2.5 stars

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but honestly I don't think this one was for me.

While I really enjoyed Coleys character and even her dad. I didn't really like Sonya and most of the other side characters.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the e arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am so so so so glad this story and stories like it exist. I loved this book so much and found it very healing to read.

Teenage me needed this book and I am so excited for it to be out in the world.

Coley was such a great character and I really could feel what she was feeling. However, I think some of the other characters lacked the same depth. All of the side characters didn’t feel quite flushed out and it got confusing at times.

That said though, I still very much enjoyed the book. I loved the storyline and relationship between Coley and Curtis most, and of course I am happy Coley and Sonya worked things out.

The overall arc of the story worked pretty well, but I didn't think the relationship between Coley and Sonya made sense. It all happened too quickly, and there was too much anger at each other for me to believe they'd actually fallen in love.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin for this advanced copy.

I like Hayley Kiyoko's songs, that's why I requested this advanced copy. However, this book wasn't good as the music video.

I disliked Hayley Kiyoko's writing style. Too cringey. And some parts, she used this type of sentence :
blah blah blah, you know?. I hated that. Because I didn't know the thing she said in the book. I didn't understand what she meant. Just describe it more. It would be better.

She also liked to use "Unfinished lines", like : "Because you have to be gentle with someone you ..."
Please just finished the line. Please.... I didn't see the point why she did that. It didn't feel more dramatic. Just cringe. Afterall this book was so so to me.

I hope if she decided to keep writing, she will be better in her next books.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


As a Haley Stan I was so excited to see this book. It did not disappoint. If you've seen and love the video, you will love the book as well. The story is cute and will have you emotionally invested. I hope she does the same with Sleepovers.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

Trigger warnings: suicide and gaslighting

Coley is the new girl in town, coming to live with her dad when her mom passed away. She’s almost run over by a group of teens and she befriends them but becomes especially close with Sonya. When sparks fly, Sonya gets scared each time and runs away. Will Sonya admit that she’s into Coley like how Coley likes her?

I was really excited for this book but unfortunately this missed the mark for me. I did like that it was set in 2006 and we got to see Sonya’s live journal posts but that’s only because I grew up in that time period. Teens today might not appreciate or get it. I really wasn’t a fan of Sonya. She kept gaslighting Coley and I honestly didn’t see redeeming qualities about her and didn’t think Coley should be with someone that treats her that poorly.

3.75

It was cute and expected.
A bit dramatic but aren’t all first loves? I feel like in some regards plot points are important but when you are scared to go against the grain it makes sense.

I didn’t feel overwhelming connection to these characters but I did understand when you realize you are different.

It was nice and good book.


Thank you so much for an arc copy.
I do appreciate it.

So I'm only a recent fan of Hayley Kiyoko's, but of course I still wanted to check this book out. Based on her music video for "Girls Like Girls," this novel takes place the summer Coley (first person narrator) moves into town. She's been through a lot of tough events lately, and I really enjoyed enduring her emotional journey - and angst - as she grew throughout the book. My favorite parts were the bonding scenes between Coley and her dad, Curtis, even though I wish those parts were longer. I desperately wanted to know more about Coley's life before the move, her relationship with her mom, and how Curtis fit into all of this. It was so intriguing and I wish it was expanded on a little more.

Honestly, I feel a little bad for saying this, but I did not like Sonya at all. She was constantly defensive of her obnoxious friends, including Trenton, who really should have gotten more consequences for the stuff he did and said. Sonya was very passive for what felt like was no reason. I understand not wanting to come out because of her family, but a lot of her drama felt one-dimensional and had no payoff. She basically got to act carelessly, and then apologize enough times for Coley to forgive her. I was begging the novel to end with Coley walking away from the whole mess and finding someone who actually cares about her. It was very toxic and at times a bit forced.

Overall, I really wish I liked this book because I was excited to read it. I still enjoyed aspects of it, but I think even just fleshing some parts out and working on the pacing could make it a more enjoyable read.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for letting me read a copy of this eARC for an honest review.

I was as hyped as everyone else about this book as a lesbian who watched the music video a little too much. I was fully expecting this book to be a typically sappy romance, and i was okay with that. But this book was so so much more, it’s a beautiful story about grief and love and the setting and time was perfectly constructed. I was trying manage my expectations but I didn’t need to, they were rightfully high. Hayley Kiyoko did an incredible job and this is a wonderful sapphic story and romance.

This has a lot of grammar mistakes and spelling errors, but it’s a good book, though I think it should’ve shown the consequences Trenton got.

Set in the days of AIM and flip phones, this book was sweet and bittersweet in turn. Coley and Sonya experience falling in love and discovering queerness through the summer before their senior year in high school. With a difficult ex and a mother that expects perfection, Sonya has a harder time accepting herself than Coley. Though Coley has her own hardships (the recent death of her mother and moving in with her estranged father), she helps herself and Sonya realize that their love doesn't make them wrong.

I sped through this book, absolutely enthralled to find out how it all turned out. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me remember how big every emotion felt at 17. Hayley Kiyoko did such a beautiful job of writing two flawed girls finding themselves and their love. I can't wait for her next book!

Hayley Kiyoko's song "Girls Like Girls" was a cultural touchstone for so many young queer girls and this novel is just as important. It's a wonderful sapphic love story that makes you feel all the feels. The characters are well-developed and the story will keep you wanting more. Everyone should read this novel, even if they're old and straight.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

I was so happy to get approved for this book! The ending could've been better and I think our characters could've been fleshed out more, but this was so sweet! It gave me the warm and fuzzies and it felt real and relatable!

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS LIKE BOYYYSSS DOOOO

I was so excited to get an advance copy of this book!! The characters were relatable and tough topics were tackled in a very sensitive way. The setting felt perfectly nostalgic and the story just gave me the warm and fuzzies.

One thing I will say is that I found the ending to be a bit rushed and wish some of the characters had been a bit more fleshed out.

Overall, I really liked it and flew through it. A solid YA queer romance. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

POV: It's 2016, you're on the tumblr account that you're DEFINITELY not supposed to have and wayyyyy to young for. Your dashboard is full of black and white pictures of Alex Turner, Troye Sivan's Blue Neighborhood just got released, the 2014 grunge movement is fading and the art hoe aesthetic is moving in. People are making gifsets of the Girls Like Girls music video from Hayley Kiyoko.

When I saw that Hayley Kiyoko wrote a book based off of that music video, I knew that I had to read it, so I requested it off Netgalley and honestly didn't think I'd get approved.

This is a good book, but that's it. It touched on serious topics such as suicide, drug, and homophobia, both external and internal. It's told from the perspective of Coley (Stefanie Scott's character!) and set in 2006. The time period it's set in doesn't make the book feel alienating at all because Kiyoko does a good job making the book feel like it could be set at any time.

I just think that the pacing of this book is weird. The events just happen one after the other and everything moved very fast, especially in the last few chapters. The resolution is very rushed, and I would've liked if there were ~five more chapters to wrap everything up. Some of the side characters are flat and one-dimensional, very obviously there to further the development of Sonya and Coley. Sonya was just plain annoying.

13 year old me listened to this song on repeat every day :)) It’s a cute read, but it’s an important read at the same time. The subjects are all very important.

This was a dear, sweet book. I was 19 or 20 or so when Hayley Kiyoko released the music video that changed mainstream music for the queerer, too old for it to have affected my high school experience with my peers the way I know it did for younger girls and queer kids in general. That isn't to say it didn't affect me profoundly, because it did. I can say the same for this book - I am (eight years after the inspirational music video released) too old to be this book's target demographic, but that doesn't change how moving I found it. This book won't shock you, per se, but while you may know the plot and even the ending going in (hence the knock from 5 stars down to 4) the ride is still an enjoyable one. The writing is unflinching and aching and I cannot wait for the people who are this book's target demographic - those who need it most - to have this in their hands.

Let me tell you, there is no more effective way of getting a song stuck in your head than reading a book about said song. Seriously, it played in my head the entire time I read the book and I think I won't be the only one! And boy, does this book embody the music video well. The vibe is 100% there, the pining, the romantic tension, the story- I think most fans of the book will be very satisfied with the way this book converted the music video onto the written page.

