Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book. Though set in an earlier time period, Where There’s Room for Us felt incredibly fresh especially in its exploration of politics, family relationships, and the unique social dynamics of this particular story in that era. The contrast between the American characters and the English was so well-drawn and added a fascinating layer to the story. It also served as a great story telling device to give us a deeper look at what is going on.

The emotional depth surprised me in the best way. I found the story unexpectedly relatable, and it truly tugged at my heartstrings. I was in tears more than once, and I highlighted so many beautiful phrases that I know will stay with me.

The banter between the main characters was smart and fun, their romance tender and believable, and the bond between the sisters reminded me so much of my own. The whole novel was a joy to read, and I feel so thankful to have experienced it. This story left me both full and wanting more in the best way possible.

This was a cute historical romance and a fairly quick read. I liked all of the characters, though thought some of their personalities were inconsistent as POVs changed. I also thought Freya and Ivy’s connection was insta-love, which made it hard for me to connect with them. I overall enjoyed the setting and storyline though and think this would be a great book if you enjoy historical romances and lots of LGBTQ+ representation!

This was a sweet read with a charming romance at its core, but it didn’t fully capture my attention. The premis (set in a reimagined 19th century where same-sex marriage is accepted) had a lot of potential, but the pacing felt slow and uneven, with a rushed ending that relied too much on time jumps.

Ivy and Freya’s relationship was tender and had some genuinely lovely moments, and I can definitely see this resonating with fans of historical fiction or shows like Bridgerton. That said, I found some of the worldbuilding a bit inconsistent. While I don't mind a reimagined historical setting, perhaps it felt a bit uncanney valley for me to see 19th century and queerness existing so peacefully. Yes, this is the dream scenario and I have loved other books that have applied this, but in this one, the fact that it feels so untrue makes it hard for me to fully immerse myself. So that's my only issue with it.

Overall, while the book had its heart in the right place, it just didn’t quite hold my interest the way I hoped. Cute, but not a standout for me. However, I definitely see the potential is there for Hayley Kiyoko and I love that for her, two books under her belt already!

In a reimagined England of old, everyone is free to love whomever they love. But for some, familial expectations look over them along with an inheritance law that prevents Sapphic couples from passing down titles. A phenomenal blend of past and future where, at the end of it all, love is what matters the most.

This book had me laughing, crying, and unable to put it down. From the relationships between the Tallon sisters to the very real familial pressure to make everything work, everything felt real and meaningful. I especially loved the sisters, as it reminded me of my own family and how we take care of each other. Hayley Kiyoko masterfully showed coming into yourself and coming out later in life, using both the ease of falling with the sometimes difficulty of sharing that with others.
I hope everyone finds someone who makes space for them, and if there's no space, finds room.

Spice: 🌶️ Closed Door

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A huge thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press|Wednesday Books and author Hayley Kiyoko, for providing me with the eARC of “Where there’s Room for Us”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: November 4th, 2025
Reviewed on Goodreads: July 22nd, 2025

I was so incredibly excited to have the opportunity to read and review this book early!
I love Hayley Kiyoko, and I love sapphic regency romance- so this was such a treat for me!

Ivy is a scandalous American poet, who has recently ventured to England following her brother’s inheritance of an estate.
Her brother needs to find a suitable Englishwoman to marry, and Ivy has committed herself to helping him find one.
However, Ivy unexpected finds her own love interest when she meets Freya- a lady living nearby.
Ivy and Freya’s relationship blossoms, but trouble arises when Freya’s father expects her to marry a man and produce an heir to their fortunes.
Freya must decide between being the woman everyone expects her to be, or being the woman she wishes to be.

I had such a nice time reading this!
The writing here is really amazing. It flows nicely, reads easily, and kept me entertained.
The characters are also developed well, and it was great how each one truly had their own very unique personality.

I love the romance in this!
I usually find regency romances to be very sweet and poetic- and this was no exception.
Ivy and Freya are so good together. Seeing them prosper despite so many challenges throughout this story was so heartwarming.

I also really enjoyed the overall supportive nature of the society in this book, in which sapphic relationships are quite normalized.
While there are still people that disagree with it, and some of the laws are set against them- most of the characters are understanding and in favor of everyone having the right to love whoever they love.
There is even an entire area/community dedicated to it, with a really sweet backstory.
I was seething at Freya’s father though! Him and his obsession with his daughters having sons.
It is a vital part of the stories plot however, so I understand its relevance/necessity here.

Bonus points to this story being a young-adult romance!
I love that it is a suitable read for everyone, because I think a lot of people would really enjoy reading this!
I also think it has some messages that could be really beneficial to younger audiences.
(Even if you are not a young adult, the writing is quite mature. It does not feel childish at all. So really, this read is for anyone!)

This really is a very cute and sweet book. I would certainly recommend it, and I am very excited for its official release!

I absolutely loved the sapphic twist on a victorian setting! The setting was beautiful and it was a nice low stakes cozy book. Freya's character as the sister whose whole identity has been determined by society and her father's expectations was a great central character as she begins to discover herself for the first time. It was sweet, it had tension, it had heartbreak and love. I absolutely recommend this one!!

The only thing was that the end of the book felt a bit rushed with a few different time jumps which was a big contrast to the rest of the book. And it was sad not to get to see some of the situations more fleshed out. I hope to see more like this book though! I loved Hayley's writing style and I hope this isn't the last we see of Ivy and Freya!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

In a regency era where loving regardless of gender is the norm, the patriarchy is still going strong. Freya must choose between the path set out for her and the new side of herself she discovers with Ivy. While the romance is brewing, so is unrest in the family and community with the radical women’s group looking to change laws and get the vote.

While the premise was good, I found the story tried to touch on too many things without delving deep enough to make a cohesive picture. The writing and tone was a bit repetitive for a young adult novel, but did not detract from the book too far.

I loved the promise of this book! I think it’s really important to discuss the underlying misogyny in queer culture and an “accepting” society.

Unfortunately i find the actual execution a bit lacking. The writing seemed elementary at times and i found the characters spoke very modernly for a book set in Victorian England. I also found the ending VERY rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

Escape into a past where you can love whoever you choose, but still fight for the rights of women. Follow Freya as she begins to question and discover who she truly is and Ivy as she adjusts to moving out of America.

I truly wanted to love this book. The characters were relatable and lovable. I liked the idea of the plot line, but feel it wasn’t well executed. I agree with other reviews in that the ending was way too rushed. I felt that the read wasn’t smooth and could’ve been better written. I also felt that the way things were resolved was missing.

I was pleasantly surprised by Where There's Room For Us as someone who is very much NOT into the regency era, not into YA, and not the biggest romance fan. The story takes place in a reimagined Victorian England where there's no homophobia, but there's still misogyny in some aspects of society - a choice that was confusing for me at first, but necessary to bring in tension.

Since the queer romance occurs within this alternate history, we get to explore narrative conflicts outside of the typical tropes plaguing modern sapphic romance novels which I appreciated! I also liked the relationship between the sisters and the political aspects, which I would actually want to see developed more and the characters getting into activism rather than the full focus on romance (but that's just my taste lol). The writing style and the way the characters spoke didn't line up with the 1880s time period - I don't actually mind because I don't really like reading things written in that style (again just my taste lol) but for those who do, I could see this taking them out of the story.

As a young adult romance this won't be for everyone, but I think it provides some necessary variety to the genre and was a big step-up from Girls Like Girls! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was sweet! It's always nice to read a sapphic historical romance where being queer is accepted. We don't always need stories to be 100% historically accurate. I will admit that the writing style wasn't my personal favorite, and some aspects felt lacking, but I still enjoyed this. The characters were enjoyable, and I loved the romance. Overall, definitely something cute that I'd recommend to readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderfully interesting take on misogyny in a queer-normative society. I've read quite a few queer historical romances, but they tend to either be entirely queer-normative (thus including gender) or have period accurate homophobia and misogyny. This is a delightful new angle to take, and I think it was done very well. The pacing was typical of a historical romance, which for me is a bit slow, but that's more of a genre feature I dislike than a flaw with the book. I think Kiyoko does a wonderful job exploring the world she built.

