3.5 stars

This book feels like it was needed 10 years ago. Set in 2006, Coley moved to a new town after suffering a tragedy and moving in with her estranged dad and is discovering who she is. I didn't feel connected to the characters and unfortunately, I really didn't want the couple to get together. I also felt very disconnected as it was set in 2006 and felt more cringy than anything. "Rawr."
The ending was very redeemable and I did love how the book ended. Ultimately, this book just wasn't for me but I can see it being amazing for other people.
I recommend watching the music video before reading this as it helped me feel more connected to the characters.

Thank you Wednesday Books and St Martins Press for an advanced copy.

Damn, this was bad. I know Hayley primarily as Velma, but I have listened to some of her music and think it's fine, not my taste, personally. I didn't know exactly what to expect when I snagged the arc, but a total downer certainly wasn't one of them.

Coley and Sonya's relationship is so toxic. Between Coley's abandonment and self-worth issues and Sonya constantly masking herself and running when things got complicated, these two were a recipe for disaster. Sonya was the worse between the two, in my eyes, because she kept dragging Coley through this vicious cycle of saying she loved her but they couldn't be together. I get that she was afraid of the consequences of coming out, or, at least, being in a lesbian relationship, but taking out all of her messy feelings on Coley was just so fucked up. I was hoping Coley would finally stand up for herself and leave Sonya to figure herself out, but then they kiss in the last chapter, promise to message each other, and the book ends there. I was so flabbergasted that I was crying, "HUH?!" because I couldn't believe it.

I just - why?

Overall, my feelings are a no on this one. Everyone but Curtis and SJ sucked and the whole romance is just miserable.

I’m just enjoying all of the LGBTQ books being sent my way. Love is love is love and when you are lucky enough to find someone who looks at you like you are magic, grab them and give it a chance. I hope everyone gets to experience this feeling.

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ But you, the girl not like other girls...you look down the road, and it's not shiny and bright. The thought of it doesn't make you feel any of the ways ever described in story or song. And those people, they're not all lying—which means there's a secret you're keeping even from yourself. That feeling you can't—and now maybe won't—name. You push it down. You ignore it like it's a plan that'll shrivel away. But you're the thing that's shrinking. And one day you learn: it's not that you're not like other girls. It's just that you've never met a girl like you. And then, you do. You meet her. And suddenly the songs make sense. ❞

❓ #QOTD What song changed your life growing up? ❓

🦇 This coming-of-age YA romance follows 17-year-old Coley, who arrives in rural Oregon to live with her father. No stranger to loss, Coley is wary about risking an already aching heart; a risk she's willing to take when she crashes into Sonya. Despite trying to conceal their feelings, there's an undeniable spark between them. Can they fight through fear to accept the love neither of them think they deserve?

💜 Hayley Kiyoko's debut novel captures all the heartache of trying to navigate the complexities of love with a young heart. Every time Coley questions her feelings for Sonya, every time past pains or society's expectations make her pause, readers feel that ache. Kiyoko creates realistic characters who are frustratingly unreliable, as most feelings are. This beautiful story is as chaotic and messy as young love, but it's far more than a romance; it's the coming-of-age story most people don't allow themselves. Coley's story explores topics of homophobia and grief, giving real layers to the emotions Coley is forced to confront before she can heal and realize who she's meant to become.

❝ I know now. I can't run away from it the way she does, now that I know what it's like to spark and burn under another girl's hands. What it is to blossom at the mere thought of her. Kissing Alex is a wet match, fizzling dark compared to her. It's not his fault. It's not my fault. It's just...who I am. There it is: the truth. No running from it anymore. It's living in me, and I can try to kill it or try to grow it. ❞

🦇 Unfortunately, this novel lacked the poetic prose or lyrical lines you'd expect from a strong songwriter like Hayley Kiyoko. Since this is a literary debut, an adjustment period is expected, but it felt like Kiyoko relied too heavily on the limited plotline from the music video; limitations that made this a very simple story. Some of the writing, namely the dialogue, is cringy, but I'm not sure whether to account that to Coley's social awkwardness or inexperienced writing. Despite spending almost every day together, we needed more from Coley and Sonya's relationship to really invest in their messy story. Usually, when a character clings onto a mantra, it repeats more than once as a way of bringing the story together. Coley's mom used to say "You gotta love hard and live hard," and I wish that line repeated near the end of the novel, as a way of encouraging Coley to do just that. I honestly didn't expect a HEA in this one, which made it feel a little forced; a pretty bow to finish the story off just as the music video did.

🦇 Recommended to anyone looking for a complex coming-of-age story and sapphic happily ever after. I hope this one wins your heart.

❤️ YA Coming-of-Age
🧡 Debut Novel
🤍 Lesbian Romance
💗 Friends to Lovers
💜 Summertime Vibes

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Young Adult books are typically tricky for me as a reader because often I find my headspace and understanding of the world to be so vastly different from that of their target audiences. But, man, did Girls like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko get me right in the feels. This is a really nicely done young adult novel which speaks both late teen / early adult and “more seasoned” adult beautifully.

This story is gritty, angsty, but touching and tender. I think anyone who has felt infatuation as a young person can really identify with the characters in this novel. This story gave us action and drama but without the illogic and excess that can sometimes take over books in this genre. Girls Like Girls quite beautifully captured the angst and chaos of being a teenager, no matter the type of teenager that you are or were.

I was delightfully surprised to enjoy my time reading this well-written novel so much and flew through its pages pretty quickly. I am glad to have read it and would recommend it if it seems interesting.

This book packs a punch in such a short amount of time. We deal with everything from depression and suicide, sexuality and repressed sexuality, homophobia and internalized homophobia as well as gendered dynamics. So read with caution.

You get fully engulfed in the world and characters Kiyoko created. And it’s no surprise, if you’ve seen the girls like girls music video you KNOW how this story ends. But the way it’s told breaks your heart time and time again. While at certain points gluing it back together (I was a big fan of the romance tropes used) That being said it does have a few small faults in my opinion— it’s YA so sometimes it does read as a little immature but such is YA. Especially when dealing with the tough issues this read tackles. We get certain aspects of certain characters that aren’t ever further explored. But it’s still a very moving very vital story full of multiple queer experiences that I hope are able to help some young queer readers who may pick this book up. Kiyoko attempts to teach bravery and encouragement of being one’s self. Books like this are and forever will be important. I urge you to check it out when it’s out this May 30th.

Thank you netgalley and St Martins Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review and thank you lesbian Jesus for including the phrase “lesbian Jesus” in this book.

As a longtime Hayley Kiyoko fan, I was so excited when I learned she wrote a novel. One of my favorite things about music videos is how they show the stories that songs tell and really bring them to life. I love the idea of furthering that and writing an entire novel based on that music video - which is what Hayley did with Girls Like Girls.

I loved seeing the relationship between Coley and Sonya be fleshed out and seeing their relationship from both points of view. This story was honest and raw as it tackled a variety of topics from grief to self-discovery.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

"I know now. I can't run away from it the way she does, now that I know what it's like to spark and burn under another girl's hands. What it is to blossom at the mere thought of her. Kissing Alex is a wet match, fizzling dark compared to her. It's not his fault. It's not my fault. It's just...who I am. There it is: the truth. No running from it anymore. It's living in me, and I can try to kill it or try to grow it."

These thoughts are some I am confident almost every queer woman has found herself feeling. When it's impossible to deny the part of yourself you don't fully understand yet. When the world is screaming at you that it's wrong. When there's finally clarity about what exactly has been making you feel so different for so long.

Kiyoko writes about these feelings so beautifully and so gut-wrenchingly that it is impossible to put Girls Like Girls down until the end of the very last page. This coming of age novel is so much more than that. It is clarity. It is hope. It is queer joy. And there's so much heartbreak, too. But that's what makes it so real. The denial, the fear...all of it is so important to give this story the scope it has.

This book perfectly captures the melancholy of summer. It's set in 2006, which is when I was a teenager as well, and maybe this is part of the reason why it worked so well for me, because it really took me back.

I wasn't really sure what to expect of this book, but the atmosphere is really very close to that of the Girls Like Girls music video. Of course I had to listen to Hayley's music while reading this, and I can only recommend you do the same!

Girls Like Girls is a young adult story of finding yourself, even in the toughest times. Coley moves to a small town to live with her dad after her mom dies. She is immediately love struck by Sonya, a local popular girl…confusing feelings ensue.

This story was deep and fairly intense for what I was expecting. I loved the main character but to be honest, I was not rooting for her and Sonya to get together. I loved the character development of Coley and her finding out who she is in her new life.

3.5 Stars, rounded up.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I absolutely loved the music video and when I heard that there was a book based off the story behind it, I was so excited. I do like the tie ins to the music video, and thought that was done fairly well.

It was hard to like the characters, and while that's totally normal, it also just felt very hard to root for them. It felt like there wasn't a ton of chemistry between Coley and Sonya, which is what I really craved for a YA book like this. Some of the themes were important and I'm glad they were included, but it also felt like there was a ton of internalized (and external, at points) homophobia that really just felt unnecessary at points, and honestly, harmful.

The book was portrayed as partially character-driven and plot-driven, but it felt like we never really made it anywhere. While there was some character growth, there was a lot still missing and the characters were just... not enjoyable, not even really at the end. It was nice to see some growth, but it felt like so much was left. And I wish we got more than what we got at the end, but I think it did sort of wrap it up.

This book took me a while to read because I just kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it back up. I think it was interesting, and I'm glad I gave it a shot, but honestly, it was not the level I was expecting it to be, so I'm definitely feeling a little disappointed, though would potentially recommend to people if they were seeking something with these specific topics.

This honestly bored me. It wasn’t enough of an exploration of grief or connecting with a new place. Most of the story seemed to be about an angsty teen, yes, a reason to be angsty but the prose just made her seem normal angsty instead of “I’m struggling with huge life changes” angsty”. And the way she partied and dealt with drama in her life had me waiting for the blood to start flowing as the horror book really kicked off or the equally angsty monster boyfriend/girlfriend came in as the real love interest.

