Bear with me while I digress immediately: One of my favorite "a girl?? who plays football??" books is "Like Other Girls" by Britta Lundin. The protagonist, Mara, is a closeted butch lesbian who joins the football team not to make a statement, but to show her coach in basketball — her sport of choice — that despite being kicked off the team for getting in a fight during a game, she's still a team player. But other girls do see her move as a statement, and all of a sudden Mara is one of five girls on the football team. The title comes from the boys on the team lumping all of them together as un-athletic and talentless just because they're girls. Mara's not seen as the superstar athlete she's grown used to being anymore — she's just "like other girls."

Victoria Zeller's protagonist in "One of the Boys" is Grace, a newly out trans girl whose football career as a kicker seemingly ended over the course of several months: first, in the fall of her junior year when she missed the game-winning field goal and ended her team's season, and second, when she came out as trans the following spring. She's thrilled to be out as herself, but figures football is a thing of the past — until, suddenly, it's not. After a chance run-in with a college coach and the assurances of her team captains that they'll stick up for her if the rest of the team gives her trouble, Grace returns to the football team for her senior year. Because it's the same game, isn't it? Kicking is still in her blood, even if she's on hormones now and many of the Division I teams courting her before she came out are no longer interested.

Of course, it's not all the same. Grace's head coach welcomes her back but isn't totally ready to acknowledge her being trans, she's shuffled to a makeshift locker room, and a handful of her teammates are loud-and-wrong transphobes. Through flashback scenes, we learn how Grace got her new group of queer friends, many of whom are girls (she says she hasn't really had girls as friends aside from her ex-girlfriend, Zoe, whom she broke up with right before coming out), and learn more about Grace's struggles with anger, toxic masculinity, and gender dysphoria. She's "one of the boys" again — a loaded phrase depending on who's wielding it, just like "like other girls" — but as much as the game hasn't changed, so much is different now.

I was thrilled to learn about the existence of this book, and heartened as I read by how matter-of-fact this story was. Yes, it's huge that a trans girl is playing organized sports at all, much less football — and still, every story beat just made sense. I hesitate to praise a book for its realism alone, but it was really important to me as a trans person (and former athlete and sportswriter) that Grace's support system wasn't perfect, that she got to make mistakes, and even that Zeller didn't shy away from describing the overt transphobia Grace faced from her teammates, opposing fans, and others. All that mattered, really, is that I came into this book rooting for Grace, and I came away from it rooting for Grace even more. (Oh, and with a new appreciation for the city of Buffalo.)

Thanks to Levine Querido and NetGalley for the ARC!

A fun and cute read about a high school football team that wants their kicker to keep kicking with them. The story does a good job of balancing the real world transgirls in sports issues with the reality that they usually just want to play with their friends. The story felt honest, and the characters felt realistic, and it was fun to see them interact with each other, especially in group settings. The conversations felt natural, and I enjoyed the different perspectives about what the future holds for Grace and her friends. I also really enjoyed the ending, and the direction it took, as it felt right for the character of Grace and like she was staying true to the girl we met at the beginning of the book. Full disclosure, I don't enjoy football, but the book had me interested in it, and the camaraderie of the team was nice to read. There were lots of moments in the book that felt like they captured the reality of being a girl, playing football, and being trans, and tied them all together nicely.

One of the Boys is one of those books I heard a lot about before jumping into it - mostly praises from fellow internet reviewers I avidly listen to. I wasn't disappointed at all.

In this book, you follow Grace Woodhouse, who has recently come into herself as a transwoman. With this comes new challenges for her : the end of her relationship with Zoe, sure, but mostly her conflicting relationship with (american) football, as she used to be a very good kicker. She's quit the latter as it is an all-boys sport but when her ex-captains come find her to ask if she would rejoin, she accepts. Glad she can play again, she still has to find her place as a woman in a team where everyone knew her as a boy.

Zeller weaves a kind of story that is so quintessentially YA (coming of age, graduation, sports) while simultaneously carving a space for transness. One of the Boys is written in a way that is so stellar I was left speechless for half of it. I've rarely came across a character as fleshed out as Grace and I loved that the story doesn't shy away from dealing with transphobia head-on and, particularly, deadnaming, which tends to be implicit and overall avoided in most books. It made for a very tangible reading experience, at least for me, as it felt so deeply rooted in something I've experienced. The dialogues and overall interactions between the characters also contributed to this feeling of tangibility of the story. Grace navigating her new relationship with her ex, with the latter making mistakes that are adressed and not cast aside, was also an aspect of the story that I felt was not being explored a lot in trans fictions and it felt nice to read something about it.
I know nothing at all about american football (and even kind of hate it, I must say) but it shows that Zeller is really passionnate and knowledegable about it and I have to admit that I was more than engaged everytime we were on the field with Grace - and that despite Zeller using official terminology that I had to search the meaning of, it did not deter my understanding of the story or appreciation of the book.

