e-Audio,07:58:41
Narrated by: Tamika Katon-Donegal
Release Date: November 21, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape (Berkley)
Read from: November 29-30, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Grief, Death of a parent, Child Abuse, Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Mental Illness
For Readers Interested In: Multiple POV, Romance, 2slgbtqia+, Contemporary, Texas Local Reads, Realistic Fiction, Squad Goals, YAQueer Love. Something Dawn wants, desperately, but does not have. But maybe, if she can capture it, film it, interview the people who have it, queer love will be hers someday. Or, at least, she’ll have made a documentary about it. A documentary that, hopefully, will win Dawn a scholarship to film school. Many obstacles stand in the way of completing her film, but her best friends Edie and Georgia are there to help her reach her goal, no matter what it takes.
A touching and joyous story of queer friendship and girlhood set in the vibrant city of Houston, THE QUEER GIRL IS GOING TO BE OKAY will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you believe that eventually, everything will be okay.
*MY THOUGHTS*
OK so let me tell you how I figured out this was set in Houston……… My youth counterpart at work sent me a TikTok about it. I went to further investigate because I thought it came out in 2024. I pull it up and see it just came out and I need to order it. I read the synopsis ONE MORE TIME. Get to the end and realize that says Houston. I fired my own self for that one. Because how in the world am I from this place and I didn’t know about this book?!
Aside from the shock that it was set in Houston, nothing else about this came as a shock. The main characters were all people of color, they were all queer, and they all were really good friends. I KNEW I was going to love this. The friends group was probably my favorite part. They fought, and they got mad at each other for things I thought was dumb, but also things that I felt were completely warranted. They really felt like in real life friends. I say things like that alot, but I really felt like they were tangible. And listen, if you don’t have friends like these people kiddos in this book, you did it wrong. I don’t know a single person that would write something for me if I was trying to get into a contest if they had no idea what they were doing. I don’t know a person that would try. But these kids stuck together and they helped each other even when they didn’t think anyone could help them. I was grateful they had each other. I hope this encourages other teens to not hold on to some of the things that happened in this book. I hope seeing the support in this book will help them come forward and say something.
The other thing I liked about this was the way they were all different. A lot of times when you read something that has more than 2 POVs it gets confusing and you don’t know who is who half the time. But in this book they were all different by the things they had going on. But because of this I did feel like the stories could have used more detail or the characters could have been fleshed out a little more, but it was mainly because there was so much going on. Since everyone had their own story, everyone also had their own plot and resolutions and with it being less than 8 hours long, it just could have used some more stuff.
The individual stories tho were really good for what we did get and I would have loved to have a full length novel on every character. Like the film festival plot thread. I would have loved to “accompany her to different interviews, or even help find resources for her dad. It was just something that I wish we could have seen more of. But I guess that was the point. In the other stories we got to see the actual stories that might have been featured in the documentary she was making. And I thought that was cool. I also wanted to know what was wrong with her dad. Besides the grief. There had to be some mental illness there too. And the way her friends showed up and never judged her? Ugh they were squad goals.
I also loved how this book tricked me. I went in to this expecting it was going to be a light feel good novel, but there are some heavy topics in it here and there. At some points I was sad, but at others I was smiling from ear to ear. This book will definitely put you through the ringer, but in the end you’ll be smiling just like I was.
This wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but I’m glad for that. This is why I go into books without knowing anything at all. I like to be surprised. And this one will definitely do that for you. Give yourself a treat and read this one today!
Overall, I give this
