I thought Girls Who Lie Together was delightful. It was the teenage drama that I live for. It read like my favourite early 2000s Teenie films only with smartphones. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to get this as a print edition.

"𝗦𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗯𝘆𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗺𝗲."

Long story short, I loved this. It was an absolutely incredible summer read, and I never wanted it to end.

Summary:
When seventeen-year-old Renata Carpenter hijacked her stepdad’s classic car, she hadn’t planned on totaling it and landing her best friend in a cast from hip to heel. She definitely hadn’t planned on being sent to a work program in New Orleans as punishment. And she certainly hadn’t planned on falling in love. But Ren’s summer of forced manual labor has a bright side: her name is Brit, and she’s everything Ren never knew she needed.

First love becomes first heartbreak when their summer romance comes to a crashing close earlier than anticipated. Adding insult to injury, Ren’s break-up with Brit is followed by a big move to a small town.

As if starting senior year completely alone isn’t bad enough, Ren soon discovers that the Hell on Heels mean girl who rules Sun Ridge Prep with an iron fist and a vicious tongue is none other than her first love. Too bad this Brit is far from lovable.

But Ren knows the girl beneath the façade, and she refuses to give up on rekindling their relationship. Secretly, the girls pick up where they left off, falling deeper in love and risking it all to be together. But when their affair is exposed by Brit’s boyfriend, Ren and Brit are faced with the ultimate choice: love or acceptance.

Because they certainly can’t have both.

I got the book for free, in exchange for my honest opinion by NetGalley.

This book was supposed to be a cross between "Grease" and "Mean Girls." I certainly didn't get any "Grease" vibes from the story, unless I'm thinking of something completely different. And the "Mean Girls" thing was running for Homecoming Queen. There were a few typos in the book and chapters repeating itself, example: There were two Chapter 13s. There is some drug use and a character keeps making homophobic slurs. All in all it wasn't a bad read, the ending was heartwarming but I'm not sure if it's something I would read again

<i>Thank you NetGalley, Jessa Russo and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this eARC.</i>

This story definitely drew me in, and I had trouble putting the book down, so that's definitely saying something. I confess, I was caught off guard when I got to the table of contents and saw over 50 chapters, which seemed like an awful lot for a high school romance, and while I'm not sure it was actually that long (ebooks always throw me off in that manner) there were times were things were it did feel long, ideas that were repeated to (seemingly) pad the word count.

I was surprised by the book essentially being divided right in half between the summer fling and the time in the school. When it was described as being essentially Grease meets Mean Girls, I thought (like Grease) the summer lovin' would be a relatively minor part of the story, maybe the 1st quarter at most. And while I think the first half of the book is the strongest half of the story, the downside to it is that I think the back half suffered for Jessa putting so much detail into the first half, which wasn't quite there for the high school half.

The two leads were interesting, and when they were good, they were really, really good. There were some adorably cute moments. And even when they bickered, particularly in the first half, they were great. That said, Ren was a super indecisive main character, and it might have helped round things out if we'd gotten POV from both Ren and Brit.

Also, as much as I wanted a HEA for the girls, I'm not entirely sure it was earned. Brit was so awful to Ren once she showed up at school, and kept trying to keep up the pretenses of being the Mean Girl Queen B, then literally begging Ren to take her back, but not publicly. She got offended at both their relationship being characterized as a dirty secret, but also at the idea that her future would involve anything beyond a white picket fence, cishet southern marriage and future. I honestly got whiplash with Brit's back and forth. With the second half of the book only lasting a couple months (I didn't go to high school in the states, but isn't Homecoming very early in the school year, like October?), I found it a stretch that the story ended the way it did.

And of course, Brit had a lot to work through, with her upbringing and the expectations placed upon her. Comp-het is a hell of a drug, and it's complicated, and hard, and all that, but I wish we would have seen more of her working on herself. I think the school portion would have benefited from lasting to the end of the year, so we could see her growth. <spoiler>Or even if Jessa kept Brit's outing at her birthday party before Homecoming, give us the rest of the year anyway, show us how Brit's life as a newly out lesbian in her small town, at her small school, changes, how it affects Ren, how the environment changes (and/or fights back against change) when the former Queen B, who Sterling mentions half the school didn't like when she was on top, makes what seems to be such a drastic change in the social dynamic. I want the rest of that year! The highs and lows!</spoiler>

A lot of that focuses on Brit because, with her indecisiveness, there isn't a ton that Ren actually does. A lot of the time, it's more about the world and events happening to and around her, and then her thinking about them, and overthinking about them, which was a little frustrating when the two were just so good in the good moments.

I loved most of the supporting cast, though I agree with another reviewer that everyone essentially bullying Ren into going to the birthday party seemed sort of mean. I wanted to see more of Ren's friendly, likely gay classmate Trevor. The douchecanoe boyfriend was appropriately douchey. I loved the adults, particularly Dev and Lucy, they were just a wonderful presence.

