A review by ninjapanda
The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay by Dale Walls

4.0

rep: trans POC mc, lesbian POC mc, queer POC mc, non binary sc, POC scs, sc with depression 

This a mostly light and quick read. It doesn’t still touch on depression, transphobia and being queer in a queerphobic religious family. It’s full of representation, from queer identities to POC, which I love to see. It focuses on queer love and friendship. 

We follow three friends. They each get a pov, but the main story is mostly surrounding Dawn, as she tries to get a scholarship to get into a film university. Though we see each girl with their own relationship and familial struggles and impending change with graduating and pursuing their higher studies. 

None of the characters are perfect. They all make mistakes. Some of those mistakes are very real and human things to say or do. Some of them are in tough situations, so its easy to empathize with them, while also cringing and wishing they went about things another way. What I like is that they usually call each other out on their bullshit. Maybe not always right away, but eventually. Once they know the other is ready to hear it. 

Its great to see characters who already know their identities and are confident. Some of them use specific labels and another just uses queer. Not everyone has to pick a specific one, and that’s ok. Everyone is perfectly valid. One character even sets boundaries for themself. They wont hide their identity or make it easier for people who don’t understand or want to try. I respect that. No one should have to. 

The documentary Dawn is working on is the same title as this book. If it were real, I would 100% love to watch it. It would be really nice to see people’s take on queerness and queer love. Every views and experiences their queerness differently. With all the bad stuff going on in the world, its great to see some queer joy. 

I love the very bright cover with POC on the cover. Th narrator did a great job as well.

There are a few scenes that might be triggering to people, so it’s a good idea to check trigger warnings before starting this book. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book