Crushed; The boys that never liked me back by Kiersten Lyons is a unique take on dating and a how a romantic comedy would really be.

This book is technically a memoir about the author, and her experiences of not feeling worth your crush, or accepting a toxic relationship because you think that's what you deserve. Reading this book was like chatting with your good friends about the highs and lows of dating. It is super relatable and hilarious.
I recommend this book for anyone who has had a bad relationship or bad dates.

Love that there was a forward from Chris Carmack, who plays Atticus Lincon on Greys Anatomy.

Thank you Kiersten and team for partnering with NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Lyons's book had me thinking about all the messages I was fed as a kid about boys--"he's mean because he likes you", "don't act too interested", "boys will be boys", "you can change him". Whether learned directly from a friend or from watching a 90s rom-com, these messages that we received as young women are all inherently harmful and toxic, which may be part of why Lyons found herself always chasing unavailable or abusive men. In this memoir, Lyons urges women to wait for the real ones and to refuse to change yourself for someone else (or as I saw it aptly put on TikTok by plantkween yesterday, "Don't shrink to be digestible. Let 'em choke").

While the messaging was relevant and important, and parts of the plot nostalgic and relatable for me, I couldn't entirely fall in love with this book. The structure at the beginning with the hops around in time were too confusing to follow. When she goes back to her childhood a few chapters in, she writes it chronologically, so it becomes much easier to understand. The writing wasn't super engaging for me, and despite this being written based on a standup hour, I didn't find it funny. It likely would be much better as an audiobook. Many sentences begin with interjections ("Okay", "why yes", "no, but") to the point where I could predict the parts that the author was trying to make comedic, which made it less humorous.

Women who grew up in the 90s will love (or hate) this book--you'll love it for how seen you feel, but you'll hate it for how much you cringe about all the nonsense you accepted in your own life.

Unexpectedly heartfelt and laugh-out-loud funny, this memoir captures the mess and magic of heartbreak with sharp wit and raw honesty. Lyons weaves humor through the pain in a way that makes you feel seen—even in your most embarrassing moments. It’s a rollercoaster of chaos, healing, and surprise detours that somehow leave you smiling. A reminder that even when it all falls apart, you’re probably not as alone as you think.

A fun memoir of womanhood and finding the person you want to spend your life with. There were parts I wish she had gone more into detail with, but they weren’t a huge part of the story she was trying to tell.

It feels like reading someone's personal diary but with deeply relatable themes. Crushed is a memoir of Kirsten's most memorable loves and losses with lots of anecdotes along the way. She is very funny and this lightens moments which feel particularly heavy. Read it. It will make you feel inherently better.

This wonderful, funny memoir made me laugh, cry, and reflect on both the wonderful and truly, deeply hurtful parts of my life. I immediately found myself so similar to author in her early hopes and crushes and in the feelings of being repeatedly crushed. This book, and her words, make me feel so seen and give me hope.

While it is primarily about author Kiersten Lyons’ experiences with love, loss, and the interminable lessons we experience in between, whether we want to or not, Crushed fundamentally offers readers a story on healing, and recognizing that grief and our own recovery isn’t linear, but it is possible. I was pulled in immediately by the premise, noting the similarities in things I experienced both growing up (is there something in the water in MD?), and to this day, in Kiersten’s words. Her humor lightens the darkness of the situations she goes through, and it truly seems as though you have a caring older sister commiserating with you as you read through her own non-linear journey to her unexpected, but perhaps more meaningful, present.

Thank you so much for this one, Kiersten. I may not have loved Jonathan Taylor Thomas like you did (I was more of the age of Orlando Bloom and Heath Ledger), but to know that someone was brave enough to tell their story—and show that loving someone is always a good choice, even if they don’t or can’t love you back.

And many thanks to NetGalley and Regalo Press for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Rating: 4 stars

Review posted to StoryGraph on June 7, 2025 (https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e843e86a-a25d-4ab2-990d-7bcaf350d431)
Review posted to Instagram: June 12, 2025 (https://www.instagram.com/p/DKzec2lxz5N/)

*Received eARC from NetGalley for review*

Even though this is a memoir about the author, a lot of her experiences of not feeling worth it when you like a guy or accepting a toxic relationship because you think that’s what you deserve is so relatable.

I’m happy she got her happy ending. I can only hope that my own happy ending is out there too.

I loved exploring Kiersten’s journey through heartbreak, disappointment, and rejection. She tackles these painful moments with nostalgia, humour, and authenticity.

