Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

29 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

hologram_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

tegzy95's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Death of parent

alex1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

ahopper7's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

This book reads like an independent queer film, and I’m here for it. It also was basically a combination of Kiyoko’s songs like Girls like Girls, Curious, Sleepover, and What I Need. Again, here for it.

Overall, it was a coming of age story for queer teens, one learning to love herself and accept love after trauma, and one learning love and accept herself because of internalized homophobia. Both of these girls exists in our queer community, I was one of these girls. I do think this needed a little more editing help, but I enjoyed the book, even as an adult outside of the market age, and I think it’s an important story to have out there. Kudos to Kiyoko for expanding her music into a debut novel!

Also, I highly recommend the audiobook. It has a full cast, is well produced, and the main character is voiced by Kiyoko. Definitely made the reading experience more enjoyable for me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

zoemaleah's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicide

ceeshay's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship

leahfoko's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow this book was amazing. I spent half the book wanting to murder Trenton and the other half crying lowkey. Part of what I loved about this book is yes it’s a romance, but more than that it’s a story of self discovery, personal growth, self love, acceptance, grief, loss, how to heal a relationship that you think is irreparably broken. It’s a book about the way that heartache and joy coexist in life. It was so well written and the story that Hayley weaves is so intricate and raw and real. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

emw29's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt