The Book of Girl

by L.M. Francis

Genres: Audiobook, Young Adult, LGBT, Romance, Contemporary, High School

334 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 1, 2026

About the author

L.M. Francis is an independent author and small business owner. The Book of Girl is her first novel.

Reviews

[Leticia🌻 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

The book of girl follows the friendship between Cecile and Kennedy; their first meeting was very unique and quirky. Cecile was holding a sign that stated that she was looking for girlfriends. As the story progressed, a lot more drama and secrets were revealed (sexual assault), which was very unexpected for me.

I feel that the story deviated a lot and it made me feel like I was reading a completely different book by the end.

Thank you BooksGoSocial Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Tali · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW: SA (attempted on page, mentioned), DV (mentioned), LGBTQ+ phobic (the characters in the book, not from the author)


EDIT: From reading other reviews, it reminded me of a couple of things. 1) the synopsis is misleading. While it's not posted here yet, on NetGalley, it seems like it's just 2 girls getting to know each other and one of them has a secret. There's no indication that SA would be a part of it at all and can and will completely blind side readers, as it did for me. Luckily I wasn't too triggered by it, but for others? It could be devastating. This sounds like a safe book for people who have been through SA. But it's not. 2) SA is handled really poorly. It comes out of nowhere and feels more like I'm reading a thriller than whatever this genre is supposed to be, and then that's all the characters become. They're the victims, and that's they're defining traits from that point onwards. I see this as a problem for a few reasons. Some are from a writing stand point, it makes for shallow characters. But the more important point here is that whenever it's handled like this, it implies, at least to me, like once it happens, your life is over. It makes the feeling of hopelessness even worse. Sure it might be "realistic" in that you feel like everything has been ripped away from you. But we are not our traumas. If it had been about that from the start, it could've had more time to progress and show a beautiful healing journey. But that's not what happens here and it bothers me. 3) At the time of this review, one of the genre tags is Romance. Romance??? Are you kidding me?? Where? Sure, the characters date people, talk about kissing or who they have crushes on, but NO part about this book is a romance. That makes it seem even more misleading bc it makes people think the 2 characters in the synopsis get together or it's focused on them. This book is NOT a romance and honestly I'm lowering my review from 2 to 1 star bc that's just deceptive on the authors part. Lying to people about what they're getting into when they read your book isn't going to help you. It's just going to ruin your reputation and make people not want to read anything more from you. And 4) The fact that this book is YA is DEEPLY concerning. The topics in this book should be talked about with care and responsibility, especially for a YA audience. And again, it's not. I don't even want to speculate the damage this book can cause them. If you can't write about a sensitive topic properly, don't write about it. Simple as that.

I liked parts of this book. There are times where I genuinely felt connected to the characters and the scenes. But the start (by start I mean, probably up until the halfway point) is slow and repetitive. I can understand why, but it just felt forced.

Later on, this book tackles some really serious issues, and I want to be as respectful as I can be about it. I'm not part of the LGBTQ+ community, so I can't say if the characters who are part of it have realistic experiences or not. But what I can say is that it felt like that was kinda the only thing I knew about them, so the characters felt kinda flat. Around the trauma one of the characters suffers from, there is a line that's said that really bothered me from the character it happened to and their friend. I'll finish what I'm saying in the non-spoiler part of this review, and get into it later.

But one thing that annoyed me was that at one point, a character falls down the stairs and hits her head hard enough to lose consciousness. Then she can just carry on like normal after waking up? To my memory, no headache, dizziness, disorientation, nothing. There should be SOMETHING.



***SPOILERS***

The line that I mentioned above that bothered me is

" I want every man in the world to trade places with a woman so they can know what it's like." In context of the attempted SA. Now, I understand what the character is going through. I understand the pain and horror. But men DO know what it's like. Because men DO get SA'd too. It might not be the exact same experience as women, but it DOES happen. And, the character is essentially wishing for every man to almost or get SA'd so they know what they're going through. That's pretty messed up. Again, I get it, I've been through it. But I would never wish it on anyone. That being said, the character they're talking to supporting it and then moving on really rubbed me the wrong way. Especially since the character they're talking to is supposed to be for social justice and equality, even for men, but this she's okay with? Maybe she's just trying to support a friend going through a hard time, but if that's the case I would've liked to have seen her thought process and some kind of struggle, no matter how brief.

