Sweet, queer found family ft highschoolers in Texas. Hopeful, but somewhat grounded. I think this would be a great book for a queer teenager who feels that weird sense of anything being possible, just maybe not right now. That being said, I'm an adult, and I enjoyed this book.

I saw on the author's Twitter that they wrote this book while they were in high school, and that made a lot of sense to me. The characters and their concerns felt very teenage, but not necessarily in a bad way. I don't know that the writing was impeccable, but I thought it showed a lot of promise. There were some moments that I thought were really poetic. If this is what the author can do as a teenager, I'm really excited what they can do in a few years.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media Recorded Books for access to the audiobook!

This was a cute book with a good plot. I felt the side characters were not too fleshed out and similarly about the lead character. Overall though, loved to hear queer joy be captured and the passion to capture your community.

(PS this audiobook was really good!!)

This book follows a trio of queer girls who are best friends as they face their last semester of high school and everything that comes with it! They are:

Dawn, a filmmaker, who is making a documentary in hopes of winning the grand prize in a film festival - a scholarship to film school. She's a caretaker to her aging, depressed father, and is relying on financial help to allow her to leave the household, let alone go to school. She is dealing with a string of boys who don't respect her. She's also trans, which is "revealed" pretty far into the book, which I actually found to be a really natural and subtle introduction to that part of her character.

Georgia, who is trying to get off the waitlist at her one remaining college she didn't get rejected from. She wants to be a poet, but doesn't have the most confidence in her work at the beginning of the book. She's happily romantically involved with a girl named Jill. She lives with her mom, just the two of them, and when her mom's new boyfriend starts being very inappropriate with her, she's really torn on what to do.

Edie, who lives in a really traditional and religious household. She's dating Ben, a nonbinary person, and Ben wants to meet her parents, because they are kind of like, in love with Edie! But Edie really wants to keep her lives separate and it's definitely beginning to be detrimental on her relationship with Ben. She's good with school, almost too good, because it has resulted in her believing it's the only thing that makes her of value to her parents and is obsessed with their perception of her.

They support each other throughout all of the aforementioned issues and stressors, and they just reflect the queer love, platonic this time, that the book is themed around. The representation is beautiful, the friendships are so strong, the life circumstances are realistic, and yeah, I just recommend it!

I always enjoy stories about young adults navigating their way though this complex world, and that is what Dale Walls delivers in The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay. There's a lot to like about these characters and their relationships. My major issue is just in how complicated the plot became at several places in the story.

Luckily for me, I did the audio version which is nicely performed by Tamika Katon-Donegal. They have some great voices for this varied cast, and added wonderful expression to the dialogue.

A real favorite! Absolutely everything about this novel is perfect. First there's Dawn, who enters an audiovisual competition with a documentary on queer love. She asks her classmates about queer love, for which she longs. And then there's her best friend Georgia, who has to deal with her mother's conquests and her inability to find someone who's right for her - and especially a man who Georgia thinks deserves her. She's also navigating her relationship with her girlfriend, and her passion for poetry, all the while wondering if she'll ever get accepted to college. And finally, there's Edie, in a relationship with a non-binary person, Ben, and who doesn't assume her queer identity to her very conservative parents, creating complications in her relationship. So this novel is about these relationships, but also very much about the strong love that binds these three girls trying to navigate the complex ocean of high school. The tone was spot-on, the "testimonies" were easy to identify with, and I really wish I could have read this book ten years ago, when I was their age!

A beautiful story of the joys and struggles of queer teenagehood, told by 3 characters trying to make their mark in the world and find themselves (and love) along the way.

I think this one could've been a 5 star read for me had the story been told from a singular perspective. Whilst I loved learning about all the characters, I think that the switch between perspectives often threw me outside the world of the story. Experiencing this book as an audio arc helped remedy this—as I had originally started reading it digitally and couldn't wrap my mind around it all—though I don't know that the 3 voices were the best choice in line with the fairly fast pacing of the plot.

TQGIGTBO is both a heart-warming and heart-achingly raw story that explores a variety of important topics whilst also retaining a sort of humour, making the reading experience both impactful and refreshing all at once. Despite this, some of the experiences our main characters go through are extremely traumatic, so this is a book I would implore you to go into with an understanding of the content/trigger warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

The Queer Girl Is Going To Be Okay has a lot of great points: queer MCs including a trans female MC and sapphic characters, talking about being queer in this world. There's a focus on friendships, sorority, which I love!
And yet I just couldn't quite get into it, I couldn't quite care so much about any of them.
Maybe the documentary plot could have been a bit more developed?

“the queer girl is going to be alright” follows three seniors as they deal with different difficulties together and separately. i thought this was well written and I enjoyed the character arcs but felt that it could’ve done with a bit more development. a few extra chapters could’ve gone a long way here. despite that, this was a quick queer read that I ended up really liking. the relationships were complex and tough at times but the progression was lovely.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Y'all. This is one of those books where I understand its each and every flaw (more on that in a minute) but can't rate it anything but five stars. You HAVE to read this if you are a: a) queer teen, b) queer person who happened to once be a teen (which would be all of us), and c) person with taste. I am in love with Dale Walls' writing style; the way they brought me back to high school through their words (not that anyone would want to go back to high school) is pure talent. They expertly capture the teen girl experience in general and specifically the queer teen girl experience (I can't speak to the queer teen of color experience as a white person, but I imagine they expertly capture this as well). I think adults tend to forget how teen girls face complex issues (issues we might classify as "adult" issues) and all-consuming emotions, questions about a daunting, unknown future, first loves and heartbreaks, and external and internal pressures to "succeed," whatever that means. So yes, the main characters experience a lot of compounding, sometimes unresolved, issues, but this is exactly what it is like to be a teen girl. It's chaotic.

This book stars three queer teen girls of color in Texas. Dawn is an aspiring documentarian, filming a documentary (called The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay) about queer teens in her area, hopefully earning a scholarship to college for next year. She lost her mom as a child, and her dad is mentally ill. She, as the child, worries about taking care of him. Edie is a closeted queer girl living in an extremely religiously conservative family. She is dating Ben, who is nonbinary, and their relationship is fraught because Edie can't introduce them to her parents. Georgia lives with a single mom who she can talk to about anything. Her mom starts dating someone, who is a little... weird. She is a lesbian and dating Jill, a junior. She is not too focused on college, and she's worried about her friends leaving her behind next year because she hasn't gotten into any schools yet.

My favorite thing about this book, hands down? The queer friendships. Dawn, Georgia, and Edie are the most perfectly imperfect leads, and I loved how they unconditionally supported one another while also calling each other out on their mistakes.

EVEN THOUGH this is a five+ star book to me, there are some things I simultaneously liked and didn't like (and some things I'm undecided on). I LOVED all three leads, BUT having three leads (triple POV) is a lot. From the book's synopsis, it sets Dawn up to be the primary character, since she is the documentarian, but the book itself gives just as much "screentime" to Edie and Georgia's POVs. Going into the book, I thought it would be mainly about Dawn filming her documentary, and although each chapter starts with the number of days until the deadline and then the film festival, the book doesn't feel like it's ABOUT her documentary so much as the intricacies of their daily lives. I think Dawn finishes the documentary halfway into the book, so I was thinking, "What now?"

Some minor notes: It might be because I was listening to the audio and didn't catch all the details, but I had no idea Dawn was a trans girl until over halfway into the book (I had found this out from someone else's review before this point). I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it solidifies Dawn as a typical teenager girl before revealing she is trans (which might be mind-blowing to transphobes/TERFs), but on the other, it would have been nice to know more about her queerness. We hear about everyone else's queerness throughout the book but not Dawn's. I'm not sure if this was an intentional choice on the author's part, but I don't think it's meant to be some "gotcha" moment (which is why I don't think it's a spoiler to label Dawn as trans in this review).

Also, again, this might be because I only listened to audio, but although I could identify Dawn on the cover, I had no idea which girl was Edie and which was Georgia. I don't recall if Dale had any identifying physical traits, but I did have them switched in my head. (For anyone else who is confused, I'm fairly positive Edie is on the left and Georgia is on the right).

Finally, can this PLEASE be an actual documentary? I would pay money that I do not have to make that happen.

Notes on the audio: I LOVED the narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal. She nailed the three POVs, which is difficult as a single narrator. She gave everyone a different voice, and I was never confused about who was speaking. She's clearly a very talented actress, and I would read ANY audiobook narrated by her. Seriously. She was THAT good.

Thank you to RB Media for the audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

ALL THE FEELS! I don’t even know where to begin with this book. I was first drawn in by the title and cover alone. And well…let me just say that it lived up to its cover design and thensome! Dale Walls hit it out of the part with this debut novel!

This story is about friendship and love and growing up and queerness in all its varied and beautiful and messy forms. But the part of this story that stood out to me the most was just this underlying message of love and what it means and how it feels and the ways it affects us - both when we have it and when we don’t.

The story follows three best friends who are seniors in high school preparing for life beyond this chapter of their lives and wading through the complexities of adolescence, friendship, identity, and growing up. Dawn is a hispanic trans girl and filmmaker caring for her depressed father after her mom’s death. Georgia is a black lesbian with a single mom who is falling for her girlfriend, Jill and struggling to get into college. Edie is Asian and queer from a super religious family and dating Ben who is non-binary. Talk about representation!

Throughout the story we get each of the three girls' perspectives which I really enjoyed. It added layers and parts to the story we would not have gotten otherwise. We get to see each of their internal struggles, experience their friendship, and witness their relationships with their friends and families.

A large part of the storyline revolves around Dawn’s documentary, “The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay.” And you actually get to hear snippets from some of her interviews about what these young people think and feel about queerness and love. It is beautiful and profound and will break your heart and mend it together all at the same time. Just like the book as a whole.

Tamika Katon-Donegal’s narration was great - each character had their own unique voice.

I’ve never read a book quite like this before. It was beautifully queer and diverse and just spectacular. I will definitely be reading Dale Walls again!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the found family and the friendships with the main characters. I really enjoyed the audio book narrator and how all of the characters had very distinct voices.

This review is a bit late cause I didn't get the audiobook when I was suppose to! However, this was such an easy read! I have about an hour left of the audiobook and it's just such a great story exploring a group of girls as they navigate being queer in the world. The trans rep is just amazing.
All the characters are so loveable and I LOVED the film contest
added such a great depth to the plot.

The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay shares its name with the name of a documentary by one of Dawn, a highschooler hoping to go to film school. Her documentary focuses on defining 'queer love' by interviewing people in her life that have it. We see many thought provoking and sometimes poetic snippets of these interviews throughout the book. Dawn's best friends Edie and Georgia, of course, support Dawn's work and dream. We also see a large chunk of the friend's lives: Edie comes from a conservative religious family makes her anxious in her relationship with nonbinary partner, Ben & Georgia who struggles with her mother's creepy new boyfriend.

What I found interesting in this book was that we got to see a glimpse into the lives of a vast diversity of LGBTQIA+ characters and that we what we saw wasn't all sunshine and roses - the characters had/have some real obstacles to overcome. I also liked the thread of friendship through the novel - it was great to see Dawn, Edie, and Georgia accept and support each other for who they are. I loved rooting for them and seeing their wins.

I felt sometimes the stories were a bit cramped into the novel though and I would have really loved to see the characters each have their own novel or novella so we could see even more of their individual stories. I feel this would have also helped the book not seem like it was taking on too many stories at a time.

Would recommend for teens looking for LGBT titles about friendship and getting ready for college, and for teens looking for novels with more than one main character. I listened to the book but would not recommend this as an audio because there are so many different characters / voices that it was at times difficult to identify who was speaking.

Thank you to NetGallery & Recorded Books for the ARC.

"It's about love. But really it is about our love for each other."

