From a distance there are a lot of reasons that Loser of the Year shouldn’t have worked, particularly as a debut. It feels a bit like someone who’d never touched a needle and thread jumped straight to attempting an elaborate, wildly-technical tapestry that would be difficult for even the most experienced artists to pull off—and then succeeded beyond measure, making it look effortless to boot. While unquestionably a romance first and foremost, LotY weaves a narrative that deftly, thoughtfully, and lovingly grapples with the complicated intersections of queerness, religion, family dynamics, and the choices that are made—or taken away—in settings that don’t allow for a person to exist fully-integrated at those points of intersection.

Our POV character is Mattie, a Jewish lesbian returning to her hometown to teach theater at a Catholic school post-divorce and lack of career success. She immediately finds herself irritated yet intrigued by Jillian, the bombastic and demanding soccer coach whose winning streak allows for arrogance. Their immediate chemistry is unmistakable but dangerous due to the morality clause in their respective contracts (yes, this is a thing!) which, in short, makes queerness a fireable offense. This forces them to communicate through a language that so many queer people have had to learn: subtle cues, hidden meanings, and careful, layered gestures that fan the flames in a deliciously old-fashioned slow-burn. Rooted firmly in Mattie’s POV, we’re also left trying to get into Jillian’s head as the tension between them builds and finally bursts in an emotional, revelatory, and immeasurably hot masterpiece of a scene. One of Carrie’s strengths is in capturing physicality and using figurative language to bring familiar concepts into sharp, surprising relief, with prose such as "the woman who’d decided to bite into Mattie’s thin life and take the best strip of it for herself" and "comprehension felt like a lick between her legs". Needless to say, the sex scenes are 🔥🔥🔥!

As someone who really loves the unraveling of repressed characters, I reveled in the slow unfolding of Jillian Reed. The brash, almost satirical persona from the beginning gives way to a woman who cares SO deeply and is doing all that she can to make herself small enough to fit into a life that’s not quite hers, using her larger-than-life persona as cover. Other characters, ranging from the ghastly school principal to Mattie’s parents, serve both to round out Mattie and particularly Jillian as characters but also capture a range of behaviors, perspectives, and personalities that many queer people are familiar with—the pleasantly useless “ally”, the loved ones who don’t quite get it but are trying, and (to quote Taylor Swift), the people who “try and save you because they hate you”.

Beyond the primary romantic arc, one of my favorite things about this book is that it reads as a love letter to students. Mattie and Jillian’s students aren't just there for the plot—they're essential to the story. I adored characters like Izzy (a queer student with a sweet growth arc) and Emily (the most delightful theater kid representation I could imagine); most of the moments that made me laugh out loud involved them and their peers. The reciprocity of relationships between students and teachers is something dear to my heart, and celebrated in spades in LotY.

I’ve gone on longer than Jillian at a press conference. In short: please give yourself the gift of this book. In her debut, Carrie Byrd has written a love story that runs not parallel to, but is intertwined with, Mattie and Jillian’s own journeys of growth, healing, and acceptance. To root for Mattie and Jillian's love is to root for them to individually thrive as whole, unfractured beings, and (spoilers!)—there are no losers on that front.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mattie Belman has reluctantly come home to teach at St Rita High School.

Jillian Reed runs the soccer program with a iron fist, and Mattie finds them clashing over the players getting special treatment.

But when the principal forces them to work together on the play, Mattie starts to see another side to the woman.

I rather like that Jillian has a reputation for being hard and ruthless, and Mattie eventually figures out it's actually more awkwardness and drive.

Good, solidly written book. Apparently her first, so much to look forward to. Mattie and Jillian are sweet, the students are realistic and moderately adorable, and the characters ARCs are engrossing.

4/5 stars.

It was a delight to get a chance to read Carrie Byrd's debut novel. Great love story, well written and so emotional. Fantastic to see the ice queen Jillian melt and finally open up to the possibility of loving another woman. Also great to see that Mattie and Jillian break free from the very conservative view the catholic school they work at and also help the students there to evolve. Me living in Europe cannot believe this type of contract is still allowed in a country like the US.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the ARC.

This debut novel was an incredible reading experience, so compelling and intelligently written that I wasn’t ever tempted to drift off. Something that struck me was the way this story touched on how the gay community was affected by the politics and homophobic beliefs ingrained into people by the rules of the church and its policies that create harm in the innocent souls who can’t conform to its rules nor handle the guilt.

