When I first heard about this book, I was absolutely ecstatic. This song and the music video had a chokehold on me at one point in time (and still kind of does tbh). I’m not going to sugarcoat this. I think Hayley Kiyoko is a better singer/songwriter than she is an author of a ya novel. That doesn’t mean I think the book was bad. I enjoyed it at times. But, other times, I was kind of bored.

Sometimes I thought she was stretching a little bit and trying to force some of the scenes from the music video in. Frankly, some of this book felt underdeveloped and unfinished. I think the story was better told in the music video. Everything we need to know about these two characters was already in that video.

Some of the ending felt rushed to me. I would have liked to see it expanded beyond that moment to get a glimpse into where the characters end up. Some of the chaeracters felt underdeveloped. I would have loved to learn more about them and just see their individual characters fleshed out a little more.

Overall, this was a cute, queer romance story but I don’t think I’ll ever reread it. I’ll stick to listening to the song and watching the music video on repeat.

I really tried to get into this book, but I just couldn't.
I think young adult just isn't for me; I'm so removed from that generation that I just get impatient with YA books.

I hope others like it because I do think it is important to have LGBTQI+ books for young adults!

Poignant, thrilling, heartbreaking, and relatable. There was so much I empathized with in Girls like Girls and wish I had books like this when I was younger. Kudos to the author

3.5/5 Stars

After the unexpected loss of her mother, 17 year old Coley moves in with her absentee father in rural Oregon. There she meets popular girl Sonya, who she is instantly drawn to. As they spend more time together, they begin to fall for one another but try to keep their feelings hidden from those around them.

I enjoyed this for the most part, except I absolutely despised Sonya and her friends. I appreciated Sonya's internal struggle with always needing to be perfect, but I'm sorry, she was a shitty human and I couldn't get behind the romance. It was insanely toxic, and unhealthy, I just wanted to save Coley from Sonya. I did like Coley and her relationship with Curtis, her father. I liked watching them learn to trust one another again. I wish the story focused more on them healing from their past and repairing their relationship.

I loved this music video/song and was really hopeful for this book. Just like the music video, the chemistry between Coley and Sonya was strong and written well. I really enjoyed the dynamics between them. And while it was a cute read, the ending was very severe. I think if the ending was given a little more love I would've given a higher rating.

An emotional, summery read that takes place the summer after 17-year-old Coley's mother ends her own life and Coley is forced to move to Oregon to live with her stranger of a father. This very much gave Twilight vibes for a while (moving with your strange dad to Oregon and getting hit by a car on one of your first days there?? hello??). I really liked Coley's character as well as her relationship with her father. With that said, I wasn't a HUGE fan of the sapphic romance unfortunately - Sonya is a bitch for most of the book and it's only at the very end (which has a direct parallel with the "Girls Like Girls" MV which I LOVED) that Sonya stands up for Coley. However, I did enjoy myself for most of the book and this is overall really well written for a debut novel. Lesbian Jesus does it again <3

Ohhhhh I wanted to enjoy this so bad.

The “Girls like Girls” music video was an ESSENTIAL to my coming out, I can’t even begin to express how many times I watched it. But because of that, I feel like I was not surprised by anything in this book. I only finished this because I received an ARC of it. The storyline was not gripping if you lived through the homophobia of the early 2000s/2010s. HOWEVER, if you didn’t consume the horrifying queer media of that point in time/didn’t live through this homophobia it could be VERY enlightening. But that’s just me. This is the sort of book that would be released in the early 2010s, similar to the “Miseducation of Cameron Post” and whatever other horrifying queer stories I was reading in my early teens.

Kiyoko does an excellent job sticking to the era though, 2006. As well as sticking to the “aesthetics” of the music video. But I am of the opinion that if you’ve seen the music video, this book isn’t going to be anything new.

I initially gave this 2 stars because it is the first book in a LONG time that I had to speed up to an unrealistic speed just to get through it but I decided to up it to 3 stars because I really do think this book could be enlightening to people who didn’t live through this. But I did and therefor there was no shock value or anything of the sort within the storyline.

I also have to acknowledge that the audiobook was an entirely queer production and INCREDIBLY well done. I believe Kiyoko used one queer audiobook narrator and the other narrators are herself and her queer friends (including Katie Gavin!) and it’s underscored with sound effects and music.

I still love Hayley Kiyoko and she is crazy talented.

This book!!!!!


Thank you so much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I gave this a four out of five stars, I really enjoyed this book. I’m such a big fan of Hayley Kiyoko so I have been anticipating this book. While reading this I was picturing the music video in some parts. I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to add this to my book collection.

I was really excited when I learned that Hayley Kiyoko was writing a book based on her Girls Like Girls music video. The book expands the story of Coley and Sonya, explaining why Coley is new in town, how they became friends, and how their feelings for one another developed. However, I was hoping that the ending would go farther with showing their story beyond the music video.

Deeply saddened that I didn't love this one. I had such high hopes. However, I found the characters to be unlikable and the story unpolished. It felt all over the place and lacking depth. I know this is a ya book but it still felt very juvenile in nature to me. I found many moments to be stereotypical.

I feel like with a little more time and polishing this author could have some amazing novels under their belt.

Thanks to Wednesday Books, St Martin's Press for my ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my own opinion. I started reading this a while ago but had read GREAT things about the audio and waited to grab that from my school’s library. An all queer cast including one of favorites, Natalie Naudus, narrates this coming of age romance which also includes sound effects - an amazing listening experience!
Set in 2006, complete with LiveJournal entries with associated pop songs and carefully curated and timed AIM away messages, Girls Like Girls reminded me of many things I’d forgotten about the mid-00s. This made me wonder if its audience is older millennials, banking on their nostalgia (which worked!).
The book further expands the author’s music video for the song Girls Like Girls from 2015 which is a lesbian anthem. I watched the video (probably for the first time!) after finishing the book, and I enjoyed seeing the inspiration and thinking about its interpretation - I think that was done really well. I feel like the ending was quick and could have gone a little deeper, but it was written to mimic the ending of the video/song. While a quick read, the subject matter isn’t light, including teenagers dealing with realistic topics like divorce, parental pressure, drug and alcohol use, and parent death by suicide. I was impressed with the way this all was handled. As I mentioned, this seems to be written for YA readers that aren’t actually young adults, and I am not sure I’d recommend it to my students. The cover is also beautiful - the gold outline of the letters shimmers in the hardcover version!

It must be sapphic summer as Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko was my fifth sapphic read of the summer. Girls Like Girls is set in 2006. It is about Coley who has moved to a small town in Oregon to live with her father after her mother dies by suicide. Coley forms an intense friendship with Sonya, a rich girl. Only, it is more than a friendship. The girls have to come to terms with their feelings and their sexuality. Sonya feels that if she comes out, she risks everything -- including her family and being able to see her sister. But, well, everything is just so intense -- as it is when you are young.

Lord did I feel old reading this book. I too once had a Livejournal like Sonya -- we get excerpts of Sonya's live journal. We also see AIM away messages too. (An aside -- maybe I like Teams chat so much because it reminds me of AIM a little) Anyways, there were some things that I wanted more of from this book - like what happens after the end, ha. Girls Like Girls does reflect some of the attitudes of the time -- there is homophobia depicted. Ultimately though, it is a first love kind of love story with all the attendant feelings that come with that. Kiyoko's book is a quick read and for sure one to add to your summer reading list.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Coley is a 17-year-old and in the summertime she found herself alone, forced to move into rural Oregon after losing her mother. She doesn't want to risk her fragile heart, but when she meets Sonya she's right away attracted to the girl. Coley fears she's not worthy of love. Traumatized and alone, everyone she has ever loved left her and she doesn't want to lose Sonya too. Besides, she's never been with a girl before and she's scared to risk everything. Both Coley and Sonya realize that, by pushing things down, they risk losing them all and by only embracing their feelings and risk they could give their attraction and love a real chance to life and thrive. Will they be able to do it?

If you are like me and fell in love with Hayley Kiyoko's Girls like girls, you will certainly fall in love with this coming-of-age romance inspired by the song, because it's unbelievably amazing and beautiful. With care and sensitivity, the author deals with Coley's sufferings, traumas and insecurities and with both girls' fears and hidden truths. About how easy is to hide yourself, without putting yourself and your heart at risk, but, also, how brave can be opening yourself to the world and, yes, risking to be hurt, but still risking, also, to be loved back. It's a wonderful story about being yourself and realizing you are worthy of love and being loved back, about risking and being brave and I truly loved everything, from the setting, their pasts, their growing bond and their beautiful and intense love.

I was super excited for this book but it felt a bit flat to me. I struggled to connect to the story and the characters. It had some interesting things going on though. It is based on a song and music video by the author, which I found cool even though I had no idea about it until reading this book. After finishing the book I went and watched the music video and it was fun to see certain sections that had connected to the book that I'd just read. The book takes place in 2006 so there were some fun nostalgic things popping up like AIM and live journal. I also thought that the way the author did the different POVs was interesting. Coley got the traditional story narrative as her POV and Sonya got live journal entries where she shared her thoughts, feeling, struggles, etc. That seemed unique. Overall this was an ok read, maybe if I had been a fan of the song it had been written about back when it was first released, I might have enjoyed it more than I did. I know there is a fan base out there for this book so I do recommend checking it out even though I personally didn't care for it.

Content warning: homophobia, death of parent, suicide, bullying, violence, grief, toxic relationship

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, I love Hayley Kiyoko. Unfortunately, I have to say that it was a bit disappointing. The book started out with a lot of potential, but I don't think it reached it. I liked the main character and it was great to read about the relationship she develops with her dad. Other than that, I didn't like the romance, I was never rooting for them, and I didn't really like Sonya a lot of the time. I feel like they both have to grow a lot for something to work. I also feel like there were a lot of things that could have been explored more and just weren't: her relationship with her mother and her grief, more about her family history, her friendships, etc.

It's not bad but it has a lot of wasted potential.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to an e-ARC!

As someone who grew up watching Hayley Kiyoko in Lemonade Mouth and listening to her music as a late teen, it came as no surprise to see that Kiyoko is a lyrical and impactful writer. This story follows Coley, a teenager who has faced some seriously tragic events. She finds herself living in the smallest of small towns with her father- a man she barely knows. As a reader, you see her account of that first summer there, including people she meets and events that take place that force her to find her some semblance of belonging in this town.

This book perfectly encapsulated what it felt like to be growing up in the early 2000s. From the AIM usage to subtle pop culture references sprinkled throughout, it felt like I was unearthing a time capsule of that era. Kiyoko was able to create a valuable insight into the lives of queer people during that time- especially to those only just discovering who they are. This resonated with me, even though I never used AIM and have never met a girl like Coley.

Please check trigger warnings before you read, as there are some things that could fall heavy on readers' hearts. I would recommend this book to anyone questioning their sexuality, queer people who needed comfort as teens, and to anyone who enjoys a hopeful story (even with a dash of sadness).

As a lesbian and a huge fan of the song and music video this is based on, I found myself extremely satisfied with where she took the story and expanded it

This music video was so important for me as a young queer human before I ever even realized I was queer. When I found out Hayley had written the novel backstory, I was over the moon to receive an Advanced Reader Copy. The book follows Coley, a young girl who has recently lost her mother and has been forced to move to a small town where she knows no one. She's queer and immediately is attracted to Sonya, one of the first people she meets in town. But Sonya has never been with a girl before and neither of them know if they'll have the confidence to openly show up for each other.

There was a lot of music video nostalgia reading this book and I loved that aspect of it. It's definitely a relatively simple read and I wanted to love it, but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark for me. The ending was incredibly abrupt and I honestly thought I might have received an incomplete copy at first. It left me feeling unresolved and that there was no finale/conclusion to the book. The messaging around being worthy of love is an important one and I hope Hayley writes more in the future as I'd love to see what she comes up with next.

Thank you to Hayley Kiyoko and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

This is a moving story about finding your place in the world and your reality. After losing her mom, Coley is forced to move in with her father, with whom she has never really had a relationship. She also struggles with her sexuality, living in a new town and dealing with her grief while navigating a rocky relationship with her father.