If it was more directed towards the man who was about to do it, or the men involved, that would be a bit different. I still wouldn't fully agree with it but it would be more understandable. But to direct it towards EVERY man feels gross to me. I understand the struggle, I don't understand wishing it on others, no matter how much I'm hurting from it.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I had higher expectations and hopes for this book but this one let me down.

[Megan T-W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a very mixed opinion of this book. On one hand I can say I did genuinely enjoy the story; I felt that the elements of femininity, identity struggles and girlhood were well-balanced for the majority of the book.

However, I am strongly of the opinion that not only does this book have misleading marketing, but it also attempts to do too much. The addition of the darker elements to the story including the overt sexual themes, near SA scenes and the implications of trauma associated with this are absolutely not appropriate for a book marketed in this manner.

All appearances from the presentation lead potential readers to believe that this is a sapphic coming-of-age story including romance and identity struggles at most. A mention of content warnings being able to be found through some link is the most warning anyone gets until they actually read the story.

At the very least, there should be a list of the actual content warnings in the book if not in the blurb. For younger readers (I.e. the teenagers YA books are marketed towards) this may be very confronting material they aren’t ready to face especially without any sort of warning. I believe it would not be too much of a stretch to alter the blurb to allude to these darker themes without giving away the plot twists in the content.

Some of the other darker themes were approached relatively well objectively although it seemed like a lot of ground to cover including the racism and transphobia as well. This lead to it feeling somewhat like those darker elements were thrown in for shock factor rather than an attempt to provide a well-rounded distillation of female and queer experiences in life.

Another problem I came across was the immaturity of the characters. They are obviously still children, high school seniors and approaching adulthood but underage nonetheless, however their mannerisms and actions came across incredibly childish. Having read the book it’s obvious why Cecile behaves like that in some capacity, but the other girls also act that way and it’s incongruous with the overt sexual dialogue in other parts of the book.

There are constant sexual references despite most of the girls’ boy talk being only about going on dates. The girls are constantly referring to each other as sexy rather than cute or any other milder compliment. It almost feels as though their childish attributes are trying to be merged with a sexual nature rather than showing a transition between the two as the girls head from being children to being women.

There’s something to be said for young adults discovering their sexuality and heading towards adulthood but these scenes felt over the top considering the characters’ personalities and ages. The childishness and darkness could have been an attempt to indicate a dichotomy in womanhood or allude to the change from child to adult but it wasn’t fully executed.

In addition, the plot did get somewhat complicated to follow after the main dark event especially in regards to Cecile’s feelings and identity, especially in how she was relating it to others (or witnessing others argue over) however I am willing to concede on this point that that may be intentional to reflect the difficulty and confusion along a person’s journey to discover themselves. Or it could just be bad writing.

Another potential of bad writing vs misrepresentation is Cecile’s feelings for Kennedy after the plot twist reveal of them. Without going into too much spoilery detail, it seems that for what are supposed to be such a large part of the plot, they are swept under the rug rather quickly. Not only do the other characters not mention them again hardly at all, but Cecile herself doesn’t even seem to think of them again until near the end of the book when she’s again facing identity issues at the school. She said multiple times she “fell head over heels” for Kennedy, and giving a reprieve for the trauma she experienced soon after, it still seems that she doesn’t even address them or changes to them until right near the end. Almost as if the author went on a tangent in one direction and forgot they still needed to be resolved.

As I’m wiling to give the benefit of the doubt in a few places, I’m giving this book 3 stars but am crossing all my fingers for some kind of marketing change before release. I could not in good conscience recommend this book to someone looking for a book marketed exactly as this one is, because it just is not what it’s labelled as.

[Corinne’s Chapter Chatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s rare that I outright do not recommend a book or issue a 🚩 warning for its intended teen audience, especially when sexual content is involved because teens do have sex and literature can create important opportunities for discussion. However, this book crossed a line for me due to the confusing and toxic messaging woven throughout the narrative that could leave vulnerable young readers in a difficult position.

I came across this title as both an eARC and ALC on NetGalley while searching for Pride Month reads for the teens in my life. I requested the audiobook and downloaded the ebook, which was instantly available. The audiobook approval came through almost immediately despite the late hour which, given that this is indie published, made more sense. Curious, I started reading right away and stayed up far too late getting halfway through the book. At 2 a.m. I finally stopped to sleep, but picked it back up first thing in the morning.

Not because I was enjoying it, but because I was increasingly confused and concerned by what I was reading and needed to see where it was going. At that point, I opened the ebook as well so I could immersion read and make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding anything through the audio format.

I’m honestly still struggling to understand the book’s intent. On the surface, it appears to position itself as supportive of trans rights and human rights broadly. However, if that was the goal, the execution is deeply flawed. Throughout the novel, the messaging feels contradictory in a way that ultimately creates a transphobic and deeply toxic narrative regardless of authorial intent.

This book had the opportunity to deliver a thoughtful and supportive message, which makes its failure all the more concerning. If the intention truly was to create an affirming story, then there was a major breakdown somewhere in the developmental or editing process. Otherwise, the messaging at times feels as though it is subtly reinforcing harmful narratives, particularly surrounding the idea of trans girls in female spaces.

There is also a significant difference between supporting someone’s right to express themselves through clothing and conflating that with broader conversations about gender identity and access to gendered spaces. The book repeatedly blurs those distinctions in ways that feel irresponsible for its intended audience.

Beyond those concerns, the novel also leans heavily into toxic stereotypes, handles sexual assault themes poorly, and approaches discussions of sex in ways that feel neither constructive nor developmentally thoughtful for teen readers.

The only reason I am giving this 2⭐️ instead of rating it even lower is because of the audiobook narration. I experienced this through audio and want to honor the purpose of reviewing the format itself. Narrator Taylor Meskimen delivers a genuinely strong performance that feels age appropriate and engaging throughout.

That said, the experience also raised some personal questions for me about supporting future projects from narrators whose work I generally enjoy. On one hand, narration is a job and performers are not necessarily endorsing a book’s content. On the other hand, I found myself struggling with the idea of supporting a project that, in my opinion, carries such harmful messaging. It’s something I’m still personally reflecting on, though I digress.

In general, I strongly believe teens benefit from reading books that explore identities, genders, and sexualities that may differ from their own. Literature can open the door to important conversations rather than shutting them down. I am rarely someone who advocates against access to books simply because they tackle difficult or “adult” topics.

That said, I cannot recommend this book as it currently stands. My concern is not with the topics themselves, but with how poorly and confusingly they are handled throughout the story. Combined with the inconsistent messaging and weak editing and grammar issues, this ended up being a genuinely concerning reading experience for me.

[Mariah Chadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I went into The Book of Girl expecting a story about friendship, girlhood, identity, and finding your place in the world and yes, it absolutely is all of those things. But what I wasn’t expecting was how much this book would make me THINK.

At its heart, this is a story about what it actually means to be a girl. Not the Pinterest version. Not the “perfect teenage coming-of-age” version. The messy, complicated, uncomfortable version. The version where you’re figuring out who you are while simultaneously trying to figure out who everyone else thinks you should be.

And Cecile??? I was INVESTED. Her journey of trying to understand herself while desperately wanting something as simple as belonging hit me way harder than I expected. There’s something so heartbreaking about wanting to be seen for exactly who you are while also being terrified of what might happen if people actually see you.

Then there’s Kennedy, who I found absolutely fascinating. She’s observant, outspoken, fiercely opinionated, and constantly questioning the rules society seems to have created around femininity. Her conversations about gender, identity, womanhood, and what society expects from girls were some of my favorite parts of the entire book. I LOVE when a book gives me something to chew on after I’ve put it down, and this one did that constantly.

And the friendship??? HELLO??? The relationships between these girls are what made the story feel so alive. They’re messy. They’re imperfect. They don’t always understand each other. They make mistakes. But there’s something incredibly powerful about watching them try to show up for one another anyway.

What REALLY surprised me, though, was how dark this book gets.

Because The Book of Girl looks like it’s going to be one kind of story, and then it starts peeling back layers and suddenly you’re dealing with trauma, sexuality, gender identity, sexism, violence, racism, and the very ugly ways people can be treated when they don’t fit neatly into the boxes society has made for them.

And honestly? I appreciated that.

This book isn’t afraid to make things uncomfortable. It doesn’t pretend that figuring yourself out is some cute little journey where you have one emotional conversation, discover who you are, and everything magically falls into place. Sometimes identity is confusing. Sometimes people hurt you. Sometimes you don’t have the words for what you’re feeling. Sometimes becoming comfortable with yourself means realizing that there may never be a perfect answer.

THAT is what stayed with me.

