This is the first in the two books about sapphic soccer players that come out this year that I was hella excited about. The second one is adult and not out yet, so we won’t talk about it. But please know, I hope i like it better than this one. After the masterpiece that was Ophelia After All, I just knew I was going to add this to my list of faves this year. Unfortunately even though I liked it, I spent a lot of my time reading it while I rolled my eyes.

So I guess we’ll jump right into it then. Although I really liked the romance, the main character was not it. I get what Marie was trying to do, but Lordt it was a miss for me. Yes she was doing everyone the way her dad did her, but what troubled me was why was she doing that? She didn’t like it when her dad was doing it to her, so why was she doing it to them? She was a grade a botch and I was glad that she had things taken away from her. Maybe if it had happened sooner, it could have taught both her and her parent a lesson. And as a someone who also played on team sports, she was out there acting like Kobe and not passing the ball, trying to be the whole team and not passing the ball. You can’t do that in team sports. You have to trust your teammates. If you can’t, go run track or something that you do by yourself. (For the most part) I think that’s what annoyed me the most. She acted as if she was the star of everything but hunny hadn’t even gotten anyone from colleges to talk to her yet. It made her seem like she was better than everyone and it made me hate her.

The romance was cute tho. I really liked Leticia tho. It was like she mellowed Vale out, which she needed. Did I think Leticia deserved better? Yes. BUT did I end up liking the Valed that she became when she was with Leticia? Also yes. Idk it’s complicated. But I also thought it was weird. We always say don’t change for anyone. Be who you are always, but to be honest, I only liked them when they were together. They changed to be with each other, and I liked that. Especially since I don’t think I could have dealt with it otherwise.

If you’re not a sports fan, be careful with this one. It’s heavy on the soccer lingo. But I think it was done in a good enough way. I’ve never played soccer a day in my life, but I knew what the terms were and once I Googled the terms I didn’t know (like the positions) and it was cool. But if you’re someone who skips over those types of things, please know this one is heavy with it and you’d be skipping a lot.

Although i wasn’t a huge fan of the main characters, I still enjoyed “going to the camp” and meeting the other characters. Some of them were terrible, but the others were pretty cute. I especially liked her teammates. They all had their own personalities. It was really cute. The camp itself was pretty cool too. I liked the structure and the way they ran the games and the way everyone there had so much fun. Is this what summer sports camps were really like? I was sad I’d never been to one as a teen lol

The setting was good, the love interest was great, but I just couldn’t get behind the main character. I think she overdid it on the unlikeable part for an unlikeable heroine. It was just too much and put me off of her. The plot was a little slow, but it’s a romance. Nearly all romances these days are a slow burn. It took forever for them to get it together. But that made the plot stall a bit. But it was ok. I still liked and will still recommend it, but just know Ophelia is still my favorite!

This book was both fun and uncomfy to read. Our mc Valentina is dealing with immense pressure from her dad about soccer and getting into college (TW: he’s also verbally abusive toward her) while still grieving the death of her mom. Her best friends are in a relationship, which makes her feel like a third wheel, and she’s in constant battle with her rival, Leticia. But when Vale and Leticia end up captaining the same team at soccer camp over the summer, Vale starts to realize her feelings for Leticia are quite complicated, and their banter is *chef’s kiss*

Vale also starts to realize that her relationship with soccer has turned sour due to all the pressure, and that the way her dad treats her is both not ok and affecting the way she treats other people. She experiences a lot of growth, and I was so emotional by the end.

Also, did I mention Vale is ace?? Love this for us.

Long story short, only my fellow gays can make me care about sports.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read! I had really loved Ophelia After All; it was one of my favorite books last year. This didn't quite live up to that book for me personally, but it was still a fun read. I loved the rivals to lovers trope, and of course all the diverse representation, especially sapphic, trans, and ace characters.

I tend to really enjoy LGBT+ sports romance books, and since this was compared to the amazing She Drives Me Crazy, I did had really high expectations. Vale was a hard character to love, although I understand that was the point of the book was her character arc and becoming a better person. I did love her and Leticia's banter and rivalry, and I thought their romance was sweet. An enjoyable read overall and I will definitely read Racquel Marie's next book!

(4.5 Stars)

Racquel Marie proved herself to be an immense talent with her debut novel, Ophelia After All, and with You Don't Have a Shot she solidifies herself as an auto-read author.

If you're someone who enjoyed Running with Lions by Julian Winters, then trust me when I say that You Don't Have a Shot is like its beautifully messy, sapphic counterpart. The two stories actually share a lot of the same base components: sports gays, summer soccer camp settings, and deliciously tense childhood friends-to-rivals-to-reluctant-teammates-to-lovers dynamics, just to name a few.

