This is the first book that I have read from this series, and I absolutely enjoyed it.
Reading the description, I thought the storyline was going to be different from what it actually was, and I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected. For one, it was very truth of what it’s like to not know what you want to do for the rest of your life, and how much pressure one feels about it all. The experiences were so authentic, that even if the characters were just finishing high school, as a young adult, I definitely related to their problems and claimed them as my current or past ones.

It’s so much more than a love story, as it talks about family relationships, friendships, and how a teenager feels 24/7. The main character has the biggest character development I have read in a long time, but not to the point where she’s not her anymore, but how, as a reader, you expect her to grow.

This was such a great reading! It’s the best book to read for people that are transitioning from high school life to the real world

This series is a quick and easy read for fans of emotional YA and contemporary romances.

Set in a small town on the west coast of Scotland, it follows the story of Gemma Anderson, best friend of Lily Hildebrand from book 1. She's deciding whether she really wants to study music in the city of Glasgow, facing pressure from her family, friends and teachers. It's perfectly relatable and anyone dealing with university choices will know the struggle. Gemma bumps into Lily's ex-boyfriend Jamie, the perfect example of what making the wrong university choice looks like. Jamie decides to move home and he's keen on spending time with Gemma as a refuge from his overbearing parents. As the teens look to the future, they also look to each other and a cute summer romance blossoms.

The Galloway Girls series is a great coming-of-age series that 14-year-olds+ will relate to, especially those in Scotland. A great summer holiday read that I recommend to readers who loved books like Anna and the French Kiss and Everything, Everything.

I gave this book five stars not just for the writing - that was great and you could tell it was written by an accomplished writer. And not just for location (not London, yay! And not even a big city in Scotland, but a small town - brilliant!) and well-developed characters (Lily was particularly well done) but for the content.
There are some amazing authors out there doing hard hitting issue-led YA books but we also really need lots of amazing authors writing about everyday realities, such as uni decisions, in Gemma's Not Sure. I think the content was spot on and the characters felt very authentic. Really, really enjoyed this read. Thanks so much.

I've read 'Lily's Just Fine', and found that although I enjoyed the themes in that book, it wasn't my favourite. I just couldn't find myself truly loving Lily as a character. 'Gemma's Not Sure' was a different kettle of fish. I absolutely adored it! With a five-star rating on Goodreads with a plan to buy both of the books, you know that this series has won me over. I absolutely love Gemma as a character, I love the depth that Gill goes into with each of their backgrounds and what their individual struggles are. I also really enjoyed Jamie as a character as well. The plot was refreshing and honestly felt like a situation that could occur in real life. I really enjoyed this one, and I can only hope that she gets the recognition she deserves. Extremely well written. Please pick up this Scottish delight! It's simply remarkable.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Sweet Cherry Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Though I haven't actually read the first book in this series, I requested this book because the premise sounded exactly like the kind of light, fluffy read I wanted right now. And I was right! Gemma's Not Sure isn't exactly fluff but it is a well-written, enjoyable YA contemporary story centered around a romance. Our two main characters are Gemma, a shy girl struggling to decide what she wants to do when she finishes school, and Jamie, a guy who has started uni and is struggling massively with it. They meet, they start a friendship and our story goes from there.

You couldn't really tell this was a sequel which was something I appreciated. I believe the first book is focused around Lily (a secondary character in this one) and I'm kind of glad I skipped it because she is a pretty unlikeable person. She's not awful but she's not really a good friend to Gemma and I'm not sure I would be invested in a whole book about her. But apart from the odd character not being explained/introduced, this book stands alone pretty well.

The plot is good and it actually goes a bit deeper than I was expecting from the blurb. It's still a light and easy read, but it does deal with several topics not usually covered in YA fiction in terms of life choices and academic struggles. The characters are well-developed and grounded in reality. It doesn't suffer from a lot of the negatives of 'fluffy' YA but has a lot of the positives.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It definitely works as a standalone and I imagine if you enjoyed the first one, this will give you more of the elements you liked. I hope the next book in the series will focus more on Rosie as that was a plot thread left dangling (though I suspect Sarah will be the protagonist). All in all though, this was a great read.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars