This was a great dive into a YA sports book. I loved how there were people with a wide range of reactions to Grace playing football to showcase the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are not enough books that address Trans athletes. Seeing Grace early in her transition and wanting to be there for the team she played with for three years prior really showcased how trans athletes just want to play the game.

I was actually surprised how much sports terms and plays were in the book. I've read several sports books that you really don't need to know the game to understand. It didn't impact my understanding too much, I just don't have a particular interest in football. That was no reason to rate it lower and was my only issue (but that's a personal issue, LOL).

I would recommend this read, and the audiobook was very good. Grace is a lovely person who I rooted for the whole time!

I didn't expect to enjoy a book ostensibly about American football (a sport which I, a non-American, could not really care less about), but boy, am I glad I stuck around. I really enjoyed listening to this as an audiobook and felt that Jen Richards did a great job conveying Grace's thoughts and feelings in a realistic-teen-girl way. I found Grace's character especially compelling, and I truly felt for her as she struggled to balance her old life and the comfort of playing a sport she was good at with the people she was (mostly) used to with her new life and friends while remaining true to her identity. While the beginning of the book was pretty football-heavy and a little dry for my taste, what really got me interested a couple chapters in was the exploration of Grace's journey (including her former relationship) up until that point and the introduction of her ex to the story. I thought the exploration of Zoe's sexuality really fleshed her out as a character and added depth to the story overall, and there's nothing I like better than a coming-of-age story mixed in with ANOTHER coming-of-age story. I especially resonated with Grace's desire to just be left alone to play ball and help out her team, and I felt that that sentiment rings true to the trans experience (at least for me): what we so often want the most is to be free to live our lives the way we want without feeling like we're being scrutinized under a microscope.

This was such a powerful book. Absolutely loved it. Levine Querido is an amazing publisher--I have loved every book I've read from this publisher.

I listened to One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller while road-tripping last week and really enjoyed it!! I don’t have the experience of being trans or especially with being a trans athlete, so this book was very eye-opening for me regarding the details and experiences of what that is like (or at least could be like as I wouldn’t think any two experiences are exactly the same). It also did a great job of keeping the same aspects of high school, and that age in general, that many people can recognize and relate to. Thank you to RB Media for the advance listening copy!

I also thought the narration and audio production was also done well and had no issues listening to it!

This was really good. I really enjoyed the main character and the group of friends. I enjoyed the plot too. I almost felt like I was back in high school. I really could picture it all. It wasn't always easy to read but even those parts were great. Friendship was really at the core of this book and they were so layered and I could feel it all. It was quite a short book and I was captivated from beginning to end. I also liked the different family dynamics. I also enjoyed the football aspects, it was such an original take on the sport and I loved seeing it through that angle. So, yeah, this was such a good debut and I'm looking forward to reading more books by Victoria Zeller.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

4.5 stars

One Of The Boys is the debut of Victoria Zeller, and a fantastic one at that. Now, admittedly, I am the furthest from being a football fan, so some of the more technical football moments during the games eluded me a bit. BUT that being said, I really enjoyed the story here. Grace's story feels so real, raw, and genuine. It's a realistic depiction of transitioning and being a teenager. I really loved how the author pointed out the frustration of the conversations around "what do you identify as?" when Grace is simply a girl. That is such a real experience as a trans person that seems small on the outside, but is a much bigger frustration on the inside. It points out the issues in many conversations us trans people have with cis people, even if they are well meaning. Overall, I really enjoyed this. Grace's story is a journey of transness, self-discovery, and self-acceptance. I honestly feel that so many people could read this and find something that resonates with them.

I listened to the audiobook for this, and it was amazing! I really love when we get trans voices actors for trans stories. It adds an extra level of authenticity to the reading experience. Jen Richards really knocked it out of the park with this one (not me over here using a baseball metaphor for a book about football).

I really enjoyed One of the Boys. There are a lot of books about finding yourself again as a member of the queer community but so few about the trans athlete experience. Victoria Zeller did a fantastic job combining the two. There was a lot of football speak that I didn't understand but I found it interesting and refreshing. (Some books are windows, after all.)

I didn't really care for this. The actual story was great and I loved the characters but I didn't care for the writing style. I also found this to be pretty unrealistic. I wish this was how things were but unfortunately the world we live in isn't nearly this nice. I will say this novel is definitely needed right now.

There are so many feelings that will sit with you while reading this book. For me, there were moments where the pacing lagged, but with this we also see the vivid depth of Zeller's characters. She has given us a wonderful mixture of fierce, heartfelt advocacy and teen rom-com goodness.

I really love how Zeller writes for the young adult audience. YA voice can be silly and full of attitude, but there is also an underlying steadiness and maturity that is hard to put into words. Zeller nails it, and Jen Richards' narration is simply phenomenal.

One of the Boys follows Grace Woodhouse as she enters her senior year of high school after finally transitioning.
A former kicker on her high school football team, Grace is now just trying to figure out how to be a girl in a world that thought she was a boy for the last 17 years.
Boys shows our main character (a presumably white AMAB) grapple with suddenly having her privileges ripped out from under her. The story does a fantastic job showcasing how choosing not to care about politics is a privilege and demonstrating how different lived experiences can be when you're suddenly a minority.
Boys deals with issues such as the idea of passing, attraction after transition, gender norms, growing as a person, and the strength of found family.
Including a tearjerking "oh captain, my captain" scene, Boys is a coming of age sports story every teen should read. Absolutely beautiful and highly recommend.

