This was a very cute book. I have been a big fan of Hayley Kiyoko and the song that inspired this book forever, so I was very excited to read this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

I love Hayley Kiyoko, and I was obsessed with the song and music video for her song Girls Like Girls when I was in middle school. So of course I was intrigued when I saw her writing a book of the same name… and it was so cute! A fast-paced and highly enjoyable LGBTQ+ read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This was such a sweet book to read. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the artist. I would recommend that anyone struggling with mental health issues to skip this as the theme is not handled well. Overall a solid debut with room for improvement.

This is book feels like it belongs in the early 2000's, I was really surprised to read a book like this in 2023, especially from a queer artist. The subject matter felt a bit been there done that, girl falls in love with closeted girl in a small town. There wasn't anything unique about the story to hold my attention or set it apart from other YA books of the same subject. Coley was really frustrating and annoying - it's understandable given she's a YA character but it felt a bit cliche a typical YA MC. I was also really frustrated by how mental health was handled in this book. It felt like it was set in the early 2000's as a way to avoid having to deal with the character's getting help with their mental health because it wasn't a widely done back then. All of the problems these character's face could have been solves/handled better if they had a therapist or mental health professional. Coley literally find her mom after she commits suicide and never goes to see a mental health professional to deal with that trauma.

I wouldn't recommend this book to my audience, I think there are much better YA books that deal with similar subject and are much better written.

I dnf’d this. Just could not get into it. It felt slow paced and I deserve better in a book. Wish I liked it, because it was an anticipated read.

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

1.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Boy oh boy where do I start with this book? I was sent this book without requesting it, I had heard of the song but hadn’t seen the video. So I watched the video, said hey! This could be very cute, and I’m always looking for sapphic YA reads to send over to my little sister.

The characters:

Coley moves in with her dad after the suicide of her mother. She doesn’t want to be there, blames herself for the death. Coley is a very flat and one-dimensional character, there’s no growth to her throughout the book, she ends it the same way she started, boring and emotionally stunted.

Sonya is supposed to be Coley’s love interest, she is the epitome of Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss. But not once did she girlboss in this book. She was nasty, rude, gaslighting, and overall just a horrible character. If she was a real person, she’d be friendless, a girl who peaked in high school and uses it as her only personality trait.

The Relationship:

Can you really call it a relationship? They were never really together in the story, never really fitted well. They were toxic when around each other, two magnets on the same setting that people try to force together but end up bouncing apart – and they should have stayed apart.

Overall:

It’s very hard to not compare the story to the music video, but it was definitely a story trying to hit the key aesthetic moments in the video – beside the pool, in the bathroom, on the bike. But the story between those highlights is all just a filler that is extremely poorly written. Maybe it’s mean, but it’s all just the most dramatic filler a fanfiction writer could muster while trying to hit the vibes and aesthetic (which it didn’t)

On top of the overall book being…not good, the biphobia and homophobia is just absolutely astronomical in this story. It was so tone deaf – even if it was set 15 years ago. There’s no reason for one of the main storylines to be homophobia when everyone is expecting or wanting a cute sapphic romance between two highschoolers.

Overall, this was very disappointing.

Hayley Kiyoko's debut novel based on her hit song's music video is one of the best sapphic coming-of-age novels I've ever read. Girls Like Girls introduces us to Coley, who has just moved to Oregon. She meets Sonya, and their quick friendship soon grows into more, but their developing relationship comes with its problems. Sonya is new to sapphic relationships, and Coley is nervous about opening up to someone who could hurt her in the future. This book is exactly what 14-year-old me was dying for after I watched Hayley's music video for the first time. Learning about the backgrounds and the actual development of the relationship between Coley and Sonya was an amazing addition to the world of Girls Like Girls. My only issue with this novel was that the relationship felt like it developed very quickly. I live for a little bit more pining in the lead-up to relationships.
This book also covered the incredibly difficult topic of homophobia and acceptance. Sonya's internalized homophobia was pretty difficult to read, but an incredibly important topic to cover and address. Young sapphic audiences, even those who have accepted that they are queer, often struggle with internalized homophobia. Seeing a character in a book also deal with it and eventually overcoming could be a powerful form of support.
The relationship between Coley and her father, and the way that Hayley discusses grief over the loss of a parent was very moving. The growth in their relationship by the end of the book gives another hopeful message to readers who might be dealing with similar situations.
This book was one of my favorite reads of 2023 and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an easy sapphic coming-of-age novel.

I had seen the video by Hayley Kiyoko, so I was anxious to read this book.
Coley (17-years-old) is forced to move to Oregon just after losing her mother. She then meets Sonya and immediately finds herself attracted to her.

The dialog in this book comes across very honest and real. It is engaging and the narrator's voice really feels like a teenage girl.

The story is heartfelt and really explores the period of time in someone's life where they are finding themselves and figuring everything out.

I enjoyed this somewhat, but the writing was slightly lacking. I almost expected more from Hayley Kiyoko.

If you’re a Hayley Kiyoko fan, or just a fan of Girls like Girls the song, this is a must read!

I’ll be completely honest: I wasn’t as impressed with this book as I wanted to be. I love Hayley. I know how important this song, book, concept is to her. It’s important to me, too.

It just felt basic. The writing, the plot, the characters. Honestly, if this book had come out in 2015 like the song, I’m sure it would’ve been groundbreaking – but we’ve come a long way since then. However, I know this book is important and will be important to many. People dealing with grief, with homophobia, with struggling to figure out who they are in teenagehood.

And I did enjoy it! Just not as much as I expected to.

It seemed like the book took so long to get going, and then I felt like the ending was quite rushed – it was basically just the end of the music video, and not much that was brought up was actually resolved. I thought after the end of the music video would be expounded upon a bit, and it was not. It just wasn’t as satisfactory a conclusion as I’d hoped for. I wanted more!

I also wanted Coley and Alex to bond more. I had suspicions about him from the beginning, and I wish they’d been able to be closer and rely on each other more. I also loved Curtis, and the fact that him not being there for Coley was more complex than she was aware of.

Support this book if possible. Hayley has big dreams for this story – I was lucky enough to meet her and be a part of a Q&A at her show, where most of the discussion was about this book and future writing projects she has dreamed up. Let’s make those dreams a reality!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this!

The idea of this book was interesting to me - sort of like reverse engineering to have a book coming from a music video. And, the plot is generally one that I enjoy. The writing style just wasn't entirely it for me. Still, I believe that many will enjoy this one.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Was so excited to read this after the Girls like Girls music video from so long ago! Sadly, this just felt like a very messy (not in a good way) book. The characters didn't feel dimensional at all and the cliches just didn't hit the same way or weren't written as well as they could have been.

I wanted to love this one so badly....and unfortunately, it just fell so short. Ultimately, I felt the central romance and characters were a bit toxic, and with little accountability for their more problematic behaviors or words.

What I did enjoy was the relationship between one of the main characters and her father - how they slowly, but surely, built up their trust and familial relationship.

I will say, I ultimately finished this book via audio - and the production was so well done! From the different cast members to the audio effects and music - that was incredibly engaging.

Ultimately, this book just missed the mark for me - the pacing felt off, the ending resolved a bit too quickly and the central relationship just didn't feel healthy to me.

I really wanted to Love this book.
It’s a wonderful queer story and I really liked the main character. At first she was slightly annoying with the way she treated her dad but she was going through a difficult time, and it’s hard grieving and having to move to a new place. Coley grew on me as she grew up. She begun to make a good relationship with her dad and accept herself.
Sonya, however, did not grow on me. She was self-entitled and made Coley feel awful half the time. Despite everything, she never truly apologises or tries to fix her mistakes, she never grows. Perhaps that is the point, after all she is just a teenager.
For a time, I did like their relationship, and they did have some gorgeous moments, but it was too filled with anger, hatred, some sort of strange manipulation to really win me over.
One of my biggest issues was with the ending. It could maybe lead into a sequel which I think I would like, especially if it expanded on their relationship and showed Sonya’s side of things.
Overall, this book didn’t win me over like I wanted it to. The writing side of things was absolutely fine, and well-paced which many books aren’t. It didn’t feel rushed, but it did feel cut off at the end. However, the issues with the romance and the character of Sonya do weigh the book down. I am however, overjoyed that Coley was on a path of healing and self-acceptance.
And hey, maybe we need more queer teen stories where not everyone is perfect and not every relationship is romanticised. Maybe we do need more characters like Sonya. It just turns out that it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Final rating; 3.5/5

This is a dual narration, coming-of-age romance based on the author's breakthrough hit song and viral music video. The story has themes of self-discovery, love, and acceptance, with parental instability and mental health. Coley is new to town and grappling with very personal loss and trying to find her footing in a new social dynamic. Sonya is one of the cool kids, with a well established social circle. I adored Coley and her bravery to put herself out there, amidst anxiety and strong unknowns. Sonya was privilege, ignorant, and not my favorite.

TW: Description of suicide

Sincere thanks to St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books, & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really sweet, tender, moving sapphic romance—I loved reading the characters' arcs and seeing their romance grow, as well as reading the themes of self-discovery.

This was a fun book that also tackled some heavy topics. I enjoyed Hayley's writing style and I'm eager to read other books by Hayley.

Personally not my favorite writing style but I admire that Hayley Kiyoko is trying something new! Definitely read as a YA which is not my jam right now but I would definitely recommend this to anyone new in their LGBTQ journey. I would try something else written by Kiyoko for sure! And I love her music of course