I think I will look back on One of the Boys fondly for years to come and I'm so glad it exists. Please give it a try if you can, I don't expect you to regret it.

Thank you to Levine Querido, Victoria Zeller and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. This review is entirely my own and honest opinion.

Everything about this was enjoyable. Grace and her teammates were such good friends and I appreciated the different reactions everyone had to her transition. Not everyone will be a good supporter. A lot of people may not support you at all, but the ones that do make such a huge difference.

As we all know, more experienced gays can clock baby gays in an instant so the friendship set up with Tabitha and Riley was really cute. The flashback scenes were so enlightening and the use of the second person really helped get into Grace's head pre-transition. This is a book we all need right now.

One of the Boys was an excellent read. Not only did this story have me reminiscing and missing my own sport, but it made me so happy that it was written in such a realistic and thoughtful way. This journey of, not only Grace but many characters, finding themselves during their senior year was so well executed. It truly brought a fresh, real perspective on the experience of queer youth about to undergo a huge change in their lives. The discussions and issues brought up throughout the book were well placed and handled, (even bringing up middle names!! a topic that I find is rare to find in trans discussions!) I appreciated that despite the author clearly speaking from experience, Grace had her own voice and her own story, and it didn't feel that the author was overly inserting herself into the narrative.
One issue that I thought I had was the sort of "stereotypical" portrayal of the trans male character being a stoner as well as the "goth" one being into tarot, yet upon reflecting back it is laughably accurate to how high school students in our generation behave. I do feel that this story won't be very accessible to all audiences, as many of Grace's thoughts and actions will be lost to those who do not understand, but I feel that this is very reflective of what she goes through in the book. Overall, this story is an incredibly important one, the fact that Grace had a supportive father, friends, and adults in her life while still dealing with the very real discrimination from teammates, adults, and strangers was both a refreshing and raw portrayal. I can't describe how grateful I am that this is not only the story of a trans girl, (stories that are few and far between,) but it is one where it shows the good and the bad, not just queer discrimination but queer joy, queer success. Trans people deserve happy endings, and I hope this story reaches the people who need it most.

Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sunshine, let's grab an umbrella and suit up, we're braving the rain to go see if we can find a rainbow! Fair warning: we’ll have to deal with the absolute flood of emotions that escaped me once I’d finished reading this the first time around 🥹

We'll be braving a little snow, a downpour once or twice, a teenage high school experience, and most importantly, we'll be meeting Grace - a fairly newly out trans girl, a chaotic teenage mess who also happens to love football and who previously was known for having a spectacular kick. During senior year we'll go see the drama of American football as it unfolds its acts (and no, don’t worry, I'm European and know nothing about the sport either, but the author’s love of the game has bled through the pages so thoroughly, we’ll soak in it and be fine).

On our quest, we’ll meet some jocks, whom I’ll gladly go to battle for (and also a few I wouldn’t mind tripping on the way). There'll be a lesbian and a bisexual girl from trig class who, no matter the angle, always will be in your corner. There’ll also be a feelings-awkward dad, a teenage parent, an old wisdom-speaking coach, an ex-girlfriend turned rebellious student council member, a gay football player or two, and the most natural and authentic representation of diversity and real teenagers I’ve seen done in a long time - if not ever.

"One of the Boys" is a story about growing up, belonging, teenagers, friendships, bravery, honesty, love, football, teammates, and the DRAMA of American football! I am in awe of how no character in this story feels flat, and how easy it is to walk alongside Grace in her cleats - even without having any first-hand knowledge of being trans or of playing American football.

The fact that this book will soon exist for young (and old) people to read makes me hopeful. I hope some people will pick it up because they feel compelled to read about a trans girl's high school experience. I hope some people will pick it up because of football and the game that shines so bright throughout this story. I hope some people will grab the book, not really knowing why, but letting themselves be carried through by Grace and her funny commentary, her strength, her utter teenage chaos, and her love for football.

If memory serves me correctly (it probably doesn’t) I requested this book from NetGalley in the early hours of morning after finishing my last arc.

I play this game a lot where I browse NetGalley and request a series of books and then I remember that I have to read all of those books before their deadlines and Past Me becomes the bane of Current Me’s existence.

However, Past Me made a stellar choice in selecting this book in her sleep deprived state. This book needs an overarching warning for transphobia like massively however, do not let that stop you from reading this book.

The story itself follows a young girl who is a few months out of the closet and trying to find her footing as her true self. It is everything a YA should be. It has a journey of self discovery and personal growth, it has romance, it has drama, it has american football (the highs and lows of it too), it has the great college debate™️, and alongside that it has a wonderful story about being transgender and the struggles faced by people who are transgender in sports.

I feel like I read this at a specifically potent time in our world’s history with both the situation in America and the recent ruling in the UK supreme court. It truly is a fantastic book and handles these issues fantastically (Probably helped by the fact that the author is transgender herself).

It was also a fantastic choice to use second person for the “before” scenes as it really immerses the reader into the story and brings a new life to the story. I think this is the first book where I have encountered second person and it’s done so well in this book I just had to applaud the author.

I 100% recommend this book if you’re looking for a YA with found family, self-discovery, sports, and a tiny bit of romance.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the ARC copy of "One of the Boys". This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

I'm really grateful and fortunate for having been lend an ARC, because I found my first favorite read of the year in Victoria Zeller's debut novel: One of the Boys. What. A. Book. I enjoyed it from the start to the end, glue to the pages, going along with anything Grace (our protagonist) did. I'll admit that this is not my usual reading material, in fact, I tend to avoid these books because I think that some of them overdo the drama, and I can't stand that. Moreover when it is around the world of sports I'm not interested in. But, I read the book's page, the premise cached my attention, and I had been looking for more books to read that either featured a trans main character or was written by a trans author, so I thought I could give this a try and see if I like it.
And here we are now.

So, our protagonist, Grace Woodhouse, has given up a lot: a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a foot already in college to win her a Division I football scholarship, right after she came out as trans. Her world doing a 180º change. Now, senior year begins and Grace is struggling to find her place in the early times of her transition, entering new social circles, and a life without her passion: football.
But when her skills as the best kicker in the state prove to be vital to her school winning the championship, her old teammates beg her to come out of retirement, dragging her back into a sport—into a way of life—she thought had turned its back on her forever. And later on, when a chance meeting with a recruiter cracks the door to college football back open, she has to decide how much of herself she's willing to give up for the game she loves.

One could think that Zeller's novel is about football, but, in reality, football is the minimum of the issues. Sure, it plays an important part, but for me, is more like another character, there to aid Grace's journey more than for us non-sports fans to learn it. And if I say this, is because, as Grace is a football player, she explains everything that happens at the field with lots of detail, enough to learn the idiosyncrasies of it, in lesson format😂 As the author used to be a player too, she knows her topics well. I, nor so much, in fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't catch anything by the end of the book. But that's find, because football is there to give a context, to initiate a conversation and to create community. We come here for the characters, of course.

It's the middle of summer and Grace has a job as a server where she's sure people won't recognize her and ask her about her transition or, worse, hurled transphobic shit about it at her. There, she meets a football recruiter that is looking for promising starts like her former football-player self, but, of course, he doesn't recognize her, and that's fine by Grace, she let football behind to be more comfortable with herself, to find herself in a difficult age and time of her life.

From here on, we start going through the school seasons with her, with her group of friends, with her football teammates, even with the ones that don't accept her and make it more difficult for her to be there and help the team reach victory when they ask her to come back. This to say that the secondary characters deserve their own spotlight, because they were amazing too, well crafted and even felt like individuals who shared their lives with Grace, instead of being there just to add as props, something that happens a lot in novels (not only in contemporary YA). So, I loved that, it complemented the novel well, showing that Grace has her life and is the protagonist, but others have their goals and motivations, like doing theater (from her friend Tara, who became my favorite after all).

