Girls Girls Girls by Shoshana von Blanckensee was a wonderful queer coming of age.
The characters draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
The characters were all realistic and very well developed.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself hooked, turning the pages.

This was a really fascinating book. I was quickly drawn into the characters' lives and relationships and I was very interested in seeing where the story was going. The interpersonal conflicts were set up so well and made for a good amount of tension in the narrative that really aided in driving the story forward. The momentum was well balanced and I found myself really connecting with the story.
As things progressed, I was really intrigued by the circumstances that Hannah (the FMC) found herself in and seeing the internal conflict she had--especially in confluence with Sam and their opposing ideas for how to handle and approach life in California. Seeing Hannah dive deeper and deeper into trying to find her own place, struggling with her identities, and trying to see how to make her relationship work while still learning so much about herself was really fascinating and made for a really compelling read. And I think the narrative balanced all the different layers of the story really well. And by the end, the emotional pay off was really well. Even with some plot points that were more predictable, I thought everything landed well and made for an enjoyable read. There was a lot of the story that was raw and vulnerable and made room for a lot of character growth and overall development by the end.

I will say, I was...surprised at how few consequences there really were throughout the story. Hannah and Sam take a lot of big risks--and there are even times when they are warned of danger--but everyone largely comes out unscathed (apart from a line being crossed between Hannah and Chris, and even that felt to be downplayed too much). But between the risky careers, drug use, random late nights and hook ups, there is surprisingly few consequences. And while I did not want there to be any consequences, I felt like the book sort of glosses over the very real risks that these two young girls take and almost glamorizes several areas that I think could have (at least) added a lot of nuance to the story and could have been a conversation starter for making safer choices and/or why, for many people, it doesn't feel like safe choices are an option. Especially being set in a much less accepting and progressive time.
There were sections where I felt tension rising and an almost impending doom, and I think that if I had known that I didn't need to worry, I wouldn't have been waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop and I could have just focused more on the narrative at hand.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with a digital review copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Girls Girls Girls immerses readers in the 1990s-from Long Beach, NY, to gritty San Francisco. Shoshana von Blanckensee captures the queer nightlife, the countercultural energy of the Mission District, and the rawness of the city as seen through the eyes of the teenage MCs. The setting is an important, vivid part of this book. Those who lived through the 1990s might even appreciate it more. It's also an age when being queer came with less understanding and more violence. San Francisco was Mecca.
I thought I'd be reading more about a WLW relationship, but instead I was drawn in by Hannah's relationship with her Bubbe. We all deserve to have someone like that in our lives.
Not everything is hunky-dory though- prepare for conflict, drugs, death, estrangements, and sex work. This book isn't overly emotional or sentimental, but it does present some harsh truths. I think it still offers hope, even if it's not your usual happy-ever-after.
#NetGalley

A really moving coming of age debut story set in the 90s featuring a gay Jewish girl and her high school girlfriend who leave home for adventure and the queer scene of San Francisco. Emotional, relatable and heartfelt. This was both a great intergenerational family story, a Sapphic romance, a story of female friendship and a look at the early LGBTQIA/Aids scene in SF. Highly recommended for fans of books like Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau or Last night at the Telegraph Club by Melinda Lo. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

CW: drug use, sexual assault, alcohol addiction, sex work, death of a loved one from cancer

"Where is home? It's nowhere, which means it could be anywhere. It's wherever I am. I'm home"

Girls Girls Girls is a heartfelt, compelling coming-of-age story following Hannah, a young queer Jewish woman growing up in 90s Long Beach, NY. At 18, Hannah leaves home for San Francisco with Sam, her best friend and first love, and navigates early adulthood in a new place of freedom and opportunity, challenge and heartbreak. Her story captures so much, from friendships and first loves, family relationships, self-exploration and identity, religion, grief, and love. All of the characters and relationships are developed so well and feel very real and powerful. There is so much emotion and depth packed into this story of a young woman searching for herself and place to feel at home.

CW: drug use, addiction, sex work, sexual assault, cancer death, homophobia

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance review copy!

This was a great read to see the physical and mental journey that the girls take on during their trip. It shows the effects of our choices.

This was a well-executed queer coming of age, with a writing style and reading experience reminiscent of Stone Butch Blues. It captured the queer experience of the 90s with attention to detail that made the read feel very authentic.

It’s the summer of ’96 and best friends (and secret girlfriends) Hannah and Sam are driving across the country from Long Beach, New York, to the fabled queer paradise of San Francisco, free from the harsh gazes of their neighbors and the stifling demands of Hannah’s devout Orthodox Jewish mother. In San Francisco, they will finally be together as a real couple, out in the open, around other queer people . . . even if the move means leaving behind Hannah’s beloved Bubbe.

When the financial strains of West Coast living push the girls to start stripping at The Chez Paree—yet another secret Hannah must keep from her family—Hannah feels trapped. Sam wants her at the club, but Hannah hates stripping nearly as much as she hates disappointing Sam. Then Hannah meets Chris, an older butch lesbian, who is immediately taken with her. Desperate to stay in San Francisco and away from the leering men at the club, Hannah proposes an escort arrangement.

But as Hannah falls deeper into Chris’ world and Sam starts to meet new queer friends, a rift forms between them. Without Sam, who is Hannah? And what does San Francisco mean to Hannah alone—a space rich with queer possibility or an intimidating, unfamiliar place just as lonely as the one she’d left behind? An achingly tender and resonant story of survival, first love, and growing up queer in the '90s, Girls Girls Girls is a piercing exploration of the choices we make in the thrilling and often confounding search for ourselves and home.

My generation, my time, my people. So relatable it hurts - on so many levels. I loved every second of this, all the beautiful, broken, painful, heartfelt and hopeful moments! Can I give it 6⭐?

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

“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.