Girl's Girl

by Sonia Feldman

From a dazzling new talent, a sensual and spellbinding novel about one summer that shatters the balance between three best friends, forcing them to confront the line between friendship and desire

Fifteen-year-old Mina’s whole world is her two best friends, but after an unexpected kiss, the established dynamics of their trio quickly unravel. Everything that was once shared openly, from clothes to secrets, now feels impossibly fragile. Loyalties shift and tensions simmer across the long days of this pivotal summer, where the girls have nowhere new to go and everything new to feel.

Looking back, an adult Mina traces the undercurrents of longing that shaped her first experience of desire. The rituals of girlhood—gossip, selfies, sleepovers, and videogames—become threads in a delicate, volatile web of intimacy, in which everything feels achingly fleeting and permanently etched. Loving one person, Mina learns, can change the way we love everyone else—including ourselves. 

Bold, vulnerable, and sharply observant, Girl’s Girl is a sundrenched and dewy snapshot of modern girl culture set in the blaze of one suburban Midwest summer.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, Literary Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Summer, Coming Of Age

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 2, 2026

Reviews

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a rare and precious thing this book is—the last line made me burst into tears on the spot.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published June 2, 2026.

4 stars

It’s summer (Oh, do I wish it was summer. We have snow here. Snow. We never get snow until January and even then almost none. I’m afraid it may be a rough winter. But I digress.) Mina is fifteen. The most important thing in her world are her two best friends, Margaret and Eleanor, also fifteen. But what happens when one of those friendships becomes more?

It’s been a long time since I was that age but this felt so honest to me; not the way we want teenagers to act, but the way the actually do, with all the small stuff, the day to day navigations required just to maintain friendships. I really loved this and I loved all three girls, even with their faults, maybe especially with their faults.

***Edited to add: this is a debut? Bumping this up to five stars. It was a close call anyway, but knowing it’s the author’s first novel, well, I’ll be looking for more from her, and if she just wants to spend her career writing female coming of age stories, I’m here for that!

[cyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was the most evocative and vivid portrayal of girlhood that i’ve read in a while. Every feeling in this book is something I think most girls have felt in their youth. From posing for fake pictures to mae others jealous and the confusion of being in a trio friend group every part of this book felt like reading a diary that could have easily been my own. The characters are all so flawed in the way that only teenage girls can get away with and it feels like watching yourself from afar. The underlying romance was so well written but didn’t take away from what at its core is a book about friendship. The only critique i have is that it wants longer but that’s just me selfishly wanted to stay in this nostalgia painted world for just a little bit longer. This is already in my top new releases of 2026 and the year hasn’t even started yet.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

an absolutely perfect novel. i don't know how sonia does what she does. for a book to hit this hard while reading as a .docx means there's some real magic here. cannot wait to hold the physical copy in my hands and for ms. feldman to take the literary world by STORM. the more time that passes since i read this the more i am in awe of sonia's ability to write from the POV of a teenage protagonist without sounding like an adult ventriloquizing a teenager while still being a book that adults will want to read. very rare talent!!!!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took some time, deliberation, and patience for me to figure out how I felt about this book, which I suppose is appropriate given that this is a very slow and reflective narrative about a trio of young teenage besties (Mina, Margaret, and Eleanor), over the course of a summer, as they develop understanding of their identity, sexuality, friendships, and romantic relationships. In particular, it is a queer coming of age story of protagonist Mina, who develops more-than-friend feelings for one of the group.


This book is mostly Mina’s interior monologue as she reflects back on her youth from adulthood, and the narration comes across as a mix of Mina’s youthful firsthand perspective tempered and moderated by her wiser adult introspection. The book is a character study, to put it mildly, and takes vibes-over-plot to a new level: for instance, the first quarter of the book, along with many other swaths of it, consists solely of the girls hanging out in the heat, idly gossiping, playing Sims, and doing hair/makeup/clothing (and of course, posting pics and checking socials). There are other parts of the book where the girls might be doing something a bit more dramatic, such as navigating the socially fraught atmosphere of the county fair, and then there are still other large portions where the girls are Kind Of In A Fight and totally ignoring one another, and so Mina is just ruminating in her bedroom and marinating in All The Feels. This is definitely all very “Marcel Proust writes privileged white suburban Ohio teenage girls,” and it won’t be for everyone, but the writing is pretty beautiful and perceptive and I’m glad I stuck with it all.


I was also super grateful that this book is gay, because I have to admit that I may have found it all rather insufferable without the added importance and complication of this representation. The story compelled much more of my empathy and investment when, amidst navigating all the teen girl developmental hurdles that are already so difficult, Mina must also navigate the additional challenge of realizing she is gay and in love with a best friend. I have to say without this “hook” to provide more relevance and weight to the story, I would have had a very hard time relating to these girls who are, again, extremely privileged in all the traditional senses and don’t seem to have an inch of space for any of the additional anxieties and cares that preoccupied me as they have many other teens: safety (personal, household, neighborhood, the planet), financial security, health, etc.


All that being said, this is a very realistic (at least with regard to these characters) and respectful portrait of teen girls and their relationships with one another (as well as with their mothers), and I think I can avoid all spoilers while saying that I really appreciated that we can have these stories today without them being totally tragic. There was a historical time when even women authors of the liberated young ladies of literature had to circle back and punish their creations by capsizing them in their rowboats, compelling them to OD on their insomnia tinctures, or worse. Nothing like that happens here: it’s all just growth, and while girls may be crushing, nobody gets crushed.


Many thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Random House/The Dial Press for the ARC of Girl’s Girl, expected for release on June 2, 2026.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore coming of age books like this one. This gave me so much nostalgia about girlhood and I love the focus on the desire, confusion, and other emotions we feel as females. It was a lighthearted read that moved at a fast pace and really held my attention. I actually was taken back to my younger years and my own female friendships when I read this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kendall DalBello · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really really loved this. not much happened but you grow to really love and relate to these characters. it felt perfectly nostalgic.. not because i grew up in love with my best friend, but the way friendship throuples feel imbalanced (especially when you want to fit in) at age 15. we also get the perfect depiction of the complicated mother/daughter relationship as a teenager and i laughed out loud so many times at some of mina’s inner monologue about her mother. “one benefit of mothers is the permanent availability of a person with whom to disagree.” so many great quotes from this book, i did not want to put it down. the perfect coming of age summertime novel. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc 🩵

[Aislinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5⭐️] “I was the least chill person on earth and I knew it. Everyone else had a skeleton, and I was just a bunch of organs. I couldn't keep a single thing to myself if it mattered. I needed to leash myself like a dog. I needed to tell myself to sit or I'd show everybody my belly.”

Sonia Feldman perfectly captures what it likes to be a 15 year old girl in the midst of change— both in yourself and your relationships. This short yet exquisitely descriptive novel is simple in its premise, yet it captures the overwhelming vast feeling of life as a teen perfectly.

Although the main character and I’s teenage experiences were not alike in many ways, it somehow felt like Feldman found an old diary of mine when she wrote Girl’s Girl. Mina is both overwhelmingly confident in her “youthful glow” and feels the world is her oyster, and yet is so anxiously insecure she can’t even lay on her bed without feeling the need to do so perfectly for fear of being perceived. It reminded me how exhilarating yet how exhausting being a teen was.

Girl’s Girl drew me in quickly and deeply, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching these girls’ summer unfold before them, I could’ve kept going. It also made me both nostalgic for being 15 again and reminded me how hard it was being a teenage girl, like damn. This is such a strong debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Feldman in the future— maybe next time teenage me will feel less perceived in the process.

Many thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest thoughts!

[Kristen Fader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

4.5

"There was no reason in the world I had to be myself except that I was."

I felt like I was watching an indie coming of age in an atmospheric, but somewhat boring, little town during the summer when nothing happens but really everything happens

I feel like I was being transported back to my teenage self in just how hard it is to be a freaking girl, to have friends, to want to be something more than you are, and ultimately just a girl who doesn't want things to change

Everyone's relationships from Mina and her mom's, to her friends, to her friends parents, felt so real and justified in their own ways. The character development towards the end where everyone actually starts talking about everything, and this may sound strange, reminds me of Russian classics in just how frank and to the point people get.

And finally, I understand why this is coming out in June. It is so deliciously set in the summer that I will be ordering a physical copy to reread in the sun.

[Corinne Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told from the perspective of 15 year old Mina, the story is told over one summer and the events that took place with her & her two best friends. It was filled with all of the typical teenage girl angst and the drama that goes along with having an uneven number of people in the friendship. It also delved into intimacy & sexuality and just pretty much all of the social things that go on at that age. Then one day a kiss took place and all of a sudden the friends had to navigate a new way around their relationships. I enjoyed this coming of age story and appreciated all that Mina went through, where everything at that age seems so fragile & end of the world. I can remember feeling this way at that age where friendships and what people thought of you was the only thing that mattered. I commend the author for her ability to relay this story from a teenager’s perspective.

Thank you to NetGalley & The Dial Press for the invitation to read an advanced eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Gabby Hurley · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75/5

Firstly thank you NetGalley, Random House, the Dial Press, and Sonia Feldman for gifting me with this ARC to review! While this book wasn’t for me, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy this debut novel.

Liked:

-the premise of teen dynamics, figuring out sexuality and different types of love. This is more of a modern take on teen dynamics which entails: selfies/pictures for every occasion, the self importance, and caring about how others perceive you. Now I will say I don’t think it’s a great overall view of modern teen girls. I’d say it’s a very narrow view into white, middle class, attractive teen girls. I enjoyed the lesbian/queer representation and that no one had an issue with it (again not very accurate to real world, but still it was nice).

Disliked:

-the writing had way too much purple prose for me to enjoy it thoroughly. Listen I’m all for explaining things in a complex way but Mina’s inner thoughts and her descriptions of the past as an adult were just too much.

-the pacing. It’s a very slow read, despite it only being about 256 pages. It picks up a bit around the 60% mark but not by much. It got a bit boring for me to read about how much Mina, Margaret, and Eleanor would ignore and not spend time with each other.

-the sims game play stuff. I could’ve done without the whole dive into the gameplay and emphasis on it lol. It’s not a major deal but still I just wanted to skip past it and move to the next scene.

[Tilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am in awe!
the yearning!

“I was the least chill person on earth and I knew it. Everyone else had a skeleton, and I was just a bunch of organs. I couldn't keep a single thing to myself if it mattered. I needed to leash myself like a dog. I needed to tell myself to sit or I'd show everybody my belly.”

i didn’t think I was ready to read about being a teen in the 2010s (the selfies! instagram when it was still casual!) but I feel so lucky to have this and get to relive this summer with a braver protagonist and a better cast of friends <3

[Elle Spohrer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me, and I mean that in the literal sense. This book was written for people who will relate to it (i.e., not me). It aligns with how the current mainstream white feminist discourse describes “girlhood” in that it represents a particular experience of growing up white, upper middle class, neurotypical, and conventionally attractive. I’m just over it. Mina and her friends didn’t remind me of myself as a teenager; they reminded me of the popular girls in high school who seemed to operate under the belief that whatever was going on with them and their friends was the most important thing in the world. I was annoyed by it at fifteen, and I’m annoyed by it at twenty.

I do understand why other readers would really connect with this book. It’s a book for women who grew up like Mina, and there’s nothing wrong with that; what irks me is that it’s described as a “snapshot of modern girl culture” when the slice of “modern girls” it represents is really quite thin. I think Feldman did a great job of portraying these characters and their emotions; I just didn’t enjoy reading about them. There are plenty of books I enjoy that focus on characters I dislike, but those stories don’t require the reader to relate to the protagonists. This one does.

