I struggled with this one. There was no distinction between the POVs, and one character that I really felt should have had a POV did not. The prose felt juvenile, not in a “this is targeted toward young adults” way but in a way that could not hold my attention. Thank you to Levine Querido for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

It took me a minute to get into the book, but once I was in, I was all in. While this book is about queerness and life's challenges and falling in love, it's also about the love between friends and the importance of community. Growing up, I wish I'd had a more physical queer community like Edie and Georgia and Dawn, and I hope that queer teens nowadays are able to see themselves and their friendships in the trio. I also appreciated how Edie was validated for being afraid and unable to come out to her bigoted parents, and that she finds a sort of comfort knowing she can still be herself outside of her home.

This book contains transphobia and transphobia, as well as a several uncomfortable sexual situations, so take care of yourself when reading.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows 3 friends Dawn, Georgia and Edie.Dawn is working on a film about queer love which could help her get a scholarship and a fresh start. Georgia has a difficult home life and struggling to get through college admissions. Edie has to hide who she is and who she loves due to her overly religious parents.

Told from each POV we get to discover their friendship, struggles with love, and navigating their last year of high school. I loved the friendship in this book and how they supported each other. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to listen to the ALC while reading the book.

Thank you Hear Our Voices Tours, Levine Querido and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, this book is an absolute gem! It has everything a reader could ask for - a heartwarming friendship between three high school girls, relatable family issues, fantastic queer representation and relationships, and school problems. But you know what shines through in every page? Love, just pure and beautiful love. It's evident that the author poured their heart and soul into the book, showcasing different types of love - queer love, love between family members, love between friends (because, let's face it, friendship is a type of love), love for one's passions, love for one's life, body, and identity. I felt all of it, and it's such a heartwarming experience.

This book is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, with the highs and lows of queer love of every kind, a sweet friendship at its core, and a hint of found family. I can already imagine this being turned into a movie - it's that good! It's an excellent read for any teen trying to navigate the world, find love, and feel accepted.

Of course, there are some uncomfortable situations in the book, but they're the realities that many people face. But then there are moments that will make you smile with tears in your eyes - it's wholesome, impactful, and an absolute joy to read.

This book really explains what it’s like being queer in the south. All of the characters felt like people I would have gone to school with. I do think that this book could have been a little bit longer however. But all in all it was a good book & I definitely recommend it!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎞️📝👩🏽‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Ok, like this book is everything? It's about queer friendship, following your dreams, and finding out what queer love is all about.

The three main girls are:
Dawn, is a Spanish transgender girl who has had a bad run of ex-boyfriends. She becomes a finalist in a film-making competition where she has the chance to win a scholarship, which she needs so she can help her dad who has major depressive episodes and needs full-time health care at home. The book follows her journey here of interviewing queer people and doing editing. I found her story the most heartbreaking because all she wants is unconditional love, but she doesn't think she can get it because of who she is, which really broke my heart. Thank god for her filmy best friend Collin, who she meets through the competition.

Georgia, who is a Black Lesbian and in love with her girlfriend, Jill, is really worried about college and leaving behind her girl, who is a year younger than she is. She doesn't get into most colleges she applies to, so she feels like she isn't smart enough. But she does get on the waitlist for one college, which is a writing college. Georgia loves to write and has really amazing poems, and reading her love for it makes you smile. She has a moment in her life that is really heartbreaking to read too, her mother's latest date is a creep and I thought she was really strong to realize what was happening and tell someone. No girl should have to go through what she did, but she was so worried about hurting her mother. Thank god for her friends and girlfriend.

Edie, an Asian who identifies as queer, is dating nonbinary Ben. Her parents are super religious and she finds it really difficult to come out to them, so she doesn't want Ben to meet them. This makes Ben feel like they are being hidden, and they don't want that, so they go on a break. Edie is so worried about disappointing her parents, and I felt that. Her story was the closest to mine in that way.

These girls had to go through regular high school senior stuff with college worries, scholarship hassles, and releasing that their friendship wasn't going to be the same with the three of them going to different places around the USA, but they also had their own personal struggles which make you think. I wish I had this book to read when I was at that age because it would have told me I wasn't alone.

This book is heartbreaking, joyful, and amazing to read. Dale Walls has done a great job for their debut.

Thank you to Netgalley and Levine Querido for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

-Young female friendship
-Young and Queer love
-Follows Queer friends Edie, Dawn and Georgia as they navigate their final year of high school
-Dawn creates a documentary film about Queer love in a documentary film competition for a scholarship prize
-Queer women uplifting one another
-the setting takes place in my hometown of Houston, Texas

Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books and Netgalley for a arc of The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay
by Dale Walls in exchange for my honest opinion. I really enjoyed this story of three friends and the differences each one of them were facing

The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay is a fiction full of LGBTQ+ representation. The story revolves around Dawn, Edie and Georgia a trio of queer best friends in their final year of highschool. Each has their own struggles and dreams. The book focuses on Dawn, a queer trans girl who is an aspiring filmmaker. The focus on Dawn and her story, unfortunately does mean that Edie's and Georgia's stories end up feeling somewhat unfinished and underdeveloped.

A part of me wishes we'd found out about Dawn's identity sooner (because I ended up connecting to her a lot more), but on the other hand it feels like the author wanted to keep things very close to reality. Trans people shouldn't have to walk around with their identity spelled out, just for us to accept them.

All in all, a great novel with lots of queer representation.

This book is what queer kids out there need. A group of queer friends exploring their identities and relationships of all kinds. I did like that we got 3 different perspectives from 3 different identities.

I will say that there was not as much overall plot as I had excepted going in. This isn't a bad thing. It was just much more character driven than some other novels I have read recently. I did love the idea behind the documentary and getting so many snippets of what it means to be queer for different main/side characters.

I would definitely recommend this one, especially to any teens out there who might be looking to see themselves represented in a book.

I loved this book! A fun YA book based in Houston - where I live. It's the kind of book I wish so many people had access to when they were younger. Highly, highly recommend. It's a fun, easy, heartfelt read,

I loved this book! The Author does a great job of storytelling for the main characters of the book. You can’t help but to fall in love with the friendships shown. It’s so good that I’m ready for a follow-up or spin-off, there’s so many ways that Dale can go! Great debut book!

What a strong message and powerful story, I truly enjoyed it from start to finish.
Thank you NetGalley for the arch!
Rating: 3.75 stars!

4.5 ⭐️'ˢ

“The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay” By Dale Walls @dalewallsauthor

📕 Edition: Audiobook ARC

This debut novel is an absolute gem! 💖 This heartwarming story follows Dawn on her quest for queer love, brilliantly intertwined with the pursuit of her filmmaking dreams. 📽️

Walls beautifully captures the essence of friendship and resilience through Dawn's journey, making it a truly touching read.

The characters, especially Dawn, Edie, and Georgia, are so well-developed and relatable for many. 🌟 Their unwavering support for each other is definition of true friendship. The theme of queer love is delicately explored, bringing a fresh perspective to the genre for young adults.

Walls' writing style is both engaging and uplifting, making it easy to get lost in Dawn's world. 🌈

Overall, a delightful and affirming read. 🌈💕 It's a celebration of love, friendship, and the resilience of the human spirit. Highly recommend for anyone in need of a feel-good story! 📚✨

The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay releases November 21st!

Thank you @netgalley @levinequerido and @RBmedia for this ARC!

will not be writing a full on review since i dnfed this at 65%.

i was super excited to read this because a queer girl interested in film with amazing friends sounded so cool but unfortunately i was starting to hate this by the time i decided to let it go.

the writing felt weird, and i constantly had to go back and re-read the lines i had just read. i don’t even know how to explain what was wrong with it? i liked that the characters were all a mess because that’s very relatable! but i was getting tired of their story lines, georgia & jill were probably my favorite thing out of the whole book. i love the concept of dawn’s documentary and would love to watch it irl. i also felt like there was so much going on with the three of them that i kept confusing them or forgetting what was going on in one’s life by the time we got back to it.

overall, this was quite a disappointment for me, sadly. i was really looking forward to reading it, only to be put into a slump by it. i’ve seen some reviews by people who did like this book though, so if you want to read it don’t let me deter you!

First off, I LOVE books that are under 300 pages, especially when they are fun to read & super enjoyable. I also love books that are character driven by characters who are easy to root for. This had everything I want in a YA story. Feel good vibes, queer representation, & at the center of it all, LOVE!

Totally requested this book based off the cover. I’d love to listen to the audiobook for it too.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, & to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC!

This book has the potential to be life-changing. As a queer person, I know firsthand just how badly we need more books about happy endings for us. I could've realized I was gay a lot earlier if I had had access to books like this; I hope young readers who find this will have that experience. I was incredibly touched by all the characters and the various representations. This is a new comfort read.

Thank you to NetGalley + Levine Querido for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I first have to say this book packs a lot in less than 300 pages! Queer identity, queer love, the change and anxiety that comes with the transition from high school to college, and different family situations that all have their fair share of struggles. And my favorite part is that our main characters are all poc which I absolutely love to see, more of this please!!!

Our main character, Dawn is a transgender girl that aspires to be a filmmaker and wants to experience true, authentic love in the sense that she wants someone that loves her for her. On top of that, she has this awesome documentary she’s working on for a film scholarship, you called it “The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay” and if she wins the scholarship she will be able to go to school for film on a full ride and be able to take care of her father who is struggling with depression.

With a premise like that, I was captivated because I am also an aspiring filmmaker so reading the snippets of the documentary dialogue was absolutely feeding that part of my brain.

However, Edie and Georgia’s storylines were not as fleshed out as Dawn’s which I found rather disappointing seeing as they both had different struggles of their own and they weren’t developed further during the course of the story. Edie has strict Christian parents that are super against queerness and this affects Edie’s relationship with Ben who is non-binary. Not only that but it affects the way Edie approaches and deals with problems because she wants to appease her parents because they talk highly of her as she’s a great student. Georgia has a single mother who have what I call a Rory-Lorelai type of relationship but there’s also layers to them that we got a glimpse of but it was again, never truly fleshed out. Georgia’s relationship with her girlfriend, Jill was so beautiful to read but again, I was left wanting more. There wasn’t a healthy balance between the three characters as the story is Dawn’s story but when you have 2 other characters featured, there needs to be a way to drive their storylines forward without it feeling like the story has stopped. The pacing was way off, some times it would race forward but then we would be stuck in traffic as the pacing slowed down, in other words: the pacing was choppy.

Despite my critiques, I think this story definitely deserves a read through because of the sheer fact that it’s about queer love (amongst other important themes!) and it features an all woman, poc main cast. There were several parts of the story that had me smiling and laughing, this friend group is something I wish I had back when I was in high school and I hope younger audiences can resonate with this story.

I’m getting to the point where I don’t relate to YA as much as I used to, and despite that this book had some unspeakable hold on me. I’m not from Texas but I know what it’s like to be a queer kid growing up in the South, and I can still very much relate to the quest of just trying to figure out what love in all its different forms looks like to me. This is a story of queer teens who get to be queer teens, even if there are still the all-too realistic threads of the downfalls society puts upon queer teens. Something that the author and I share is the study of art history, but something I got out of this book is a deeper love and appreciation for film through some of that lens. Dawn’s guiding voice and passion within this book is so strong, even as it's sometimes obscured by the haze of despair. Even in the inevitable flaws of a book, this book communicates something that feels so vital to my identity even as I continue to grow out of YA, and I would highly recommend it.

Undoubtedly the highlight of this book is queer love. The medium of documentary film within the text along with Walls’ prose captures something so distinct and beautiful about queer love and community. Of the beauty in its mundanity. On top of that, there’s this balance of kinds of love and also the pain that comes from it, the bond between our three protagonists and also the quiet insistence they queer girls deserve to be loved romantically. The snippets of interviews have stuck with me, even after I finished reading. There’s the side of pain and some heartbreak, but there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.

There were times where the multiple perspectives felt like it was pulling from the overall story rather than adding to it, and in some cases the parts of the girls' lives that were about their own wants and dreams felt so much more readable and tangible than the ones about love lives that weren’t fully explained. Georgia specifically has one of the best personal journeys, but her love life was negligible for me. In some ways this book acts more as a slice-of-life than anything, even with the clear plot elements. The rise and fall is less notable than the various pieces that stuck out in the interim. But sometimes it’s just enough to watch Southern queer girls love and be loved, to watch a trans girl be loved, and enjoy what may come.

A good and quick read. Coming of age story following three friends navigating life. I enjoyed it. I loved the way the LGBTQIA community was represented