Overall this book was entertaining, and it’s something I would have loved to have available 10 years ago when I had a harder time finding books about 2 girls falling in love.
But as it compares to similar books, I feel like this one was not very well thought out, the characters have little personality and are defined more by their interests than their actual personalities, and they had little reason to fall in love. The story even partly relied on a love at first sight.
What I liked most was that this book has a plotline of one girl not being able to be out, and the other having to realize that her partner not being able to be out is more important, for safety, than herself wanting to be out about their relationship.
So it did have important messages, I just found that the story could have been more developed.

So here’s the thing: I have had this book on my shelf for a long time now and I have not once attempted to read it. I’m so sorry for accepting the request on this and not reading it but I can only blame my baby Bookstagrammer self who was so excited to be a part of the Penguin Teen influencer list and requested all the books.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I love this book! Jennifer has done it again! This book is a masterpiece of its own. If you looking for a good book with represtation this is the book for you

This book is a cute YA sapphic romance between two struggling teens in the prime of their youth. Between sports and school, these girls have alot going on and find themselves drawn to each other. This was definitely a quick and enjoyable read.

DNF @ 50%

I really like the representation in this book but I cannot deal with the decision making of the two main characters. This one is just not for me!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the idea of it and the cover. My only complaint is how I felt like it was slow in some parts. That could have been from me being in a slight reading slump, but other than that I really liked this book!

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC of this book!

This book is 100 percent adorable. I absolutely loved it. I ended up not getting around to it before release day and was able to get the audio from my library, and the narrators are so good. I love a dual POV story, especially in a YA novel.

I really enjoyed everything about this book and thought it was binge-worthy.

This YA contemporary follows two girls named Morgan and Ruby, Ruby competes in pageants (her mom’s dream, not hers) and loves fixing cars. Morgan is a track star and out lesbian who transfers to Ruby’s high school after problems at Morgan’s old conservative Catholic high school led to her family suing the school. Ruby is instantly interested in Morgan - but she’s not out, and can’t risk letting anyone know her feelings.

I enjoyed this book, and it had me feeling a lot of feelings. I liked following both Ruby and Morgan’s journeys, and seeing both someone who was very out and someone who was not ready to be. I was a little worried at Morgan pushing Ruby, but she did acknowledge that what she did was wrong so I appreciated that, I also liked the inclusion of queer characters who were at different places in their journeys and comfort with being out.

I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed, and I would have liked it to delve a little deeper with Morgan reflecting on how she pushed Ruby to come out and how Ruby’s situation was different than hers.

rating: 3.5/5

Ruby’s mother gave up her beauty queen dreams when she got pregnant and has now passed those dreams down to her daughter. Ruby loves her mother, but fulfilling her dreams means Ruby has to hide her own. She has gotten so good at hiding what she wants that not even she really knows.

Morgan is ready for a new start and done hiding, she is out and proud to be. With a lawsuit still chaining her to her past, and clouding her future, her new start is facing more speed bumps than she expected. Despite the challenges in her life she can’t change, Morgan is determined to do some good for the queer community.

When Morgan aims her crusading spirit at Ruby, it will make Ruby have to decide whether she wants to keep hiding or finally reach for her own dreams. 🌈

4/5⭐ to Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan. Thank you so much to Penguin Teen Canada and Netgalley for an egalley copy to review! I must say, I was so freaking excited for this next book from Jennifer, and for the most part, it totally lived up to the hype. Was it a favourite of 2021? Unfortunately not. There were definitely other books (specifically YA Contemporaries) where I loved it more and rooted for the main couple more. That being said, I do still highly, highly recommend it and Dugan is still an auto-buy author for me. I really did have a wonderful time reading Some Girls Do and I thought Morgan and Ruby were an adorable couple. I also thought this book had a lot of merit in terms of its representation and some of the conversations characters had and learned from. I'd like to preface this with the context that Morgan & Ruby come from completely different backgrounds: Morgan's family is quite well-to-do and are supportive of her to the point where they are suing her old school for kicking her off the track team for being queer while Ruby is very closeted in a homophobic & emotionally abusive situation. One of the continuing conversations that Morgan & Ruby have as their relationship develops is whether Ruby will come out so that they don't have to hide their relationship anymore. From what I felt (and from reading other reviews, what others felt) Morgan never truly understood where Ruby was coming from in staying closeted or respecting that choice with the pressure she put on Morgan who did eventually come out. As much as it probably should have been made clearer for younger readers that this kind of pressure can be harmful and damaging to a relationship, I do think it provides a valuable topic of conversations for teens & others who read it (ex. how would you feel about the pressure Morgan is putting on Ruby if you were in Ruby's position? what would you do differently?). Overall, I loved to see their relationship grow and develop as the girls discover their love for each other. I also really cheered Morgan and Ruby on as they overcame their situations, Morgan suing her old school and Ruby coming to terms with her identity and difficult home situation. Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the garage scenes as it was so amazing to see Ruby totally in her element and comfortable as well as have a positive parental/mentor figure in her ex-step dad Billy. Please check this book out, and I will be eagerly anticipating Jennifer's next book!

“Love is letting someone have the power to hurt you in ways you haven’t even thought of yet.”

Thank you @putnam @netgalley for this #gifted copy.

What do want? QUEER ROMANCE. When do we want it? NOW. I am loving the queer romances that are making their way out into the world. The one thing that I absolutely adored about Some Girls Do is the themes of coming out and owning your own coming out story.

We followed Morgan who is a track athlete who is forced to transfer high schools in her senior year because her Catholic School views being queer is against the schools code of conduct. This puts Morgan’s future on a big pause. All the plans that were already set in motion for college and her playing D1 had to seize because Morgan was standing up for herself and other queer schools forced to remain in the closet.

Then we have Ruby who competes in local beauty pageants and is high key obsessed with cars. She is stuck in a world where she is chasing her mothers dream and she is just miserable about it. Petrified that her secret of being bisexual will come out, Ruby tries her hardest to hide it.

That becomes difficult when she literally runs into Morgan….with her car. The chemistry is there, and their feelings are undeniable. The road isn’t easy, there are moments where Ruby not being out seems like it will be the end of it all. But with each of them tackling beasts of different worlds, will they stand the test of time?

First I liked very much how this book explore that coming out is different for everybody. Some are up front, some don’t declare it but don’t deny it, some aren’t out because of safety reasons and so many other circumstances .This is a sweet emotional story of family and support.

Best book I've read this year. Wonderful contemporary about sexuality and orientation and heteronormativity in a somehow abusive household. Dual pov and a jock x beauty queen dynamic

DNF, i couldn’t make it through, I just wasn’t vibing with the story and although I thought this was something I would
enjoy, the authors writing is not for me.

I was very cautious going into this, but I think that Dugan did a really wonderful job giving me a romance I rooted for; not only when they were getting together but even once they had broken up. I felt that they did a really good job in making the thing that broke them up believable but then also had both characters grow from that to a point where them getting back together felt earned and like the kind of thing that fit their character. It was great. I'm still sort of amazed at how they were able to pull that off. It's definitely worth commending. And it's a book I would actively encourage others to pick up if they were looking for a sapphic YA title.

LOVEEE. I read this a bit ago but I remember absolutely loving it. I was constantly rooting for them and loved what it said about accepting yourself.

Morgan is a track star who had to transfer from her Catholic private school to a public high school after coming out as gay. Being queer was against her school’s code of conduct, so Morgan chose to leave the school so she could be herself. On her first day at the new school, Morgan meets Ruby, a beauty pageant competitor who likes to tinker with cars. Morgan and Ruby are instantly attracted to each other, but Ruby isn’t out of the closet, so she keeps her mysterious feelings for Morgan a secret. As Morgan becomes more comfortable with her queer identity, Ruby gets more scared to show her true self. Both girls have to decide how much they’re willing to risk for their relationship.

This was such a sweet romance. Though Morgan and Ruby had lots of differences, I was rooting for them to be together. They made up for each other’s weaknesses, so they made a really good couple.

This story dealt with some serious issues, such as homophobia, particularly in schools. Some characters mentioned hiding their queer identity until they were finished high school, so they didn’t draw attention to themselves. That’s so heartbreaking, to think that some kids don’t feel comfortable enough in their own school. This was a huge problem at Morgan’s previous school, where she was harassed for being queer to the point where she had to leave the school and jeopardize her future as a track star. Schools need to be a safe place for all students, regardless of their identities.

Some Girls Do is a beautiful queer YA romance!

Thank you Penguin Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved Jennifer Dungan’s Hot Dog Girl and this one was a lot more emotional but still very good. I love how Dungan can write such flawed characters that you can’t help but love.

Both Morgan and Ruby has some serious communication issues, but I felt this was a real picture of many teens. Being in a relationship is new to both of them. Put queerness on top of that, especially for two people at very different stages of accepting their queer identity and it’s going to be a minefield of emotions.

Morgan is now fully out and proud, dealing with a public legal battle with her old school. She’s determined to make a difference in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. She’s also had a bad experience with a former friend who wasn’t out that left her crushed, and feeling like she was some straight girl’s experiment. Ruby is barely surviving. She’s known at school as “trash” for sleeping around, a reputation that she hates. Her mom is super controlling forcing her to live out her old dreams by forcing Ruby into participating in beauty pageants all the time. They struggle for money and Ruby just doesn’t see a way out. On top of that, Ruby is really struggling with her understanding her sexuality. She likes Morgan so much but isn’t sure how to express that since she’s never liked anyone enough to want to be in a relationship. It’s why she’s only ever engaged in friends-with-benefits arrangements.

So their situations are completely opposite. They both try to mold the other person to fit their idea of how the relationship should be. Morgan is out and wants Ruby to be out. Identity labels freak Ruby out and she’s not sure if it’s safe for her to as she might get kicked out, and then what? They both play games with each other and don’t communicate what their expectations of the other are.

I felt the author did an excellent job of depicting the nuances of queer visibility and how everyone’s path to coming out (to one’s self or publicly) can be wildly different. Having a relationship when one person is out and the other isn’t is requires a lot of honest communication and seeing these two work out their issues was great to see.

My criticism is that two have very insta-lovey beginning. There’s immediate attraction but they aren’t hooking up or professing their love for each other right off the bad. It was a little unrealistic but not annoying. The actual relationship developed gradually.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I especially love the tone of the book. It keeps a lighter tone even as it talks about serious issues and can get quite emotional at times.

CW: Alcoholism (possibly with the adults), underage drinking, slut shaming (challenged), unintentional outing, non consensual kiss (challenged), homophobia

<i>*Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me an arc to review.</i>