I think the title is pretty apt. One aspect of shallow internet feminism that bothers me is this obsession with labelling oneself “girls’ girl” while simultaneously not giving a fuck about girls who don’t fit in with the status quo, and that is absolutely the vibe I got from the main characters. Of course, they are teenagers—I don’t expect them to have a mature understanding of the world and their place in it. Still, I found myself rolling my eyes at how obsessed these girls are with being attractive and other people knowing they’re attractive (and I think I would have been annoyed by this when I was their age, too). There were a couple of brief moments around the middle of the book when Mina experienced fleeting glimpses of self-awareness, but these were passed over very quickly.

Unfortunately, the writing style in this book also didn’t work for me. I found the prose to be painfully overwritten. I’m sure some readers would enjoy the style, but it felt forced to me.

There were some things I did like. I thought the pacing was great, and the three distinctive mother-daughter relationships were done very well. I also appreciated the representation of teen sexuality. The conclusion of the story felt realistic and meaningful.

I would like to reiterate that, despite my low rating, I think a certain type of reader would absolutely love Girls’ Girl. I do hope that this book finds its community, and that I start doing a better job of vetting books on NetGalley before requesting them.

***Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial press for giving me a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.***

[Alessia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book so very much. It’s a beautiful exploration of teen friendship alongside mother/daughter relationships. Always my favorite stories and extra points for a young queer relationship!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

“Now we know about missing each other, having friends who haven’t met our mothers. Now a week apart or a month isn’t very long at all. In each other’s absence, we feel an absence of ourselves as well. I want to be the Mina I am for Margaret, for Eleanor, the self I occupy uniquely in their presence.”

[Ciarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

the sharp knife of girlhood, the privilege of being a girl with friends who love you for you. Also, thank you for the ARC The Dial Press & NetGalley.

[Taylor Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever been in a love triangle with your friends - this book is for you. I can’t help but love books that place the reader directly inside the protagonist’s anxiety spirals and rumination. The writing is beautiful! The relationships are beautiful! And I’m admittedly jealous of everyone who will get to read this in summer. ☀️

[Tyler MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this because it’s exactly the kind of hazy, nostalgic girlhood story I’m drawn to. And parts of it really worked for me. The friendships felt real and tender, and it captured that specific intensity of adolescence so well. I’m not exactly the core audience here, but it brought back memories of growing up alongside my closest friends and watching those dynamics unfold.

That said, it felt a little overwritten at times. The prose lingers and circles the same emotions, which I get is part of the point, but it sometimes felt like the story wasn’t really going anywhere. The drifting quality is beautiful in theory, but as a reading experience it occasionally stalled for me.

Honestly, I could see this working even better as a film. So much of it is about mood and atmosphere, and visually it would probably shine.

Overall, a nostalgic and thoughtful take on girlhood that didn’t fully land for me, but still captured something tender and familiar. 3 stars.

[Oola · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received an online copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

(4.5 stars rounded up)

Girl’s Girl is, in the simplest terms, an exploration of the complexities of platonic and romantic relationships at an age where the lines are sometime blurred. But it’s so much more than that — it juxtaposes the posterity of photos in our digital age with the ephemeral nature of time; it weaves themes of belonging, lust, and change into one tight, compelling narrative; and, above all, it provides an anthropological, dissecting look at the lives of teenage girls. Margaret, Eleanor, and Mina are all imperfect and, at times, cruel, but they are also incredibly relatable. This book resonated with me because I saw myself, friends, family members, crushes, and acquaintances reflected in the lives of the characters. Often, books about teenagers written by adults feel unrealistic, but Girl’s Girl was filled with such raw emotion and realistic heartbreak that I truly felt like I knew the characters personally by the end of the book.

It wasn’t perfect — at times, the plot felt a little bit overly soapy, and certain emotions or conditions were overexplained to the point of suffocation — but this book made me feel, and that’s what I love in a novel.

[jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trio of best friends—pensive Mina, extroverted Margaret, and hyper-aware Eleanor—are looking forward to another summer together in their Midwest hometown. When you’re 15 years old, your friends make up the entire world outside of your parents’ home. And for Mina, her life with her friends is one she loves and relies on.

That is, until Eleanor kisses her one morning and their entire relationship dynamic changes.

This book was somehow both what I hoped it would be and much, much different than I initially expected. The girls were both intriguing and frustrating, and at one point I realized why that was because they were girls playing and practicing womanhood. This is very much a coming-of-age novel while also being a character study of these three individuals.

For the sheer amount of Sims references alone, this book was a 5 star read for me ✨

Enormous thanks to Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this honest review. “Girl’s Girl” releases on 6.2.26 and this is one I am definitely recommending!

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girl’s Girl follows Mina’s relationship with her two best friends Margaret and Eleanor, the summer after their first year of high school. As we follow the three girls throughout their summer, we understand the dynamic between each friendship as well as as the friend group as a whole, and we see this shift as events unfurl during the summer. Told from Mina‘s perspective, Girl’s Girl provides an honest look into the life of a teenage girl, from The Sims to developing a deeper understanding for your mother as a person to discovering what it means to love.

I enjoyed following Mina’s perspective as it felt quite vulnerable and realistic for a girl her age, especially with her fears about her friends’ perceptions of her and how they changed after each major event. Her perspective really captured the all-or-nothing nature of that time of life, where each decision, from who is standing next to you in your instagram post to who you choose to call first about a big life event, has a major impact on your relationship with that person. A more minor part of the story that I really enjoyed was Mina coming to understand her mother as her own person, and learning to look from her mother’s perspective when Mina didn’t like a decision her mother came to. I liked Margaret and Eleanor’s characters as well, but was a bit disappointed in their depth and development. I would have loved to learn more about Eleanor as a person. Her willingness to leave a situation she’s no longer comfortable in, as a fifteen year old, seems cowardly, but reading this as someone 10 years older than the girls in this story, it is quite brave of Eleanor to have the conviction in herself to do what is best for her even when the social consequences may be unfavourable.

Ultimately, this is a coming of age story exploring relationship dynamics. I loved how subtle the development of Mina was, as she was already a girl quite comfortable with herself on the outside, but we watched her slow progression from someone who wasn’t sure how to love the different girls/women in her life, and learn how to understand and navigate these relationships more confidently by the end of the story.

Overall, this will be a fantastic summer read for anyone wanting to reminisce about the best and worst parts of their teenage years, whether they were these girls or knew these girls. I loved the author’s writing and I’m excited to read more from her!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC 🫶🏻

[klaudia. · Rating 3 out of 5]

★┊3 stars .ᐟ spoilers free review
→ thank you netgalley for the arc

I can do that, I say, as I offer their shimmering reflection. I can be a mirror who loves you.

Girl's girl is a story about teenage girlhood, friendship, self-discovery, complicated family relationships and quiet holidays. We meet Mira and her two friends - Margaret and Eleanor, but everything gets complicated when she kisses one of them.

I am sure that many girls will feel close to Mira and will even identify with her, I myself at certain moments I saw myself in her. However, I did not feel much closeness to her or her friends, unfortunately. Mira is in love with one of her best friends, I expected a lot of yearning, I MEAN A LOT, but in my opinion it was not enough here (although it was still here somehow). The book has a lot of long descriptions, but we don't focus on this love in my opinion. I think we are focusing more on growing up, being teenager, going to parties, spending time with close friends, learning about your feelings and distinguishing them.

Overall I think this book has great potential, I was really excited when I read the description but I think this story is not fully developed. Pacing was very slow, even too slow and because of that it just takes a long time (although the book is quite short) and you can't fully enjoy it. There are many references to contemporary culture, which I am not a fan but I am able to tolerate. I didn't like writing too much either, I know it's just a debut and the author really has a chance to write something brilliant!!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I would classify this as a slow-burn. What’s happening is largely inner monologue, which I enjoyed for this coming-of-age story. At times, I wanted to move on from circling specific events or feelings, but for the most part it worked. The “slowness” of the story added to the hazy summer feeling I loved.

Feldman captured the feelings of teenage friendships between girls - the anxiety of trying to fit in, the imbalance of a friend group of three people - with the added complexity of being in love with one of them. It made me glad I wasn’t a teenager when Instagram and social media were popular! And thankfully, the social media aspect wasn’t overwrought or clunky, as it sometimes is in books.