We met so many wonderful characters who had pertinent roles in this story, including the sweet non-binary student Izzy, but our two mains were Jillian and Mattie. They both carried hurts and disappointments that brought them back to their hometown in Northeastern Pennsylvania to start over again. Jillian, the athlete, had a short stint on the U.S. National Woman’s team and returned to lead St. Rita’s high school team to win thirteen state championships.
She was loud, brash, arrogant and loved to boast about herself and her championships. At first impression she reminded me of Jane Lynch‘s character in the television series, Glee. Jillian, among whose burdens included the inability to please her religious mother, was a closed, complicated person deeply inside the closet.

Mattie was Jewish, learning the ropes of being in a Catholic school, and after a failed lesbian marriage and a failed acting career, also returned to live with her parents and become St. Rita High School’s brand-new Theater Arts teacher. Mattie was out and proud, but being the new temporary teacher who badly needed the job, didn’t talk about it and tried to keep a low profile.

The author created a romance that was not only slow burn for the characters, but slow burn for this reader who couldn’t wait for the outcome to unfold. The attraction was immediate for Jillian and Mattie. How it all came together was simply brilliant writing by Carrie Byrd. She showed the many layers that Jillian was entrenched in and how Mattie, holding her ground, undeterred, slowly chiseled through. That’s not a spoiler because you have to read it to experience how good it is!

There was something very unique about this book; so much wonderfulness. It was a joy to read and I loved it. My thanks to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved it. I’m struggling a bit to isolate why…. It was clever, the characters were well drawn, it made me laugh, I loved the pacing, I loved that the writer took her time to tell her story and even tho there were bits where not much seemed to be happening, I was always learning a lot about the characters. The atmosphere was so well set, little words or asides, so well done. All of this I expect in a good book. This had something else…… 5 stars, read it for your self and see if you can isolate the elusive thing that moves a book from a 4 to a 5. For me, normally it is being made to really feel….and I did, but I feel there is more….but unlike this writer, I am not a wordsmith. Read them, not me!

This is a debut novel that reads like it came from a seasoned writer! So, there’s a caption under a poster of a duck which describes “duck syndrome.” This is when you see a duck going across a pond, the duck makes it looks effortless, but underneath, they’re paddling like hell. I don’t know whether this actually occurred in the writing process, but Byrd makes LOTY read like an effortless glide across the story pond. She brings us complex characters, addresses multiple themes, and taps into our vulnerabilities. In the beginning, I could not wrap my head around Jillian. At all. And I wanted to cover my eyes while peeking through fingers at Mattie. Then, in the way you watch a firework that’s been launched, quietly reaching up into the sky, there’s the silent pause and then *BOOM* the explosion, Jillian and Mattie’s story brings us a kaleidoscope of those firework’s cascading lights. At times, there was so much to look at it, i couldn’t quite take it all in. There were so many personal “things” that it was hard to know where to look or even identify all the feels. I couldn’t even tell you what to focus on, there was so much to absorb. It really was a firework. And then more fireworks. And then even more. Some things were expected, and some things were absolutely not. And did I mention the feels? A debut that makes me think - definitely it’s a mitvah.

What a great debut from Carrie Byrd. A well written and engaging book that I enjoyed. It made me laugh but it also made me ball my eyes out on occasion. Well worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Ylva for this ARC.

This book!! How can it be a debut novel 🤯
This is a well written book with engaging characters that kept me reading nonstop! My only regret is that I finished it in less than 24 hours and now have a book hangover!
Jillian is an ice queen I found easy to like., which isn’t always the case for me. It often takes time for me to warm to them. The armor she wears makes sense given her life experiences. Witnessing her resist melting with Mattie and seeing how strong the pull was to give in was exquisite. Mattie is a sweet, fun, melter that is no pushover and I appreciated this character’s knowledge of herself and awareness of the person behind Jillian’s protective persona.
I found the story so engaging, the pacing just right and tension building appropriate without being over the top. The ice queen and one bed tropes were so well done and the third act break up was believable and appropriate for the story.
If this is what Carrie’s debut novel looks like I can’t wait for what is to come from her! I would give this book 10 stars if I could!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the arc. I happily and voluntarily leave this review.

I really have no notes for this one.

A really fantastic sapphic love story that had me feeling all the emotions.

I equally loved Mattie and Jillian. Two perfectly complex characters who had a tremendous amount of growth to cover due to their past histories.

Carrie Byrd is such a clever and talented writer and I can’t wait to read what else she has in store.