⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.75-4
🌶️ 1/5
Tropes: enemies to lovers & slowburn

Diana is a force of nature on and off the track, she is defiant and knows her value, which is tested as she enters into a sport where she is the sole female driver competing for a world championship.

I enjoyed this book a lot and as an F1 fan myself, my two highlights were
-the banter in the press scenes
And
- Diana and Paula dominating at their jobs while sacrificing none of their femininity in doing so.

‘Off track’ highlights the struggles women face in Motorsport and touches on specific examples via Diana’s experience, such as the adversity she faced in her “home” country where she legally couldn’t drive, thus setting her career back before it started. It also touches on the strain such a competitive and dangerous sport can have on the drivers and their loved ones.

Miguel for me embodied how a man can be an ally to a woman in what is considered a male dominated sport, while also highlighting how it can be a boys club led by family legacy.
Miguel and Diana have a sweet friendship that eventually evolves into something more and while I love an enemies to lovers trope, I loved how the romance didn’t take away from Diana’s character development and supported it instead.

‘Offtrack’ pays homage to women in Motorsport and you can tell Esha Patel did their research and is passionate about women’s involvement in F1, which is extremely relevant today.

Ah! I’m so sad I didn’t love this! As a Formula One girlie, I love anything F1 related. And I did love all the technical talk in this book, it’s very clear that Patel knows and understands the world of F1 and racing. The descriptions of the races were spot on. However, it’s the romance side I struggled with. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get behind both of the main characters. Diana’s plot and journey to F1 felt entirely unrealistic, as did the outcome of her first season. I really wished this worked for me, it just didn’t.

Diana is a female F1 driver racing her rookie season in an all male league. She is facing the challenges of a male dominated sport while all the other drivers are tiptoeing around her. She hasn’t worked this hard to quit now! Meanwhile Miguel is hoping to win the championship this year. Diana coming in is wrecking all his plans 🏎️

Growing up racing dragsters and being in a racing family, I understood a lot of what Diana was going through. This book is very F1 heavy with a romance subplot so keep that in mind. I really enjoyed seeing a strong female character that was confident to go against the grain🏆

“They underestimate us for being women, but that’s an advantage. They go easy on you, and suddenly, you’re out in front” 🏁

Thank you to the publisher for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Offtrack will be published May 9th.

This was good and I truly enjoyed the plot! However, and this has nothing to do with the actual writing, the way it’s edited in this format made it hard to read and that was unfortunate.

I really wanted to like this. I mean Offtrack's description sounded like the perfect blend of Formula 1 action and romance, but it missed the mark for me. While the racing scenes were thrilling, the romance felt forced and unrealistic, I couldn't understand most of Diana's choices... (why would she jeopardize her championship for a relationship?!) and as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. Plus, the constant switching between POVs made it hard to stay invested.
Overall, the book left me wanting more and I wouldn't be quick to recommend it.
2.5/5

Offtrack is the story of Diana, a girl in love of driving fast cars. She spends her whole life trying to make a name of herself in order to get a position in formula 1. On the other side is Miguel, a Spanish boy with a family legacy in formula 1. He has a name already and a strong position in formula 1. When destiny puts them together in the same season and Diana wins her well deserved position as one of the two drivers in a rival company, Miguel will need to decide if he follows his heart or his career.
The story demonstrates how misogynistic and difficult is the ambience in formula 1 for a woman. How hard is to change the misunderstanding and prejudice of men towards women in the sport.
If you love the sport, probably this story is for you. It describes every race, the preparation before and after each race and the stress and competition among the drivers and the companies in the competition.
Some chapters contain very specific information related to the races that were assumed the reader would understood, so, I had to do some research which I admit helped me learn more about formula 1 but interrupted the flow of the reading.

I just reviewed Offtrack by Esha Patel. #NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed both Miguel and Diana in this novel. I loved that Esha Patel was able to show the misogyny in F1, and it was done well!!

I loved watching their relationship bloom through the pages, and I loved reading every relationship throughout the book.

This was my second F1 book that I’ve read, and it did not disappoint.
I cannot wait to read more by this author and I will definitely re-read this in the future.

Diana Zahrani is Formula One's first female racing driver this century. All the other drivers are told to race carefully around her,
World Championship favourite Miguel de la Fuente is not taking any rookie seriously, let alone a woman. With his first championship win looming, all he has to do is stay focused - and make sure Diana stays out of his way.
But motorsports is a small world, and as Diana and Miguel race their way through the season, they're forced to face each other again and again.

The set up for this book is great: amazing setting, great representation, good conflict. And I did appreciate the very strong, smart, savvy FMC and other women represented. But the romance never comes together as the characters don't really ever seem fully embodied. It might have been a writing style issue, but they never transitioned from a sketch of a character into a person I believed could be real and making decisions. That said, if you love F1 and car talk, there is A LOT of that.

As a big F1 fan, I’m always scared when I start a F1 romance. But wow, this book was surprise. I really enjoyed the racing throughout the book. I kinda shipped Diana with Nic for a big part of the book but then I was completely in love with Diana and Miguel. I wish we had more of the world’s perspective after their relationship was made public cause I think in reality (if it were ever to happen) it would cause a big mess and a lot of drama for the couple. I’ll definitely check futur works from this author.

I saw people complaining about the multiple povs but that’s my favorite way to read a book. I hate not knowing what the other one thinks during their relationship.

Any Sports/ F1 romances will always have my heart but so far this one tops them all.
I love how the author made the FMC a F1 driver. This is the first time seeing it in any of the books that I’ve read and it makes me so happy to see that!!! I love this book so much and had a blast reading it.
I do wish there was a little bit more spice but overall it’s still a 5 star read!! I hope there will be another book :)

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable read!!!! I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

perfect for the fans of lauren asher and f1, this book felt pretty empowering in some way. i had such a good time reading this and it also checked my internalised misogyny.

thank you to NetGalley and Avon books for generously providing me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't read many books about car racing, but the cover of this book got my attention. I liked the premise of the story and found the characters well developed. The action was slow but overall I did like the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.