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evelynyle_88's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pedophilia, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
thebookpaiges's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
citrus_seasalt's review
3.75
Tied between whether to give this a 3.75 stars, or an exact 4.0! Settling on a very positive 3.75 rounded up, for now.
This was good, actually!! I liked how the author decided to actually write in details about Dawn’s filmmaking, and include some interviews from her footage. It made it feel immersive. I also enjoyed the core three’s dynamic, they felt like teenagers I could actually see in public and overhear in the hallways of some high school. Easily their interactions, unconditional support for each other, and shared bond over being female and queer was the highlight of this novel. Female friendships were handled really well???? I liked every POV, not once dreading a return to a particular one, which is rare for me.
While I get people who went into this with little knowledge being surprised at Dawn’s transness(even though she has that cute necklace with the trans flag colors in the cover art!), her relationship struggles—particularly her ones involving romance and her yearning for it—felt very specific to a transfemme experience of dating men, even before the confirmation of her identity. I really felt for her.
A couple gripes I have, though. Firstly, I kind of wish this was given another once-over by the editors, because there were a few issues in formatting. There was the occasional punctuation issue(mostly with run-on sentences, though), but the one part of that influencing my opinion of the story comes from two POV switches…first at Georgia’s house in the part where Edie visited, it switched from Edie to Georgia’s thoughts without a break in-between, and it threw me off. Secondly, the part at the beach was a little unclear in whose third-person POV it was being told in, because we ricocheted from girl to girl…it took me a few paragraphs to see it settled on Georgia’s POV for that part. (But other than those two parts, there wasn’t any confusion in the switches. I’ve read “Light From Uncommon Stars” and spoke of it highly, so I’m used to third-person POVs. Especially if they switch mid-chapter.)
Last gripe I have is that the writing feels a little too on-the-nose(juvenile) at times. While some issues and plot elements are handled with elements of complexity, character emotions are distinctly not. There’s a lot of Tell Not Show, which grated on me after a while even if the metaphors for those emotions were good.
But overall, this was a good time!! “The Queer Girl Is Going To Be Okay” maintained a balance between emotionally charged topics, and queer joy. I initially thought this would end up working more in a short story format than the 250 page book we got, but I thought the bit of time dedicated to after the film submission deadline was just as narratively important as the time before.
This was good, actually!! I liked how the author decided to actually write in details about Dawn’s filmmaking, and include some interviews from her footage. It made it feel immersive. I also enjoyed the core three’s dynamic, they felt like teenagers I could actually see in public and overhear in the hallways of some high school. Easily their interactions, unconditional support for each other, and shared bond over being female and queer was the highlight of this novel. Female friendships were handled really well???? I liked every POV, not once dreading a return to a particular one, which is rare for me.
While I get people who went into this with little knowledge being surprised at Dawn’s transness(even though she has that cute necklace with the trans flag colors in the cover art!), her relationship struggles—particularly her ones involving romance and her yearning for it—felt very specific to a transfemme experience of dating men, even before the confirmation of her identity. I really felt for her.
A couple gripes I have, though. Firstly, I kind of wish this was given another once-over by the editors, because there were a few issues in formatting. There was the occasional punctuation issue(mostly with run-on sentences, though), but the one part of that influencing my opinion of the story comes from two POV switches…first at Georgia’s house in the part where Edie visited, it switched from Edie to Georgia’s thoughts without a break in-between, and it threw me off. Secondly, the part at the beach was a little unclear in whose third-person POV it was being told in, because we ricocheted from girl to girl…it took me a few paragraphs to see it settled on Georgia’s POV for that part. (But other than those two parts, there wasn’t any confusion in the switches. I’ve read “Light From Uncommon Stars” and spoke of it highly, so I’m used to third-person POVs. Especially if they switch mid-chapter.)
Last gripe I have is that the writing feels a little too on-the-nose(juvenile) at times. While some issues and plot elements are handled with elements of complexity, character emotions are distinctly not. There’s a lot of Tell Not Show, which grated on me after a while even if the metaphors for those emotions were good.
But overall, this was a good time!! “The Queer Girl Is Going To Be Okay” maintained a balance between emotionally charged topics, and queer joy. I initially thought this would end up working more in a short story format than the 250 page book we got, but I thought the bit of time dedicated to after the film submission deadline was just as narratively important as the time before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Transphobia
Moderate: Homophobia and Pedophilia
ssinforshort's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
The title and cover are cute.
The book should have gone into more detail about all three of the main characters. Or it should have been simplified, and focused on one character. I feel like I didn't get to know any of the characters enough.
The book should have gone into more detail about all three of the main characters. Or it should have been simplified, and focused on one character. I feel like I didn't get to know any of the characters enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First of all, this book has excellent representation, and I think it depicts the teen queer experience in the south very well, at least from what I can tell from reading other reviews. Dawn, Edie, and Georgia are all dealing with their own things in their senior year of high school, but they are always there for each other. The found family aspect in this book, especially in relation to the LGBTQ+ community, is also done really well.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator for the audiobook, so I think that took away from the experience of the book. Some of the different voices she did for the characters weren't my favorite thing. There was also sort of an omniscient narrator in the story itself, and sometimes, that format isn't my favorite. At times, I would forget which character we were following.
However, the documentary aspect of the book was really cool, and I enjoyed getting to see glimpses into that. Overall, an enjoyable read that I think teens will definitely be able to see themselves in.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator for the audiobook, so I think that took away from the experience of the book. Some of the different voices she did for the characters weren't my favorite thing. There was also sort of an omniscient narrator in the story itself, and sometimes, that format isn't my favorite. At times, I would forget which character we were following.
However, the documentary aspect of the book was really cool, and I enjoyed getting to see glimpses into that. Overall, an enjoyable read that I think teens will definitely be able to see themselves in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pedophilia, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
lettuce_read's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment
aromanticreadsromance's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Y'all. This is one of those books where I understand its each and every flaw (more on that in a minute) but can't rate it anything but five stars. You HAVE to read this if you are a: a) queer teen, b) queer person who happened to once be a teen (which would be all of us), and c) person with taste. I am in love with Dale Walls' writing style; the way they brought me back to high school through their words (not that anyone would want to go back to high school) is pure talent. They expertly capture the teen girl experience in general and specifically the queer teen girl experience (I can't speak to the queer teen of color experience as a white person, but I imagine they expertly capture this as well). I think adults tend to forget how teen girls face complex issues (issues we might classify as "adult" issues) and all-consuming emotions, questions about a daunting, unknown future, first loves and heartbreaks, and external and internal pressures to "succeed," whatever that means. So yes, the main characters experience a lot of compounding, sometimes unresolved, issues, but this is exactly what it is like to be a teen girl. It's chaotic.
This book stars three queer teen girls of color in Texas. Dawn is an aspiring documentarian, filming a documentary (called The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay) about queer teens in her area, hopefully earning a scholarship to college for next year. She lost her mom as a child, and her dad is mentally ill. She, as the child, worries about taking care of him. Edie is a closeted queer girl living in an extremely religiously conservative family. She is dating Ben, who is nonbinary, and their relationship is fraught because Edie can't introduce them to her parents. Georgia lives with a single mom who she can talk to about anything. Her mom starts dating someone, who is a little... weird. She is a lesbian and dating Jill, a junior. She is not too focused on college, and she's worried about her friends leaving her behind next year because she hasn't gotten into any schools yet.
My favorite thing about this book, hands down? The queer friendships. Dawn, Georgia, and Edie are the most perfectly imperfect leads, and I loved how they unconditionally supported one another while also calling each other out on their mistakes.
EVEN THOUGH this is a five+ star book to me, there are some things I simultaneously liked and didn't like (and some things I'm undecided on). I LOVED all three leads, BUT having three leads (triple POV) is a lot. From the book's synopsis, it sets Dawn up to be the primary character, since she is the documentarian, but the book itself gives just as much "screentime" to Edie and Georgia's POVs. Going into the book, I thought it would be mainly about Dawn filming her documentary, and although each chapter starts with the number of days until the deadline and then the film festival, the book doesn't feel like it's ABOUT her documentary so much as the intricacies of their daily lives. I think Dawn finishes the documentary halfway into the book, so I was thinking, "What now?"
Some minor notes: It might be because I was listening to the audio and didn't catch all the details, but I had no idea Dawn was a trans girl until over halfway into the book (I had found this out from someone else's review before this point). I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it solidifies Dawn as a typical teenager girl before revealing she is trans (which might be mind-blowing to transphobes/TERFs), but on the other, it would have been nice to know more about her queerness. We hear about everyone else's queerness throughout the book but not Dawn's. I'm not sure if this was an intentional choice on the author's part, but I don't think it's meant to be some "gotcha" moment (which is why I don't think it's a spoiler to label Dawn as trans in this review).
Also, again, this might be because I only listened to audio, but although I could identify Dawn on the cover, I had no idea which girl was Edie and which was Georgia. I don't recall if Dale had any identifying physical traits, but I did have them switched in my head. (For anyone else who is confused, I'm fairly positive Edie is on the left and Georgia is on the right).
Finally, can this PLEASE be an actual documentary? I would pay money that I do not have to make that happen.
Notes on the audio: I LOVED the narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal. She nailed the three POVs, which is difficult as a single narrator. She gave everyone a different voice, and I was never confused about who was speaking. She's clearly a very talented actress, and I would read ANY audiobook narrated by her. Seriously. She was THAT good.
Thank you to RB Media for the audiobook. All thoughts are my own.
This book stars three queer teen girls of color in Texas. Dawn is an aspiring documentarian, filming a documentary (called The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay) about queer teens in her area, hopefully earning a scholarship to college for next year. She lost her mom as a child, and her dad is mentally ill. She, as the child, worries about taking care of him. Edie is a closeted queer girl living in an extremely religiously conservative family. She is dating Ben, who is nonbinary, and their relationship is fraught because Edie can't introduce them to her parents. Georgia lives with a single mom who she can talk to about anything. Her mom starts dating someone, who is a little... weird. She is a lesbian and dating Jill, a junior. She is not too focused on college, and she's worried about her friends leaving her behind next year because she hasn't gotten into any schools yet.
My favorite thing about this book, hands down? The queer friendships. Dawn, Georgia, and Edie are the most perfectly imperfect leads, and I loved how they unconditionally supported one another while also calling each other out on their mistakes.
EVEN THOUGH this is a five+ star book to me, there are some things I simultaneously liked and didn't like (and some things I'm undecided on). I LOVED all three leads, BUT having three leads (triple POV) is a lot. From the book's synopsis, it sets Dawn up to be the primary character, since she is the documentarian, but the book itself gives just as much "screentime" to Edie and Georgia's POVs. Going into the book, I thought it would be mainly about Dawn filming her documentary, and although each chapter starts with the number of days until the deadline and then the film festival, the book doesn't feel like it's ABOUT her documentary so much as the intricacies of their daily lives. I think Dawn finishes the documentary halfway into the book, so I was thinking, "What now?"
Some minor notes: It might be because I was listening to the audio and didn't catch all the details, but I had no idea Dawn was a trans girl until over halfway into the book (I had found this out from someone else's review before this point). I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it solidifies Dawn as a typical teenager girl before revealing she is trans (which might be mind-blowing to transphobes/TERFs), but on the other, it would have been nice to know more about her queerness. We hear about everyone else's queerness throughout the book but not Dawn's. I'm not sure if this was an intentional choice on the author's part, but I don't think it's meant to be some "gotcha" moment (which is why I don't think it's a spoiler to label Dawn as trans in this review).
Also, again, this might be because I only listened to audio, but although I could identify Dawn on the cover, I had no idea which girl was Edie and which was Georgia. I don't recall if Dale had any identifying physical traits, but I did have them switched in my head. (For anyone else who is confused, I'm fairly positive Edie is on the left and Georgia is on the right).
Finally, can this PLEASE be an actual documentary? I would pay money that I do not have to make that happen.
Notes on the audio: I LOVED the narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal. She nailed the three POVs, which is difficult as a single narrator. She gave everyone a different voice, and I was never confused about who was speaking. She's clearly a very talented actress, and I would read ANY audiobook narrated by her. Seriously. She was THAT good.