What I love about You Don't Have a Shot is that, in many ways, the story follows a traditional rom-com sort of structure, but it's also angsty, emotional, and told from the perspective of a character who is deeply hurting and actively makes horrible decisions because of it. I appreciate that this story delivers on a fun and satisfying sapphic summer romance, while at the same time pulling no punches when it comes to the consequences of grief, trauma, and insecurity.

After Vale's mother passed away, she put all her effort into becoming the best soccer player she could, not just because soccer was the only way she could still connect with her father, but because it helped her avoid her own grief. From that, she created a very unhealthy relationship with the sport, becoming obsessive about winning, hyperfixating on her own mistakes and her teammates' mistakes, and convincing herself that results can only be achieved through aggression and relentlessness.

Vale begins the story as an incredibly destructive person. She's closed-off, she's aggressive and hostile, she's a selfish soccer player, and she's a horrible teammate. Even though it can be hard to read about her internalized negativity and how that branches out to effect every aspect of her life, I appreciate the honesty with which her struggle is depicted. She's a self-sabotaging character who makes horrible choices time and time again, but that's also what makes her story arc so incredibly satisfying to read as she learns how to take accountability and overcome that.

This is a story about how throwing ourselves into the things we're good at isn't always good *for* us. It's about how the ways we're parented inadvertently teach us how show love to ourselves and others, for better or worse. It's about doing the work of divorcing personal fulfillment from toxic "productivity" and learning how to fall back in love with the truest parts of ourselves, not because they bring us some type of gain, but because there is inherent value in doing things that bring us joy.

At the end of the day, soccer is a team sport, and this story is really about Vale learning how to let herself be supported by other people, as scary or uncertain as that might be.

I also loved the romance. Vale and Leticia has such great banter and chemistry. The whole rivals-to-lovers dynamic really works here, because what starts off as shared animosity actually provides a foundation for brutal honesty between both characters. They're used to quipping at each other and pointing out each other's weaknesses. So by the time they're slowly establishing a friendship, they know they can handle when the other person is going to tell them a hard truth that they might not be able to hear from anyone else. So it's great to see them growing together in that way.

And while this story does navigate difficult topics like grief, emotional/verbal abuse, insecurity, aggression, and self-sabotage, it's also just a quintessential summer read. There's soccer camp, team bonding experiences, summer romance, and an epic summer soccer tournament to boot. It may seem kind of obvious to say, but I think this story does a great job of delivering on soccer content. Sometimes in sports romances, the actual sport is just an interesting hook that fades in and out as needed, but if you actually enjoy soccer, I think this book has a lot of great gameplay to sink your teeth into, and that makes the whole thing that much more exciting to read.

I took off half a star because sometimes the flirty banter/scenarios were a little too over the top in my opinion, but that's based on personal preference and other people might feel differently. Overall, I think this story accomplishes everything it sets out to do with nuance, heart, and charm, and I would highly recommend it!

Will I read anything that Racquel Marie writes? Yes, I will. Why? She knows how to write fantastic queer ya romance books. They are so addicting. I was obsessed with her previous book, Ophelia After All, and I was beyond grateful to read her newest book, You Don’t Have A Shot, early on. And I have so much to say about this book.

Let’s list why everyone needs to pick this book up:

-rivals to lovers trope

-forced proximity trope

-slow burn romance

-queer romance

All of these romance tropes make for an awesome ya romance read. Let’s explain why:

Rivals to Lovers romance tropes are top-tier in any ya genre. It makes the read so much better with its sparking banter between characters. And the slow tension between the characters means that you can tell how much they despise each other yet they are slowly falling deeper in love with each other. That’s what Vale and Leticia are dealing with when they compete with each other on the soccer field.

The forced proximity trope builds up the character tension between them. It makes them testy yet feisty with each other. And Vale and Leticia will be testing each other's patience when they have to co-captain together. It’s funny to say, but I love their banter with each other. You can tell that they are resisting their attraction for each other, but it’s ultimately failing.

Slow burn romance brings the characters closer together because it gets them to know each other better as they progress into their non-relationship/relationship. Vale and Leticia may be rivals with each other, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t know a few bits throughout the years. And they will get to know more of each other as they bond together in their co-captain journey.

If you haven’t already noticed, this is a ya queer romance read. It gives the best representation. And it’s a diverse read as well!

One day I'll figure out why as a person who consistently refers to any and all sports as "sportsball", I almost always love queer sports romance books. I don't get it. I have no idea what any of the sports stuff in this book refers to. The only thing that I know about most sports is the vague coloration and shape of the ball and maybe if it's played on grass or not. When I tell you that 100% of the sports references went right over my head and it did not affect my absolute love and adoration for this book I mean it.

