Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

25 reviews

robinks's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

It was lovely to hear Kiyoko narrating her own novel. Having other voice actors and certain sounds within the audiobook was an interesting choice but also ended up taking me out of the story. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the scenes too.

I also haaaated Sonya’s character, which made Coley’s feelings for her hard to understand, and I’m annoyed that they end up together (though I do appreciate the nod to the Girls Like Girls music video).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

cherryblossomreads's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

Wow, okay. I loved how the cast of characters were SO human. So flawed. And I loved the pace of the story.

I did feel a little left hanging in the end, but I suspect that's a preference and not anything to do with the story itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, and Suicide

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I thought this was really a sweet story about initial love and finding out who you are but I really disliked the characters in the story, particularly Sonya and Trenton. I don’t like the way that love is portrayed in some ways, particularly as something that always has elements of harm or hurt. That’s an unhealthy way to describe love, especially to the target audience of this novel which are upper middle/high school aged kids. I didn’t love the ending, because it felt like a cop out. The characters hadn’t changed all that much and they weren’t ready to make the choices they had made — it all felt too sped up. But, Coley and her dad building a relationship out of really negative circumstances was a beautiful plot line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

smellymiche's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

jennabeck13's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Romance

About 305 pages

Sonya is your typical popular teenage girl. She can get any guy she wants, is a beautiful dancer, and gets invited to all the parties. Meanwhile, Coley just moved to town after losing her mother and is trying to make friends, which is how the two of them meet one day. From that day forward, their lives will change. They have an attraction neither has ever experienced before. But Sonya is afraid to come to terms with her sexuality, and Coley is terrified of being left behind again. If they never discuss their feelings for one another, can they ever come together in the way they hoped?

I’ve been a fan of Becca Tilley since she was on The Bachelor, and since she has been dating Hayley, that’s how I came to know Hayley and therefore this book. This was a cute novel, but not my favorite. I feel like it was targeted more at the young adult demographic, as the characters felt very immature at times. I was not a fan of Sonya, but I did like Coley and wish we got to see her stand up for herself more often. I also wish we got to read more about how her relationship with her dad grew, as I really enjoyed the little bit of that that we got in this book.

Favorite Quote: “We can’t control what people do— how they betray us or even why. How they leave our lives. So many people are running scared. And sometimes they run back to us and earn back our trust. But the ones who don’t come back— or who don’t work to earn back what they lost from us— we have to learn how to let them go.”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

zoopalsfanaccount's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I did but I just found so many of the relationships to be so unhealthy and not fully addressed as such :( 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism

vespera's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

peggymay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

taylorbroek's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent