Scan barcode
A review by biancahartley
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
3.0
It gets a bit dark in parts but it's overall a fairly fluffy YA read. The writing, however, didn't work with what the story was trying to be, and it barely delivers on the fantasy/wish fulfillment of a QB/cheerleader romance.
The character development was flat. Jack's character fared better in that regard but only just. There's a fair bit of misogyny and queerphobia but it's one dimensional, we never get to see the nuances and intricacies of it.
Amber's character became somewhat unlikeable, which would have been fine if it was explored more, but it's clear that it was only in service of the third act conflict. It sort of came out of nowhere. Also, I'm glad the conflict wasn't that one character wanted to come out and the other didn't but it still kind of FEELS like that was the conflict. And the resolution was... underwhelming.
All in all, it was fine. The middle flowed better than the beginning and end. Nothing is really explored in any depth. There were a bunch of weird moments and comments. The handling of race was... iffy. (Particularly didn't like the insinuation that the black cheer captain only faced minor pushback for being the first black captain and that it was less important/not comparable to the misogyny/queerphobia that the two white MCs face. There also seems to be several black/brown-coded characters that seem only to be set dressing, and they make up the majority of the characters being nasty to the two leads.) The character of Robbie was also very strange and not handled well, in my opinion.
The character development was flat. Jack's character fared better in that regard but only just. There's a fair bit of misogyny and queerphobia but it's one dimensional, we never get to see the nuances and intricacies of it.
Amber's character became somewhat unlikeable, which would have been fine if it was explored more, but it's clear that it was only in service of the third act conflict. It sort of came out of nowhere. Also, I'm glad the conflict wasn't that one character wanted to come out and the other didn't but it still kind of FEELS like that was the conflict. And the resolution was... underwhelming.
All in all, it was fine. The middle flowed better than the beginning and end. Nothing is really explored in any depth. There were a bunch of weird moments and comments. The handling of race was... iffy. (Particularly didn't like the insinuation that the black cheer captain only faced minor pushback for being the first black captain and that it was less important/not comparable to the misogyny/queerphobia that the two white MCs face. There also seems to be several black/brown-coded characters that seem only to be set dressing, and they make up the majority of the characters being nasty to the two leads.) The character of Robbie was also very strange and not handled well, in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Misogyny, and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage