I am someone who devours queer romance stories. I read them left and right, day and night, they are my absolute favorite genre. That being said, while I enjoyed this book it was fairly lackluster. I enjoyed the characters and their relationship but it didn't quite have a spark for me like other LGBTQ+ books do. It's my belief that the writing was a bit too flat and while the characters were humanized, they weren't entirely three dimensional. With just a little more it would have been that much better.

Something About Her is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about Aisling, a girl growing up in Ireland whose learning about her sexuality and what it means.

After escaping her abusive household, Aisling is now in Edinburgh attending University. One evening she attends a poetry night with the Writers Society and this is where she meets Maya.

As soon as they meet, everything changes. ✨💖

This book was very sweet, but also surprisingly challenging. There are topics of abuse, both physical and psychological, that had me holding my breath. I was heartbroken for Aisling and her childhood. The anger I felt for her was very real!

I also enjoyed, but was a little nervous about her relationship with Maya. It was very clear Aisling should seek therapy and she wasn’t. I was concerned about how their relationship was going to unfold. I felt as though it couldn’t end well because of how they both were as people.

DNF at 27%.

I thought this was fine, but it definitely felt like a debut novel. I was lacking any connection with the main characters, and even though there were things hinted at as to way one of the main characters was the way she was, I didn't get enough about it to keep me invested. The coincidences felt too purposeful, and the prose a little bit too cliché in the bits that I read.

I heard this compared to Sally Rooney and Nina Lacour, and I hope it's off of more than just that it involves an Irish main character, and is about a lesbian and a bisexual who get into a relationship.

Set in Edinburgh, which I think I could have liked, it just didn't grab me the way I had hoped. Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! This title published today, November 7, 2023.

thank you for the arc! while the writing was done really well, i feel like the romance fell flat at times. the story ended very suddenly and didn't seem to tie up loose ends.

Stars: 2.75/5.0

The story has the potential to be a beautiful coming-of-age story about a WLW relationship and healing from the trauma of one's childhood, but it falls a bit flat. I wanted to like this story, and I think if it had more workshopping, I would. But I struggle with the story because it feels like it's not complete. I am usually fine with having this open-ended ending where it leaves you questioning what could come next for the characters, but this book felt like it just ended in the middle of the ending.

I struggled with a lot of the writing because it would at times feel like there was so much time dedicated to creating the atmosphere and describing details, but for a story so short, there's not the space for that kind of writing. It often made me just kinda gloss over parts of the ending because I wanted to connect more to the characters instead. Yet this character connection remained missing.

I definitely will keep following Clementine Taylor's work as I think there is so much potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really apprecitaed so much of the beginning and middle of this book. The experiences this book showed of coming to terms with one's queer identity felt really raw and I really related to those aspects of the story.

Overall I think there were moments of the plot I felt a bit confused by, but for me that felt reasonable with a story of younger women.

I really wanted to love this coming of age Sapphic romance debut that sees two college girls falling in love and bonding over poetry. Through alternating POVs, we get two know Irish Aisling and Scottish Maya as they come from two very different families and struggle with self love and acceptance as well as the challenge of loving each other.

Usually this type of story is right up my alley but I really had a difficult time getting invested in their relationship. The last two chapters are also a unique blend of the two girl's POVs where you don't really know whose thoughts are whose, which I found an interesting choice made by the author.

Okay on audio narrated by Helena Wilson and Róisín Rankin. Recommended for fans of books like Lovesick blossoms or authors like Clare Ashton. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a heartbreaking story about first love.

While the literary prose was gorgeous and sprinkled throughout with lovely lines, the overall story fell short for me.

Aisling’s character was a significant standout. I suffered along with her pain empathetically. But also needed to remind myself of her young age and family trauma that prevented her from communicating.

The final part of the novel left me wanting. I understand all stories aren’t wrapped up together neatly but the love and angst between Maya and Aisling had me hoping for some sort of resolution.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was painfully good. Painful because of the alcoholic mother and harmful family dynamic that one of the protagonists grows up with and has to figure out how to live with, and good because of the love stories that emerge with protagonists. As a fan of Normal People, Derry Girls, and other Irish literature/stories, I enjoyed that this was set in Ireland. I would recommend this to fans of The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer and other campus love stories with a dark side.

DNF @ 55%

This novel wasn't for me. The plot was slow-moving and uninteresting. Also, I didn't connect with the characters. Everyone was so wooden and boring. The prose was the biggest letdown. Very clunky and disjointed writing.

TW: Physical & mental abuse, alcoholism

If I had to convey this book in one, short sentence it would be: Imagine if Normal People was sapphic!

Something About Her follows two young narrators through one timeline. Aisling comes from a rough home and is trying to figure out herself and come to terms with her sexuality (she likes girls). She’s leaving her home in Ireland and heading off to college in Scotland. While there, she meets the effervescent Maya and they become quick friends.

I really love the writing style and think Clementine Taylor turned some really beautiful phrases. I did notice myself getting slightly annoyed at some of the actions of the characters, but had to remind myself that they are around ages 18-20 and of course they still have a lot to figure out. This book felt true to young female friendship as well as being young and in love, with all the stumbles that come along with that. I’m excited to see what this author puts out next!

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are many moments in this book enjoyed. The author has a knack for making you feel what the characters feel. I related a lot to Maya and Aisling and I thought the author showed some real talent with some of the imagery she used. Unfortunately, other parts of the book were confusing and felt almost unnecessary. It did not really take off and become enjoyable for me until a quarter of the way in. At about halfway I was pretty invested and I had higher hopes. The end of this story threw me completely. It almost felt like the author gave up. There wasn't even a fight, it was just over for the characters. I think it could have been more. The abuse Aisling suffered, the lack of communication between everyone in the end... It just felt like nothing was resolved or finished before the book was done and I'm left needing some closure here. Overall, I think the author is talented but didn't really hit the mark.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!

This is a really beautiful story that was so raw and real. I cried many times throughout reading the book, but it was such a fantastic story. The characters felt so real and relatable. I enjoyed the themes of the story including, personal growth, finding yourself, healing from trauma, discovering your identity, and finding love. Something that I didn't like was the ending because I prefer a more definitive ending to a story. Overall, this was a really wonderful story.

Incredibly underwhelming with a jarring end. There wasn't nearly enough character development and Aisling and Maya's relationship was also underdeveloped. Overall, Taylor didn't offer enough material for readers to be fully invested in Aisling or Maya as individual characters and their relationship. Some character quirks were meaningless and added nothing to the story or the character development itself. Overall just a disappointment.

Overall, I really wanted to like this book, but it felt like the character development was lacking and that the entire book skated along the surface instead of actually diving into the story or the characters. The main characters are overall likable, but them (and the story) are quite flat.

*4.5*
Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
This is a book that will be sticking with me for a long time. Dual POV is done perfectly with extremely raw emotion and an accurate portrayal of complicated relationships. Would recommend it to any Sally Rooney fans or fans of LQBTQIA+ novels.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Aisling grew up in an angry uptight Catholic home in County Clare, with a violent, alcoholic mother, a father and grown siblings whose collective failure to defend her makes them complicit in her abuse. Before leaving home for uni, her girlfriend Orla was the only source of compassion. The author Clementine Taylor compares Aisling’s parents to Orla’s, and most other characters throughout the book. All three of Aisling’s older siblings have left home for Dublin.

Maya grew up in a loving, prosperous, and happy London home. Her boyfriend Ethan is a childhood friend, similarly loved, prosperous, and happy, but Maya's misgivings about their relationship trouble her from deep in her subconscious causing her to over-drink, doubt herself, and hide from reality. Until the day she meets Aisling in Edinburgh, at university, and everything changes for both of them.

I thought it kind of weird when posh Ethan opened a bottle of wine at home and drank straight from it, without pouring himself a glass; also quite coincidental that Maya and Ash both take so to cold water. I found the attachment and abandonment issues touched on to be fascinating, and wished they might have been hashed out a bit more, this is an excellent first novel. The tumult of emotions, the highs and lows of new love of every stripe, seen through the prism of youth where ones self-identity is still being formed, and relies so heavily on ones peers and their expectations or more realistically how they perceive their peers’ expectations, all are captured here perfectly.

I saw so much of myself in Aisling, and her struggles are definitely something I relate to. I was afraid this book would really crush me but instead it gave me a hug. I did have some issues with the way the peer pressure was depicted but otherwise I think this was a really good book and it did leave me a little teary-eyed.

I will be looking forward to reading more by Clementine Taylor!

unfortunately, this is just not well written (the criticism it feels the meanest to give). it does a lot of junior-level writing pitfalls: the avoidance of said, lots of looks descriptions, some darlings that should have been killed. everything seems to be going really quite well, and then suddenly someone does something quite unforgivable, out of nowhere and inexplicably, and less than ten pages later the book ends. unfortunately debut doesn't begin to explain it away: this was underedited by a lot. i just felt like i needed more.