Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

7 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).

---

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

taylorsevalia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Loved the small town vibes and coming of age queer story! This year, I started to gravitate more towards audiobooks after it took me years to find the kind of audiobooks I like. I’m happy to say I decided to listen to the audiobook first because this is the best one I’ve read! I need Hayley Kiyoko to narrate all the books from now on and for me to read more books that tell stories as atmospherically as this one did! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Car accident, and Outing

Minor: Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism

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

---

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

12dejamoo's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

This book is a love letter to all the people who fixated on the Girls Like Girls music video in 2015. And I loved it.

The central relationship is cute and Coley and Sonya are both great characters. I really enjoyed the development of Coley's relationship with Curtis. I really liked Alex and I highkey want to read a book about him. The setting was also so woven with the story it was just so much fun.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual content

logikitty's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I think for a debut novel, it wasn't shabby. I got a bit annoyed with the general style of the super short sentences and random 'poetics' that showed up - it felt real cringey NGL. I do understand the teenage romance and the lesbophobia aspects of it, so I can't fault the characters for not standing up for their relationship and there being a lot of back and forth. In fact, Kiyoko made that part hella accurate, so props to having developmentally approriate characters. I think I just didn't resonate with the trajectory of the plot as most of it just felt like disconnected hangouts to create a theme and conflict. The cute throwbacks were great tho! The flip phones, LiveJournal, and AIM had young me squealing!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher and am voluntarily leaving a review. 

I didn't really get into this until about 30% of the way through but it did pick up from there. The overall storyline as a coming of age tale for Corey was well-done. The writing is standard YA, with a bit too much telling over showing but it did a good job of creating the small town summer vibes. 

The main characters, Corey and Sonya, were frustrating for me. Neither were particularly likeable, especially Sonya as a love interest. I think the book did a great job at capturing the turmoil and confusion of being a teenage girl, though I must admit that reading this as an adult just had me thinking "you're both brats". 

I wanted some more side-character development, particularly from Alex, who I wanted to know more about. 

I found the ending largely satisfying,

though to be honest I don't believe that Corey and Sonya should have ended up together lol

and overall would recommend this for fans of queer YA. 

Lastly, I'm no angel but I was actually surprised at the sheer amount of teenage drinking, smoking, and drug use in this book, considering it's a young adult book. So just a warning for anyone going in to this! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

skudiklier's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I don't read a lot of YA anymore, and I was a little worried I'd be bored by this, but I actually really liked it! It's not perfect, and it starts out a little slow/clichéd for me, but I just read the last 80% of the book all in one day, so I definitely found it engaging. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to older readers but it's a great coming-of-age book for queer teenagers. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt