I did not like this! There are lots of very valid, intelligent reasons that I did not! This book is an extremely superficial exploration of bisexuality, feminism, social media, 'cancel culture', and sexual assault. The bio-essentialism and queer stereotyping in here made me uncomfortable, and also I didn't find this book sexy at all. It also did not deliver on its taglines as 'twas not a hot, dark story, nor a Jekyll and Hyde retelling, nor a feminist dark comedy. I would not suggest reading this!!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC for review purposes!

When we meet Eartha she has been dating Matt for six years and she is so over him. He is a grown man child and everything about him discussed her. She feels more and more unsettled and then she meets Phaedra she loves to laugh and Eartha would do anything to make her. She also has a profile on the app wonderland and wants to start dating Phaedra she unwittingly becomes the face for lesbians who are coming out and feminist. She is an artist and before the bum rush of followers she made decent money but now her followers are growing and people want to know everything about her. Although she is totally falling in love with Phaedra wonderland takes over her life and in the end it may just ruin it. Let me start by saying 90% of the book is earth is inner dialogue and that alone almost made me stop listening but I finished it. As a matter of a fact I was so excited to get Florence Gibbons book I also went and bought it on audible. I didn’t stop listening because I got so into earth a story and although she isn’t the most likable person she was like a boy enough and I’m glad I finished it. It really is a great book once you get past the sixth or seventh chapter it’s all gravy from there. Although let me just say her friend Rose is non-binary and in the book of course they referred to her as “they“ and this got really confusing. Whenever there was even one other person in the room whenever earth referred today I had to keep reminding myself she was talking about Rose. This isn’t the first time I’ve come up against Tess when reading and it’s really annoying. Probably more my fault than the authors. Just know it’s mainly earth is in a dialogue Internet messages and some mono on one conversation so if that sounds like something you would like then you should read this book. I I love the other book I read by this author it’s a maybe it’s just me who is missing something because I truly loved the first book I’ve read by her and was so excited to get this one and not to say I was disappointed… It just wasn’t the book I thought it would be. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you net galley for providing me with a free copy of girlcrush in exchange for a honest review.

I went in having some high expectations for the book due to its premise as well as first chapters. And while the representation of the mentality a victim of assault may have, as well as some meaningful messages I was ultimately disappointed by how badly written this was as well as Givens tendency to insert herself a bit too much into the protagonist given her scandal with her previous book. The characters felt really one dimensional and overall a bad representation. Yes queer women can and should be confident in their sexuality. No, making your characters this one dimensional beings who are really attractive and really into sex but have nearly no personality traits outside of that isn't good rep. The ending was also extremely disappointing, as it felt like everything was left unsolved since we didn't see Eartha fix any of her real life issues, instead she decided to fix her online problems. Overall not a really good read.

A dark, feminist retelling of Jekyll and Hyde? Hardly, but I did enjoy it.

Jekyll and Hyde implies that there are two sides of a person and they are in constant conflict. Miss Eartha IS a three-dimensional character battling hypocrisy, crazy fans, an unfamiliar new world order, and the limelight. But she is NOT two people in one body fighting for the reins.

What this novel did great was show a new perspective that pushes back against being terminally online in a fresh way. It really explores how fame is a sort of parasite, that people will have an idea of a celebrity and when they do something “out of character” like when Katy Perry shaved her head, they attack. It comes at a really interesting time, where society is already realizing that they should have less screen time through documentaries like The Social Dilemma. And it adds the interesting dynamic of obsessed fans.

What this novel does not do so well is prepare you for what it’s about. I went in thinking this was a little queer narrative that was maybe something like Daisy Jones and The Six but for social media. I definitely get that from the cover. It starts that way, with just a regular girl who goes viral. But, at about the halfway mark, it’s no longer contemporary, the romance is cast aside, and you are now reading a thriller. It’s a bit jarring actually. I LIKE IT, but it’s very out of left field. This is where the “Jekyll and Hyde” inspiration comes from, but it’s not like that at all.

Eartha falls down the rabbit hole. She is chronically online, facing constant judgement from friends and fans, struggling with her mental health, and someone is trying to ruin her. The writing gets SO choppy, disorienting and hard to read. It’s a gorgeous representation of Eartha’s fall from grace. But again, you’re reading a perfectly sensical queer novel one minute and a thriller the next.

I love the writing style in both parts, but I felt that I needed more detail to make it a truly fleshed out thriller experience. I needed more information about “being dropped” and the girls who had been. I needed a more detailed explanation of the “big bad’s” intentions. If the book were longer, it could have shined.

