A beautiful, heart-breaking novel about love, friendship, and grieving. With chapters flipping between before and after a major accident that leaves one girl dead, we watch a friendship blossom, and our main character struggle with survivors guilt. I couldn't put this book down.

A haunting story that delves into the intricate web of emotions and challenges Rory, the protagonist, must face after an (accidental) overdose, shortly after the traumatic death of her best friend, Liv. Through the lens of life before and after high school graduation, Rory faces the pressures of sexuality, PTSD, and the imperfect dynamics of a single-parent household. The book shines a light on the raw and honest emotions that come with grief and self-discovery as Rory grapples with the reality of being the one who survived, the other half that must live on, and heal after losing Liv.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and Flux for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Cold girls is fast-paced book about grief and friendship told between the year before the worst night and the present. Rory is just trying to live after the worst night. She takes too many Xanax to "sleep" and ends up being forced to go to therapy, where her therapist puts it difficult to keep the walls she had built up.
I really liked the writing although I thought it had too many references in the beginning( also I didn't like the number tattoo on the wrist because of the connections to the Holocaust). The way it goes back and forth really makes you see the friendship they had and connect with Rory. I think it shows a great depiction of grief (that made me cry quite a few times) and the loneliness after losing a loved one .
I really liked the friendship that Rory and Liv had and the way they connect through music through the novel. Also I loved the relation the MC had with her sisters

DNF

I am really confused who the target audience is for this book.

The writing is middle grade but the subject matter and vocabulary is unnecessarily "older". I typically wouldn't recommend a book to 7th-8th graders where the mom casually calls her teenager "motherf*cker" or the kids talk about "f*ckboys with inch-long dicks" but I don't think older teenagers who read novels this long would enjoy the writing style.

Also, no more "not like other girls" thing please. We are past the era of writing protagonists who judge other girls for being "girly".

Finally, not only is there an abundance of pop culture references (which I particularly dislike but others might enjoy), but the references are to things kids in high school right now do not use / understand. Yes, I checked.


Thank you NetGalley and North Star Editions for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Sad gay book is sad. Who would have thought?

Seriously though, this was a roller coaster of emotions and there were so many moments that just hit me like a sledgehammer and I was left sobbing uncontrollably on my bed.
This book feels like it could very easily be adapted into a movie like ‘before I fall’ and it would be an absolute hit before it became too dated, specifically by its pop culture references, which aren’t terrible so much as just a tad bit cliche.
I did absolutely love the music choices throughout the book, there is no way Liv listening to mitski and phoebe bridges wasn’t a nod at her sexuality.
And god the constant reminders of how cold it is experiencing the loss of a loved one, someone who you got out of bed for, how gutted and hollow you become. How Rory and Liv close off the world and become ‘cold girls’ to protect themselves and mask off the world for different reasons. And in doing so Rory learns that it’s unsustainable to pretend to not feel. That feeling emotions and expressing them is one of the most important things a person can do for themselves.

The way Rory idolises Liv really tugged on my heartstrings, as someone who wasn’t very popular. I would often idolise feminist movements and was always looking for people to mirror myself off of to try to fit in because I liked them.

This was a near perfect book for me and I don’t think I will ever get over it.

A haunting, heart-wrenching story about finding the strength to live after unimaginable loss. Rae shows the lonely, internal journey one goes on when grappling with grief and fighting for joy. COLD GIRLS absolutely shook me.

Thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions for providing me with this ARC!

I think 16-year old me would've really enjoyed this book and felt seen. The 25-year old me still appreciated this story but perhaps in a different way than a teenager would so here's my take on this.

The writing was excellent and I had a hard time putting my phone (I read the ebook) down. It immediately draws the reader in and knows how to keep that attention. The time-skips between past and present was very well balanced and I never got the feeling of getting ripped out of a scene prematurely. It was very well done.
The plot was interesting but nothing ground-breaking. It's sad and depressing but hopeful and does everything it is supposed to. The only thing that did stick out to me were the pop culture references and the context of them. It was at times confusing and made me question which generation exactly this was supposed to represent. There were a lot of mismatched references and context clues like make-up/fashion choices. I could imagine the characters resembling a younger me but the language they use is too modern. I understand that it is hard to get things like that right but it will stand out to younger readers and give us a litte bit of second-hand embarrassment.
That being said, I still found the characters to be believable and act in ways that made sense. I also enjoyed most characters for different reasons - Jem was my favourite though. Imagine a man actually respecting your boundaries and not make things awkward afterwards and fully supporting you. Sigh. This is why fictional guys will always be superior.
The romance took more of a backseat to the overall story which I appreciated. Love is love, no matter what kind it is. That's what mattered and I fully stand behind that message.

To sum it up, I really enjoyed this story. It wasn't perfect but absolutely worth 4 stars. Hope some of you get to read this too and find some comfort in it. My inner teenager definitely did.

3.8/5

Cold Girls by Maxine Rae follows Rory before and after the day of her best friend's death. This book is about grief and finding the strength to heal.

I picked this up because I heard that it is sapphic and sad, but if you're thinking of reading for the romance, don't. It is not a romance book, and the romance is pretty much nonexistent. The "sad" part however, is true, especially if you're able to relate to the characters and their struggles.

Overall, I liked this book. It was well written, with developed characters and relationships, as well as realistic portrayal of grief and ptsd. I also liked the way the story was told through split timeline, and with not all the After parts being in order. I don't always like this in books, but here the author really managed to pull it off and I cannot imagine the story being told in any other way.

While the characters are well written and certainly relatable for some, I found them pretty unlikeable and wasn't really able to connect with any of them. The MC didn't treat her friend from the beginning of the book nearly as well as he deserved, and basically abandoned him for her new best friend, or, should I say, a person she idolised. This friendship felt a lot more like an obsession, and was pretty toxic, and annoying at times because of the dialogue and the insane amount of pop culture references.

None of the characters felt like Gen Z, but more of millennials trying to sound and act like gen z and failing miserably. This book could have easily been set sometime earlier than 2018-19 (which I assume is the case because of the amount of times Stranger Things S2 has been mentioned. Also, a ST number wrist tattoo is NOT it..) and it would be a lot more realistic.

I want to thank Flux Books and NetGalley for an early copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

This book was a lot more emotional than I was expecting, but it was still very good. I felt fully invested through all the ups and downs and I liked the way it approached sensitive yet important topics like grief.

This book completely broke my heart.

But it is such an important story for so many.

The author notes, "This novel explores teenage friendship, queerness, grief, mental health, and healing. These topics come up in the book and may be difficult for readers: the loss of a loved one, the memory of sexual harassment, and the experience of panic attacks."

She also shares several places readers may search for help.

And, ultimately, "If you are a young person struggling with their sexuality and/or their gender: You are valid. You are beautiful. Keep breathing and never apologize for who you are."

I was drawn to the cover of COLD GIRLS and the summary, too. Unfortunately I didn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to. I did like the back and forth timelines which allowed us to see the beginning of the story and the 'end'.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flux for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cold Girls is a beautiful, fast-paced and heart-wrenching novel that deals with grief and depression. But it is so much more than that. I'd say this is the epitome of a coming-of-age novel: gives-it-to-you-straight therapist? Check. Feeling lost? Check. "My mom doesn't understand me"? Check. "I miss who I used to be"? Check.

Rory and Liv were best friends in high school, that's until and unimaginable tragedy came to be and left Rory feeling helpless. What is the point of a life without your best friend? Rory doesn't seem to find any. Cold Girls is told in snippets both before and after Liv's passing. In many ways the story ends up feeling like a mystery: what did happen to Liv?

This book completely enthralled me into Rory's inner world and I really did feel for all of the characters in the story. If there's anything stopping me from giving it five stars is that it feels painfully dated, all of the pop culture references took me out of the story. However, that is such a minor thing in the grand scheme of the themes so masterfully explored by Maxine Rae. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books from her. Overall, an entrancing debut that lovers of hard-hitting stories cannot miss.

The most beautiful story about love, death and all things in between. I simply love reading this novel so much, it was sweet it was real and it was love. A coming of age story for teens both queer and not to remember. The perfect quick contemporary read.

Even with such deep subject matter, I just felt like this was almost a parody. A caricature of the teenage experience while trying to cram in as many pop culture references as possible that I can only imagine will not age well.

3.5 stars
this book could’ve been something really special if it wasn’t for the incessant pop culture references.
one of the characters, liv, has a stranger things tattoo - numbers on the inside of her wrist, the viral tattoo that jewish people have repeatedly stated is antisemitic due to its similarities to tattoos forced upon jewish prisoners during the holocaust. this is both insensitive and inappropriate and i don’t think it was a necessary addition to the book.
the book itself is definitely a well written and thought out commentary on grief, lesbianism and obsessive friendships - three of my favourite things to read about. i think if the writer had opted for a more mature writing style then this story would’ve felt like it had more depth to it - however superficial that may be.
i do look forward to reading any future work by this author.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is a touching story, and I appreciated many aspects of it as much as I felt grief strike me square in the face. There is a fantastic portrayal of what life is like while constantly mourning the loss of a loved one. The story is fast-paced, easy to read, and altogether a great book. My major complaint, and what kept me from giving it a higher ranting, is that, despite the fact that the characters are teens, the language became annoying over time, and Liv's remarks were, at times, overbearing.

This book describes what it’s like to lose someone you are really close with and all the feelings you go through on a daily basis after losing them

I had really high hopes for this one. And it wasn’t bad, I just don’t think I vibes with it. I felt like it time jumps were great, and that it would go back and forth before and after The Worst Night. I also liked how you could tell how much they cared for each other as friends first. I was so sad at the ending and sobbed the last 10%.

A nice story but unfortunately I didn't connect with the characters and with the parties/drug/alcohol parts of the book. Maybe I'm too old for this.

This book had a really interesting premise and it fully lived up to my expectations.

No this book wasn't perfect, but for me, a five-star read is one that makes me feel. This is exactly what Cold Girls did. I was ugly crying by the end. The way Rae writes Rory's grief is beautiful and the relationship between Rory and Liv was perfect. I loved how it developed, how it wasn't perfect, and how it was realistic of teenage relationships.

Personally, there were maybe one too many pop-culture references for me. Normally, I prefer more subtle references if they are going to be used. However, I did think it worked in this book and I felt like they helped to develop the characters.

Even with things that would normally make this a 3 or 4 star read, I just can't give it less than five. If a book makes me cry, its a five star read. Those are the rules!

This will definitely be a book that I purchase a physical copy of! Plus the cover is gorgeous 💖