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grumpyreading 's review for:

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa
5.0
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
⚽️ Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa ⚽️ 

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gabi is in his freshman year of college, is living with his best friends, is the star goalkeeper on his football (soccer) team, and just met a girl he’s super into. Everything is going great - until she says she doesn’t want a relationship yet… and he realizes he has feelings for her best friend, Vale. His feelings for Vale grow alongside his fear of coming out to his team amidst homophobic news within the sport, and  he Gabi has to make decisions about what is most important to him. 

Ugh. I loved this book! Jonny Garza Villa is a great writer - this book was hilarious, emotional, relatable, and beautiful. I adored the characters. Kat was so funny, Perez was absolutely the overbearing ally friend we all need who was absolutely hilarious, and I adored Gabi’s parents. Vale and Gabi were both so sweet and I adored their relationship. 
The theme of disappointing yourself so you don’t have to disappoint others was so prevalent and real. 
This made me think of Sex Lives of College Girls, when Leighton says she doesn’t want to be out as queer because she doesn’t want it to be the one thing that defines her when she’s so many other things. Gabi had his moments of this and it’s such a common feeling. If this WAS SLOCG, Gabi would be Whitney AND Leighton, and Perez would absolutely be Kimberly. 😂 

I liked that this felt like a Happily For Now, making this a realistic college romance with a lot of heart. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author! 

Read this if you like: 
  • being super gay 
  • coming of age stories 
  • smashing the heteronormative hegemony
  • sports 
  • bisexual MM romances 
  • queer awakenings 
  • college romances 

Vibes: ⚽️🌮🩳🍍🥅🍆🌶️🥦

Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph. 

🌸Futbolista is out April 15, 2025! Thank you NetGalley and Levine Querido for the eARC.🌸
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