Overall, it was rough and many strings needed to be tied up at the end which prevents it from being five stars. I would have liked to see a final polish, but I enjoyed my read very much.

If Moshfegh wrote something like this, the girlies would consume it whole.

This book’s blurb was a tad misleading for me. I thought GirlCrush was only about a young woman’s journey through exploring her bisexuality and a coming-of-age story. I mean, there are definitely aspects of that in this book but its main focus was social media and its impact on Eartha and her life. I enjoyed this book and I loved the social commentary as the story unfolded. I’ve read books with “influencer” characters and they’re almost caricatures of themselves so it was interesting to read the Eartha’s before and ‘becoming’. This isn’t one of those cozy books where you can sit back and let the story unfold. I found myself on the edge of my seat in anticipation as the story unfolded. So be warned that this isn’t one of those ‘easy reads'. That being said, it was wonderful and I enjoyed it. I wish I had known more about the book going into it so I wouldn’t have been as surprised about the premise. Overall, a solid book with a killer cover. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I picked this up after really enjoying Women Don't Owe You Pretty and this book gave me many of the same messages I got from that, but in a fictional setting. The power and impact of social media is well executed here and is as important as ever to address.

Thank you to NetGalley and Smith Publicity for the ARC!

This was my first Florence Given book. And it was amazing. I absolutely loved it. Our main character Eartha is in an unhappy relationship with a guy. At the beginning of the book she's learning more and more about her sexuality. Her best friend Rose (aka a legend) helps and supports her and is hands down my favorite character in this book. However the main part of the book is centered around Wonderland. It's a fictional social media platform in the book which is a bit similar to insta (but not quite). For some reason Eartha goes viral on that platform and we follow her on this new journey.

I laughed, I cried and felt so much while reading Girlcrush. There were so many funny bits but it also got very dark towards the end. Florence showed us what a negative impact social media can have on you and talks about some other serious topics. The description on the book "A hot, dark story" is the perfect way to sum it up. Definitely a highlight of 2022!

I liked this book? I think? I just finished it and mostly I'm just a little confused? When I read the blurb I was expecting more coming-of-age-sexuality-discovery, but was instead given a story about a young woman completely devoured by social media (which, if you look up the authors Instagram, I think is kind of ironic?).

The books is divided into two sections, marked by a glaring tone shift. I definitely enjoyed the first section more, where we were exploring Eartha's blossoming career as well as her desire to date women. The second part, though, I felt could've been done better if only the author has let us figure things out for ourselves. There would be metaphors peppered in which were then immediately explained through dialogue or inner thought, which definitely lessened my enjoyment of this book.

My favorite parts were when Eartha was hanging out with her friend Rose and when she was going on dates. Honestly I don't think this book is bad, I think reading it just helped me to discover what I am looking for in a book (and apparently that is relationships between nonmen!)

Really cute and really fulfilling! I was familiar with Florence Given, but hadn’t read any of her stuff, but thoroughly enjoyed Girl Crush! I’ve never read a book with a nb character and seeing the use of they/them pronouns throughout the book really warmed me! I really loved Eartha! I thought she was so complex and she was very relatable- her bisexuality and the biphobia she experienced, her friendships/relationships, and her journey. Funny and lighthearted at times, serious and beautiful and intense at others. If you like Given already, you should definitely read her novel.

A dark dive into the power of social media, girlcrush is a coming of age story about self discovery and sexuality. I am a big fan of Florence’s and was super excited to read this book. It did not disappoint and is a fabulous debut novel.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Mobius and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Full of so many interesting things, hard to put down.

Wow! Ya ever read a book and have no idea how it is going to end? This is one of em! An incredible and tense depiction of too much time online.

This book is such a rollercoaster and I can't wait to buy a physical copy asap!

I started this book thinking it would be a story about a girl who realises she is bisexual and would begin exploring the world of dating women and stumble upon some Internet fame. Whilst all of this did happen, I think that my attempting to summarise what happened in Girl Crush would do the book a massive disservice.

Eartha is a character that you cannot help root for. Watching her rise to fame and then struggle with the pressure was heartbreaking, particularly the ending. I wanted everything to work out but in a way, I'm happy it didn't because that really brought the message of the book forward.

The side characters in the book were also amazing, particularly Rose, I think they were my favourite. They were the grounding force that Eartha needed.

What I enjoyed about Girlcrush:
-Bi visibility and shedding light on biphobia.
-The modernized repackaging of Jekyll and Hyde themes (dualities, public vs. private, addiction).
-Themes related to how problematic (and seriously detrimental to mental health) social media can be.