I loved the atmospheric writing. I didn’t grow up in Ohio, but the writing reminded me of summers in the small mountain town I grew up in. Made me super nostalgic for those days.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

[zoe bradford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this arc!

Wow. I cannot really put into words the exact emotions this book invoked in me, but I am so impressed with this story. The three main characters felt so individually fleshed out and unique, and the exploration of their relationship was exquisite. I really appreciated how accurately this book captured the feeling of being a teenage girl and loving your friends while also at times disliking certain aspects of who they are. It captured perfectly the desire to be wanted by others while also being deeply insecure to be seen. Additionally, this book perfectly captured the feeling of understanding your sexuality and attempting to become comfortable in expressing yourself through it. The book captured the sweltering heat of summer perfectly, while also being a captivating exploration of girlhood, sexuality, and different kinds of love. I also appreciated how social media/pictures were described, as it accurately captured how I viewed social media during my teenhood. I adored this!

[tweeds · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What are the steps of loving? They exist uniquely between every two people who attempt to climb them.”

I couldn’t put this book down, mainly because it reminded me of being a teenager during the summer. The unique ways friendships between young girls pans out. The sneaking out, the silly & meaningless conflict, figuring out intimacy, secrets, getting dressed up just to go take pictures outside, stealing tiny cupfuls of alcohol from your parents’ cabinets, spending the night on the football field of your high school, and figuring out what love means.

[Ashly Stracener · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever got dressed up to go to Chili’s (or insert the chain in your hometown) for the sole purpose of looking “hot” and taking a photoshoot in the empty lot’s field next door- this one’s for you. Be warned: you will want to call your mom and apologize for your teen years. Full of aching nostalgia with the sharp and poetic observation that only time can give, this depiction of modern midwestern girlhood/friendship with a sprinkle of queer coming of age was absolutely everything- I hereby cast my vote for book of the summer.

[Alana Joseph]

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy**

I enjoyed this book - it was a great coming of age novel. I do feel like the ending was a bit abrupt, I would like to know what happens with Mina and Eleanor and where the friend group ends up, instead of just the open ended ending. That's also the beauty of it though.

[Sarah Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this one so much🥲🥲

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t even deal with how deeply I felt every word in this book. I was hooked from the start with the Sims references (omg) and stayed for the stunning prose and how vividly I was brought back to being fifteen again. I thought about every friend I had in middle and high school at various points through out this story. I saw myself in all three girls in the same way I saw every girl I’ve ever known in these three girls. Eleanor, Mina, and Margaret were such mesmerizing and rich characters, their trio was messy and real and fascinating. Mina’s relationship with her mom was dynamic and stressful and so hilarious. All the adjectives, my god.

I don’t know how Feldman captured this exact stage of girlhood so brilliantly, but she did and with it also captured my ENTIRE HEART.

5 stars, obviously. Thank you to the publisher and net galley for this arc!

[:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the arc

Minor spoilers ahead.

Oh to be 15 again.

This is a gorgeous book, both aesthetically and writing wise. It also hurt me a lot. A little too real! I couldn't help but picture myself as a 15-year-old, struggling to make sense of my identity, my feelings, my place in the world.

This is, like I said, also a very real book. Every word, every character dynamic, every moment feels genuine and earned. There are a nitpicky things I could point out, but it doesn't feel worth it.

I have a feeling this is one of those books that will stick with me for a long time. I love it when books feel like a hot, humid summer, the kind that leaves you feeling sticky. I absolutely love the setting and care that was put into this because it really pays off.

There's one specific scene, where the girls go to a fair, that was so accurate to my teenage years it could've been written about me. Anyone who's from a small town knows that the big fair is the highlight of the summer, and it was so fun to see that included.

I loved and resonated a lot with Mina. She and her two best friends, Margaret and Eleanor, grapple with growing up and the changes that come with it. I loved the subtle differences in the relationships, as Mina realizes why her friendship with Eleanor is different than with Margaret. I love that they actually feel like friends, which seems silly to say, but unfortunately, is not something you see executed well in every book. They actually seem like they know and like each other!

I also really loved Mina's relationship with her mother, which I wasn't expecting to be so poignant. It's very teenage girl-coded, but again, just so realistic. I like that her mom isn't some major villain, that she's always there for Mina, and that the reasons she doesn't get along with her mom feel genuine and relatable.

I also liked that Mina doesn't struggle with her identity because she likes girls; she struggles with her identity because she's a 15-year-old trying to figure out what she feels. It's refreshing to not have a lot of homophobia or internal struggle (which I do enjoy in writing, but sometimes it's nice to not have that!).

I really liked the ending, too, when we switch to adult Mina's perspective. I'd say it's a realistic ending, not necessarily fairytale happy, but bittersweet and truthful.

I also enjoyed the format of this. There are no distinct chapters, which I really liked because it allowed the whole story to flow together, keeping the timeline loose but also more immersive. There's no particular, hard end to a scene; it simply breaks and moves to the next, which I think is very representative of real life. There aren't chapters in life; each day flows into the next and carries over.

Once again, this is a gorgeous book. Not a perfect read, but an important one.

4.5 stars

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book truly felt like the middle of summer as a fifteen-year-old girl. Mina, the main character, has two best friends with whom she does makeovers, shares secrets, and feels totally confident in herself. That is, until one of her friends unexpectedly kisses her and then decides to avoid her. Girl's Girl is a story about friendship and summer and girlhood. It reminds me of Hayley Kiyoko's Girls Like Girls music video. Imagine lone girl on bike realizing her feelings for one of her friends, having a really great time with her, a kiss, then going home with no significant development afterward. Just, like, trade the homophobia and cigarettes for Instagram photos and video game scenes.

Mina is very personal and open with her friends, and her main struggle throughout the book is figuring out what she wants when there’s so much overlap between her platonic and romantic feelings. To be honest, the awkward friends thing was a large section of the plot, and I found it tedious pretty quickly.
Margaret, Mina’s oldest friend, loves to impress people, so she was always pushing Mina and Eleanor to hang out with new people or do new things even when they didn’t particularly want to. I personally didn’t like her because I have very low tolerance for people who do things because everyone else is doing them. Margaret was the main reason for all of their careless teenager decisions, but she wasn’t like a bad person or anything. She was just there.
Eleanor is the second friend and the one who kisses Mina, and I liked her a lot more than Margaret. Eleanor is close with the other two, but she also enjoys spending time doing her own thing apart from them. What I found disappointing about her was that her reasoning for kissing Mina was not as expanded as I’d expected it to be. Eleanor kept leaving when there could have been more communication to the reader and explanation for why exactly she felt so avoidant. To be honest, Eleanor sort of felt more like a plot than a character, and I think I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if Eleanor’s (and Margaret’s) own growing-up and relationship fears had been as fleshed out as Mina’s.

I related to very few of Mina's experiences, but the emotion behind her actions had such an undeniable presence that it didn’t feel like it mattered. Although it's a slow book, I felt like it was a truthful, genuine representation of being a teenager. So much of the romance genre today is built up into these big, epic relationships, and I saw this story for how casual and normal it was. I liked how the author explored different types of relationships, and I thought that the mom-daughter side plot was nice especially. Mina doesn’t make her mom into a villain, and part of her character development is with beginning to see her mom as a real person. I wasn’t expecting that going in given the blurb, but I’m glad that it was there.

I appreciated how Mina’s narration was as an adult looking back on this summer; I think it added thoughtful commentary that younger-teenage Mina would not have been able to express. Even if you don’t relate to a lot of what they’re doing, the author expresses the fifteen-year-old girl desire for attention that I had almost forgotten. It’s about gaining all the opportunities you have as an adult, but you’re young and you’re powerful, and you want people to see that. I most enjoyed the last five-ish chapters, and I think the author concluded everything pretty well.

I requested to read this book early through NetGalley. Thanks, NetGalley!