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A queer YA romance about rival soccer players from author Racquel Marie, perfect for fans of She Drives Me Crazy . Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green’s life revolves around soccer. Her friends, her future, and her father’s intense expectations are all wrapped up in the beautiful game. But after she incites a fight during playoffs with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, everything she’s been working toward seems to disappear. Embarrassed and desperate to be anywhere but home, Vale escapes to her beloved childhood soccer camp for a summer of relaxation and redemption…only to find out that she and the endlessly aggravating Leticia will be co-captaining a team that could play in front of college scouts. But the competition might be stiffer than expected, so unless they can get their rookie team’s act together, this second chance―and any hope of playing college soccer―will slip through Vale’s fingers. When the growing pressure, friendship friction, and her overbearing father push Vale to turn to Leticia for help, what starts off as a shaky alliance of necessity begins to blossom into something more through a shared love of soccer. . . and maybe each other. Sharp, romantic, and deeply emotional, You Don’t Have a Shot is a rivals-to-lovers romance about rediscovering your love of the game and yourself, from the author of Ophelia After All .
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4.25 stars
I rarely enjoy YA books at this point, but Racquel Marie is 2 for 2 in writing books that pull me back in to YA. This was right up my alley because the main character is a midfielder, which was my favorite position when I played soccer (although this book did help me realize that my perfectionist/control issues very much manifested themselves in being midfield lol whoops). Even though I didn't like the main character, I still felt like I was able to read from her perspective and still rooted for her. It was very much giving queer-soccer-Camp-Rock-meets-Ted-Lasso vibes.
favorite quotes:
* I also don’t want someone to hold [my mistakes] over me every chance they get. I want someone to see all of me, including the worst parts that scare and remind me of Dad the most, and not look away. To not even want to. (43%)
* But instead, as the adrenaline of our goal dissipates, I’m left terrified. Because starting to win means you finally have something to lose. (46%)
* “…and that girl in the video? that wasn’t you. it isn’t you.” My throat tightens. “You’re wrong. It’s who I’ve always been.” (83%)
* I don’t know what to say. I thought I was difficult to love, not to hate. (83%)
yes I'm english so it's 100% called football but these soccer sapphic rivals to lovers are all I could want