What I did not enjoy about Girlcrush:
-I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer who said this book is confused about what it wants to do - it felt all over the place and I agree that the "director's notes" added to this issue.
-I'm not a fan of the ending - the protagonist growth is conveyed through a social media post, but not through any action or repair with those in her life. One of the book's main takeaways is how superficial social media engagement is, so I feel this ultimately undermines the climatic character development.

Girlcrush is an exploration of the boundaries, or lack of boundaries, when it comes to the internet, more specifically from Wonderland, the stand-in for Instagram. It focuses on Eartha, a woman who is in a toxic relationship with a man and, after breaking up with him, ends up posting a sort of coming out video on her Wonderland account, which immediately goes viral. She shares bits of her life online, as she is discovering more about herself as a bisexual woman, but things eventually start going sideways. The book describes social media as curated lies and takes that idea to a whole other level in the second part of the book.

I’ve followed Florence Given’s account on my personal Instagram for quite a few years now and, to me, the first part of this novel felt almost like a fictionalized autobiography of her trajectory to fame on Instagram. However, the second part of the book took the story in a whole other direction.

Some of the things I liked about this book were the discussions about the internet and the complexities of being bisexual, even within the very lgbtqia+ community, as the character describes either feeling like people judge her for being too gay or not gay enough.

However, I’d say this book was a bit confused about what it wanted to do. It was almost like two books in one: the first book describing Eartha’s sexual awakening as a bisexual woman, breaking the cycle of abusive relationships in her family; while the second narrative focuses on her journey on social media and the perils of the internet. There were also these parts called the “director’s notes” where the narrator panned out a camera on Eartha, or the situation unfolding, which I didn’t think worked that well.

Overall, I mostly have a problem with how this book is being marketed. To me, there’s no comedy in this book, even dark comedy; it’s actually quite a hard and painful reality it depicts, especially in the second half of it.

I’m very glad that there was no resolution with Eartha and her family because it felt more real. I really enjoyed this book and the commentary. I look forward to more from this author!

5* such a great read!

"In Given's debut novel, we follow Eartha on a wild, weird and seductive modern-day exploration as she commences life as an openly bisexual woman whilst also becoming a viral sensation on Wonderland, a social media app where people project their dream selves online."

This book reminded me a bit of The Circle by Dave Eggers. Kind of its queer sequel about modern times in social media. In the book we follow along on Eartha's journey to become a well-known influencer, having someone represent her and living her best life. Until it becomes apparent that being "someone" on social media also comes at a price. The book takes some turns and has some really interesting plot twists, showing the down sides of living your life completely online. What I also liked is that one of Rosa's best friends is a non-binary character, without any introduction they/them pronouns are used for them throughout the entire book. I love how this is normalized in the book without question. Would highly recommend reading this book!

This book was so jam-packed with so many topics and I loved every second of it.

-This book was an emotional rollercoaster. The spiral of Eartha had me second guessing the whole book. I am still thinking, what did I just read? But in a starstruck way.

-The writing style fits the book perfectly. The fragments of Eartha’s point of view, emails, social media posts, text messages, and a birds-eye director's point of view. As the book progressed, the style fit even more. I felt like I was falling down a rabbit hole along with Eartha.

-The reflections and commentary on so many topics were insightful. It put a lot of things into perspective, especially regarding the use of social media.

-I read this book in one sitting, I could not put it down. I was seriously invested in Eartha’s journey.

Overall, I loved this book! It was amazing.

DNF

i really wanted to like this. i really, really liked the sound of the premise! a young woman beginning life as an openly bisexual woman, a dark and feministic retelling of Jekyll and Hyde. this sounded right up my alley.

unfortunately, at 17% in, the plot has just not developed enough that my interest can be maintained. the main character’s inner thoughts are very jumbled and begin to get annoying after like three chapters. i don’t think i’m meant to find the characters likeable, and that’s totally okay, but i need to at least find them entertaining. and i do not.

take my review with a grain of salt though! while this was definitely not my thing, it could very well be yours.

thank you to the publisher, Smith Publicity, for giving me an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. i appreciate even being considered to read arcs so thank you!!

This book is an emotional rollercoaster.

Told through a unique combination of first person narration, online "postings," and director-of-a-scene bird's eye view, this book tells the tale of a nobody to somebody: Eartha.

After experiencing an eye opening event, she begins the journey of an online influencer. At first things are great... until they are not.

I started and finished this work in one sitting, wanting desperately to know what would happen to Eartha as she navigated her own sexuality and interaction with the world with so many eyes on her every move. Would recommend for fans of reality tv.

[Graciously received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]