“She kisses me … I flood with the feeling of it … the possibility of it all. The possibility that there might be a place for me, for us, the broader us. A place for you, too. The city lights showing you a way in … calling you home.”

Hannah is a Jewish lesbian looking for her way in San Francisco after moving cross country with her first love. A lot of things go so bad but so many things go so right.

My god this book is special. Hannah is so naive and navigating who she is and who she thinks she should be. Her growth is so well done. My heart ached for her and I was cheering her on the entire way.

The writing is crisp and funny and makes you feel like an embarrassed teen in the best cringiest way.

Grab if you’ve ever felt lost and not quite sure who you are. This one’s for you, you’re perfect I promise 🩷

Thank you to Netgalley for the free arc!

I was initially drawn to this title because it sounded really interesting about a queer Jewish girl in the 90s who moved from Long Beach, New York to San Fransisco. However, I wasn't expecting how heavy it would get. I kept with it because I was really drawn in by the characters and wanted to see what would happen with them. I don't often say that books should have trigger warnings but this one feels like it should. I'm torn about how they would go about that though because the way in which the author wrote the book, it is interesting to see how it all unfolds naturally without too much information.

The book takes place in 1996. Hannah is the younger daughter of a widowed mother living in Long Beach, NY. Her mother has become Orthodox Jewish and wants Hannah to conform. But Hannah rebels and prefers her relationship with her grandmother, Bubbe. In her senior year of high school, Hannah and one of her best friends, Sammie, become lovers and make a plan to travel cross-country and settle in San Francisco. The book then describes their trip, their life in San Francisco, the fate of their relationship, and a difficult conversation Hannah has with Bubbe when she comes to visit.

The book is written solely from Hannah's POV, and though it doesn't feel like YA, it has many of the elements of YA, including Hannah's arc of change and her growing understanding of herself, her mother, and how she fits in SF's lesbian community.

While this is fiction, the book reads almost like a memoir, about a time in a late teen's life trying to make her way on her own. I greatly appreciated the Jewish representation in the book, including Bubbe's Yiddish, only some of which are translated, and how Hannah works to figure out what she wants to keep about being Jewish.

Highly recommended, especially since this is a debut novel.

I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.

10/10- For fans of Tipping the Velvet and Sunburn, I cannot recommend this book enough.

This book was heartfelt and beautiful. A coming of age story that captured coming out, religious trauma, and the reality of love. Hannah is an incredible character that jumped off the page and became real.

If a book makes me cry, I know it’s a good one. This one had me staying up well past my bedtime, bawling, and making my wife hold me and reassure me that she loves me. I felt this one so deeply in my heart and I cannot wait to buy a final copy.

Girls Girls Girls is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I cannot wait to see it become a queer classic.

A huge thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC.

Queer girl Hannah and her best friend/girlfriend Sam move to San Francisco so they can be open and away from Hannah’s Orthodox Jewish mother. But they begin to drift away after Hannah begins sleeping with a woman named Chris for money. Hannah has to figure out who she is without her mother, without Sam, without her beloved Bubbe, fully open and Queer in a 1990s San Francisco surrounded by people like her. I thought this was so cute! I loved it. It was an emotional rollercoaster about a girl finding out who she is without the people who define her while exploring her queerness and religion. Reminiscent of “We Could Be Rats” with an open writing style as she details her life in San Francisco.

Despite coming in at under 400 pages, this was a quick read. It taught me a little about SF lesbian history. I thought the story was mostly good and the writing was solid.

This was such a heartwrenching story of self exploration, love, and grief. There were many moments it was so tense you just had to keep reading to find out how they would resolve.

It's the mid-90s, and Hannah and her best friend (and secret girlfriend) leave behind life in Long Beach, NY upon graduating high school to drive across the country to San Francisco. They know little of their new city, not least of which how expensive it is, but hope at least they'll be able to live as their true queer selves.

Hannah, the main character, knows she is gay but does not quite know how to live as an out gay woman. She is desperate to afford an expensive city but is at odds with what she has to do to make enough money, she has a strained relationship with her mother exacerbated by her strained relationship with her religion (Orthodox Jew), and her favorite person in the world is her Bubbe. (Oh Bubbe, how I love thee). She has moved to San Francisco with her best friend and girlfriend, but will each young woman's path to self discovery lead them closer to or further away from each other?

This is the second coming-of-age story I've read this month where the main character moves to San Francisco during the 90s and let me tell you: as someone who did the same when I was 17, this book was like being wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia. The 90s music references, the accumulation of found family, the strong sense of place. I was transported back in time and young again, and the city had not yet priced out all of its artists working hard to find their people.

A great read for anyone who:

• loves coming of age stories (esp about young queer women)
• enjoys stories about found family
• is feeling nostalgic for 90s San Francisco
• misses their Bubbe

Many many thanks to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be out this coming Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC.

Girls, Girls, Girls is a sweet and thoughtful coming-of-age novel. I enjoyed the complex relationships: most of them were not solely “good” or “bad,” but they showed a complex range of love and frustration that was true to life.

The writing at times feels a bit YA, though I don’t believe the book is marketed as such. The style is not my favorite, though I can also understand it given the age of the narrator.

When I read the synopsis, I really thought I would love the book (queer coming of age story set in late 90's San Francisco - peak of lesbian culture during that time) but by the end, I was left feeling underwhelmed. Not one mention of Lilith Fair? This was seriously THE thing that secret girlfriends living near a big city would've been talking about or trying to get to from 96-99.

What the book is:
🔘 A first person, single POV narrative of Hannah who was
🔘 A curated queer jewish voice that is palatable to indie publishers. Curated to portray the "right" kind of jewishness - Hannah's mother that finds herself seeking a deeper religious connection by becoming orthodox after the death of Hannah and her sister's dad at a young age (bad). Hannah's disdain for her mother finding a deeper connection to religion while dressing up her love of kiddush not as religious but as just another way to be jewish. Curated portray the "right" kind of queerness - I don't even know but there was just too much that was so contradictory and/or stereotyping that just made it feel inauthentic or unrealistic.
🔘 I did not find Hannah likable at all. This book is all about her experiences, all of which would be interesting for anyone else, but through her voice they were annoying.
🔘 Perplexing. The idea that the only place closeted lesbians living in Long Beach, NY could imagine experiencing queer existence is in SF. Long Beach is a one hour train ride to the West Village in NYC, a city that also had a very vibrant LGBTQ community during the same time period. The fact that this isn't even acknowledged was an odd choice.

i had such high hopes for this book but i ended up hating it the more i read it. i ended up skimming the last two chapters because i just wanted it to be over with.

let’s start with the positives. i could really resonate with hannah and her journey navigating her newfound sexuality while grappling with religion and her relationship with her mother. i grew up in a very christian household with a very traditional mother and i was terrified of coming out. my mom definitely knew but was in denial. when i moved out at 18, i could finally be myself. and life was beautiful for a bit until things felt apart with my first girlfriend, as things fell apart with hannah and sam.

the near immediate choice to pursue sex work was an interesting choice but i know that is the reality for countless queer youth who move away from home at such a young age. i liked reading about hannah finding herself and becoming more comfortable with her body and how that contributes to her lesbianism. she was smart to be cautious and i think finding a “professional” relationship with chris was great. at first. did i like the age gap? i can’t say i did but that’s whatever.

i also loved the parts of hannah’s relationship with her bubbe. when she felt her life was falling apart, she still had her bubbe. i was moved to tears at a certain part towards the end. i wish this coming of age revolved their relationship more but whatever.

okay… the negatives. number one, i HATE lack of communication tropes. hate it with a burning passion. the more hannah and sam drifted the more irritated i got. i kept screaming at my ipad “JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER”!!! i knew sam was cheating on her. i just knew it. how are you gonna convince hannah to become an escort of sorts with chris and then get mad she’s making money? and then you cheat on her and just never talk about it? like at all? also their “resolution” wasn’t even a resolution. they just moved past sam’s cheating so quickly it’s almost like it never happened. it’s a stereotype for lesbians to be uhauls, fall in love fast which could lead to cheating, staying friends with their exes, but i really wanted better for hannah. nothing about their relationship when they moved to san francisco was enough for me to have faith in sam.

i also felt like the author didnt know which direction she wanted the story to go in. is this a coming of age revolving around the highs and lows of sex work? is it a story about finding differences in new gay love? is it about a girl’s relationship with her grandma. it was all of the above but it just didn’t work. hannah and sam grew apart way too fast; it almost felt like sam wasn’t planning on staying with hannah for long. we almost got an arc with hannah’s exploration into sex work and substance abuse but that went nowhere. her relationship with billie moved so quickly. bubbe’s illness came about so quickly. we just didn’t get enough time with the characters to understand their desires, motivations, or drive. there wasn’t much clarity.

all in all, i unfortunately would not recommend this unless you enjoy reading about unhealthy relationships with little to no communication. i feel sad that i didn’t like it as much as everyone else seems to be enjoying it but i stand by my opinions.

Girls Girls Girls follows teen couple Hannah and Sam as they road trip from Long Beach to San Francisco, eventually getting jobs at a strip club to support themselves.

I really wanted to like this, but ultimately was let down. The writing I think is more young adult (while still dealing with more adult themes) as are the characters. I felt like Hannah and Sam's relationship was very flat as well as many of the side characters (particularly Chris, an older woman Hannah starts sleeping with for money). Hannah herself read to me like a classic young adult main character; someone who initially is just along for the ride and later must learn to stand up for themselves and interrogate what they truly want from life. There is nothing wrong with this set up for a main character, but combined with the writing, it did not stand out to me as a literary fiction book for adults.

I really loved this look at two high school grads who road trip across the country to be lesbians in San Francisco together in 1996. This was such a nostalgic novel, full of queer community, found family, Jewish rep, and the struggle of finding yourself and your people in a new place. The sense of place and time was wonderfully depicted- I felt I was there, in a San Francisco that no longer exists in that way.

I loved the critiques of the queer community that could only come from someone inside it (the discussion of lesbians using certain sex toys especially meaningful to me), and the Jewish rep that was throughout the novel, from the Yiddish, to the mentions of holidays, to the beautiful statement from Bubbe that there are so many ways to be Jewish. The emphasis on friendship and loyalty was also huge for me- loved how it was handled, and the friendship between Hannah and April.

My only thing that held me back from it becoming a new favorite is that I really hoped Hannah would finally join that queer synagogue as she continued to build her community and identity. I felt it would've been a perfect bookend to Bubbe's wisdom, and a subtle push back against her mother saying she needed to marry a Jewish man. Hannah could've found her own meaning in Judaism outside of her mother's style. It is a minor thing, but something I was rooting for so much at the end.

Overall, highly recommend this one.

beyond excited to see this books hit my inbox- this is one of my most anticipated books of 2025 and i will be sure to post my review on all retailers!! 💞

I was absolutely blown-away by this book! Girls Girls Girls follows Hannah and her secret girlfriend Sam as they leave suffocating New York for the open and free San Fransisco. It's a stunning portrayal of young love and hopes in addition to the queer community of the 90s. This is a beautiful story, and I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I related to these characters so much. Their strugle between choices and realistic growing pains really worked for me. I loved how diverse and interesting the whole story was.

This debut novel is remarkably tender and earnest. A coming of age story that does not come across as YA, but which would be great to hand to an 18 year old. The themes are universal, but particularly special for all the queer Jewish girls girls girls.

Sweet and heartfelt. This queer coming of age story focuses on Hannah's journey getting to know herself and her place in SF. I loved the relationship between family members, and Hannah and her friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC copy of "Girls Girls Girls" in exchange for an honest review. "Girls Girls Girls" was a heartfelt memory of leaving home at 18 to find where you fit in queer spaces, but there were a few elements that made it difficult for me to get into it fully.

1) The first half is much slower than the second half, largely because the second half focuses on the relationship between Hannah and Bubbe which is dynamic, compelling, and well-built out. The first half is anchored on leaving Long Island with Sammie, who never really gets a full character buildout, and with whom Hannah feels like a go-along caricature. Moreover, Sammie practically disappears for the second half which really lets us focus on Hannah's character. The book also takes place across six months, in which very little actually happens, which slows the pace and investment in the characters.

2) This book isn't really about a young queer woman coming of age in San Francisco, it's a book about a granddaughter and her Bubbe. That relationship is touching and emotional and was my favorite part of the entire story. But against that backdrop the rest of the plot feels childish, short tempered, and at-face value. You would think that stripping or escorting would be more deeply explored as sex work is a common element of queer culture striving to make money after leaving a toxic home environment, but it's just another stop on the job hunt. Which, I supposed can be true, but felt a little dismissive of the experience. Hannah also doesn't really do anything in those first six months, she waits for something to happen to her. This is why I think the book would work better set over a longer period of time - asking an 18 year old to change in a satisfying way for a reader in the span of 6 months is hard, and harder still for the novelist who lived it. And yet, Hannah grows up quite a bit between the beginning and the end - it just doesn't feel like I saw it happen very much.

3) I was hoping the book would deliver on what it promised in the book jacket: diving more into the 1996 queer culture of San Francisco, which it seemed Hannah might have finally gotten into...right at the end? Which was a bummer, although I hope all the good parts of queer community came after for her!

Overall, this book is a slightly off-kilter window into what it means to leave home when very young and trying to establish yourself in an adult world while still a child, and yet crossing some large hurdles that set you very much into adulthood in a short time. Hannah is earnest and figuring it out. She and Sammie are terrible communicators. Hannah needs her Bubbe, and slowly recognizes that not everyone sees her the way she thought - and that's a good thing for relationships and self-worth. She can write a new story now, and I hope she did. To that end, it was challenging to discern how much of this was autobiography and how much was novel; it definitely felt like a non-fiction memoir, but that's not how it's being sold.

What a beauty of a book.

The first half was a little difficult to follow at times, and not as engaging as the second. It felt like the author's writing improved as the book went on. But BELIEVE ME- it is worth reading through until the end.

This book is about so much more than I thought it was going to be. On the surface, it is a coming-of-age, and a love letter to the 90's San Francisco queer scene. It is also about first queer love, about the queering of relationships and family, identity, sex work (particularly in the queer community), grief, and so, so much more.

This book is raw and tender and heartfelt. It truly pulses with life.