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A review by themermaddie
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
3.0
3.5 stars
peak closeted queer teen romance, but surprisingly heavy on the bullying and homophobia.
fully aware that this is on me, but the cover and the blurb made me think this was going to be a sweet and fun lesbian high school sports romance like Kelly Quindlen's She Drives Me Crazy. i was mistaken, this book deals a lot more with the politics of coming out of the closet in a generally unsupportive area, casual homophobia, and school-wide bullying of the new kid. it's not a super heavy book in general, it's still pretty YA appropriate and all, but i definitely wouldn't call this a "fun summer romance". i could see the bullying being a bit triggering for certain people, it feels so insular when it's jack's pov, watching as literally every person ices her out. i didn't expect so much of the plot to be about coming out, but maybe that's my oversight.
i preferred jack's pov, i thought she was a lot more interesting and her internal conflicts (breaking up her family and forcing her daily gratitude) were more compelling. jack's guilt complex was my favourite part, as well as her ability to be a class act in the face of the rest of the team's bullying, just getting back at them by being better than them. i thought she was very sympathetic and relatable, and just easy to root for. amber seemed kind of bland tbh, not sure what else she is besides "nice"; she has a gay boyfriend and a bi mom and an AWOL dad, but that's kinda it? she's sweet and all but jack was more interesting as a character.
the overwhelming hostility from the entire school thru the whole book made it hard for me to believe that the school would go so easy on them after they all came out. like thru the whole book the atmosphere been so oppressive bc jack's always looking over her shoulder, and then all of a sudden ppl are being nice to them? and these four have no other sure friends besides each other, who are all in relationships, which adult-me says is risky. all their trusted relationships are tied up in a specifically romantic way, which doesn't seem the healthiest. it just felt like a hollow victory at the emotional conclusion, that's all.
overall i liked this setting and the world, the protagonists DO pretty much fall in insta-love though so everything seems to pick up pretty fast. the romance was sweet if inoffensively PG, but i'm not sure i'd call this a sweet romance. it's not what i'd read for queer escapism, but it does a good job describing the insularity of growing up queer in a small town like this. so 3.5 stars for amber and jack being too cute for this small town.
peak closeted queer teen romance, but surprisingly heavy on the bullying and homophobia.
fully aware that this is on me, but the cover and the blurb made me think this was going to be a sweet and fun lesbian high school sports romance like Kelly Quindlen's She Drives Me Crazy. i was mistaken, this book deals a lot more with the politics of coming out of the closet in a generally unsupportive area, casual homophobia, and school-wide bullying of the new kid. it's not a super heavy book in general, it's still pretty YA appropriate and all, but i definitely wouldn't call this a "fun summer romance". i could see the bullying being a bit triggering for certain people, it feels so insular when it's jack's pov, watching as literally every person ices her out. i didn't expect so much of the plot to be about coming out, but maybe that's my oversight.
i preferred jack's pov, i thought she was a lot more interesting and her internal conflicts (breaking up her family and forcing her daily gratitude) were more compelling. jack's guilt complex was my favourite part, as well as her ability to be a class act in the face of the rest of the team's bullying, just getting back at them by being better than them. i thought she was very sympathetic and relatable, and just easy to root for. amber seemed kind of bland tbh, not sure what else she is besides "nice"; she has a gay boyfriend and a bi mom and an AWOL dad, but that's kinda it? she's sweet and all but jack was more interesting as a character.
the overwhelming hostility from the entire school thru the whole book made it hard for me to believe that the school would go so easy on them after they all came out. like thru the whole book the atmosphere been so oppressive bc jack's always looking over her shoulder, and then all of a sudden ppl are being nice to them? and these four have no other sure friends besides each other, who are all in relationships, which adult-me says is risky. all their trusted relationships are tied up in a specifically romantic way, which doesn't seem the healthiest. it just felt like a hollow victory at the emotional conclusion, that's all.
overall i liked this setting and the world, the protagonists DO pretty much fall in insta-love though so everything seems to pick up pretty fast. the romance was sweet if inoffensively PG, but i'm not sure i'd call this a sweet romance. it's not what i'd read for queer escapism, but it does a good job describing the insularity of growing up queer in a small town like this. so 3.5 stars for amber and jack being too cute for this small town.