Long story shorter, what I loved about this book I really, really loved, and could not put it down, but there were some serious issues that I really wished would have been addressed, and I think the way the book was structured was one of the main things preventing that from happening, which unfortunately kept this from being a favourite read.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Grease meets Mean Girls, only sapphic. If you, like I, have a fierce childhood love of teen romcoms and weakness for bitchy ice queens this book is for you. I really liked this book, for me it was the perfect amount soapy teen drama and angst.

When Ren wrecks her stepdad’s vintage car, her parents ship her to an old friend’s in New Orleans. No phone, no friends, just a suitcase and a summer rebuilding houses. She meets Brit, who is definitely not her type. Stuck up, blonde, a pageant Queen, Brit is basically every stereotype she hates. Except she is also so much more than that, and their summer unfolds in to a tale of young love. Then as quickly as Brit came in to her life she’s gone.

While Ren spends the rest of her summer healing a broken heart, her parents are busy ruining her life forcing her to switch schools at the start of her senior year. Alone, in a new city, in a new school. Only she isn’t alone, because Brit is here. But not her Brit, here she’s Britta. Queen B of the school, winner of homecomings, girlfriend of the football captain, and destroyer of dreams. For Ren this can go two ways, “Badly, or so badly she’ll never recover.”

A wonderful book by a debut author. I got caught up in the character’s orbit and could not put it down. A great LGBTQI summer read!

Did not finish at 20%. I just really didn't enjoy the writing style -- I don't think there's anything wrong with it objectively, it's just not my subjective taste. I love the concept, though!

A mix of summer loving from Grease and channeling Regina George from Mean Girls. The book is almost equally split. Renata Carpenter is sent by her parents to a family friend to do service work in New Orleans. It is punishment for crashing step-dads car after taking it for a joy ride. The family is also hosting a niece, Britta Hughes who comes every summer. The two have a bumpy beginning but friendship and sparks start. Brit becomes Ren’s first love and first everything.

Ren’s parents move during the summer and she finds herself starting senior year at a new high school. Much to her surprise Brit is there and pretending not to know her. And Brit's boyfriend of four years is a mouthy homophobic football player who isn’t fond of the out and proud Ren. Some of this is predictable Mean Girl stuff but the name calling and bullying are a lot. I have mixed feelings about some of the character’s choices. Ren is upset that she’s because Brit never said she has a boyfriend making her the other woman and yet she continues cheating on the down low. And I didn’t love Ren’s best friend, who is supposed to be super cool, but he outs Brit to another when Ren wouldn't. And the whole birthday party left a bad taste in my mouth. That Ren doesn't know about it one thing but that she still chooses or gets manipulated into going doesn’t sit right.

Neither of these characters are blameless or overly likable. I can empathize with both but that is not the same as cheering for them. Also for being seniors I was surprised there was no focus on anything beyond Homecoming. There is vague mention of summer service looking good on college applications but there isn’t a plan beyond the moment. As a YA novel it is isn’t overly descriptive of intimacies between the couple. Overall I was invested in the story but found some of the actions very mean. Thank you to NetGalley, Victoria Edding NetGalley Co-op and the author for an ARC in exchange for a review.

The first half of this book definitely reminded me of Grease and second half definitely reminded me of Mean Girls. If that is why you picked up this book, you will not be disappointed. Overall, I enjoyed this contemporary romance story about young love. In the first half of the book, the author did a good job of creating a sense of urgency between the two main characters. Even though the description of the book gives away some of the plot, I was still shocked some of the reveals. There were a lot of cute moments that built toward their relationship and even if the ending is somewhat predictable, it was not lackluster.

the best thing i can say about this book is that it felt like the album fearless by taylor swift.
some of the writing was a little cringey and the cover is hideous, but aside from that it was fun and cute and entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley, Jessa Russo and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with an Arc of “Girls Who Lie Together” in exchange for an honest review.

The cover drew me in. It looks young and fun, with a colourful background.

The blurb described the story as a mix of Grease and Mean Girls. My first thought? Perfect! I am forever stuck in the eighties and I love love love Mean Girls.

The story is about teenage girls Ren and Brit. Polar opposites. Ren gets send away for a summer of physical labour, - after totalling her stepdads car - to “insert fancy French name Home for wayward girls”. There she meets Brit, her total opposite, but totally what she needs. We witness a slow burn love story. But the same as summer fades, first love begins to fade after the summer and the two part ways. Only to meet again, when Ren moves to a small town in Texas.
And guess who is the mean girl at the local high school. Yep, Brit. It will be an interesting senior year. Which one will win, first love or the battle for reputation and pretending?

A sweet, kind of coming of age story. The need to be yourself, find yourself, being accepted for who you really are and how difficult that can be. The writing style is super easy to get into,fun and captivating. They story sucked me in from the beginning. I really enjoyed reading it. Girls battling their feelings and finding out, who they truly are. Russo writes in a fun, but sensitive way. I don’t have much to “critique”. I think both female leads were written in a very realistic way. The story is exactly what I expected it to be and I like that.