how is it possible for something to change my life so
deeply twice?? when hayley kiyoko put out the girls
like girls video in 2015 i remember thinking wow finally
a video that encapsulates so much of what i was
experiencing in that time of my life. a video where girls
can fall in love with each other. obviously, i jumped at
the chance to read the book based on that music
video!!!

i started this book during a break at work and finished
it before i fell asleep that night, i was so hooked!! it
followed the music video while adding in pertinent
background so you could really empathize with the
characters as you read. this was so so so amazing,
truly i don't think my words can do this review justice.
there was pain, grief, self-loathing, mental health
struggles, and the fear of not being good enough for
our parents to love us. but there was also so much
love between the characters and they struggled
through their first sapphic relationship and what it
meant to them.

hayley kiyoko shouldn't be able to change my life twice
but she did!! i wish everyone could experience this
book like i did

Based on Hayley Kiyoko's Song Girls Like Girls music video, this book to helps expand on Coley's experience moving to a new city and with her dad who she does not have a relationship with after her *trigger* mother's suicide. Coley is trying to find herself and is just starting to understand herself and her exploration of her sexuality.

This book is enjoyable, though i feel reads very young YA.

I had a really hard time reading a book set in 2006 because of my 2023 lens. It's not a romance and it's too much of a oh well boys will do that. The love interest is a mean girl and our main character deserved a lot better. I didn't much care for this one.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Content warnings (not a complete list – just what I noticed while reading, cross-referenced with Storygraph):
Graphic: death of a parent, suicide, homophobia, lesbophobia, drug and alcohol use, grief; Moderate: violence, mental illness, toxic relationship, toxic friendship, hate crime, abandonment, sexual harassment; Minor: vomit, abortion, blood

Girls Like Girls takes place in 2006 and follows Coley, a seventeen-year-old girl grieving her mother. After her mother's suicide, she moves to a small town to live with her estranged father. There she meets Sonia, and is immediately attracted to her. She and Sonia quickly form a friendship and spend all their time together. As they get closer, Coley and Sonia start to become more than friends, However, Sonia has never thought about her sexuality and isn't ready to be in a relationship with another girl. She's scared to follow her feelings and potentially lose her family and friends, hurting Coley in the process. This book is often messy, but it seems like a fairly realistic depiction of a queer teenage relationship where one of the people is still figuring out their identity, especially back in 2006.

This book deals with heavy topics. Please check out the content warnings before reading.

I love the Girls Like Girls song and music video so I was really looking forward to this. Although I enjoyed it, I didn't like as much as I'd hoped.

I liked the character of Coley and her growth and healing throughout the book was more emotional that I expected. Kioyoko did a great job building up her relationship with Curtis, her father. I struggled a bit more with Sonia. I understand that she has a hard time accepting and understanding her identity, but I wanted her to work on herself more before getting into a relationship with Coley. She betrayed Coley's trust and hurt her and I don't feel like she really made up for that. I'm not saying she should have been "punished" by the story, but I don't think she showed enough emotional growth for her relationship with Coley to be fully healthy. The book ended really abruptly, so I think having a bit time on Sonia's growth and change would have make their relationship healthier and something I felt like I could root for. Although I found the character of Sonia not always the best, I do think Kiyoko did a great job making the character of Trenton so infuriating.

Overall, this is a pretty good novelization of Kiyoko's iconic music video, but I don't think it's nearly as good as the actual song. I'd recommend this to fans of Kiyoko's music (especially the song the book is based on), but maybe not to people who don't have an emotional attach to the song and music video.

I've been a fan of Hayley Kiyoko and was excited to read this book and support her.

Coley has moved to small town Oregon after her mother's death. She's living with her father, whom she hasn't seen since she was 3, and trying to figure herself out. Soon after moving she meets a group of people, and becomes fast friends with Sonya. Friendship turns in to more as Coley finds herself having feelings for Sonya as well.

Hayley Kiyoko really nailed the passion and extremes that teenagers encompass -- I remember feeling just like Coley and Sonya, every little thing felt so big.

I loved the LiveJournal entries, made it feel very much from 2006, and I really enjoyed all the songs that Sonya included in them -- brought back a lot of memories.

The end felt a little rushed and there were several things I would have liked more information about, or more tying up of loose ends.

I hope that this book gets in the hands of teenagers who need to read a story about someone like them!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

3 Stars Girls Like Girls by musician (and now author) Hayley Kiyoko was a fairly solid debut. Kiyoko was best at letting her sense of humor come through in her writing, but the story was overall pretty average. The attraction between the main characters was a bit of insta-love, which isn’t everyone’s favorite (or most believable) trope. The writing was a bit basic, but a good first try.

