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.

I am a sucker for a feel-good sports story. Extra points if it's football.

I learned about this book during the Trans Rights Readathon 2025. Being the aforementioned sucker for sports stories I jumped at the chance to read an advanced copy.

The book is about Grace a trans girl ex-football player. It follows her highs and lows as she finds her way during her last year of high school and her return to football.

This book masters portraying conflict, acceptance, uncertainty, and assertiveness that Grace and her friends and coaches go through.

A great debut novel from Zeller. I am excited for what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for an advanced copy of this book.

First things first: I know NOTHING about sports. I'm confident that Zeller does, but I can't comment on that element in any capacity.

I really enjoyed this book, and for the most part I could even keep track of the massive number of side characters. While I did feel like there was one large plot point that came a little bit out of the blue, I can see why that element was included.

The author's note is correct... I haven't read a lot of YA novels about trans girls in sports, even though I'm definitely the target audience. I was a little surprised about how Grace's story progresses, since so much of the pearl-clutching around trans athletes revolves around their trans women and girls in women's sports specifically. Grace ends up playing for her former football team and dealing with a mixture of support and bigotry from her old coaches and teammates.

On top of that, there's a lot of general teen stuff: navigating friendships, trying to figure out college plans, etc. I found it well-written and well-paced, and I really liked Grace as a character. There were also a few insights here that really stuck with me, especially as she notices things about the way her teammates treat each other, and ways in which she questions certain things she took for granted pre-transition. This was a fantastic debut, and I look forward to seeing what Zeller does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I always love when an author's love and knowledge of sports shows through their books and this book is no exception.

Grace had to completely restructure a lot of her life after coming out as trans, especially after garnering notability as an excellent football kicker at her high school. Rediscovering herself and trying to find how she fits into the bigger picture and how to handle stepping back from football then rejoining when her team desperately needed her made her such a strong character. High school is stressful enough, so when adding in the complex emotions of figuring out your sexuality while transitioning, how to navigate college applications and possible recruitments, an ex-girlfriend who is also questioning her sexuality, and friends and teammates' reactions it makes it all the more complicated. This is such an important YA book and I love how it handled the realities of being on a rowdy sports team and balancing finding yourself while others around you always have their own opinions.

I can see where maybe some of the football lingo may be a bit much or confusing for those less familiar with the sport, but this was easily one of my favorite fictional books in a long time with football in it as it really captured the sport, the behind-the-scenes of recruiting, and the comradery that team sports has. I truly enjoyed this book and the flashbacks really helped tell the story of how Grace learned to find herself and understand where she fit in the world, even if it meant football wasn't forever. This is a great coming-of-age story that captures the strength and determination it takes to truly be yourself.

Omg I LOVED this book! This writer is so talented. I'm a Bills fan because I live in western NY but I don't pay a ton of attention to football... and she pulled me in and brought the football scenes to life in such a cinematic way, I felt like I was right there. The characters all felt so real. I wanted to root for Grace right away, and the whole cast of characters felt well developed, too. I cared about each of them, flaws and all.

It dragged a bit in the middle, but by the end, I was still fully invested and loved how everything unfolded.

This could have been a really depressing story, or one that was unrealistically romanticized/glorified/ optimistic. The author did a nice job landing it somewhere in the middle. There's transphobia and hate that feels just like the real world, but there's ride or die support for Grace and room for her to grow and blossom into her true self.

This book was fantastic; I'd highly recommend it!

This book did three things I never thought possible: it made me care about football, made me nostalgic for high school, and made me truly enjoy second person. For starters, I loved Grace so much. She felt so real to me, with her conflicting hopes and dreams and her youthful mistakes. I saw so much of myself in her as a genderqueer kid, and all I wanted was to give her a big hug. I also loved her friends and how wholesome their friendships were. Especially the football captains. They were so supportive and funny and sweet. Lastly, I loved her dad. He loves Grace so much and is doing his very best, even if he isn’t always there. As for the storyline, this book is Grace’s coming of age, and it was so spectacularly well done. I loved the use of second person versus first person to differentiate past and present. And I loved Grace’s journey figuring out how she wants to be perceived, in football and in life. I thought the ending was perfect, showing her starting a new path with many possibilities. So overall, this was one of the easiest five stars I have ever given out.

A story in 5 parts:
1. My friend Gretal texts me a snippet from this book about boba
2. I realize I had this on my list and want to read it
3. I go to NetGalley and see that it’s “read now”
4. I download immediately
5. I read the book in like 2 hours, and finish before Gretal does
This all happened yesterday afternoon/evening hahaha. This book follows our main character Grace, a trans girl who is a senior in high school. She previously played on the school’s football team as a kicker, but quit after a bad end to the previous season and due to her transition. She ends up getting convinced to join the team again. The book follows her football journey, and her journey in figuring out what her life looks like with a new set of friends (queer friend group!!) and integrating that with her life on the football team. It was SO frikkin good. I loved Grace and all of her friends, and I just *shakes fist* need everyone to read it!!