A review by anna4
Offtrack by Esha Patel

fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

This is a very very very very very generous 2.25 - 2.5 star rating from me. When I saw this book I was fully committed to dive further into my sport romance era, but damn. 
I wanted to DNF twice. Once at 30% and then again at 80%.

After I finished the book, I went back to read the synopsis just to make sure and yes, it does say “enemies to lovers romance”. Unfortunately, this book is by any means not an enemies-to-lovers, not even a rivals-to-lovers, story. And calling this a romance is kind of a stretch in my humble opinion.

The pacing might have been my biggest issue, because it made zero sense to me, whether it was from chapter to chapter or even within a chapter. Would have loved some time (and location) indicators.

As much sense Miguel and Diana may make as a couple, they very barely spent any time together until they suddenly were a couple. There was a lot (and when I say a lot, I really mean a lot) of focus on the F1 part, which the F1 girlies might appreciate. But it did come at the cost of the romance part of the story.
Up until 60%, the two leads barely had any moments to connect and liking each other was communicated through looks, shy smiles and blushing.

What I didn’t understand was Jatziry’s character. She was barely there, spoke maybe 5 sentences and really didn’t add anything valuable to the subplot or Miguel’s character arc. I feel like this space could have been used to develop a relationship with Diana or any other character for that matter.

The 3rd-act-break up was pure audacity, really. Smh.

What I did appreciate was the really well portrayed international level F1 has as well as the sexism and misogyny Diana faced, being the only female driver in F1. However, while the approach in the book was probably the more realistic one, I wish there would have been more confrontation on that front. 

The author profile is a 10/10 though.

(I did read some reviews mentioning the writing and the multiple povs. The writing for me was fine, by any means not bad or horrible. And the version I read had only two povs: Miguel and Diana.)

Thank you Avon for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.