Kiersten Lyons and I have a few things in common—a penchant for boy-craziness (and the attendant heartbreak), time living in Los Angeles, and an unexpected personal encounter with Taylor Swift (although I would NEVER make the mistake of referencing a track 5 song as track 7 in print, no less!). This book appealed to me, as someone who has had her share of dating heartbreaks. And I was pleasantly surprised to read that a key part of the author’s journey was waiting until marriage, because I don’t often find that represented in media and that is my journey as well. I found the narrator likable and in many cases even admirable. However, I did find this book a little uneven. There were timeline jumps and I couldn’t always remember which boys were which. The author also lightly alluded to certain life events very briefly that had me wishing to hear more about them instead of the relationship struggles the book is centered around—tell me more about becoming parentified when your mom had a psychotic break (twice!). Tell me more about what it was like being on tv shows! Tell me more about your adopted little sister/daughter’s story and your decision to adopt another child later on! I recognize those experiences were not the emphasis of the book, but I think they would have made it a richer and more engaging story. I liked Crushed rather than loving it—but I still want to read what this author does next, because it’s clear she has an abundance of interesting life material to draw from and I hope she chooses to.

I really enjoyed this memoir. Kiersten is so funny and has such a good personality. I felt like I was reading something a friend wrote and thought she was very relatable and honest. She touches on some very real but hard to talk about topics. I think this book would be great for any young women or even teenager.

Kiersten Lyons' Crushed is an extremely funny memoir in which she dissects her life as it basically falls apart in every way.

I found this very easy to read , Kiersten's writing style is very witty and is almost conversational like you are reading a letter from a big sister or as if she is writing to her younger self. Diving into aspects of heartbreak, embarrassing moments and self worth, telling them to know their value and ensuring them that everything will be ok in the end.

This is the perfect read for teenagers or younger women who are trying to get their life together.

This book felt like having a conversation with an old friend, it’s at times funny, embarrassing, relatable, sad and most importantly encouraging!

There was a bit more talk of religion in there than I expected but Kiersten talks about her relationship with god honestly, sometimes brutally and only in relation to herself and her own situation so did not come across as OTT.

A great reminder that there’s no such thing as perfect and “figuring it out” is a lifelong project.

I went into this book not knowing who the author was but thinking it sounded like an interesting book. I feel this book would be great for teenage girls and even some into their twenties and beyond.

I feel like we can all relate to certain aspects of this book. Knowing you like someone and they don’t like you back. Will you ever find someone who does? Will they feel for you as much as you do for them?

This feels like a letter from your big sister. I have a teenager and I think this would resonate with her more than her mom just telling her.

Thank you NetGalley and Post Hill Press for the advanced digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own!

Any book that opens with a letter to Jonathan Taylor Thomas is going to have my heart. This book is part memoir with primary focus on relationships (the good stuff and also the not so good stuff), part nostalgia particularly for those of the millennial variety (like me), and part reassurance for younger women that they're not alone, and others have navigated all kinds of stuff, too. I didn't know anything about the author prior to reading this and still found enjoyment and connection in her story. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this June 2025 release.

Sharp and funny. I couldn't relate to everything in the book, but I enjoyed how unapologetically full-throated it was in it's earnestness and emotion.

Crushed was an interesting read. I’ve got to admit, I went into this not knowing anything about the author because I’m not on TikTok. It makes sense that they were a Big Sister because Crushed was written from that perspective of wanting to help other women realise that they’re enough. It was a pleasant surprise to read about their faith because you don’t often get that from memoirs about actors trying to make it in Hollywood.

There were useful life lessons but the reason it was 3 x Stars instead of more is because some parts of it were difficult to read, for example when she was on again and off again with the ex-fiancé who’d cheated on her and called off their wedding. Sometimes it felt like more of an extended stand-up routine.

Digital age/millennial writing on crushes. I appreciated some of the inventive formats (very much social media, letters, dialogue and text formats). I imagine it may be comforting or intriguing to a younger audience.

crushed is the type of book I needed when I was 15, full of braces and acne, wondering if anyone would ever love me. To be fair, I'm still wondering about that last part, but as someone in their mid-30's, this book felt like a warm hug, or a friend saying 'I see you. I know what you're going through.' It feels like talking to someone who's gone through the same struggles as you, minus the LA aspect, and I think it will help teenage girls a lot.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
-----
Thanks to NetGalley and Post Hill Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is such a funny, relatable, and heart warming read. We've all been where Kiersten has at one point or another and I really enjoyed reading this.