Thank you to RB Media for the audiobook. All thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual harassment
puttingwingsonwords'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? No
4.0
The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay is a YA contemporary novel that’s full of love—queer love! It’s about three high school friends: Georgia, who is dealing with her mother’s questionable new boyfriend, Edie, who struggles with hiding her queer identity and her nonbinary partner from her religious family, and Dawn, who is entering her documentary about queer love into a competition to win a scholarship to film school.
The audio version was perfect for this; it made the quotes from Dawn’s documentary sound like real documentary interview snippets. The narrator was great at giving every character a unique and fitting voice.
The book is fast paced and fun, while also dealing with some heavy topics in an ultimately hopeful way. What I loved most is that, though romance is a big part of it, the queer love that’s at the heart of this story is the friendship between the three main characters.
The audio version was perfect for this; it made the quotes from Dawn’s documentary sound like real documentary interview snippets. The narrator was great at giving every character a unique and fitting voice.
The book is fast paced and fun, while also dealing with some heavy topics in an ultimately hopeful way. What I loved most is that, though romance is a big part of it, the queer love that’s at the heart of this story is the friendship between the three main characters.
ARC review originaly posted on instagram as part of a book tour: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0JyyXMIXh-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
nerolireads's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay is a fiction full of LGBTQ+ representation. The story revolves around Dawn, Edie and Georgia a trio of queer best friends in their final year of highschool. Each has their own struggles and dreams. The book focuses on Dawn, a queer trans girl who is an aspiring filmmaker. The focus on Dawn and her story, unfortunately does mean that Edie's and Georgia's stories end up feeling somewhat unfinished and underdeveloped.
A part of me wishes we'd found out about Dawn's identity sooner (because I ended up connecting to her a lot more), but on the other hand it feels like the author wanted to keep things very close to reality. Trans people shouldn't have to walk around with their identity spelled out, just for us to accept them.
All in all, a great novel with lots of queer representation.
A part of me wishes we'd found out about Dawn's identity sooner (because I ended up connecting to her a lot more), but on the other hand it feels like the author wanted to keep things very close to reality. Trans people shouldn't have to walk around with their identity spelled out, just for us to accept them.
All in all, a great novel with lots of queer representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Transphobia and Sexual harassment
nerdybookqueen's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
I received an audiobook copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really, really enjoyed this book. Featuring three queer girls, this book covers a variety of experiences across the spectrum as the characters grow through the story, dealing with the usual struggles of high school with the added layer of being part of the LGBT+ community.
Starting with Dawn, the filmmaker creating the film that shares the name of the book, deals with parental responsibilities for her ailing father, while trying to navigate dating as a trans woman. Georgia navigates trying to get into college and her desires to write, while dealing with her mother's creepy new boyfriend. And Edie tries to figure out her relationship with her nonbinary partner, Ben, while not letting down her Christian, homophobic parents both in school and with who she loves.
Throughout the story, I loved watching these women support each other, come together to deal with the problems they were facing and overcome their difficulties. And honestly I would kill to actually get to watch the documentary they make. This book is full of queer struggle but more importantly queer joy.
My one small grievance is that, as an audio book, it was at times very hard to follow whose POV I had. This may be unique to the netgalley copy, but having something in the chapter head that I could reference to see who I was listening to would've been very helpful, instead of just hoping the name would be mentioned again.
I really, really enjoyed this book. Featuring three queer girls, this book covers a variety of experiences across the spectrum as the characters grow through the story, dealing with the usual struggles of high school with the added layer of being part of the LGBT+ community.
Starting with Dawn, the filmmaker creating the film that shares the name of the book, deals with parental responsibilities for her ailing father, while trying to navigate dating as a trans woman. Georgia navigates trying to get into college and her desires to write, while dealing with her mother's creepy new boyfriend. And Edie tries to figure out her relationship with her nonbinary partner, Ben, while not letting down her Christian, homophobic parents both in school and with who she loves.
Throughout the story, I loved watching these women support each other, come together to deal with the problems they were facing and overcome their difficulties. And honestly I would kill to actually get to watch the documentary they make. This book is full of queer struggle but more importantly queer joy.
My one small grievance is that, as an audio book, it was at times very hard to follow whose POV I had. This may be unique to the netgalley copy, but having something in the chapter head that I could reference to see who I was listening to would've been very helpful, instead of just hoping the name would be mentioned again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Transphobia
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual harassment