This was a sweet motivational YA novel about a young girl who decides to go against gender norms and try out for her high school football team as quarterback. Despite everyone telling her she can't and shouldn't she does anyway and she succeeds. She also has to navigate a fairly new relationship through all of this while her boyfriend also competes to be quarterback. He is jealous that she's really good, feels like she's stealing his spotlight which all makes sense. However, I did not appreciate how possessive he was and that the main character was nearly apologetic for simply existing. I did like the motivational epitaphs at the start of each chapter. Overall it was a pretty cute story and I would recommend it for teens.

This book was received as an ARC from Wise Wolf Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jules is a tough, brave, and a fighter through a male dominant sport. You can't get more male dominant than football. When a skill is in your blood, and has become your whole livelihood, you develop a love and a passion that is unbreakable. The resilience Jules demonstrated against the coaches, players, parents, and boosters was so admirable, that she proved that she is more than just a cheerleader. Women athletes have been underestimated since the beginning. This is a story of perseverance of not only in sports, but in the entire world. This just proves that our time is coming, change is starting to happen, and triumph is returning. Unsung hero, a warrior, and a chance of a lifetime inspires to create such an impact of the sports culture as we know it today.

A story of resilience and triumph for the century that will change the world of sports for generations to come. This book deserves 5 stars.

I love the genre of girls succeeding in male dominated sports and this book is an excellent addition to my small but growing collection.

Julie “Jules” Medina has always been involved in football. Her older brothers were all starring quarterbacks at their local high school and went on to play for college. Her oldest brother even coaches. And while she is a volleyball star in her own right, with full ride scholarships at hand, in her senior year, she realizes that the passion she feels for football isn’t there in volleyball. What’s a girl to do? Try out for quarterback! Unfortunately, her parents are against the idea, the community is against the idea, and her boyfriend, whom she will have to compete against for the position, isn’t thrilled. She’ll have to work twice as hard to prove herself.

Let me first say that I have never cared about football. It just holds no interest for me. And yet, as I read Gridiron Girl, I actually became interested. This is a great YA novel. Jules is a strong female lead who works hard, understands teamwork, and has what it takes to be a true leader. Some of the supporting characters are absolutely great. Her brothers are all the epitome of how I wish my older siblings were: loving, supportive, and loyal to a fault. Abuela is a spitfire, something Jules has picked up herself, and the guys on the team who have her back the entire time and what true model true respect. Gridiron Girl is going to make its way into the rotation of book selections for my teen book club.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was provided by the publisher.

As a gridiron girl myself, I played in high school and wished I had played more; I had such high hopes for this book. While the book does focus on Jules’s struggles to find her place among the team, it also focuses quite a bit on a romantic relationship. I appreciate the inclusion of her relationship with Owen; I don’t think the added romantic tension with Christian was needed.

While the book does contain a romance aspect, it is pretty tame. Kissing and holding hands is the only form of intimate contact throughout the book. A few times, it appears Jules would like more, but she is more focused on sports and her future to do anything else. And because of this, I would feel comfortable saying the target audience of this book could be on the younger end of the young adult range.

Coach Victor reminds me of the varsity coach from my high school, who was a massive supporter of mine while I played. He knew it wouldn’t be easy having a girl on the team, but he did what he could to help make it easier on the guys and me. Even though in the end I didn’t play for him.

The book’s cover leads you to believe the entire season is covered, yet it is not. In just over 300 pages, you are with Jules for about two weeks, which gives the relationships time to develop.

This book is genuinely a feel good book! I would definitely recommend it to others. In my opinion, there needs to be more books like this one in the world. This books follows the life of Julia Medina, who seemingly has the perfect life. She is a gifted varsity volleyball player with a caring football playing boyfriend and a best friend who always has her back on the volleyball court. Julia could easily cruise through senior year and collect a college scholarship, a path her parents expect her to take. Despite all this, Julia struggles to hide her desire for her true passion, football. When the opportunity presents itself, she challenges gender stereotypes by quitting the volleyball team to try out as the starting quarterback for the football team. With the odds stacked against her, and facing opinions about her decisions from all sides, Julia must dig deep to fight for her dreams.

This book shows the power of hard work, determination, and the meaning of teamwork. It has been a pleasure to read this book, and I fully intent to check out any other books from this author. Thank you NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for providing me to opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This was a quick, enjoyable read that featured romance, adversity and some sports action. I loved the way the author included quotes by athletes at the beginning of each chapter, generally these quotes really fit with what the chapter was about. Reading this story I really felt like I was part of the book, the character development was fantastic and you really got a sense how the whole Medina family functioned and how that shaped Julia's life and decision making. I would definitely recommend this book to others and I hope there is book #2 in the near future!

Thank you to #NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for an advanced digital copy of #GridironGirl to read and review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so invested in Julia's story! She was likeable and her drive to do what she loves no matter what made me want her to succeed. The flow of the story worked well which made me want to keep reading. Definitely worth reading it when it comes out!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy. I have a soft spot for YA novels, and this one about high school football was good for the soul. I especially loved the quotes of famous athletes (I’m looking at you, Sydney Leroux) to start each chapter. This was a quick, enjoyable read.

An inspiring story about an athletic young woman, Julia Medina, who is burnt out on volleyball and decides she wants to play quarterback like her older brothers. I love female sports books, so I really enjoyed this novel, but I did have some issues with Julia's character as written. While I admired her single-minded pursuit of her goals, she treated her best friend and boyfriend pretty badly, and I felt like we were supposed to have sympathy with her over their responses rather than feeling like she behaved incredibly selfishly. It just didn't gibe with the rest of her portrayal. I loved her relationship with her brothers, and I loved that she went after what she wanted with ambitious intensity, but I think Girardi could have done a better job with showing Julia's football dreams from the very start of the book. It almost felt like a whim when Julia first decided to try out for the football team, which might have been why her treatment of her best friend and boyfriend rubbed me wrong; I could have accepted it more if she had been longing to play football from the first page of the book. Still, I'll definitely be checking out book two in the series! Thank you to NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for this advanced digital copy to read and review.