The story of Girls Like Girls is written from the perspective of 17-year-old Coley, who has just moved to rural Oregon after the passing of her mother. Now, she's living with her father, who has been absent for almost all of Coley's life. Then she meets a girl in town, Sonya, who totally takes her breath away, and from there... well, you probably know more or less what that's about, so I won't bother. But the subplot of Coley's developing relationship with her father, coping with the death of her mom, and the two of them navigating their new life together was a pleasant surprise and, in my opinion, VERY well done. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole book. Absolutely loved it.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised by the quality of the writing, given that Kiyoko is not a career novelist, and there are lots of quotes that pack a punch. It's not perfect, but it is a very admirable debut. And if you're hoping for that crazy chemistry between Sonya and Coley in the music video...you'll be happy to know that this book delivers some of the most tangible chemistry I've ever read in a YA romance. Seriously, I'm actually kind of amazed.

It's hard to explain why I only rated the book 3 stars without getting spoilery, so I'll just say this: I had some issues with the way some characters were written, the story overall wasn't too original, and the ending felt very abrupt. But if you're dying to read the book, please don't let this deter you! You will likely really enjoy it and might rate it more highly than me. Despite my average rating, I enjoyed reading the book, and would happily read more books written by Kiyoko if she ever writes them.

In short (though actually not that short): if you're a longtime fan of the song/music video, you will probably really enjoy this book! To be quite honest, I think a part of what will be so enchanting about this book to many people is its connection to the song. So if you're not familiar with the music video already, I can't guarantee you will love this. Distancing this book from completely from the music video, the book is fairly standard, average YA romance that doesn't deliver much that hasn't already been done. But also, I'm not your mom, so if you don't know the music video but feel compelled to read the book, do it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just a disclaimer, it might not be quite the same experience for you.

Book CWs: suicide (discussed throughout the whole novel), depression, excessive use of alcohol, use of weed, homophobia (both internalized and from external sources, use of dyke as a slur)

I'm not going to lie, this is about what I expected from the book, so I'm glad I wasn't disappointed. The concept of trying to expand the world of a music video was an interesting one, and while I don't think it was necessarily executed as well as it could've been, it was fun to see the details that we were missing from the Girls Like Girls music video. While it was easy to be pulled along with the story, things definitely could have been better developed, both when it came to the characters and story itself. A lot of the scenes felt like sapphic ~vibe~ imagines/romance scenes, but because they happened often there wasn't really space for real development for anything else. Most celebrity "written" novels tend to be like this, so I wasn't super surprised, but that's why it has the rating it does. I wasn't expecting the novel to take place in 2006 either, which makes me wonder if teens are actually going to be interested in it's setting. While it was a fun throwback for me, I'm not so sure it's far enough back to count as "historical" fiction, so much as just... old lol.

Girls Like Girls is a fast read that covers some heavier topics but still manages to maintain a lighter mood. It's nothing special, but I'm sure that there are queer teens who will love it.

Curtis was the only good thing about this. If we had more father/daughter bonding and less toxic relationships, I might've actually enjoyed this. Because the father/daughter moments were AMAZING. They were sweet and felt like the realistic rebuilding of a relationship.

The romantic aspects were the opposite. Talk about toxic relationships. Granted, I don't think I'm the audience for this. I was barely alive when the Girls Like Girls MV came out. This cultural phenomenon means nothing to me. Similarly, the number of kids smoking just threw me off. That's not something I value in any of my friendships, and it just felt wrong for me.

So, from the beginning, I had issues with the atmosphere of this one. If this was my sole issue, it would've been fine. The larger nail in the coffin were the characters themselves. I hated Sonya and Coley together. Coley by herself wasn't too bad, but with Sonya, she became a collage of her worst traits. By the end, I wasn't rooting for them together. I wanted Coley to find someone who valued her and was truly right for her. That's not what happened.

I'm sad that I didn't like this one, because honestly, I had been looking forward to it. Girls Like Girls might hit better with other people, but for me, the generation gap was a bit too large.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review