Name: Naria's review of Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
Item: Home Field Advantage
Rating: 4.5
Author: Naria

Dahlia Adler

Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose. The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she's only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down. Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can't stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart. Dahlia Adler's Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what - or who - you truly want.

Home Field Advantage

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Very cute love story and I enjoyed it so much. I can definitely see this being a cute teen movie 🎬

There is Homophobia and misogyny. So proceed with agency and care. 

Naria

Very cute love story and I enjoyed it so much. I can definitely see this being a cute teen movie 🎬

There is Homophobia and misogyny. So proceed with agency and care. 

It ends with a HEA though! 😄

Yunna Ducharme

sydney

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did but wow is this book amazing. Seeing all of the queer kids in the book be out in their home and their families be accepting was so wonderful to read about. It's hard to put into words what Jack and Ambers relationship means to me but it is so special. I also really loved how detailed the book was about the homecoming football game, most sports romances don't do that.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Latitude Tamarind

COME ON, another fantastic sapphic novel by the incredible Dahlia Adler, author of COOL FOR THE SUMMER? Proprietor of THE book blog, LGBTQReads.com? EDITOR OF A BUNCH OF FANTASTIC SHORT STORY ANTHOLOGIES?

Oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH!!! Dahlia Adler's characters wormed their way into my heart and completely captivated me. I read this book in less than 24 hours because I was so obsessed with it! The rivals to lovers romance books always get me in this way and I was so happy to find that this story of love, high school challenges, and overcoming them together was just as good as I was expecting. If you haven't added this book to your want to read list yet for 2022, add it now! Thank you to Dahlia Adler, her publishers, and NetGalley for giving me the advanced reader's copy in return for a review!

emily

taking cliches and making them gay will always hit! / 3.5 stars

Nikki

I was really excited to read this book but my god was I disappointed.

I could not connect with the characters; they had questionable decisions (which is fine because they're in high school) but it gets to a point where you question if they're even compatible. How am I supposed to feel about Amber lying to both Jack and Miguel because she didn't want to ruin her reputation with her homophobic and misogynistic team? How am I supposed to feel about Cara still getting her redemption after all she admitted to towards the end of the book. And don't get me started on the football team - including Miguel.

The pop culture references were cringe. There's not much substance to the plot. Plus, everything that happened after the 60% mark was just a whole mess.

ARC provided by St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rosie

Thanks to net gallery for letting me read this ahead of time. This is my unbiased review. 

This book is if she gets the girl and some girls do had a baby, but not in a good way. 

These aren’t spoilers but maybe a heads up. If you wanted a cute, sapphic sports romance this isn’t it. It’s riddled with homophobic and misogyny, which I guess is the point, but I wanted a really cute romance story. It’s the typical 70/30 romance trope but really it’s like 20% of the couple being together. 

If the entire book was like the last 20% it would have been great, but I struggled to finish it. 

There was a comment about “being the only openly queer couple that isn’t in the theater program” and that bothered me because it felt like an insult, that theater kids being part of the LGBT+ community isn’t enough because they’re in theater. 

My least favorite part of this book is the spilt perspective. Each chapter is broken in half for the two main character. It would have worked better as 3rd pov and each character getting their own chapter. 

Dilayra Verbrugh

This book was a fun and quick read about a cheerleader and a quarterback. It’s sapphic, but not all about romance because they have big dreams. 
Definitely a recommendation!

thank you to st. martin's press, wednesday books, and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

okay, where do i begin with this… mostly, i just feel so conflicted about the route at which this all went down. i guess, first, i personally didn’t really feel the connection between amber and jack beyond the surface level of “oh, i find this person hot and they’re the only other queer person around, so lets date”. they definitely grew on my more as the story progressed, especially with the final couple of chapters after there was *the grand gesture*. that was my key turning point with them, from beyond feeling kind of neutral, into something slightly more positive. but for the majority, i just didn’t feel a connection between them, especially as the driving couple.

i also, just didn’t love how amber acted throughout the whole story. i won’t get into the specifics, but i was just genuinely disappointed with how amber acted towards both miguel and jack, when it came to potentially coming out to their school. and like i mentioned, it was kind of redeemed by her actions during *the grand gesture*. but personally, it just felt too easily forgiven and forgotten all for the sake of having them be out and proud in the last chapter (or so). however, i do appreciate that there was some (unfortunate) realism that they weren’t widely accepted from their peers by the end, but were still supported by those who mattered to them.      while i didn’t connect with everything that occurred between the characters, i can say that i appreciate the wide variety of different queer identities. i especially appreciate having a non-binary character that uses they/them pronouns. and i appreciate that, while it wasn’t an in-depth conversation, amber spoke about how she was still questioning her sexuality. and how she was currently using the label of polysexual. it’s possibly the first time i’ve seen this label explicitly used by a character in a book, and i hope that her confusions and concerns might be able to help a young queer reader connect with her and learn about their possible identity.

KADY BURNS

As much as I enjoyed Cool for the Summer, Home Field Advantage was on a whole another level! Loved this and finished it in about two sittings. Love all the different representation and all of the high school drama goodness.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

Reviews

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler