Girl On Girl: Stories

by Emily Costa

What happens when you peak in high school, or maybe earlier, or maybe not at all? When you hate your friends, or love them too much? When the warmth of nostalgia starts to slowly poison you? In Girl on Girl, Emily Costa explores desperation and loneliness, screen obsession, and casual cruelty as characters—mostly women and girls—struggle to be seen.

Genres: Short Stories

126 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2024

Reviews

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

so this mostly WASN’T gay. flaw/s aside, it’s scary good at riding the edge of familiar/foreign, and there’s a lovely bite of nostalgia throughout. would recommend

[Sheldon Birnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed these stories.

[Franco Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story collection that captures so succinctly the pleasure and perils of nostalgia. Some of these stories made my heart ache thinking of years I can’t get back, jobs I hated at the time but now think of fondly, rooms in childhood homes that were the base of so many formative memories. But what was special about many of these stories was how they got to the heart of what that nostalgia creates in us, and where it comes from. The ways it can lead us down dark and dangerous roads. Some standout stories for me:

Whatever happened to Glowstick Girl?
Banana Split Deluxe
Dead Mall

^Dead Mall especially. I’ll probably think about that story for years.

[TK421 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal collection. So many of them dusted off memories i have long ceased to think of. I can see this book being one that I'll intermittently reread over the next few years.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really excellent stuff here. The vibes are immaculate.

[Shannon Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

The details were so well given in Emily Costa's stories that I was completely transported back to moments when I was surrounded by those details, too. Her stories paint such a strong picture, and give a powerful punch, that I really enjoyed them.

If I had to choose, I think my favorites would be Banana Split Deluxe, Dead Mall, and Bedroom 1998-2001, but there were many others I loved too.
Also, Space Cat was one that surprised me regarding the content (in comparison to her other stories), but WOW what a strong ending that made it all make sense.

This is a quick read, full of these microscopic examinations of people who lived in the 90s.

[erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ pen15 but with a looming sense of dread

[Codycvlp · Rating 5 out of 5]

house of vlad has been my go to publisher this year but now i can add rejection letter too. a book i didn’t want to stop, every story was vivid in my head and being a child of the 90’s, hit a lot of feelings.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely perfect little book of nostalgia, of crossing that line from innocence to knowing. Beautiful stuff, Emily Costa is a killer writer.

[Shelley Stoehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I love most about Emily Costa's book of short stories Girl on Girl are the voices of her characters. The girls and women who populate these stories are intelligent, sensitive, and funny as they struggle to belong in spaces where they don't quite fit in and in a world that they cannot quite make sense of. Costa's characters, though diverse in age and situation, share a need to belong somewhere and seem to understand that the only way to make their mundane lives matter is to accept wherever they've landed and make the best of it. Though they may not be movers and shakers, Costa never judges but rather, delicately exposes their deepest longings and above all, their humanity.

Despite their snark and cynicism, Costa's characters have real heart beneath their rough and jagged exteriors. Though sometimes appearing lost, they always seem to find themselves, or to at least to head in the direction of epiphany, if not quite succeeding much of the time. Yet even as they blunder, they always, somehow, seem to change, if only to become more self-aware—to come to see themselves and each other. These characters might not yet have evolved into their whole selves, but "everything feels like pure possibility" (34). In the end, we are reminded that meaning doesn't always arrive with an epiphanic bang. Often, it's the ordinary moments of our lives that matter the most.

[Avery Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl On Girl is sharp, unsettling, and painfully recognizable. Emily Costa captures the fragile social ecosystems of girlhood with remarkable precision, exposing the tensions between intimacy and rivalry, nostalgia and self-invention. These stories pulse with loneliness, digital anxiety, and the quiet violence of wanting to be seen. Costa’s prose is clean yet cutting, allowing small interactions and private fixations to reveal deeper emotional fractures.

[Kyle Seibel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Costa’s writing tells of a world where intimacy and violence are inextricably linked, producing stories that pulse with guilty, forbidden energy. Her distinctive voice—by turns pleading, sterile, and wistful—creates a catalog of female relationships in all their complexity—the tenderness, the cruelty, and the moments where you can't tell which is which.

These stories will bust you open.

[Kevin Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Costa is a master of the sleight-of-hand--you'll enter a lot of these stories thinking you're reading about fairly typical suburban malaise, then a few pages later she'll convince you that something horrifying is lurking around the corner, and then, by the time you've reached the final paragraph, you'll realize you were staring in the mirror the whole time.

[Matt Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those collections that reminds you what a short story can be: biting, funny, nostalgic. Costa has a particular talent for flash, an ability to pull you in with only a page or two of real estate to work with. Anytime a book gives me the itch to write myself, I consider it special. And this one did.

[Arabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 The stories start off a bit too short for me, they get more interesting about half way through. I like her style and am guessing we grew up in the same period of time so I find this type of writing that romanticises / reminisces the 90s and 00s relatable and nostalgic. I think I’m seeing too much of this lately and it’s boring me a bit tbh

[D.T. Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl on Girl is a masterclass in coming-of-age horror. If Emily Costa isn’t one of your favorite writers yet, she will be after this.

[Daniel DiFranco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy hell. Excellent, tight prose and an athletic display of control. I'll be recommending this one and buying copies for others.

[Linde Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun ma what’s the point?

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

short, sweet, and sad