Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Like Other Girls

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for an arc of this book.

When Mara is kicked off the basketball team for fighting, her coach gives her the opportunity to play a fall team sport to prove she can go a season without fighting. Her coach thinks Mara will choose Volleyball, but she chooses football instead, and unintentionally inspires four other girls to join her.

This book was so relatable for me. It really hit me in a lot of spots close to home, and I seriously identified with Mara in a lot of places. I loved watching her journey to understand her internalized misogyny and homophobia, and how her way of thinking about other girls was toxic. I was so sad she had to go through some of the things she did to gain that understanding, but I loved the way it all turned out in the end.

I also really loved the way Mara chose to express herself, and her slow but sure realization that she wanted to be openly gay. I loved the girl-group on the football team, and the supportive boys they played with. Even though her interactions with her mom were difficult, I still loved how real and raw they were. Such a great book!

Pub date: August 3, 2021

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for an advanced copy of this to review! This was an anticipated release for me, and I’m happy to say it lived up to my expectations! If you’re looking for queer sports books, definitely pick this one up this fall.

One of the strongest aspects of this book is Mara’s journey to unlearn the misogyny that she’s internalized her entire life. At the beginning, she’s so against being “one of the girls” because she doesn’t feel like she fits in. Throughout, she learns that being a girl isn’t always a bad thing, and the little group of friends she makes is fantastic. I loved each one of them. Their dynamic in the book, both on and off the football field, works so well.

Another thing I enjoyed was the subtle nature of the romance. While I didn’t always get the chemistry between Mara and her love interest, I did enjoy that the romance didn’t necessarily take a front seat to everything else that was going on. Also, some of the boys on the football team are awful. Parts of their interactions were hard to read, just because you know this happens in real life.

Overall, this will be a great book to pick up going into football season, even if you don’t know that much about football. Mara is a great character, and her journey is one I think a lot of girls will relate to.

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Overall, this book was really engaging and tackles the issues of internalized misogyny with grace. More to come in a review on Thursday!

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