4/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Where There’s Room for Us by Hayley Kiyoko!

I went into this book a little hesitant at first because historical fiction/romance isn’t usually my go-to genre—but I’m a huge fan of Hayley Kiyoko’s music, so I knew I had to give it a chance. I’m so glad I did because this story completely blew me away.

I found it incredibly hard to put down. The writing was beautiful, and the story had such heart. What really stood out to me was the thoughtful, affirming representation throughout. There were several queer characters, including a non-binary character (which I loved), and the narrative handled gender and sexuality with care and intention.

Even though it touched on the very real struggles that women faced in history, I really appreciated that it wasn’t filled with homophobia for the sake of “accuracy,” which is something that can often weigh down queer historical fiction. Instead, it felt like a space where love, identity, and self-expression could shine through—even in difficult times.

This book was full of emotion, empowerment, and hope. If you’re on the fence about it—especially if you’re a Hayley Kiyoko fan like me—take the leap. It’s 100% worth it!

the pacing is pretty good! reminiscent of an episode of bridgerton, if that makes sense.

the prose itself though sounds very middle-grade, which is so cool if that’s the purpose but otherwise is sorta out of place.

i liked that it was fade to black! it is very suitable for the genre and age range.

however, i felt like the characters were sort of two dimensional. of course its just a rom com, so its not supposed to have groundbreaking deep characters, but i still wanted more out of it.

I read this and a bunch of other historicals back to back, so unfortunately this one did not really stick out to me, it just blurred with the rest I have read recently.

This was such a heartfelt, emotional read with a lot of vulnerability and honesty woven into the story. It reminded me of bridgerton and was like ginslly seeingvPenelope snd Eloise get their HEA. I really appreciated how the characters were allowed to be messy and imperfect while figuring themselves out. The romance was sweet and awkward in all the right ways, and I loved the themes of self-discovery and finding where you truly belong.

I’m giving it 4 stars because while I connected with a lot of it, there were a few moments where I wanted the pacing to be tighter or certain parts of the story to dig a little deeper. Like for instance, same sex marriage was legal and accepted but only men could inherit. So it feels like it only benefits same sex male couples, if that were to be the case maybe that shouldve been explored more. Still, the heart was definitely there, and by the end, I felt really satisfied with the journey.

A beautiful, emotional coming-of-age story with romance, heartache, and hope all mixed together.

Where There’s Room for Us is a Victorian era sapphic romance set in an AU where gay marriage is accepted in society. This is a cute story about Ivy and Freya falling in love and their journey along the way. I enjoyed the story as a whole, I felt some parts of the story struggled with pacing. Especially the last quarter of the book felt rushed, when it would have been better if it had been more fleshed out as it reached the ultimate resolution. While I am not usually one to pick up on whether vocabulary is accurate to a setting, I did feel that some word choice here felt more modern than true to the time period. Despite my personal qualms about the book, it was an enjoyable story will do well as YA sapphic historical romance. Thank you to NetGallry and the publisher!

This was a cute book in an alt-historical setting. I wish that the setting and characters had been developed more, and the language was a bit lacking, but overall it was a fun read.

This was a difficult read for me. There was too much detail given at the beginning of the book. For the first 15-20 percent, the story did not really get a proper start. It was frankly boring and made the book hard for me to want to finish. I did not particularly hate or enjoy this book.

However, I loved the world Hayley set up in her retelling. I loved how women loving women (and men loving men) was more common in society, yet it did not come without its own societal issues. This small piece of background helped carry the plot between our two love interests. I did have moments where I felt happy with the romance, the love expressed, and how it was shown. This is important in LGBT+ books.

However, I think it is a book I would suggest to a certain type of reader, but I would not recommend it to most readers. I will give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I wasn’t really a fan of Hayley Kiyoko’s debut book, so I’m pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this one. My biggest qualm was that the dialogue felt jilted and unnatural much of the time. There were several points at which I was thinking the book just needed another once-over for checking phrasing and sentence structure. But overall this was enjoyable! Ivy and Freya were adorable, but Dani definitely stole the show for me.