I think this is the part that elevated the book for me: Grace and the relationships she makes with all type of people along her journey to figuring out who she is. The friends she made as a boy due to a group project and that stayed with the girl she found herself to be and always supported her on her choices, whether for good or for bad; friends like these are the ones that are worth it all. And their relationship with Grace is the one I most enjoyed and loved through the book, both with Tara and Riley, but more Tara, because she could not be more different to the other girls yet she makes the best of friends to them and to Grace by the end of the book.
The football team boys too, with most of them wanting to still share social circles with Grace, because her being a girl and not playing football anymore doesn't have to change them being acquaintances on good terms, or friends in the long term. In fact, when there is no doubt that no one can save them from doom at the championship, Grace is their first option to be their kicker again, redeem herself from past mistakes and come back to her passion while leading them to victory.
But, most importantly and the relationship that really sold the book for me was the one of Grace and her father. In most books with queer characters, parents tend to be non-acceptable to abusive to ignorant... And while is true that those parents exist in real life, unfortunately, I think we should also depict the other cases: the accepting and respectful parents, like Grace's father. He may not have known a lot about trans people or what that would mean for his child, yet he accepted Grace. Not the most emotional and warm man to ever exist, but he was there for her and make sure to participate in her life and support her in everything, not only the transitionshe would make, but the typical teenage hard decisions: college, staying or going, and such. I felt the love for his child seep through the pages, really.

In terms of the world, I don't have much to say, except I found it consistent with itself, full of details and vivid imagery that painted clear spaces in my mind. When it is a contemporary novel, it tends to be our world, so not lots of details have to be made up and written in detailed description that occupy pages upon pages, but it is needed for it to be coherent and being able to stand on its own. And Zeller's world does this with grace and wording that transport us to her novel, absorbing us entirely.

The last topic I want to tackle is the social commentary this book makes, AKA, about trans people, their place in sports and how trans women are being targeted at the moment, all laced with a coming of age story with a protagonist that still has to deal with lots of personal issues, like her explosive anger. I think reading books like this one is always necessary, because though fiction, they do delve into real life topics and issues of our own society that need to be talked about, ponder...
It was done very well, introducing the issues with responsibility and treating them with the seriousness they deserve. Tackling them from various angles and perspectives, showing that there's still work to do and the truth of it all: there will always be people hating on us, but there will also be good people that will stay by our side and cheer us on, while, of course, we do the work to advance, too.

Don't know what else I could say, I don't want to say too much in some aspects to not make spoilers, since this book still is not coming out until May, so I think I'm gonna leave it here. I just loved this book, and I gonna carry Grace and her story with me for a long time, reminiscing it. Grace was the best protagonist possible for this book and I'll follow her anyway, because she's a loyal friend, she stands up for herself when possible, she is trying to do her best and is dealing with her issues to resolve them to be a better friend of her friends. And I always appreciate a character that is trying their best.

Finally, of course I'm gonna recommend "One of the Boys", it is one of my favorite reads of the year, so everybody should go read it. I'd say, I read it because, in some sense, I expected it to be in a similar vein to Icebreaker (by A.L. Graziadei), and it was: teens in sports with personal issues and coming of age themes, but, of course, each book delivering it in its own way and style with its own themes. Also, I'd recommend this to sport-fans and non fans, because OOTB can be totally enjoyed without knowing even less than average about football; I'm proof :) But also, this book will always be necessary until we reach real equity, because trans women keep being expelled from spaces that could be of help and in which they deserve to be as they are women, just because their experience differs from other (cis) women doesn't make them less deserving

Given the political climate in America today, I think this is an important read. Trans people exist. Trans people deserve the freedom to live their lives. I liked Grace’s story and seeing the way she grew over the course of the book. I also loved the cast of characters from the football captains to the queer friend group.

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller is a phenomenal book! I’m adding to my list of books that would’ve changed my life if I had them in high school. The current administration’s hateful, transphobic rhetoric, especially as it pertains to sports, makes me angry deep in my marrow. Grace’s journey touches on this topic and many others. She’s learning who she is and how to exist in her body. Part coming of age part love letter to high school football and full to the brim with queer community, One of the Boys is a book I want everyone to read!

First, I want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review. 

I absolutely loved this book! Such a geourges heartfelt story.
Right from the beginning, I felt attached to Grace, and my love for her just grew over the course of this book. She's a really likable character but not flawless at all. She's so well written that she just feels real.
The Trans representation is incredible as well: realistic, heartwrenching, and yet hopeful. I think this is such an important story for young Trans people, especially Trans girls, growing up, and I think this book is gonna mean a lot to a lot of people.

My only critique is that it focused a little too much on football for me. It didn't actually bother me because I was just that invested thanks to Grace. However, if you don't feel so strongly for Grace and don't care for football, I see how this could make the book boring.

This book was incredibly difficult for me to rate. I found it to be a solid story and enjoyed the football aspect of it. I feel like this would be a great book to have in a high school and for high schoolers to read. It is very thought provoking and the push and pull with Grace and the football team was well done.

There were several things that bothered me about this book but these are just personal preferences, I don't think it took away from the overall book. It drove me crazy switching the POV from "I" to "you" when reading about the before and after. There was also every stereotypical high school thing possible all wrapped up in one book and I felt like the author was almost... trying too hard to make it realistic by including all of them. Throughout the book nothing really goes right for Grace. Even when things seem to be going better something negative happens (bad recruiting visit, suspension from the team, concussion etc.), I get that not everything will go right in real life but, I like a little more happiness!

Overall, this was a good book and touched on very important topics that people should be reading about. I appreciate that it is an own voices book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Levine Querido for this ARC!

In her final year of high school, Grace forgoes her trajectory to Division I football as one of the best kickers in order to live authentically as herself: trans. While coming into her identity, Grace gets pulled back into her football team and her old life. When a college recruiter opens the possibility of a college career, Grace has to decide if she can handle being the first and only out trans person if she wants to continue playing the sport she loves.

While a work of fiction, the novel is loosely based on the author’s life story. It’s clear that she speaks with authority on the game in a way that felt authentic, which added to making Grace’s story more realistic. I admit that I often had to challenge myself to stay rooted in reality, because having a high school football team be so supportive of a trans woman seemed so fantastical. Not that Grace doesn’t have her share of hateful comments from opposing teams, or even a few transphobes on her own team. But the novel does such a great job at convincing me that it would be possible for a team to continue supporting one of their own - that even though her gender identity is newly out, she’s still the same (amazing) kicker she was before. With so much political turmoil now around trans kids in sports, this is the exact story we needed to add some thought-provoking context.

This review will be posted on or near the publishing date on Instagram at AutobiographiCole.

Content warnings: Deadnaming, misgendering, transphobia, homophobia, sexual assault, physical assualt, bullying, alcohol use, dysphoria, injury, hate crime. Minimal medical content.

I loved this book, I honestly don't think I have a single negative thing to say. (I do hope content warnings are added in the future tho!)

The first chapter immediately had my interest. It's also cool to have the flashback chapters written in second person (if that isn't your thing, they're pretty short so I'd still give it a try).

Zeller is just an amazing author. To be able to write a sport so well to make a reader who knows nothing about it feel like I'm on the field with Grace? Incredible.

Sometimes the inclusion of modern day media (texts and socials) feels overdone but it was so perfectly worked into this novel.

The love and comfort that is present through the queer found family made my heart so full <3

This will definitely be a book where I want to buy a physical copy to reread and recommend to my friends whenever possible.

I was given an eARC in exchange for am honest review.

This book was so touching and inspiring, and I’m sure it would be even more so for a younger reader who relates more directly. I loved how accepting so many people in Grace’s life were. Even though there were some a-holes, people had her back. I did wish there was a little more about Grace’s internal journey of finding herself. Maybe an epilogue set a year or more in the future. But maybe that would’ve been cheesey, I don’t know- I’m not an author. I do think her decisions in the end speak to the idea that so many young people (myself included) don’t always see: things really will be okay, even if they don’t seem like it right now. And that’s so incredibly important.

This is a raw and emotional young adult coming of age story. Grace has spend a year avoiding everyone after coming out trans, her ex-girlfriend and former football team mates included. On the first day of school she can’t avoid everyone any longer as she starts her senior year as the topic of school gossip. Grace thought transitioning would mean giving up m football however with no better option for kicker her former tee mates convince her to return to the team.

Grace faces a lot of transphobia and misogyny. Her arc is meaningful and she has true friends on her side but there are many teammates and others that do not change their mind. It’s a realistic and raw testament to the bigotry faces by trans women and trans athletes.

The narrative is very much centres football and the game. It’s obviously a book written about someone who loves the game so readers like me that aren’t football fans might find the extensive football descriptions tiring. Especially at the beginning Grace isn’t given much story except Football. Thankfully this turned around at a point as Grace opened up to others the relationships got richer. There is a way wide cast of side characters and Grace’s friends are very endearing.

Thank you netgally, Victoria Zeller and Levine Querido for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

This book made me feel so emotional at multiple parts of the story. I loved reading graces story, all the challenges she had to go through, the new friends she made, the old friendgroup where she had to find her place again but also her story of self acceptance.