Haley Kiyoko, known for her music, makes her writing debut with Girls Like Girls. Releasing just in time for Pride Month in June I know this will resonate with many, as it did with me. The storyline itself is relatively simple and nothing earth shattering, but it's simplicity really works with Haley's lyrical writing style. While this is a romance, it has so much growth with the main characters - both individually and within a variety of both romantic and non romantic relationships.

It reads as a debut novel, but I still enjoyed the story. It ended very abruptly and that is my main complaint with the story - I wanted to see more development for the main character, Coley, and with Sonya. It handled sensitive topics relatively well, but I don't think the ending did justice to a few of them.

I do recommend this book, just go into it knowing that it originated from a music video and is written by a music artist - it's a quick, cute read, but not quite the best thing I've ever read!

I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press and the author in exchange for an honest review.

This was okay. I enjoyed it, but overall I was underwhelmed.

I wish it had gone through a final round of edits because it was very juvenile and not in a “I don’t read YA” way because I read YA a lot. The writing and the dialogue were both shallow, and I wish we had a better exploration of the heartbreak, confusion and frustration that comes with what Coley & Sonya experienced.

I have such a memory of watching Hayley Kiyoko’s Girls Like Girls music video and was so happy to see she was writing a book to expand on that story. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations which is disappointing.
In my opinion, the writing falls flat. I understand this is the author’s first novel, but I believe it should have gone through another round of edits. Her voice shines through, but it isn’t quite polished yet. Additionally, the pacing feels choppy with a speedy ending.
Something I did like are how she wrote Coley, as well as her relationship with her mother and her father. Also I think it captured the chaos of being a teenager. I believe that someone will find solace, hope and entertainment from this novel, though it wasn’t me.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Girl like Girls is a really sweet coming of age story of Coley, a 16 year old girl who recently lost her mom to suicide and moves to live with her absentee dad. She ends up starting a relationship with another girl and they have to come to terms with what it means to be gay.

While overall I enjoyed this story, there was a lot that could have made it better. The ending was very abrupt and left a lot of storylines unfinished. I wanted to know more about Alex and his sexuality. It briefly mentioned he was gay and then never came back to it. I also wanted to know why Coley’s parents separated and why Curtis disappeared from Coley’s life. I wanted to see Trenton have some repercussions for his actions from the fight and just from being a general douche.

I also think the story could have been enriched by more backstory of the relationship with Coley and her mom what what her life was life before Oregon. An epilogue could have made the story much better too! I needed more.

Overall- it was a cute book and I was engaged and felt invested in the story. It definitely read like YA but some of the themes- drug use, alcohol use, etc- felt a little mature for that audience.

Thank you netgalley for the arc.

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko follows Coley and Sonya, the two main girls from the original music video, in the summer of 2006. Coley has just moved to Oregon after losing her mother and moving in with her father who she hasn't seen since she was 3 years old. But when she meets Sonya, sparks fly immediately. Throughout their time together in the summer, Coley and Sonya grow closer, but when push comes to shove, will their connection withstand it, or will they go their separate ways?

Overall, I enjoyed this story and had a great time reading it. The "Girls Like Girls" music video came out 7 years ago and I still remember watching it with my group of friends at the time, all of who were some form of LGBTQ+, and how big of an impact it had on us. I love that Hayley expanded on the story and brought some amazing depth and background to these characters. The story overall was pretty good, and I really appreciated the growth that Coley went through in particular, especially her relationship with her dad and her journey toward self-love. Sonya's character was very frustrating throughout the majority of the book, but that was a struggle that I deeply understand, as someone who was in the closet during most of high school. It is an incredibly hard thing to come to terms with, especially when the people around you are not the most supportive.

Trent was an incredibly unlikeable character as Sonya's boyfriend and even just as a person in their group of friends - he didn't have any redeeming qualities throughout the entire book which made it a bit unbelievable that they were all still friends with him. But when in you're in a small town, sometimes those options are limited and you put up with things you normally wouldn't. I really enjoyed the characters of Alex and SJ and their support of Coley and Sonya, as a couple and just as individual people trying to find inner happiness and peace. I wish we had gotten a bit more of Coley and Sonya being together for real at the end of the book, but given that the book ends where the music video also ends, I suppose it makes sense. An epilogue would have been lovely though :). Coley's relationship with her dad was great to see evolve and grow throughout the story, both of them struggling with the loss of Coley's mom, while also trying, and sometimes failing, to build a relationship foundation between the two of them. Coley's journey of self-love was wonderful to witness, and her constant efforts to continue trying to move forward and grow from the pain she has experienced was very inspiring.

Overall, I enjoyed this story a lot, and love that we have even more backstory for these characters from this absolutely iconic music video that I know changed the trajectory of so many people's lives.

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko felt like her iconic music that expands on the characters who we slightly touched upon in the video. Her novel brings these characters to life with heartbreak, joy, and the feeling of a never-ending summer. This by far isn’t perfect but if you want to feel a sense of belonging you’ll feel right at home with these fantastic characters. As a debut novel, this is all I could ask for if not more, it feels like an extension of the music video so I will say check out both again it’ll make you fall in love with both if not more.

Obsessed with how this book was so atmospheric. Like I was absolutely thrust back into a hot summer in 2006. The Livejournal entries, the days at the pool, all of it was so rich and I literally feel sweaty just thinking about how hot it was in the book. Anyway, really loved this book!

3.5, rounded up

Girls Like Girls is based on the music video for Hayley Kiyoko's song of the same title, but with even more drama.

Coley is seventeen, and she feels abandoned. After her mother passes away, Coley is forced to move to Oregon to live with the father she hasn't seen in fourteen years. Soon after arriving, she meets Sonya and her friends. The instant attraction Coley feels for Sonya answers every question Coley has about herself.

But it can't ever be that simple. Throughout the summer, Sonya sends Coley mixed signals because she's confused. She's never fallen in love with another girl, and like most confused teens in the mid-aughts, she laments over this on her private LiveJournal account. The two pine for each other from afar as they try to heal personal wounds.

Girls Like Girls was such a quick read that I read it in a few sittings. I felt for both Coley and Sonya's struggles, though Sonya sometimes frustrated me. The book's pacing wasn't perfect, and I think things wrapped up too quickly to feel satisfying, but I think Hayley Kiyoko has a solid start as a YA author.

And can I add that I've never felt so nostalgic for AIM and flip phones?

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this debut from pop star Hayley Kiyoko (a total unknown to my old ass self). With a full cast of queer narrators and excellent sound effects, this book is highly recommended in audio format! I loved the complicated queer romance between a social butterfly and the new girl in town who is grieving the loss of her mother from suicide.

Now living with the father who abandoned her when she was 3, life is complicated for Coley. She thought she found a friend who could be more in Sonya only to feel betrayed with Sonya seems to get back together with her ex-boyfriend and tells her other friends about Coley's mom. Beautiful and tender, this was a standout debut! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

what queer girl didnt watch the girls like girls music video in middle school?
cuz my bi ass did, and to this day i love the song.

this book reminded me of the intense "friendship" you have with a girl the first time, where you both feel it but it makes you feel so guilty so you both end up hurting each other

i was kinda sad they made Sonya annoying and lowkey rude but whateva
i still enjoyed the story

I thought that this book really worked for me. I love the emotions and the two main characters so much. I was sobbing near the end. I must admit it took me quite a while to actually get through it, but god was it worth it. I think there were some faults in writing and minor issues that made it a 4 instead of a 5 but I think its definitely worth the read especially if you're a fan of hard to read topics and peak emotions.

I love Hayley Kiyoko as a musician and I loved this book. It was well written and very much reminded me of my own experiences on the early internet and with love. This was a quick read and I cried in the public park while reading this book. No notes. 5/5

3.75 stars, rounded up. My first experience with Hayley Kiyoko was as Stevie on Wizards of Waverly Place. It wasn’t until years later that the Girls Like Girls music video came out. By that point, I was already out of high school but still years away from figuring out my sexuality. I watched the music video when it was first released but didn’t connect with it like I’ve heard so many people say they did.

I’m so glad media like that music video and this book exist for the people that need and want to see themselves represented. Though I do wish the relationships were less toxic. If I had seen people like me (aro and/or ace) maybe I would’ve figured out my whole thing earlier lol 😅

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"Girls Like Girls" by Hayley Kiyoko takes readers on a heartwarming journey of self-discovery and love. At the heart of the story is Coley, a 17-year-old who finds herself grappling with the recent loss of her mother, thrusting her into a new environment and leaving her vulnerable and uncertain. Kiyoko's portrayal of Coley's emotional journey is incredibly poignant, allowing readers to connect deeply with her vulnerability and doubts.

When Coley crosses paths with Sonya, an immediate connection ignites. Kiyoko masterfully weaves their relationship, capturing the exhilaration, tenderness, and uncertainty of first love. Coley's doubts about her own worthiness of love and Sonya's journey as someone who has never been with a girl before add layers of depth and authenticity to their evolving connection.

Set in a small town in Oregon, this book beautifully explores the challenges of teenage life and the courage it takes to embrace one's true self. With relatable characters and a celebration of LGBTQ+ experiences, Kiyoko's storytelling captures the essence of love and acceptance. "Girls Like Girls" was a captivating read.