I just finished Lover Girl and I’m still sitting with that quiet ache in my chest — the kind that only comes from reading something honest, raw, and beautifully defiant.
As a woman who’s lived a few decades, I felt the sting and sweetness of this one in my bones. Nicole Sewell has written a novel that isn’t afraid to get messy — with love, lust, shame, freedom, and the many masks we wear just to survive.
This book isn’t about tying everything up with a pretty bow. It’s about standing in the wreckage, picking up a shard, and looking yourself in the eye. There’s so much rage here. So much tenderness too. I saw my younger self in some of these pages. I saw friends. I saw all the ways women must shapeshift to be loved, or simply left alone.
Sewell’s voice is unflinching and intimate, like a diary written in lipstick and blood. It’s poetry and grit. It’s for the girls who never learned to say no — and the women learning to say it now, even if their voices shake.
If you want something safe and polite, this isn’t it. But if you want something that tells the truth in all its uncomfortable, beautiful, liberating glory — Lover Girl is a must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clash Books for the ARC!

2⭐️ — Not for Me

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love Lover Girl—the premise intrigued me, and I went in with high hopes. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t land. It gave Normal People energy, but without the emotional resonance or depth I was hoping for.

I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. The FMC is clearly going through a lot, but her choices felt frustrating, and her voice came across as whiny and self-sabotaging rather than sympathetic. I kept waiting for a moment of growth or redemption that never really came.

The writing had moments of potential, and there were themes that could have been powerful, but the execution felt uneven. I considered DNF’ing more than once, but pushed through since it was an ARC.

I hate giving low-star reviews, but sometimes a book just isn’t your match—and that’s okay. If you enjoy moody, introspective fiction with messy protagonists, this might work better for you.

I began reading this book because from the title I thought it would be a romance. This book is not about true love, nor is it about a love triangle between the two mentioned boys. This book doesn’t even end in the main character being in a relationship. Throughout the book the main character remains “nameless” which confuses me. I don’t really know what the moral of the story was. Though, the author can have greater writing if she recognizes that there’s a need for a good plot, and a named main character.

Lover Girl had a premise I was excited about—romantic tension, emotional baggage, and a heroine trying to find her way after heartbreak. There were moments of charm, and Nicole Sellew’s writing style has an easy, conversational tone that makes the book a quick read.

That said, the story didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I had a hard time connecting with the main character at times, and while her emotional journey had potential, it felt a bit underdeveloped. Some romantic elements were predictable, and a few key plot points felt rushed or too convenient.

Still, I appreciated some genuinely sweet and funny moments, and I think readers who enjoy lighter women’s fiction or second-chance romance may find more to love here.

Overall, it’s a middle-of-the-road read for me—suitable for passing time, but didn’t leave a lasting impression.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

so... i thought the main character was interesting enough, and the kind of stream-of-consciousness writing style didn’t really bother me—in fact, it worked in parts and made it feel more personal and raw.
that said, the whole book felt a bit shallow. not in the writing itself, but in the way nothing really built to anything. it ended and i just kind of sat there like... oh. that’s it? it had potential, but i do wish it had gone a bit deeper or been longer, something to make it feel more complete.
overall, i didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t leave much of a mark either.
2.5 stars rounded up.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Lover Girl is like looking into the mind of someone who really just needs to be validated by the opposite sex. Our main character spends a lot of time in their head thinking they’re the main character in everyone else’s lives instead of just their own. If the author’s point is to make you not like the MC, they’ve succeeded. I did not care for her, but I did pity her. I did however enjoy a look into the minds of Cameron and Lucas. One particular chapter of Cameron’s made me laugh out loud. A relatively quick read! Thank you CLASH books and Net Galley!

Thank you NetGalley and Clash Books for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this. It belongs on any women vs the void book list, heavyyyy on the void. Definitely for fans of Emma Cline’s The Guest.

