I've loved Hayley Kiyoko ever since my preteen self discovered the Girls Liked Girls music video and watched it I don't even know how many times (though I could not have told you then why I liked it so much lol). I was so excited to find out about this book, and even more excited to get my hands on an arc of it. At this point I'm willing to sell my soul to get my hands on a physical copy ASAP.
I gasped the moment I finished this book because I couldn't believe there wasn't any more! I didn't want this book to every end. There was so much good teen angst that I loved, but it also touched on a lot of real issues that had my heart hurting for Coley. I loved the conflict and the ups and downs because it felt so real, and I think the writing style helped with that too. I also was thoroughly amused by the fact that her dad has the same name as mine.

I love Hayley Kiyoko's music and was so excited to read Girls Like Girls. I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint.

Girls Like Girls tells the story of Coley's experience dealing with the aftermath of her mom's death, moving in with her distant dad, and her interest in Sonya. The book tackles a lot of heavy topics (death of a parent, homophobia, suicide, grief), but I think Kiyoko handles them well.

Overall, I thought it was a great debut and recommend it for readers who enjoy queer YA and/or Kiyoko's music.

This book left me wanting. I don't know what I wanted, but it needed more development on all characters. Most of the characters felt one-dimensional, and the relationship was not good. I was actively rooting against them by the end of the book. I enjoyed the setting, both in location and time. The livejournal updates were fun, but I feel like they could've been used to a greater extent to further the plot.

I received this book through NetGalley in and exchange for an honest review.
I, like many baby queers in in the mid 2010s, watched the Girls Like Girls music video religiously. Being able to dive deeper into the story and get to know Sonya and Coley in all their flaws was truly a blessing from Lesbian Jesus Herself.
Though this did read quite like a 2013 “I’m not like other girls” teen novel, it was still so cute and heart-wrenching, and infuriating in the best possible way. I was quite annoyed at Sonya a lot of the time, but I understand that she had a god-awful mother and also that this was set in the early aughts, so she gets a little bit of leeway.
I loved Coley and ached at what she had to go through, and related to her and her mom’s depression. I just wish we could have gotten to see a little bit more of Coley and Curtis after their breakthrough.
The ending, too, felt a little bit rushed. I wished Coley would have put up a bit more of a fight and/or that we got to see what happened after what is the end of the MV and the book.
Otherwise, this was a fun, short read and a pretty excellent debut for Our Lord and Savior, Hayley Kiyoko.

As someone who has experienced a cultural reset that is Hayley Kiyoko's Girls Like Girls music video. I was excited to see how this book would deepen the storyline and the relationships between the two main characters. Yet, I was disappointed to find the character arcs half-baked and elementary dialogue coming from teenage voices. Despite how underwhelmed I felt, I would recommend this for young readers as a starter for sapphic romances and exploring one's (i.e. a teenage girl) sexuality. And even though it's a risky decision to leave the 2000s/early 2010s cultural references in this book, I would rather have that than newer pop culture references that may make this book more cringe. An admirable debut from a wonderful singer with a respectable fanbase.

I love the idea of creating a novel from a music video that tells a really great story. However the book didn’t have the same impact. Though this is YA, the writing felt too simple even for that. Not my favorite but I hope this does get in the hands of someone who loves it.

GENERAL INFO

Year Pub: 6/1/23

Date read: 6/8/23

Format: Kindle

Source: e-ARC- I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Page Count: 320

Setting: small town Oregon

Genre: YA, CR

Tropes: LGBTQ+, friends to lovers, interracial romance

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: standalone

HEA/HFN ending: no- ambiguous

Epilogue Included: no

Character(s)POV Spoken: h Coley

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Coley feels alone. She's forced to move with her estranged father to a small town in Oregon after her mother's death. On her bike she almost gets hit by a car and meets Sonya-one of its passengers- who she is instantly attracted to. Coley doesn't want to be abandoned but Sonya's pretty homophobic and closeted-can she truly open her heart to Coley?

M/F-M/M-F/F-M/M/F-etc: F/F

Representation: sapphic romance, biracial h

Contains Cheating: no

Contains Children: 17 and older, h/h both seniors in high school

Flashbacks: yes, Coley with her mother

Jealy/Possy/OTT H/h : Coley's a little jealous seeing Sonya with Trent


CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Heroine: Coley

Heroine Description: New girl in town. Half Asian/half white. Very sarcastic, honest almost mean. Blames her father for abandoning her and her mom 15 years ago.

Hero Likability Rating: 4

Heroine: Sonya

Heroine Description: Competitive dancer, goes along w/ the friend group
Heroine Likability Rating: 4

Secondary characters:
Curtis-Coley's father
Trenton-Sonya's ex, annoying frat boy attitude
SJ-Sonya's friend
Alex- the cool guy, nice to Coley
Brooke-Sonya's friend, has a thing for Trent
Tracey-Sonya's mother

CONTENT WARNINGS/TRIGGERS
Loss of parent, grief, homophobia, mental illness, mention of suicide, not h

AUTHOR OVERVIEW

Hayley Kiyoko
New or read before & any favorites: new author to me

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 4*

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: yes

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

I ended up giving this book three stars because it was okay, but not overly memorable and I didn't find there was anythink hooking me into the story. So I was fine while reading it, but I never really felt pulled to pick it up. I did enjoy Coley's story and getting some insight into Hayley's Kiyoko's narrative about her own coming out experiences and first love, because I do follow her on TikTok, but beyond that I wasn't super impressed.

I also thought the ending did a lot in the final pages that gave me a bit of whiplash. It was definitely jarring and a bit confusing, so that resulting in me feeling like the pacing was a little bit off.

That being said, as a librarian I know that my students will like this and I did buy it for my library. This will be an easy sell for the baby gays who are familiar with Kiyoko's song and it's a solid addition to our LGBTQ collection. I do think kids will be less critical with this that I am.

After a traumatic event with her mother, Coley is forced to move to a new place with her dad who she hasn’t seen since she was three. Coley meets a group of “friends” and finds herself spending more time with Sonya. Coley and Sonya have a friendship, but could it be more?
I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. The writing style was much different than I typically like. The book is much longer than it needs to be and tends to drag on. I did enjoy Coley’s journey to self discovery and she became much more likeable by the end of the book.

This was a pretty fun summery YA contemporary romance about a girl who moves to a new town and falls for one of the *it* girls. I thought parts of it were interesting and I liked the main character but I HATED the love interest, couldn't understand their connection at all, and felt like the ending was rushed and unsatisfying. Since I'm not familiar with the song it was inspired by, I could be missing a lot of the *nuance*, though, so keep that in mind when reading my review.

This was an enjoyable YA queer romance. Was the writing the best ? No. Were there missing storylines ? Yes. Were the characters great ? No. But I still enjoyed it and finished it in one sitting.

The idea of the book was great, the execution lacked a little. There was so much that the author tried to pack in the amount of pages, which left some inconsistencies. The book represents mental health, parental dynamics, struggling with finding yourself and sexuality well, which readers will be able to relate to. It also represented a lot of homophobia from the other teens, and it broke my heart.

The characters were very one dimensional, Coley wasn't really likeable, she was made out to be a tuff cookie, but she came off as way too sarcastic, way too bitchy, too blunt. The author tried to made her funny but I didn't find she was funny, just rude. BUT for young readers I do believe it would be relatable and represent the confusion and hardships at that age.

The ending happened way too fast for it to be believable. Coley did a complete turnaround in 2.5 seconds which I felt could've been more developed. Although it wasn't my favorite read, it was a fast read and had a good concept.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley & @wednesdaybooks for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Diving back into this world created by Hayley Kiyoko in the song and music video for Girls Like Girls felt so good. I loved everything about the book and I really resonated with and connected to the characters. We need more stories like this.

Based on the hit music video, Girls like Girls is Hayley Kiyoko’s debut novel, and it’s just as good as the song, if not better.

I finished this book in under two days, and I could not get enough of it. I really enjoyed how it explored the realness of a young queer relationship, and the struggles of not knowing how it should all work out. The setting, characters and story really made it feel like a summer romance movie, and I loved how it ended. The wrap-up and parallels truly made this one of my favourite queer books of this year.

This was a fantastic read, and the perfect book to start off Pride Month. Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Coley is your typical teenager- except she is full of secrets, like the secret of her mother who committed suicide and the secret of her sexuality. Told from a first-person point of view, the reader dives into the mind of an angsty teenager, full of hurt and betrayal and unable to trust the world around her. Biracial, low income, and a lesbian, Coley has a difficult life facing the prejudices of those around her. Coley just wants to be loved, accepted, and appreciated- is that too much to ask for? The reader is transported back to 2006, a summer full of flip-phones, AIM messaging, and Live Journal entries. There is a certain catharsis in the setting choice; while the U.S. has come far in terms of LGBTQIA+ acceptance since the early 2000s, that doesn't change how much harder it was to be queer just twenty years ago, and Kiyoko draws upon this to paint a coming of age portrait of what it was it is like to be a teenager in a world of uncertainty. Coley meets Sonya when her on and off again boyfriend, Trenton, almost runs Coley over with his van. Coley is introduced to the world of small-town cool kids- who party, drink, smoke, get piercings, and shoplift. Sonya is cool, beautiful, and expected to be perfect. Throughout the narrative, a fan of Kiyoko's music will find allusions to her other music and common lyrical themes, such as with her songs "Cliff's Edge," "Curious," "Sleepover," and of course the titular, "Girls Like Girls." Coley spends the book pining over Sonya, who isn't particularly desirable- if the book wasn't told from Coley's lovestruck point of view, it would be difficult to understand Sonya as a love interest, beyond that she's incredibly pretty. Considering Sonya seemed to be dealing with a lot of her own emotions, with divorced-once parents and a fear of upsetting the perfectionism her mother expects from her, I would have loved to see a dual point of view with Sonya. While this story is a whirlwind of emotions and struggles for Coley, it is a relief that she got the girl in the end and both Coley and Sonya better established their confidence and sexuality by the end of the story.

With a music video that felt like a cultural reset for so many, expanding on the universe of GIRLS LIKE GIRLS set a high bar for Kiyoko, and as a debut author there was a strong attempt, and some truly joyful moments, but overall a story I just wanted more from.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: May 30, 2023

CW: parental death, homophobia, internalized homophobia, suicide, self-hate, hate crimes, being outed, drug use, underage drinking

A dual perspective, both in first person. It’s a lot of feeling in someone’s head with their stream of consciousness, which can be exhausting. It feels like Sonya sees Coley as a project at the beginning…

Plenty of queer pining but way too much homophobia, internalized and outward. Yes, these are young people figuring it out…but this def reads queer trauma more than queer joy. Was a downer that ended abruptly with a lot unresolved.

Cute lil YA romance, I don’t know if YA is for me, but I can appreciate how these teens were realistic and not “goody two shoes” that are normally portrayed in YA books. I feel like a lot of high school aged characters are written as 12 year olds behavior wise so that was refreshing.

A book about self-discovery and figuring out who you are. I loved the journey that these two went through...this book tugged at every one of my heart strings! I loved every second of this book and really hope that Hayley writes more books like this. We need more queer fiction like this in the world!

This was a lovely debut from Hayley! I've been a fan of her music for a while so was quite excited to read this book based on one of her most popular songs. While there are some small issues with pacing and plot that are typical of a first-time author, it did not affect my enjoyment of the book! The teens in the story felt messy and real and I appreciated that. Looking forward to recommending this one, it is one of those books that I wish I had had as a teen.

**current mood:** i’m so conflictedly torn

**rating:** 4/5 *(though i would maybe/normally say it’s a bit closer to a 3.5)*

**review**: For Hayley Kiyoko’s first book, it’s not bad! I grew up with Hayley Kiyoko on screen, mostly in *Lemonade Mouth*, sparking the justified rebel in me at a young age. When *Girls Like Girls* (the song) dropped all those years ago, I was battling my own battles with what I know now as struggling to come to terms with my bisexuality and self-image.
With 2023’s *Girls Like Girls*, at least the ARC version on NetGalley, the story of Coley and Sonya is as resonant as ever, especially the “first LGBTQ relationship” vibes I got from Sonya and Coley’s “are they in a league too high for me/i’m not worthy of love” reality, as I’ve experienced both of these within the last year and a half. The story really gives us a *(10 Minute Version) (Hayley’s Version)* look at *Girls Like Girls*… but I do have to talk about my issues with the book’s pacing. I admit, the exposition was great in the end, but, as all authors find themselves doing as they start out, Kiyoko lost me for a little bit during it. Exposition **is** ***extremely*** hard to pace perfectly, and for a debut novel, it’s evident that Kiyoko did a lot of research and tried to hit the nail on the head, doing a pretty decent job! The rest of the novel does suffer from the set-up, as the ending with Coley feels slightly out of left field and abrupt, in addition to a lot of the storylines being prematurely pulled out of the oven. I don’t really mind the predictability of the story, especially as it’s definitely at least slightly skewed by my knowledge of the origin of this story, but I feel like some of the non-Coley-or-Sonya characters could have been fleshed out slightly more.
HOWEVER, despite all of these issues that come with being a beginning author, Hayley Kiyoko has delivered a heartwarming, comfortable story that I am sure many will appreciate, and find resonant, myself included!