e-Audio, 08:31:26
Narrated by: Brandon Flynn, Hayley Kiyoko, Katie Gavin, Malia Pyles, & Natalie Naudus
Release Date: May 30, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: June 1-2, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Toxic Relationship, Abuse, Drug Use, Underage drinking
For Readers Interested In: Romance, LGBTQIA+, LGBTQIA+ Coming Out Story, Coming of Age, YA, Sparkly CoversTrailblazing pop star, actor, and director, Hayley Kiyoko debuts her first novel, a coming-of-age romance based on her breakthrough hit song and viral video, GIRLS LIKE GIRLS.
It’s summertime and 17-year-old Coley has found herself alone, again. Forced to move to rural Oregon after just losing her mother, she is in no position to risk her already fragile heart. But when she meets Sonya, the attraction is immediate.
Coley worries she isn’t worthy of love. Up until now, everyone she’s loved has left her. And Sonya’s never been with a girl before. What if she’s too afraid to show up for Coley? What if by opening her heart, Coley’s risking it all?
They both realize that when things are pushed down, and feelings are forced to shrivel away, Coley and Sonya will be the ones to shrink. It’s not until they accept the love they fear and deserve most, that suddenly the song makes sense.
Based on the billboard-charting smash hit song and viral music video GIRLS LIKE GIRLS, Hayley Kiyoko’s debut novel is about embracing your truth and realizing we are all worthy of being loved back.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This is a little difficult to review. I liked the idea of this book, and I liked the song/video it’s about, but the execution wasn’t great. The book was so repetitive it was predictable. And then there was the end. That in itself ruined it all. BUT the narrators and sound effects saved it for me.
Ok so let’s talk about the writing style. I couldn’t put it into words, but as I was talking it out to my mom about it, it finally made sense. It was so repetitive. Like they kept cycling round and round. It was like a weird adult relationship and they wouldn’t leave each other because of the kids or some shit. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but it was also so toxic. One of them didn’t even want to admit that they liked the other and she was being hurt so bad. And I hated that. She didn’t deserve that at all. Then there was the ending. All the things that were building up and building up finally happened….. And then it was over. It felt so rushed. Like it hit the climax and then it was over. I would have liked it more if she had finally given us some time together instead of them fighting and all that. And then for the one person to give them an ultimatum and she still went the other way. I was so annoyed.
The romance was mostly nonexistent. It was so much of them going back and forth and her not wanting to out herself. Which, understandable, but you don’t get to continue hurting her and leading her on the whole time. You don’t continue to hurt someone you say you love. If she loved her she would have left her alone until she was ready. Especially since she knew she couldn’t resist her. It was hurting me to read that part. The actual romance didn’t exactly come out until the ending. And even then it wasn’t a good one.
The actual reason I rated this so high was because I read the audiobook version. The narrators were fire, there were multiple narrators, AND there was some special sound effects in there too. It made me feel like I was in the middle of the story. Like I was in Oregon with them. And it helped that one of the narrators was one of my favorites, Nadus. She has done so many audios and they’re all good. If nothing else about this book, I liked the audio and was really impressed by it.
This was ok, but I don’t think it was executed right. I do think it just needed a few tweaks here and there and it would have been ok. But without those things I was a bit bored and I don’t think it landed well. It’s unfortunate because I liked the song and the music video, but this just didn’t hit the same.
Overall, I give this