It was a bit difficult for me to get through the first part of the story. I haven’t read a lot of sport books so at some points I didn’t really understand what was going on with the football. It also hurt me that grace kept ditching her new friends for her football friends. The last negative part of this review is that I didn’t like the change in writing style between the ‘now’ and the ‘before’. It kinda threw me off to be reading about grace and then be reading as if I was grace.

Now on to more positives. I loved how supportive the captains of the football team were and how they got grace back on the team. (Also, dray and his mystery guy made me so happy). How they had graces back until the end, how everyone came together to be there for grace was amazing.

The story between grace and Zoe was also great. They’re both still figuring stuff out about themselves but I love that they can have their friendship and be there for each other. The story ended beautifully, life doesn’t always go the way you want/plan it. But everything will be okay in the end <3

3.5

#ad I received this book for free as an arc but the opinions are my own

🏳️‍⚧️book five in the trans rights readathon 🏳️‍⚧️
I really enjoyed seeing Grace’s story, how difficult it is to not stand out when everyone wants you to. I honestly know nothing about American football so sometimes when the mc was yapping about what was happening on the field I was more like “you go girl!” rather than actually following the game fully. I enjoyed that the flashbacks to pre-out Grace were written in second person, and were posed as something that happened to Grace rather than her lived experience. Like a lot of contemporary high school books it finished a little open ended letting you see that the group had their whole life ahead of them. I enjoyed seeing grace learn to navigate balancing new and old friendships, ring newly out and facing transphobia.
However my biggest gripe with the book was how the POC characters were described. Being black and gay is a large part of Dray’s identity as is revealed by the plot later on, but the only descriptor we get when introduced to the character are about his twists. Granted it is much later expanded on by using specific by the character himself “… I dunno about being a woman, but like, as a gay Black dude? I get it.”but if the reader doesn’t know what “twists” are then the character remains amorphous, and even with that it feels strange when the tall blonde white man is described in far more detail a page over. We know that Kaiden’s child KJ is mixed race but only because a character compares the baby to a footballer Kyler Murray “ you can’t just say that ‘cause he’s Black and Korean, bro,”. It feels like the author hesitated when describing the characters that are POC, when really there is no need, and could benefit from seeing how POC writers/authors handle introducing similar characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for providing me with an ARC for review.

This book is phenomenal. While reading it, I had the thought, "This could easily become a modern classic," and I stand by that thought - One of the Boys is genuinely one of the best contemporary YA novels I've ever read.

Grace, the protagonist, is strong, fierce, and unapologetically herself. Young women, queer and straight, trans and cis alike, will find so much strength in Grace. Her journey from coming out to rejoining the football team to the trials of being a trans girl in teen sports was incredible. Every moment of this book felt incredibly grounded in reality, genuine in a way that often escapes contemporary teen fiction. Don't get me wrong; certain aspects of this book were wish fulfilment. Trans kids getting supportive parents, friends, and teachers is not as common as this book would have you think. But even with that aspect, Grace certainly faced adversity, and her strength throughout the story is admirable.

There was a minor romance aspect to this book. It's certainly not the forefront of the plot, but certainly enjoyable, and the characters involved have an extremely appropriate and healthy relationship by the end of the story. It was also just genuinely really enjoyable to read a story that featured a lesbian main character that didn't involve being a lesbian - or being trans - as the main plot point. Like, sure, those things are incredibly vital to Grace's character. But they're not the only things she has going on! It was super refreshing.

The cast of supporting characters is incredible. Each one feels like a fully fleshed out character with their own motivations and dreams. They're all the stars of their own stories, we just happen to be in Grace's for this one. I particularly loved Kaeden and Riley. The football bros and the queer geeks all felt like people instead of stereotypes - which was somewhat unexpected given the genre.

I really loved this book and will be buying a copy as soon as it's available in paperback in my country. I can't wait to see what Victoria Zeller writes in future!

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars.

This was incredible! My heart feels like it's going to explode, and I was smiling almost non-stop through this book.

It is one thing to discover and express who you are. It is an entirely different thing to then find your place in the world. We watch a sweet trans girl do just that as she longs for both who she is and the sport she loves so much. It really opens the question to "what even are gender rolls?" How are they a societal expectation that can exist when humanity is so expanding and individualistic?

Aside from the philosiphizing, our MC, Grace, is so endearing and admirable. I loved watching her grow even further into who she is, accepting all aspects of herself. Her relationship with herself, her friends off the football team, and her friends on the football team were all so wonderful and joyful to read about. This book really is about trans joy, and filled to the brim with a hopefullness that consumed me.