I loved the stream of consciousness feel to the prose, and the alternating POVs with the boys. This book was aimless and pointed all at the same time, and some of the main characters choices really stressed me out. I liked the ending, and didn’t feel like I was left with a bow nor do I feel like I was left with a bunch of loose ends.

This was well written, well paced, and only for people who like dry humor.

This book was everything! I loved the messy vibes, the yearning and the coming of age drama. The character driven plot made this feel very relatable. Fab writing. Thankyou NetGalley and clashbooks for letting me read this ARC.

In this literary work, Sellew writes a romantic book on forbidden desires. A young woman, given refuge by a friend named Lucas, finds comfort in the Hamptons while writing her novel; escaping from New York City to the Hamptons should have been an inspirational experience. Instead, it causes her to become distracted alone in the neglected. Her past lovers' appearances exacerbate her situation. She struggled to understand love and its expectations. Navigating her relationship and figuring out herself send her into a downward spiral as she strives to please the boys, with her body image becoming a top priority.

Lover Girl's plot is intriguing, and some people would find it relatable. Although I read the book to the end, I craved more details to immerse myself in the world. The character lacked depth. I felt like the book came to an end quickly. She didn’t do any internal checks, fully understanding herself and why she felt she needed to seek validation externally. I'll recommend this book to romance lovers.

Lover Girl is a book with an incredible premise, and a main character with a strong internal personality and a deadpan irony that I enjoy reading.

However, the although Lover Girl, the nameless main character comes of as witty and ironic, her distaste for everybody and everything, without growth in any sense, makes her incredibly hard for me to relate to. But maybe that’s the whole point. Lover Girl is both a victim of her environment and someone who self-victimises, and the lack of growth may reflect the stagnation she’s trapped in.

Still, the book is riddled with small inconsistencies that pulled me out of the narrative. For instance, Lover Girl claims she’s not on social media, yet references Instagram and online interactions. Her recounting of how much she’s drunk also shifts. These could be deliberate choices since after all, she’s an unreliable narrator, but they felt more distracting than illuminating.

Reading this made me unexpectedly grateful for not being in the characters’ shoes. Their lives feel hollow, directionless, and devoid of meaning. That irony is underscored by the quote from the start the book:

“I wash out my smoothie glass and stare at the strip of white wall between the sink and the window and get the sense that my life could very easily become boring and meaningless if I’m not careful.”

Overall, Lover Girl was an interesting read that made me consider a life very different from mine, yet do not envy living.

Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for the ARC!

Nicole Sellew’s Lover Girl is a stylish, introspective, and unapologetically candid debut that plunges readers into the lush and morally slippery world of youth, privilege, and longing. Perfectly suited to modern literary fiction with echoes of autofiction, this novel doesn't just flirt with drama—it dives headfirst into the chaos of desire and self-destruction. The story follows a young woman who flees the emotional wreckage of her life in New York City and seeks escape—first in the opulent summer enclaves of the Hamptons, then in the romantic disorientation of Paris. The protagonist becomes entangled with two men: her wealthy friend Lucas and her ex, Cameron—torn between authenticity, expectation, and passion. Through this love triangle, the novel explores not just emotional volatility, but the deeper currents of identity and agency. “What she calls ‘love’ will take her to... decadent parties... eventually, to Paris.” But this is not a tale of simple romance. It’s a crucible for rites of passage, self-definition, and emotional survival. The relationships she navigates—and at times, clings to—are less about who she desires and more about who she’s becoming. Though Lover Girl is a relatively compact novel, its emotional reach is expansive. Sellew’s vivid style suggests strong potential, even if powerhouse comparisons aren't in evidence yet. Her prose is cinematic without being flashy, observant without condescension, and consistently grounded in emotional truth.

Thanks to NetGalley and CLASH Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not the best book of the year. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, the synopsis sounded interesting but my expectations were dashed as soon as I started reading Lover Girl.

There were details about everything, which may have had a point, but there were things that were just written for the sake of writing. The book only seemed to focus on sexual relationships, which put me off reading it.

It was a DNF.

I will be honest and say that I am just not sure that this was the book for me. I unfortunately had to dnf this book which I try not to do with arcs. I want to say that I am extremely thankful to have been given the opportunity to read this, I just think maybe it was not for me. Something about not having a name for the main character was not something that I could get over. It bothered me way more than I thought it would and I think that is what mostly lead to my decision to not continue.

Thank you to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of Lover Girl in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this one hopeful, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite land for me. Lover Girl reads more like literary fiction than romance, following a nameless female protagonist as she attempts to navigate love and identity as a young woman. While that premise had potential, I found myself disappointed throughout and ultimately unsatisfied by the end.

The book lacked a clear and cohesive plot. Any moments that seemed like they might build into something substantial were fleeting and often dissolved before they could develop. With such a short length, there wasn’t enough time to explore or connect with the characters, resulting in minimal character development.

I’m giving it 2 stars because I can see the creative vision behind it, but it just didn’t work for me. That said, readers who enjoy introspective, abstract storytelling in the literary fiction space may find value here—it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

LOVER GIRL is a raw, provocative debut that explores desire, disillusionment, and the emotional fallout of modern love through the lens of privilege and longing. Following a young writer who escapes to the Hamptons to finish her novel, the story spirals into a beautifully messy portrait of intimacy, blurred boundaries, and self-destruction. As she navigates tangled relationships, high-society parties, and the ghosts of her past, the narrator pulls readers into a world both glamorous and hollow. If you're drawn to introspective, character-driven stories about love, power, and identity in the age of detachment, LOVER GIRL is an unflinching and unforgettable ride.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, CLASH Books and Nicolle Sellew for the e-ARC of Lover Girl! I really enjoyed the premise of this short novel. The unnamed protagonist is a sad, hypersexual girl figuring out relationships with herself, men, and other women in the backdrop of the uber rich Hamptons. There are a lot of uncomfortable moments in the narrative, such as when she is taken advantage of by other people, that I feels speaks to the time of life the character is working through. I thought the author did a good job of making us feel like we were in the head of a post-undergraduate just trying to figure life out and I understand why this novel was slotted in the same genre as Sally Rooney and Elif Batuman. However, I unfortunately did not enjoy the writing style of this book. There were some excellent lines here and there that gave me pause, but otherwise, the prose just fell flat. A possible polish could really help make it shine and would raise my review from a current 2.5 stars.

I thought that this was an interesting read. A very honest and thought provoking main character. I thought her views on both relationships and herself hold true to her age but felt quite dark at times. Due to this I did have to take some breaks and read other books to lighten the mood. The toxic relationship with the love interests was fun to read about but I enjoyed exploring the main character.

thank you for letting me read this book

Lover Girl follows an unnamed protagonist who simultaneously is embarrassed by her self-percieved hyper-sexuality, but feels that her behavior and compulsion to performatively exude sexuality is necessary and above her control. Throughout the book we see her swing between these two emotions as she spends time with her on-again, off-again fling, her ex-boyfriend, and hookups along the way. While reading like I was just barely grasping the message that the author was trying to get across, yet missing it at the same time.
This book had a lot of content that I also was not expecting or prepared for, including - but not limited to- fatphobia, eating disorders, self-harm, sexism, explicit sexual content, sexual violence, and rape.
While I understand that the author brought about the above subjects to make a commentary on womanhood and sexuality, I felt at times that Sellew was heavy-handed, and several lines felt unnecessary.

This was a very challenging reading. There are plot points that don’t follow coherence and go into a loophole. The syntax and grammar gets lost somehow. The characters can have more buildup in order to improve the plotline.

A beautiful live letter to love in all its form. Girlfriend, lover, potential partner or admirer. You’ll find all of these angles in this book. It’s an essay on love in its purest form