second, the chemistry and romance fell flat. The book couldn't decide what the dynamic was between the FMC and MMC and tried on all the tropes for size without picking one. Is this rivals to lovers? Forbidden love? Childhood crush to lovers? I honestly don't know.

I’ve been a Formula 1 fan since way before Drive to Survive, so the story about a female F1 driver and a racing romance felt like the perfect book for me! And I’m glad to say that the racing parts were done really well and felt both realistic and captivating. You could tell that Esha Patel had done thorough research and how much of an F1 fan she must be herself. But unfortunately, the romance fell a bit flat for me. There were also some parts of the plot that just didn’t make any sense and pulled the story down. So even though I wanted so much to love this story, it ended up being an okay entertainment for the moment, but didn’t fully meet the hopes and expectations I had.

Offtrack is a story told in the dual POVs of the two F1 drivers, Diana/Diyana - the first female F1 driver ever, and Miguel - racing royalty as third generation of a family of F1 drivers. I loved the idea of a female F1 racer, and how strong and badass, yet kind, Diana was. She’d had to fight so hard for her dream to come true and even fight harder to keep it, with all the misogyny going on in the racing world.

I also really enjoyed all the racing parts, the strategy communication and the competitiveness on track. Esha Patel really managed to build the intensity, and I read the racing parts feeling almost as nervous as if I was watching a real race!

So Diana as a character and the racing parts were great! But I had problems to fully understand and root for Miguel. On one hand he was the cliche of a playboy racing driver, on the other hand he was very supportive of his sister Paula and stood up for Diana when no one else did. I also had problems with the arranged marriage plot. Not going into details here to avoid spoilers, but everything about it felt off and made it hard to figure Miguel out. How could he be a player, allegedly screwing around with team principal’s daughter and others, at the same time as he was determined to honor the arrangement made when he was sixteen?

Another thing that felt like such a huge plot hole that it pulled the whole story and the romance down, was (sorry, might be a bit of a spoiler coming up here) was the unbelievable way that Miguel hadn’t heard about a female F2 champion and didn’t recognize her at the driver presentation. Adding the even more unbelievable part that he’d forgotten that they not only knew each other from not only racing each other but having a crush on each other as teen karting drivers. Especially as this crush later became the foundation for their newfound romance.

But even though I didn’t fully root for the romance, it was a very entertaining and fast paced read with a badass female racing driver giving hope for a near future with a real female F1 driver!

This book is in serious need of edits. The publisher sent an email that it’d been rewritten and that the copy on NetGalley is the latest, but it feels more like a first draft. The characters are flat, the dialogue is robotic and not in proper quotation marks, there are sentences that make no sense as they’re missing words, and I couldn’t force myself to get through it all. Hopefully it will be cleaned up prior to publication.

I wasn’t super obsessed with the way this book was written, some of it was confusing and messy. There were a lot of characters going on. I think there was so much potential for a new genre in romance involving racing but it didn’t quite hit for me. I definitely skimmed a lot of this one.

This was fun but it felt really slow in the beginning and rushed at the end. The f1 part was quite accurate but the book as a whole felt quite over done?? So many details we didn’t necessarily need!

ARC

the f1 element was very accurate however I think it kinda of over took the romance. This book was fun and I was very invested in the couple.
I think this book was so good it’s definitely a fun and quick read.

I will start by saying that this book has potential to be incredible.

The idea of two rival F1 drivers falling for one another with their racing teams standing in the way is very ‘Romeo & Juliet’.

However I found it very difficult to get into because there are so many detailed characters we need to get to know and it took me quite a few chapters to figure out WHO the main characters actually were.

The writing style just wasn’t for me but the content of the book was entertaining so don’t take my review as gospel, please give it a read for yourself and you may find it’s a 5⭐️ in your opinion.

Read Time ⏱️ 4 hours