The anticipation for this book was insane. I have loved Hayley Kiyoko since she was on the Disney channel so when I got this book I was GAGGED. This song was so important to me along with the music video. The book is going to be just as important not just to me but to so many of queer youth.

Being a teen at this time made me relate to our main characters so much. I loved them so much. The way we follow both of their coming to terms with who they are. I related to coley when she finally comes to terms that a boy will never be right for her. I had such a similar experience at that very same age. The very first time this specific girl kissed my cheek I was sunk. I knew boys could never make me feel that way. So it was beautiful seeing that full circle moment for Coley. The talking about never seeing same sex couples in person brought tears to my eyes because at that age neither had I! Not seeing yourself takes a toll and it makes the closet so much easier to stay in. I really was moved and so enthralled by this story.

Now to my issues, I think it was really just the pace and some of the holes. Truthfully, the end is my main issue. It ended much the music video, the one big hope I had for this book was seeing what happened next, and I still don’t really know. It all happened way too fast. I want to know how it was all handled (trying to keep this spoiler free). I love that it ends happy for our couple of course I just wish we had a few chapters of the fallout. That also explains what I mean by holes. I just wish a few more things were flushed out. Things like the ending and with her dad, I want to see that relationship grow more. I was loving the progress they made. That all being said I am in awe of Hayley this book felt like a beautiful love letter to my teen queer youth. I wish I had a book like this to hold onto going through high school in the early 2000s. I cannot wait for the audio version to come out. This is a book you don’t want to miss!

I remembered loving this music video (both for the song and the actual video itself) way back when it first came out, so when I was offered the chance to read the ARC for Girls Like Girls, I was super excited! And boy was this a let down.

Sonya and Co. are the absolute worst and while I understand why Sonya acts the way she does (being afraid of how she really feels in a time where liking the same gender was not talked about as outwardly as it is today), there's no excuse for how she treats Coley. In this same regard, Coley is an ass to her dad for 90% of the book until she realizes "oh... he's a person too and he's actually really nice" and she never really apologizes for it.

The writing is also very mediocre. The fact that the biggest scene of the music video (aka the kiss and then fight with the boyfriend) is literally in the last 10 pages and then it wraps up and yep everything is a-okay! Like... WHAT?? That to me should have been at the middle of the book and then had the plot go from there.

The music video could have been moved to a full movie format and I think it would have been good. But this was not it.

Generally this story was fine. I loved the chemistry between the MCs and I appreciated the sexuality questions storyline, but it genuinely felt like this story was all build up. Very little felt resolved and the ending left me with a major case of “wait, that’s it?”. I would’ve liked to have more questioned answered of have some more of the blanks filled in by the end of the story, but it wasn’t there. While it does a good job of establishing the character and the story, that’s kind of where it stops.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Wednesday Books. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this! I thought it was a fun sapphic coming-of-age that also addressed more serious topics such as suicide and mental health.

I felt like it was a little rushed in certain aspects but I still really enjoyed it.

3.75
This was a super cute and fun romance read. I finished this book in a day. I loved the main character and her many depths. I think this book would be a great series. It had the same spirit as “To All The Boys I Ever Loved” but make it gay. I really enjoyed this and love that it’s written by lesbian Jesus!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Okay so - Girls Like Girls (the music video and the song) were absolutely formative pieces of media for me when they came out. I have sentimental attachment to them. When I heard a book was coming out based on the storyline of the music video, I was so excited. However, the execution fell a little flat for me.

It's possible that I went into this a bit too old for the book, because when the characters (who are teenagers) acted like teenagers it was nearly unbearable. I wanted to reach through and shake their shoulders and go "JUST COMMUNICATE AND STOP BEING MEAN TO ONE ANOTHER" but alas it is not that simple. Nevertheless, I loved the themes of family bonds, specifically the growth of the relationship between Coley and her father.

I want to be clear - I did not hate this book. In fact, I really did like it. The characters were touch and go for me, but the overall plot of the book was good and followed the storyline of the music video fairly well. I enjoyed reading this, but would likely not pick up something similar - I think I just have grown out of high school romances!

Overall, I give this book a 2.75/5, rounded up to 3/5. Trigger warnings for parental death, time-period-typical (early 2000s) homophobia, domestic violence, emotional abuse, drug use. Would recommend to anyone looking for an early YA coming-of-age novel with LGBTQ rep and doesn't mind the characters being a bit immature.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of this novel. I was not familiar with the song that inspired this full length story before requesting but do see the similarities once I watched the music video. Having this set in the early 2000s brings back some nostalgia but also disgust at how our world treated LGBTQ+ teenagers. In some ways, our society has improved but in some ways not. The perspective of Sonya and Coley changing and trying to break out of their own preconceived notions was well done and I enjoyed the book. My critique is for the ending: it was too abrupt. It does match how the original music video ended but it did not feel right for this book. I wanted to see how they would deal with innate homophobia and telling their family and friends and staying strong together. Here, it just ended after Sonya gets her head out of her butt. Again, a well crafted novel with an overly abrupt ending.

Girls like girls was just what this girl needed. This Sapphic book was everything and more. The characters were developed so well, the plot was chefs kiss and the ending was just want I needed.

“Girls Like Girls,” the music video, changed my life. I was questioning who I was in more ways than one, but I was fixated on the music video. I loved it, and many others did, too. It helped so many in the LGBTQ+ community, and all before Hayley Kiyoko had come out herself.

When I heard about the book, I was so excited! To get a peek into the story Hayley had created with Coley and Sonya through the music video felt like a full story on its own. However, reading the book let’s us see the full picture. It lets us get to know Coley, Sonya, Trenton, and their friends. The music video was a window into their lives, but the book transported us. Flies on the wall, if you will.

This book had me thinking about my own grief losing someone, my emotions on learning “hey, I DO like girls,” and Hayley captured all these conflicting emotions perfectly.

“Girls Like Girls” is a wonderful coming-of-age tale that will, hopefully, comfort readers. Comfort them through grief, questioning, and the general state of the world.

I hope Hayley keeps writing, because I’d love to see more of any world she would like to show us.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had so much potential but in the end it really didn’t work for me and it really pains me to say that because I had such high expectations. Let’s start with what I loved: I loved that it was set in 2006 - the LiveJournal posts and AIM away messages were so nostalgic and I loved that though the book was mainly from Coley’s POV, we got a peak into Sonya’s thoughts through her journal entries. I also really loved Curtis, Coley’s dad and I wish there had been more of their father/daughter relationship.

Which brings me to the bad. I feel like this book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a romance or it wanted to be a coming of age/family story. The first half was very romance centered and then it switched gears so quickly to being focused on Coley and Curtis, and her meeting another girl and her friends at her job but none of it was very well developed and then ending and resolution felt so rushed after the slow burn of the first half.

That being said, the writing has a lot of humor and I can see Hayley’s personality shining throughout the book. There are also a lot of issues discussed ie grief/loss/depression/suicide which are important, especially in YA novels. If I was a teen, I think I would have really loved this but as an older millennial, it just didn’t work for me.

3.5 stars!

I was on tumblr during the Hayley Kiyoko era and I vividly remember the chokehold 'girls like girls' had on a burgeoning queer community. This book felt like a 250 page extension of the video and a strong development of the story. I really loved understanding Coley's character but god, did I want to punch Sonya in the face a few times. I think the centering of queer storylines, especially setting it in the early aughts, was really well done, and I think the side characters really held their own. Overall, great contemporary YA and would definitely recommend!

I was granted an eArc of this book for review.
I am obsessed with this entire story. It was so raw and wonderful, perfectly encapsulating a summer romance. I felt the characters' pain. I experienced everything with the characters, and that's a sign of amazing writing.

The nostalgia! As someone who was a teen in 2006 and questioning, this book felt like it was made for me. I also love mixed media formats, and the use of LiveJournal helped shed light on Sonya's feelings.

I enjoyed Coley's journey through grief and finding herself. The only thing preventing this from being a 5 star read is the ending. Maybe even an epilogue might have changed my mind.

While Girls Like Girls has the potential to be an engaging sapphic story based off Hayley Kiyoko's iconic music video, it ultimately fell short. I found the plot to be quite basic, but much more importantly, so was the writing. I understand it is the author's debut, but the writing was at best unoriginal, and at worst cringey. The author's sense of humour came through in the writing, and while it felt a bit dated and lacklustre for me, I'm sure it will align with someone.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much! What a great debut.

The story was so sweet, and felt accurate to a teenager love story. Coley’s discovery of her sexual preference throughout this novel was so beautiful. And the way she navigated her grief felt realistic.

This book was engaging, and thought provoking. A beautiful story of first love.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

i loved this!!! & i desperately needed this book when i was a young teen!!!! it felt super nostalgic for the whole time with the 2000s vibes!! i can’t wait to put this one on my shelf

Yeaaahhhh, the novelization of her life changing & showstopping music video (which was my sapphic heartstopper btw), was a… decision ❤️ & not a good one…I love Hayley but this was….. something…… this very much felt like a novel that was written in peak 2014 John Green, Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Skins UK Tumblr era, but released today. It read way to much like the edgy “not like other girls” trope (even verbatim says so on the first page) & continues into a story with silly plot choices, insufferable characters, & generally a not great execution of anything… happening. I got 30% in & decided to… give up, close my kindle, play the girls like girls music video instead, and cry 🫶

Hayley Kiyoko's debut book is adorable and concise and a perfect example of what a YA LGBTQ romance novel can be. You can tell that Kiyoko had a thesis with points she wanted to make and she hit all of them without dragging the reader in unnecessary directions. It is a bit prescriptive and borders on a how-to or self-help book in some places but it doesn't detract from the book being a fictional story.

The juxtaposition between Sonya and Coley is obvious and clearly shows the audience the differences in handling their sexuality as teenagers. For teens who would most likely be reading this book, it shows them the light at the end of the tunnel without being sanctimonious about it or insisting that it will get better when it might not for a while.

Sonya and Coley's friends are tropes of members of friend groups but Kiyoko clearly means well by writing them that way.

There are a few loose threads by the end which are common with debut authors and books where there's no clear way to wrap up conflicts with everyone without making them too neat anyway.

Four and a half stars for being light-hearted but full of intention.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was great. The story was relatable and I enjoyed it. It was hard to think that a singer wrote this but it worked. 9/10

*I did not realize this book was based on a song and music video so please take my review with a grain of salt.

It is the summer before her senior year of high school and 17 year old Coley has just moved to rural Oregon to live with her father after her mother's passing. She feels utterly alone and has no desire to be in this new town. Then one day she runs into Sonya and her gang of friends. Sonya immediately befriends Coley, and before Coley realizes what has happened weeks have gone by and Sonya and Coley have spent days and days together. But then their friendship turns into a confusing attraction, one that Sonya is not ready to face, leaving Coley feeling alone all over again.

For starters I will say, for a debut novel I enjoyed the format of this book. The story was narrated by Coley, however Sonya sprinkles her opinions throughout the book in the form of online journal entries, both public and private.

The girls are written in a way that makes sense given the fact that they are adolescent girls, dealing with issues such as depression, grief, peer pressure, expectations and being confused about their sexualities. They were both a little all over the place throughout the book, but again that was understanable.

The book did not flow well for me. I feel that the beginning jumped right into things with barely any backstory, which was a little confusing at first to me. The middle of the book dragged on, and then I felt that the book ended extremely abruptly.

I feel that Coley experienced growth throughout the book, both in the relationship with herself and those around her. However, I feel that all that we got from Sonya was an epiphany, but no actual work or growth.

Others may love this book, I just do not think that it was for me.