I loved everything about this. I love the asexual representation and the sapphic rep and the enemies to lovers and the growth as a human being angle. We love character development here. I have no thoughts besides "yay good go read".

Racquel Marie did it again! Gosh, I was beyond excited for You Don't Have a Shot after absolutely adoring Ophelia After All last year - and the book blew way past my expectations!

In You Don't Have a Shot we follow Vale who decides to spend her summer at a soccer camp after she ends her junior year disastrously when it comes to her soccer career as a captain. There she is forced to work as co-captains with her years long soccer rival, Leticia. But as somber as things look at first - enemy as a co-captain, a group of girls who don't live and breath soccer like Vale does, and tense relationship with her two best friends - Vale soon realizes that a summer like that might be exactly what she needs. Far from her father's rigid expectations about her and her game, she starts falling in love with soccer again - and maybe someone unexpected as well.

I truly loved this story about found family, finding your passion for the things you (used to) love, familial expectations, and of course a showstopping rivals to lovers story! Vale's character development was one of the best I've ever seen - she went from cold and harsh due to all the baggage and expectations her father set on her (plus still mourning her mother's death from years prior), to slowly mellowing out, letting herself be happy playing soccer and trusting the girls she was teamed up with. You could literally feel her slowly uncoiling. My favourite part was definitely the soft found family that formed in between these players - and of course the truly beautiful love story! (so many great tropes all rolled into one! Rivals to lovers, forced proximity, caught in the rain together, childhood infatuation/first love, just all the good stuff!)
I could read about Vale and her girls for forever (the biggest shout out to Marley who stole the show on so many occasions and to Valencia for being such an MVP! They added a lot to the revolving plot and Vale's character development (I dare say most!) and I really loved how they both helped see Vale that she was sometimes wrong and had to apologize for her actions.

We had so many beautiful types of rep in this book - be it a main one (like Latinx and sapphic rep of course, plus ace rep - absolutely LIVED for that! It was a part of Vale and it of course coloured her experiences but it was the kind of rep I still think we are lacking sometimes. Casual rep but rep that is definitely there wholeheartedly! Just a part of who Vale is and there is that, accepted), or the side one (trans rep, mental health rep through Vale and her anxiety, and more).

I will absolutely be recommending this book to anyone and everyone and I can't wait to see what Racquel Marie writes next!

Racquel Marie is my absolute favorite YA author, and this book just cemented that. Her writing is fantastic. These characters feel real, lovable, flawed, and above all else have a depth that is rarely explored in YA romance. I will most definitely be posting about this book in the future, and have already done so a couple of times.

4.5 stars. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

racquel marie delivers again with a beautiful sapphic sports romance that had me at times crying, at time kicking my feet and squealing. rivals to lovers is done so well here. the development was supremely placed, and the third act "break-up" was so earned and cathartic that i wasn't even mad at it. vale's flaws were so deliberate and believable given her backstory, and her growth as a character was incredible to witness. the only reason this isn't a full 5 stars is because it slightly fumbles the "rivals" part when vale and leticia talk about their past, but any more than that would be spoilers. overall, a great book.

trigger warnings: emotional abuse (from a parent), bullying, sports-related violence, prior death of a parent

After loving Ophelia After All, Racquel Marie came up with a strong sophomore novel. With You Don't Have a Shot, the author was able to personify the main character as someone who you can easily root for.

I liked how the portrayal of Vale's angst is presented and I totally understand where Vale is coming from - knowing the pressure and expectations that is getting thrown her way all the time.

The central theme of this book is on friendship and living life as a young adult and I really appreciate how the author wrote this book for girls playing sports, including a trans girls, where they all know how to be a good support system for each other.

Definitely a gem. Looking forward to more Racquel Marie gem.

After initiating a fight during the playoff game against her rival, Valentina aka Vale decides to go to summer soccer camp with her two best friends. They've all signed up to be captains for the summer and are hoping for a relaxing time, but when they find out that college scouts are coming to the final game between the top two teams the pressure is on. Each team is captained by two girls and, of course, Vale gets assigned to be a captain alongside her archnemesis Leticia. Over the course of the summer Vale will attempt to overcome her perfectionism, learn to love soccer again, and maybe fall in love.

You Don't Have a Shot was such a fun read! I absolutely LOVED the banter between Vale and Leticia, their chemistry was incredible. If you're in the market for a YA sapphic rivals-to-lovers romance, this is the perfect read for you!

P.S. I have this thing with sports-centered books where I just really want to play the sport after I read it. Anyone else? If someone wants to teach me how to play soccer, please let me know.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this soccer romcom, I think that it had amazing characters, sweet plot lines. The way they became fast enemies and their relationship developed, I loved the rivalry.

I am in love with Racquel's writing especially when discussing the paternal emotional abuse. We also need to discuss how great soccer rivals to lovers really is.

YOU DON"T HAVE A SHOT navigates queerness, grief, familial expectations, and how to relearn to love something (in this case, soccer). It is a hugely impactful story for anyone who has lost a parent, who is angry at the world and feeling so strongly. It shows how when you become talented at something that was one a joyful hobby, it can become something you dread and something that fills you with even more anger. Racquel Marie balances all of this while interweaving an ace=spec romance, powerful friendships, and intercultural family dynamics wonderfully.

Okay, so, I’m not a very sporty person. It’s just not something I’ve got real natural talent in, so not something I’ve personally pursued, though I think it’s cool. So the soccer is not what drew me to this book, is what I’m saying. I read Racquel Marie’s debut, OPHELIA AFTER ALL, and absolutely loved it. The insightfulness of the characters’ emotions. The movement of the story. All of it, so good. I was so moved by that book that I wanted to read Marie’s next book pretty much no matter what it would turn out to be. So… soccer.

Y’all. I cried over soccer in this book. More than once!

Again, the characters are so deep and complex. I loved the relationships between them and the growth that Vale experiences as she begins to bond with her team and see them and herself in a new way, and through that, to see soccer in a new way. It is an incredible book. I loved it so much.

I felt like the soccer parts of the story were all really accessible and easy to understand, even for someone like me who doesn’t know much about the game. (Knowing the positions of the players probably would have helped a little bit, but I feel like I picked up enough from the context of what was happening to be clued in to what I needed to know.) It was so easy to invest in the characters and to want them to succeed. I also loved the banter, especially between Vale and Leticia. So perfect! So much fun.

I also just really enjoyed the theme about learning to fall in love with the game again and learning that you get to define success for yourself. Great stuff. I think fans of Racquel Marie’s first book will definitely enjoy this new one. And rivals-to-lovers fans will get lots of satisfaction from the snappy banter and romantic tension. All in all, a perfect summer romance.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

You Don't Have A Shot was such a fun and quick read for me.

We follow Vale who is the captain of her high school soccer team and it starts during their playoffs and goes through summer camp. Vale is under a lot of pressure from her dad to always do the best and always win, because of this she is hyper-critical of herself and her teammates making it so she doesn't really enjoy playing anymore. This at times doesn't make her the best captain and it isn't until she is at camp and see's how her 'enemy' is as captain that she realizes that she needs to change and that soccer is supposed to be fun.

Overall this book is a lot of fun. Vale and her 'enemy' Leticia end up working together after awhile and they learn that they might have more in common than they first realized. We also see Vale come to terms with certain things and realize things about her family dynamic that she hadn't noticed before. My personal favorite part of this book though was seeing Vale learn the different captain style through Leticia and how to encourage and have fun again with soccer. They had some difficult moments but at the end of the day it worked and they ended up helping each other out by the end of the summer.

Review going up on my blog towards the end of May.

This book was lovely, even as it was so different from the author's debut. Watching Vale slowly realize the reasons why she is the way she is--her obsession with winning, always expecting both the best and worst from herself--and figure out she can change her ways while re-falling in love with her sport was heartwarming. And the sapphics!! I loved just how many queer characters there were in this book (basically at every opportunity!) and how normalized queerness was. I love a good rivals-to-lovers arc, and I loved how this was done--the steady-build up that never overshadowed Vale's personal growth, which I would say is the main focus of the book. Overall, I just really adored this and I know this will resonate with readers!

You Don't Have a Shot made me cry. I never expected to from a soccer rivals book, but there you go. What makes this book so special is how Marie infuses vulnerability into each page. I may be more alike to Valentina than I'd like to admit - quick to react, slow to apologize, easy to blame others - so You Don't Have a Shot was like looking into the mirror. One of the major themes is the idea of winning at any cost. Even if it's the ones we love. Or ourselves.

4 Stars

I gave the book four stars because of Valentina. Initially, I really did not like her. As the book progressed, she grew on me because she began to grow as a person. The writing is solid, so that is what helped me power through the first 30% of the book. I'm not a big contemporary YA reader, so this book has convinced me to give this genre a chance. I loved Leticia's banter; she was my favorite character in this book. Vale had some fun barbs, but Leticia's retorts were so great. The book also delved into some hard topics, such as grief and an emotionally abusive parent. Racquel Marie wrote this book with such care that I'm excited to see what she does next.

Thank you to Turn the Page Tours for an advanced copy of this book for my voluntary review.

racquel marie’s first book, ophelia after all, had me in a literal chokehold. this one is proving to be no different. i am in love with the sapphic and beautifully queer relationship. and never did i imagine that i would actually care about sports in a novel!