The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay by Dale Walls was a sweet YA read that looked at all of the ways queer teens experience love. I appreciated the effort that was put in by the author to respectfully represent the LGBTQ+ community. This is the kind of book that we need to get into the hands of children. The audiobook really added to the story, Tamika Katon-Donegal does an amazing job giving life to the diverse cast of characters within this story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows 3 friends Dawn, Georgia and Edie.Dawn is working on a film about queer love which could help her get a scholarship and a fresh start. Georgia has a difficult home life and struggling to get through college admissions. Edie has to hide who she is and who she loves due to her overly religious parents.

Told from each POV we get to discover their friendship, struggles with love, and navigating their last year of high school. I loved the friendship in this book and how they supported each other. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to listen to the ALC while reading the book.

Thank you Hear Our Voices Tours, Levine Querido and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is told through the POVs of 3 friends in high school - Dawn, Georgia and Edie. I wasn't expecting 3 POVs because it's not mentioned in the synopsis, but it was a nice surprise. Another surprise is that Dawn is a trans girl, which is great. We need more books about trans girls.

Probably my favourite thing about this book was the relationship between the three girls, though, ad their friendship is rock-solid and it's not one of those YA books where they have a fight and stop talking to each other for most of the book before making up just before the end. Their relationship is steady through the whole book and they're always there to help each other and cheer each other on.

Though the story is told form all 3 girls' POVs, Dawn definitely feels like the main character. The story starts when they find out Dawn might get her documentary film into a film competition that could win her a scholarship for a film school in Austin. Each chapter starts saying how many days there are until the deadline for the film entry, and in between chapters there are sometimes some interviews she's done with people for the film (which is about queer love).

Each girl is dealing with some kind of relationship trouble and family trouble. I felt like Dawn's storyline had the most happening in it - she has to get her film finished; her father is bipolar and depressed and she has to look after him on top of her school work and the film; she goes on a date with a guy that seems nice until he says something super transphobic; and she starts talking to a guy online that's also participating in the film competition. Her plot line is packed with stuff happening.

Georgia's storyline revolves mainly around her mom and her mom's new boyfriend who keeps doing things that makes Georgie REALLY uncomfortable, but she doesn't know how to tell her mom this because she wants her mom to be happy. She also has a love of poetry but never shares her poems with anyone other than Dawn and Edie, and that plotline finishes off in a nice way. However, she has a girlfriend from the beginning of the book and the girlfriend only pops up in the story maybe three times, so that part of her plot felt a bit lacklustre.

Edie's plot feels the most underdeveloped of all of them. She's dating a non-binary person but hasn't come out to her parents or introduced her datemate to her parents because they're very controlling parents. She has good grades because her parents expect that from her. Edie then breaks up with her datemate after she kind of asks them to pretend to be cis so she can introduce them to her family, and then spends most of the book feeling sad about the breakup. Her storyline with the datemate gets resolved before the end of the book, but the family part of her story never really feels finished to me.

I will admit, I did struggle a bit with the audiobook with keeping track of which character's storyline was which. I kept getting them all confused, and I think this would have been a lot easier to keep track of if there had been a different narrator for each character POV, instead of just one. That said, the narrator did do a good job with the different voices and had a nice voice, I would listen to something performed by her again.

This book really explains what it’s like being queer in the south. All of the characters felt like people I would have gone to school with. I do think that this book could have been a little bit longer however. But all in all it was a good book & I definitely recommend it!

Thank you so much for this ARC I loved it!! As a queer female who calls Texas her home I found these stories so relatable! Being able to get a glimpse into to many different sides of the LGBTQIA+ community was my favorite part of this book. I will definitely be recommending it to all of my friends!

The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay is a touching and joyous story of queer friendship and girlhood set in the vibrant city of Houston.

Queer Love is something Dawn wants, desperately, but does not have. Maybe, if she can capture it, film it, and interview the people who have it, queer love will be hers someday. Or at least she’ll have made a documentary about it. A documentary that, hopefully, will win Dawn a scholarship to film school. Many obstacles stand in the way of completing her film, but her best friends Edie and Georgia are there to help her reach her goal, no matter what it takes.

Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books and Netgalley for a arc of The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay
by Dale Walls in exchange for my honest opinion. I really enjoyed this story of three friends and the differences each one of them were facing