At least then it would have been in my preferred genre.

I don’t know. I was looking for an exploration of someone coming into their own during a trying time and instead was bored.

At first I was convinced this would be just another LGBT romance… until I remembered two things:
1) There is no such thing as “just another LGBT romance” (I LOVE THEM)
2) Take a look at the author… it’s none other than the representation icon that is Hayley Kiyoko.

This book is NOT another celebrity trying to bring themself back into the spotlight by writing a book. The heartfelt romance between Coley and Sonia made me want to cry and scream and punch them and hug them… all at the same time. I didn’t want to put this book down, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have “Girls Like Girls” playing on repeat in the background nearly the entire time. I will NEVER watch that music video the same again!

This book does contain potentially triggering subjects such as homophobia, death, suicide, and abuse.

I received a free copy of this book as a bookseller from Hayley Kiyoko, Wednesday Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko, we follow the story of 17-year-old Coley, who recently lost her mother and had to move in with her dad, whom she barely knew growing up. As she tries to come to terms with her loss and adjust to her new life in a small town, she finds herself falling for Sonya. However, Sonya is too worried about being a perfect daughter and struggling with her first feelings for another girl.

While the book is a cute coming-of-age romance, I couldn't help but feel that most of the supporting characters were somewhat stereotypical and lacked depth. However, the novel does touch on important themes of self-acceptance and the fear of being vulnerable in a relationship, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, the book explores Coley's relationship with her father, which adds another layer to the story as they navigate a new dynamic after years of estrangement. Overall, Girls Like Girls was a decent read, but it didn't quite meet my expectations. The book does have its redeeming qualities and is worth a read if you're a fan of the author or the song.

AAAAHHHHHH!!!! GAY PANIC! GAY PANIC! I love Hayley Kiyoko and I LOVe that Kiyoko has written a book! Just like Kiyoko was a gay awakening (ahh..Velma) I'm sure this book will be one as well for younger generations.

I'm so sad to DNF this one at 15%, but the writing just didn't work for me. Hayley Kiyoko is a brilliant musician, but I didn't feel that it translated to novel form. The writing was cliché and formulaic. I also felt that the characters were cookie-cutter and wasn't feeling the chemistry between them. Also, Trenton is over-the-top villainous. I was so excited for this book because I love the music video and it influenced my discovery of my queer sexuality. But I think I will stick with the music video and not the book.

thank you St. Martin/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy<3

the girls like girls music video was (i think) one of the first wlw medias i've watched when i was in junior high school and so finding out this book in the year 2023, i was so excited to read it! the music video was a cinematic masterpiece during its time so i had expectations for this one.

the writing was a bit juvenile and i think i just expected more(?) i think this would be great for teenagers to read even without watching the mv, but after watching the mv and comparing it to this book, i feel like there could be more exploration of the relationship in the book. the characters fell flat compared to the 3 minutes music video too:(

After the death of her mom Coley moves in with a dad she doesn't know in a town she never grew up in the summer before her senior year of highschool. She meets Sonya and the two of them grow to really like each other, but Sonya is struggling with her identity and afraid to admit how she feels.

I have complicated feelings about this book tbh. First of all, I am not the target demographic so I'll get that out of the way first. I feel the target demographic are people who really connected to the song/music video when it came out, and I do feel this book will be super meaningful to those people. While I certainly do like girls like boys do, that's not an aspect of my identity I ever had to struggle with. I was privileged to have been raised by very liberal and open minded parents in a community that felt the same.

This book takes place in the mid-late 2000s which was the time of my childhood. Coley is a little older than I would've been but I definitely relate a lot to the time and the culture which is a lot of fun. It also feels more like the YA that was coming out around that time. YA romance these days often feels more like it's written for adults but this book feels kind of like a middle grade book except with swearing and more mature scenes. I don't know if that was the intention or if it comes down to a lack of skill in writing. It's certainly not a super amazingly written book, but I think that teenagers will enjoy it and I do think that I would have liked it a lot if I'd read this book 10-15 years ago.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's ever felt like the song it's based on really spoke to them. I also think it would be a fantastic book for girls who are coming of age and questioning their identity.

FYI this book deals with loss of a parent, suicide, mental illness, bullying, and homophobia.

Thank you to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book a lot. Coley was a great character and her growth throughout the book was so great to witness. I especially loved the relationship with her dad and how it progressed throughout the story. The progression of Sonya and Coley's relationship felt very real and everything they had to face felt exactly like high school. The Livejournal entries were incredible for the setting and I thought that was such a great touch. Overall, the ending felt really rushed and the writing fell a little flat for me. I liked this book a lot and I think if I were in the target age demographic I might have loved it, but there were aspects of the writing that really took me out of the story.

i didn't love this one -- it felt overly cliche and almost cringey, like it relied too heavily on stereotypes and preconceived notions of coming out and being closeted and all the things about liking girls as a teenager, without any real substance or depth. i wanted to enjoy it, but found it one dimensional. not a winner sadly!