Take a photo of a barcode or cover
sapphic_library's Reviews (279)
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"playing for keeps" is a forbidden romance between a star player and a star umpire whose chemistry is undeniable from the start. june, a female baseball player, feels a lot of pressure to live up to everyone's expectations, and ivy, an aspiring sports official, is determined to join the ranks of the women officiating in men's professional sports. they get off to a rocky start, but soon realize they understand each other in a way few people seem to and begin a secret relationship. i absolutely loved both june and ivy as main characters and their love story was so special to me. they were both so well rounded and fleshed out, and their stories—both together and separate—were very heartfelt and relatable. i don't know much about baseball (or anything at all, really) but i was able to follow along easily enough, which is my benchmark for a great sports romance. overall, i would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes sapphic sports romances (which, don't we all?!?!). thanks to netgalley and penguin teen for the advanced copy. "playing for keeps" comes out april 30th!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"boystown heartbreakers" is a cute friends-to-lovers story about bastian and his best friend andres. after the latest in a long string of bad breakups, bastian turns to andres for support and instead, andres suggest that he get over the breakup by dating him. the story was really cute and i actually really loved andres and all the supporting characters, but bastian got on my nerves pretty badly toward the end. that, coupled with a not inconsiderable amount of grammatical errors, made the book a little hard to push through. it was a fun story and i enjoyed parts of it, but i won't be revisiting it anytime soon either. thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.
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:
No
i may not know anything about baseball, but even with zero knowledge of the sport, i wholeheartedly loved "the prospects." i didn't understand any of the baseball that happened in the book besides whether they won or lost, but that didn't take away my enjoyment of gene, luis, and their love story (not to mention the incredibly loveable cast of characters). it's so special to see trans and queer joy in novels and especially in the sports subgenre. gene and luis were both such delightfully imperfect characters, complex and flawed and real, that you really couldn't help but root for them and their love. this is such a strong debut and i absolutely cannot wait to see what kt hoffman does next! thanks to netgalley and dial press for the arc. "the prospects" comes out april 9th!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"in walked trouble" is a workplace, rivals-to-lovers romance, the second in dana hawkins's series "single in seattle." i really enjoyed maya and remi's chemistry, their progress from disliking each other to becoming friends and then falling in love, and i felt like their character arcs were really fulfilling, i would've given it four stars except for some issues i had: 1) the ending to epilogue felt extremely rushed and like their conflicts were resolved way too quickly and almost glossed over, considering that the rest of their relationship developed in such a good way. but this was only a small portion of the book at the very end so it wasn't a dealbreaker, but 2) gabriella's spanish. now, i don't claim to be the expert of bilingualism, but i am a bilingual latina woman whose first language is spanish and who spends a lot of time around other bilingual people. and gabriella's spanish didn't feel realistic to begin with, and it felt like she was supposed to be puertorican but spoke like a spaniard. that, along with the grammatical mistakes was very frustrating. thanks to netgalley and storm publishing for the arc. "in walked trouble" comes out march 26th!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"hate mail" is a pen pals-but-also-enemies-to-lovers (that's a mouthful!) romance that was absolutely delightful, hilarious and had me kicking my feet and giggling the whole time. i had a fantastic time reading this and i think it look me less than a day to finish the book, that's how much fun i was having! i loved naomi's inner monologue, the flashbacks through her letters with luca, the shenanigans she got up to with anne, and most of all, the romance!! i don't want to give everything away but i would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves a fun romance with a twist! thank you to netgalley and one more chapter for the arc. "hate mail" comes out march 14th!