This was such a good audiobook. The moment I started listening to it, I couldn't stop. Victoria Zeller crafted a captivating story and Jen Richards did such a wonderful job with narration.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for letting me listen to this for free!

Thanks to RBMedia and Recorded Books for the audioARC of this book.

This book deals with the aftermath of a high school (American) football player coming out as a trans girl, and her choice to keep playing.

Being an openly trans girl in a macho sports environment isn't easy, but Grace has great friends, teammates and classmates who stand up for her. That was the best part about this book for me; how her friends and acquaintances come together to show their support, again and again.

There are some hurdles and transphobic comments Grace has to deal with, but most of the people around her are Good.

The football scenes were very long and descriptive, which was pretty boring for someone who hasn't seen a single football match and does not understand the rules at all.

Grace was not always Grace, to the outside world. But inside she always was. When she transistioned she decided that she was going to leave all the "boy" things behind and focus on who she is on the inside. But what she failed to realize is that she was a football player down to her very soul.

One of the Boys has got to be one of the most moving YA books I've read this year. Ms. Zeller brought to life the struggles that a young trans woman would need to deal with if she were a football player in today's world. The struggles that Grace goes through are real, raw, and well brought to page.

Jen Richards did an exceptional job reading this book and putting feeling behind the amazing words that Ms. Zeller put to page.

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

There were a lot of high moments in One of the Boys. Graces' dedication to her sport and her team, her unwillingness to further compromise her self while navigating the world she used to be in and the one she is in now. Grace and her newly out trans high school athlete experience go through all the standard high school troubles, just with her own layer. There are parties, ex's, jerks and friendships that come and go.

This was a very cute YA book and Grace was both likeable and a realistic character. The author handled discrimination in a real way and didn't shy away from the harsh experiences Grace goes through. I'd solidly recommend this being in a middle/high school library shelf.

Thanks to Netgalley for an early ARC, all thoughts are my own.

I loved Grace and getting to see her rediscover her love of football while also becoming more and more herself! I think the question of “what are you willing to sacrifice for the thing you love and do they align with the things we have to sacrifice to survive?” is such an important question for everyone and is even more relevant for trans people. I am a cis person so I cannot speak for the trans community but I think this was such a great portrayal of a trans teen that’s trying to decide what they want out of the world! I hope this is a book that helps a lot of trans teens that need to see that it’s okay to choose yourself and be happy ♥️ I loved Grace’s friend group, they were all so supportive and it was nice to see that support for her! And while I’m not a football fan, I did love how gritty and real the actual football aspects, from practices to games and even to the football parties, were! Just overall, a great book that I hope people are able to get a lot from!

Rating for YA. Narrator was believable as main character. No voices for different characters that I remember, but was still pretty easy to follow conversations.

Not being LGBTQ+ I have a limited perspective — the author did a good job getting into the minds of teens, and what I imagine a trans teen would think, feel, experience. All well as her friends (btw, very impressed with open mindedness of teens today). Yes, there’s teen angst, but it’s about teens & just the right amount.

On a personal note, really enjoyed all the football talk (& feelings ball) & was so excited to root for a girl football player! I wanted to play growing up & girls weren’t allowed. Yay Grace!

Thank you to NetGalley & RBmedia Recorded Books for a free ARC of the audiobook.

This book made me feel so many things. I thought it was really interesting seeing the ups and downs on the journey that Grace went through rejoining football as a trans girl. The negative people really made me mad but that was way over shadowed by the love and positivity.

Charming from the get-go. The incomparable Jen Richards is a great narrator, who conveys character without making it overly dramatic or theatrical. I really enjoyed her narration.
As always, the amount of introductions of fellow students and athletes at the beginning of the book don’t translate well into audiobooks, but I’ve learnt to trust that, if there’s someone I’m supposed to memorize, it’s because they’ll come up again and won’t get lost in the name-dropping shuffle. Still, the beginning does feel a little crowded, y’know?
As a European who knows zilch about football, the descriptions went completely over my head. I caught myself zoning out a bunch. That’s totally on me. It’s a book about a football player. I should’ve expected we might get into the nitty-gritty of it all. Just be warned 😉 there are a ton of play-by-play descriptions. I’m sure they’re great! They just don’t make sense to me.
I didn’t love the second-person (ie. “You walk down the road”) sections until I realized they were a way to frame flashbacks to Grace’s perspective pre-transition. Then it felt tender somehow.
I so appreciate her stance on self-acceptance, how she’s like “yeah, being cis would be easier, but I’m not” and not in a self-pitying way but rather a realistic “I’m working with what I got” way. Of course there are moments where she really struggles and has to put up with A LOT, but I think it’s adding an important perspective to the canon, acknowledging the hard parts but also showing a path through that says I’m not cis, I’m visibly trans, and it’s not the end of the world. She’s a practical person and I enjoyed her journey.
The conflicts felt super realistic and befitting YA. I found the different friend group / team dynamics nuanced and well done.
Grace is absolutely a character to root for. I hope you will too!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🏈 🏆

As someone who has zero understanding of or interest in football, I really enjoyed this! Grace is a brave, badass woman who’s decided to rejoin her high school football team shortly after coming out as trans. Though she faces misogyny and transphobia coming from some of her teammates, her incredible support system of friends is there to back her up and help call out the bigots’ behavior. Grace’s friends are a mixed bag of fellow athletes, theater kids, and queer people, each of whom faced their own unique obstacles throughout the book including coming out, sports injuries, teen parenthood, etc. (I would love to see some of their stories fleshed out even more in the future) Seeing them all come together and rally for Grace to be able to play at the end made me so emotional 🥲 Go sportsball!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!! 🫶🏼