Absolutely LOVED this book. More trans girl stories!!!! I was immediately engrossed in this story from the first line of the book. I could not get enough of Grace. Don’t you just LOVE teens who are messy and real and have emotions?? Cause I do. This book was literally everything I want in a YA contemporary.

I loved Grace’s journey throughout this book. I loved the flashbacks and how you can see that she changed. Absolutely adored her relationship with her dad and how it grew. The captains!! Obsessed with them. Dray being her biggest supporter?? Closely followed by Ahmed?? Yes. God I love the friend group dynamics SO much. The fierce love between they was too real and I KNEW IT (about Dray) and let’s just say a few lines about him and HIM had my little queer heart squeezing.

I smiled, laughed, got choked up, and felt anger several times. This book had me wanting more and more. I cannot WAIT to read more from this author. Incredible debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the opportunity to read a book with a trans-femme MC, especially since so many of the books I’m around/have read have trans-masc MCs— it was a nice change of pace to get a different point of view on the trans experience. And I really enjoyed it! Loved the characters, who all felt so real and authentic, and I loved the attention to detail that the author put into this work— she clearly knows her stuff! I do have to say, the one thing that I didn’t love was the very “inside-baseball” (or, in this case, “inside-football”) terminology. I just think that overall it was a bit too much of the language that you’d only understand if you *know* football. There was definitely a place in the book for some of it, but as someone without an in-depth knowledge of football, it was oftentimes hard to keep up with the sports lingo. But that was really my only critique!

The first thing that drew me to One of the Boys was its beautifully designed cover—an eye-catching introduction to a story that delivers both heart and substance.

This YA novel follows Grace, who has recently come out as trans and stepped away from her school’s football team. However, she’s convinced to rejoin, setting off a journey of self-discovery as she navigates her role in different social circles and works to figure out her future path.

The story alternates between Grace’s current experiences and flashbacks to her life before coming out. Through this structure, Zeller sheds light on the challenges faced by trans athletes, particularly in today’s sports world. The narrative brings these struggles to a personal level, allowing readers to connect with Grace’s emotions and the obstacles she faces.

While the book leans on familiar tropes of the YA genre, they are well-executed and serve to create a relatable, engaging reading experience. It may not aim to surprise, but its predictability doesn’t detract from its charm. Instead, it delivers an important message in an accessible way.

One of the Boys is an enjoyable and meaningful read, combining a heartfelt story with a timely exploration of identity, acceptance, and resilience.

This book hit me in my feelingsball. I doubt I’m using that term correctly but I had to try anyway.

In the story, Grace is a young trans woman who enters her last year of high school after the summer she quit football and started her transition. She means to leave football behind but her old team comes begging her for her kicker skills, and this unravels the quiet year Grace planned on having.

One of the Boys features some beautiful friendships, portraying the complexities of queerness and being a teen, and my heart was so full knowing that Grace had such wonderful friends in her corner. This is truly a protagonist you’re rooting for the entire time, which is a refreshing switch-up from morally grey characters where you don’t actually know if you want them to succeed.

Though the football stuff left me making confused European noises, this was a joy and a blast to read, and I highly recommend it.

I've been following Victoria for a couple of years now on Twitter/BlueSky and have always adored her tweets. Once I saw that this was available to read, I knew I needed to read it. I'm so glad I did - this is a YA novel that doesn't read like a YA novel, which is the highest praise from me. I absolutely adored Grace and her journey through finding herself with (and without) football. I can't read to read Victoria's next novel!

3.75 stars. I’m not really the target audience for this book: it’s about a trans teen girl who plays football, and I’m a 30-something cis woman who doesn’t follow sports and is increasingly picky about YA. So it’s a testament to the author’s skill that I enjoyed this as much as I did. I love that it portrays a type of character who’s underrepresented in YA: a jock who’s not particularly into books or the arts. A lot of the football talk went over my head, but I’m so glad this book exists for queer and trans football fans. It’ll be relatable to anyone who’s ever felt like they’re not the “right” kind of queer, or like they have to choose between two different aspects of their identity, like they’re too X for community Y but too Y for community X. It’s also funny and great for fans of friendship-centric books.

It’s very of the moment: “Twitter/X” is mentioned; Grace comes out as trans on Instagram, is interviewed on a podcast, sends TikToks to her friends, and says things like “cis” as a noun and “Fellas is it gay to stay dry when it rains?”

I have slightly mixed feelings about the ending. On the one hand, I appreciated how real it felt, that it's not a fairytale ending, but it's still a good one. On the other hand, I found it odd that one of the biggest decisions of Grace’s life (spoiler) happens off-page and is only mentioned after the fact, in the epilogue.

Probably my first read of a young-adult labeled book and extremely great! Not going to rate it very well because I’m obviously not the target audience and some parts made me cringe a bit but amazing book as it was extremely smooth and the characters were very interesting. Would definitely recommend it to younger audiences.

A very heartwarming story about youth, trans and sports.

Well written and researched and establishes a strong emotional bound to the characters in the book.

"One of the Boys" is a debut novel about a trans girls life post-coming out, and American football. Im adding "American" to the name because Im European and completely unfamiliar with this sport, yet I had no trouble immersing myself in the chapters with games. I wasnt completely lost, thanks to the author explaining everything so well. At the beginning of the book Grace, and the readers, are faced with a question: "Is there space for a trans girl in sport?" By the end of it, we will hear a loud and clear "YES!", as Grace forges her own, different path in this transphobic world.

Now, more than ever, books such as this one are extremely necessary. Depiction of misogyny trans girls face was very important, and I dont think Ive ever read a book that examines a trans persons life after they come out and have to live their lives true to themselves, and the hardships that they face. Im very glad I live in this particular era in which I can read books such as this one. From the bottom of my heart, thank you author.

I loved the way the chapters set in pre-coming out times were written, and I love the addition of them. The feeling of despair is one Im very familiar with, I just hope I can one day feel as happy as Grace does at the end of the book. Spoiler, I guess?

This book was very hopeful and inspiring. Its fast paced, and can be read very quickly. It has strong character development and a great cast of loveable and diverse characters. I LOVE Graces Dad. Im so happy for Riley and Imani!!! All of the boys are so great, but Ahmed has my heart... The way Graces situation with Zoe is handled is satisfying.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC!

A gorgeous and important story. So very sports coded but such important character development as Grace transitions, discovers herself and the whole school is challenged in their beliefs and acceptance of all people.

In her last life, Grace Woodhouse had it made. She was the star kicker of her football team, basically guaranteed a scholarship, had a close group of friends on the team, and had a gorgeous girlfriend. She also used to be a boy. She gave up football, her favorite thing in the world, to transition. In some ways, she's significantly happier now. At times, the bigotry is terrible, but her new queer friend group is good. She misses football though. So when the boys tell her they can't do it without her, she returns to the football field and has to contend with bigoted teammates and opponents, the news on her tail, and what her future in football could possibly look like. At the same time, her identities as "jock" and "queer" run headlong into each other, stirring up conflict with friends, and that ex-girlfriend is still beautiful and maybe still interested.
I loved this. This book made me care about football! Do you know how big an accomplishment is? I cared about football. Grace is a delightful character, complex and up against a lot. All the side characters, both the queer and football friends, were incredible. Also, they all talked like teenagers and were so funny. The group chat asides were stupid and hilarious (there is a group chat named "Ballbagz 4 Christ;" need I say more?) and this was just such a heartwarming book and I loved it.

This is probably the best book I've read in 2024! I'd give it more than five stars if I could.

It's fiction but with so much realness that I feel I know these characters. I live in a different country to Grace and her friends but I'm sure they're friends of people I know in real life or on the internet! Some characters I love, like Dray a gay black football player, and Tab a queer theatre girl, and Grace's father, down to earth and supportive even if he's if still working out what that looks like.

Some characters I hate, like the close minded jerks who don't want Grace playing sport, not even with the guys' team that she used to be part of. I enjoyed the sports games and football isn't my thing. The humour, the pain, the social media trolling - all so real!

The story is beautifully paced and has good highs and lows. Very skillfully executed. Highly recommended if you like inclusive books about diverse characters.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I had a great time: this book was heartwarming and frustrating and endearing. This book is queer but also it's about football and demonstrates how even if you want to just stick to sports, sometimes your entire existence is political. It was beautiful to watch Grace's journey and navigating her transition amongst people who know and grew up with her and how she was perceived afterwards
I love the way Victoria Zeller switches point of view to go into the past to truly have us take on Grace's perspective and the confusion and frustration and anger that gender dysphoria has.
I think this book is important because of its subject matter especially in this climate where trans people are facing more and more media scrutiny and hate truly for existing. It holds space for people that traditionally perceived hyper-masculine football often does not accommodate and is definitely a must read.

I really enjoyed this. It's a pretty unique plot that I haven't seen before, and I thought it was handled really well. There's so much hatred surrounding trans folks playing sports and I think this book did a really good job of showing the human side to it that so many terfs refuse to consider. It handled some tricky things but did it with a decent dose of grace and a lot of levity so that this wasn't all doom and gloom. This is definitely one I would recommend and I'll be interested to see what Zeller releases next!

Thank you to Netgalley and Levine Querido for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really don't care about football but the author's love and deep knowledge of the sports bleeds into her book.

When Grace, former kicker, comes out as trans she must restructure her last year of high school around changing social groups, reuniting with the sports and finding her place in it without alienating her new queer friend group. Then there's also college, her former girlfriend who may be questioning her sexuality and the reality of teenage transition.

This book deserves a long review from me but it deserves a new spot in the pantheon of trans YA. There's a complicated balance to strike between the depressing reality of transphobia and transmisogyny and the hopeful yet sometimes emotional tone of Young Adult fiction. Grace's story isn't one of rainbows but it does offer moments of tenderness, love and hope throughout.

It's a complicated journey from new queer friends who don't understand why Grace is still so attached to the jocks and football and the football crowd made up of both supportive and transphobic players. Then, there's the media attention on playing sports as a trans girl, and Grace deals with that in different ways throughout the book.

As a young trans lesbian, Grace is caught in a messy situationship with her ex-girlfriend who is maybe coming to terms with her bisexuality while hiding all of it from everyone. Grace hides so much, keeps so much to herself in a way that is relatable to many people who don't want to be burdens and should realise that the people in their life are there for them.

American football is not my jam, but this book is!
Cozy bro vibes ✅
Accurate high school rep (jocks and theater kids ❤️) ✅
LGBTQIAP+ rep ✅
Relatable family relationships ✅
What more could you want?

I absolutely hate football, and this book made me a INTERESTED and CARE about football, which is the biggest compliment I can give it.

There is so much depth to be found in this book about a trans girl going back to a sport she thought she'd left behind when she transitioned. It's about wanting to exist in your own skin, but also being terrified of how that existence is going to be perceived. It's about learning what you want your life to look like, even if taking those steps couldn't be harder. It's an incredible book.

This is one of the best books I have read this year. I couldn’t care less about football/ relate to the athletic mtf experience yet this book consumed me in a way few do.

This is among the best trans representations in media I have ever experienced. Some of the lines in here were so true to me and my experience as an ftm trans person that it physically hurt. Being seen and knowing I am not alone was a beautiful kind of pain.

I definitely recommend reading this to anyone, not just trans people. The story is well written, the characters are endearing and realistic and I did enjoy the setting and writing. 10/10

I can't wait for everyone to discover this book. It's beautifully written, empathetic, funny, vulgar, kind, with a level of subject-matter expertise that makes my sports sicko heart soar. There's a large and colorful cast of characters, each one is memorable and distinct and not everyone is redeemed, just like in life. It humanizes trans people and trans athletes in a way that our society sorely needs. There's regional beef, and bad coffee, and teens being teens, and a deep affection for every interest and social group that sustains the human condition. It's about figuring out who you are, and who you used to be, and how those pieces fit together to make the life that hopefully advances to becoming your best self one day. I loved every minute of reading it, and I can't wait to revisit this book time and time again. Oh, and there's a Spencer Hall epigram.

3.5

One of the Boys is a book about sport, friendship, daily life as a teenager but is also a book about queerness and more specifically about being a trans women in high school.

Grace is a 17-years-old girl who came out as trans during summer and now she must esperience high school being her true self. She resigned her previous life as a football player and she broke up with her girlfriend, but giving up on what and who she loves was the right choice?

I really appreciated the narration switching between present and the past, before the transition, it really made it easy to understand what the main character felt like while dealing with her gender dysphoria and is also a way to learn what happened before the story started.

Even though the football scenes are very long, detailed and maybe too much recurring I very much enjoyed the found family built between the teammates and how the majority of them accepted Grace and respected her, especially coming from an environment that’s usually filled with hate and prejudices.

There are no content warnings at the beginning of the book so I prefer to clarify, if this kind of content triggers you, that there are transphobic and omophobic episodes in this story but they’re part of the plot and depicts how much real life can be hard and unfair for queer people.