e-ALC, 07:26:05
Narrated by: Elena Rey
Release Date: May 12, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: April 28-29, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received this ALC free from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Homophobia, Bullying, Outing, Ableism, Cursing, Alcohol, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Toxic Relationship
For Readers of: 2sLGBTQ, Audio, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Sparkly Covers, Neurodiverse (Autism), Own Voices, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports, YAFor 16-year-old Ellie, beach volleyball camp is a disaster until she’s paired with Sierra, an athletic prodigy who teaches her that volleyball…and love are about taking the right shot in this sporty sapphic romance.
Ellie dates the Right Guy, says all the Right Things, and acts the Right Way to avoid being ridiculed for her autism. When that Right Guy unceremoniously dumps her right before they’re supposed to go to beach volleyball camp together, Ellie’s perfectly curated world comes crashing down and she’s labeled the boring, weird girl.
Desperate to regain her good reputation (and yeah, sure, the boy…), Ellie goes to Camp SMASH, which is nothing like she expected. There, she’s paired with Sierra, a mysterious, standoffish volleyball legacy who makes Ellie’s quest to get her boyfriend back even more complicated…
Dive into this sporty summer romance full of the classics: a ragtag group of friends, a tense game of capture the flag, and a swoon-worthy sapphic love story.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was such a wonderful surprise. I loved this so much. I knew I would like it, but i wasn’t ready for the way I was obsessed. I will say tho, this reminded me a lot of one book that I read and loved last year too!0
The one thing that stood out to me was the volleyball. I know, I know. You thought I was going to say the romance or something. While that’s cool, I loved the volleyball best. The sport was like front and center, and everything was factual information. And I loved that she wasn’t like a prodigy or something, She went in to learn and everything seemed authentic. One thing I’ve learned about sports romances, they can either be really good or really bad. Sometimes they hardly put the sport in the book and that wasn’t the case in this one. And having not read that many books with volleyball players, I appreciated that a lot.
The romance itself was so good! I think it worked best because they were friends first. Well kind of. They took the time to learn each other and I loved to see that. And it wasn’t insta-love. It had a real feel to it. They were cute af too. I loved to see the way she was in a relationship as someone with autism. And their first kiss? ADORABLE. The characters were part of why I loved this so much as well. They truly all had their own identities. And the mental health and neurodiverse patches were so good! Seeing the two of them come together was so sweet.
The family situation stood out to me too. The way she treated her brother was sad tho. I know she didn’t do it intentionally. She literally was trying to take care of herself against the people she didn’t know or trust while she was masking. I hated that she felt she had to do that. And her parents and him were so understanding. I was glad she had them in her corner even if she didn’t know she had them.
Apparently stories with autistic athletes are my jam. This is the second time in 2 years that one has taken my number 1 spot for the year already. I loved this. It had me ready to write my own paper on how I’ve changed and in what ways. That’s just how much I was in this story lol I know if you pick it up, you will be too!
Overall, I give this