I also really appreciated that the book doesn’t reduce gender and identity to a simple binary of “this is what you are” versus “this is what you aren’t.” There’s so much room here to question assumptions about femininity, masculinity, sexuality, and the expectations we place on young people. It made me stop and think about how often we assume we understand someone simply because of how they look, dress, act, or identify.

And listen… I KNOW this book is not going to work for everyone. It tackles A LOT, and some of the darker subjects are genuinely heavy. There are definitely moments that made me sit there like, “Oh??? WE’RE GOING THERE???” 😂 But personally, I think that unpredictability was part of what kept me so invested.

I also loved that the book doesn’t hand you a perfectly wrapped-up ending where every character has magically solved themselves. Real people don’t work that way. Growing up doesn’t work that way. Identity definitely doesn’t work that way.

Sometimes the point isn’t finding the final answer.

Sometimes the point is finally giving yourself permission to ask the question.

And THAT is why I loved The Book of Girl.

It’s messy. It’s emotional. It’s uncomfortable. It’s thought-provoking. It made me angry, made me question things, made me root for these girls, and most importantly….it made me care.

[Tenley · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25/5

*Not spoiler free.

I think this book had good intentions but unfortunately very poor execution.

Based on the description, I thought this was going to be a YA lesbian rom com between Cecile and Kennedy. It was not that. Based on the first half(ish) I thought it was going to be trans girl Cecile who moved schools after transitioning and needing to have a safe space in her new identity and finding romance with Kennedy. Instead it was really Oscar who wanted to dress like a girl and be girly but is still a boy. Which is totally fine. That is great representation too, but just was not at all what I expected. While there was a lot of romance and dating, but I would not call this a rom com. At all.

At its core the book was supposed to be about gender nonconformity and how “masculine” and “feminine” are made up. But there were way too many stereotypes that the book relied on even by our main characters that enforced some of those gender roles that it seemed to be denouncing.

Then Kennedy tossed out the idea that feminism is that women need to be in charge instead of men. Which that is very much not what feminism is. And would have been fine if we had that thought at the beginning and grew to realize that is not what it is. That was not the case.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that in lieu of doing a play in their school, they are doing a staged wedding. That while it was kind of a play as they rehearsed for it and leaned lines, it was only ever called “the wedding.”Plus the showrunner adding having them go dress shopping and having a bridal shower and everything. Like a wedding not a play.

One of the side characters, Vanessa, is in an extremely toxic relationship that she essentially says is toxic but she likes being “feminine” to his “masculine” which means him being strong and her being weak. Which was legit a whole conversation our friend group had. And our other characters don’t do much more than tell her he’s bad and that she has horrible taste in men. Vanessa is portrayed as liking sex and anal sex specifically. Maybe a little extreme in a YA but not horribly so. Oh but she doesn’t like it how her boyfriend does it because he likes it too rough too fast and he doesn’t accommodate her by slowing down for her. Our friends have this conversation with her and none of them throw up red flags about how this is assault if she asks him to slow down and he doesn’t. They just again tell her she has bad taste in men and roll their eyes at her. Never do they think to tell her that is assault nor do they talk to an adult about this situation.

This toxic boyfriend also leads to an extremely horrible situation and sexual assault of Oscar that really I don’t think was necessary to the story. It felt like we tried to throw in that men can be assaulted and raped too. Which is absolutely accurate. But then went down a side story of the police not believing Oscar because he is a boy and look what he was wearing. Which fair, that has been a trend with police and sexual assault. But why are we going here? Unclear. Then Oscar’s best friend reveals that he wants to join the police. Which came out of nowhere. But he wants to fix things by being a police officer. Also how is this relevant.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial for the ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[jayden abel · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Possible Spoilers*

Disclaimer: This book is not sapphic. The main characters are pretty dang straight.

The Book of Girl is interesting. While not for me, it has some valid points about societal expectations. I found the synopsis a bit misleading. It introduces the main characters and talks about how Cecile has feelings for Kennedy. Cecile is actually the alias of a cis fem-presenting boy named Oscar. In an attempt to start fresh, Oscar attends a new school his senior year. He chooses to present himself as a girl, because it’s easier to explain being a possible lesbian than being a boy who loves being treated like a girl friend.

Kennedy is odd. She is sort of the anti-thesis to feminism? Everything a woman does, Kennedy finds something to criticize. In the beginning, she believes that "Feminine and weak are synonymous…” What I find ironic about that is, for everything wrong with the patriarchy, Kennedy doubles down by judging other women for their supposed submissiveness. Kennedy’s views on femininity are only changed when a man comes along and opens her eyes. Oscar shows her that feminine can be an adjective, not just a label. Nail polish and skirts aren’t a limitation of sex, they’re just an aesthetic choice. According to Kennedy, "...feminism is just the new sexism.” I don’t believe Kennedy is a good vessel to deliver that message.

The book is onto something with how rigid the labels of “feminine” and “masculine” are. There is truth in that our society associates masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness. However, it misses the point when saying that feminism “...places women above men.” Throughout history, women have never been leveled on the same playing field as men. Feminism focuses on women, but the systemic power imbalance means that greater leaps are needed to bridge the divide. Men’s rights have never needed a movement because men have always written the rules. Feminism is not placing women above men, it’s placing people on equal footing.

Sex is presented oddly in this book. Kennedy’s best friend has a boyfriend who likes it rough. Said friend likes the sex, but not the aggressiveness. She feels wanted and finds the possessiveness arousing. Later, the boyfriend kidnaps her, and then Oscar, dressed in girly clothing, almost gets gangraped by the guy’s goons. Circling back to the friend, she spends time healing, and develops a crush on Oscar, her “hero.” I just didn’t see any point to the storyline, other than to prove that sexism against men is real, and that they get raped, same as women.

I’m not quite sure what the author was writing. A love letter to feminine power, but an objection to feminism? I liked Oscar. He’s kind, and just wants to be treated like a human. Skirts, makeup, and he/him pronouns can coexist. Cool. Simply being treated like one of the girls feels right to him. Cool. Unfortunately that progressive vibe was cut by the Barbie review bomb-style anti-feminism thesis.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Leonie · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️ (1 star)

I don’t even know how to start to write this review but I guess one can say that this was a well-intentioned story with a rather troubling execution in the end.

But let’s start with the positives first, there's a bit to like on the surface here. The friendships between the main characters are genuinely sweet, while reading there were small moments and easy banter which did resemble teenage friendships very well in my opinon, and those parts of the book were a pleasure to read. If this had stayed a story about teen friendship, it would have succeeded.
However...where it falls apart is in how it handles its heavier material. I don't doubt the author meant well in tackling LGBTQIA+ identity, gender, and sexual health but good intentions don't make up for a messaging that's genuinely confusing or right out troubling.
First of all, the portrayal of teen sexuality is troubling. The book normalizes girls finding it appealing to be mistreated by men, including rough and inappropriate treatment during sex. The book consistenly frames this behaviour as desirable rather than examining it critically...which is a real problem for a teen readership in my opinion. Moreover, the book seems to want to be supportive of trans rights, but the execution, it seems, works against that goal. The narrative repeatedly blurs the line between supporting self-expression (like how someone dresses) and the separate, more complicated conversation about gender identity and access to gendered spaces, particularly trans girls in female spaces. Conflating those ideas, intentionally or not, ends up reinforcing the very narratives I assume the author wanted to push back against. Whether that's a writing issue or something that got lost in editing...reading this felt confusing at best and harmful at worst. Furthermore, though, sexual assault and sex in general are handled very carelessly and in a way where neither topic gets the thoughtful treatment any audience deserves. I don’t want to get into details here as not to spoil anything but let’s just say that I truly disliked how this topic was handled, even if there might be some truth to it in the real world these days.
Overall, though, I can only say that the I do see where this book wanted to go and I think the promise of a good friendship story (for example) are here, however the book takes on serious and sensitive topics which it doesn't seem equipped to handle responsibly....

Thank you soo much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest and voluntarily given review!

[Duskvioletnova · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went through a lot of mixed feelings while reading this book, and I still am when I think about it.

Kennedy really intrigued me at the start. The way she watches people and is very observant about them, even though she is just a teenager, was quite fascinating. Although I had a lot of trouble trying to understand some of the decisions and actions she made later in the book, I did really like her character.

Cecile is the opposite of Kennedy, she just wants to be an ordinary girl, and live her life. I really liked getting to read about her self-discovery journey, and all the thoughts surrounding it. She was a bit naive from time to time, but I did really enjoy her storyline and the way most of the other characters treated her.

As for the story, it was confusing. They were supposed to be teenagers in a small town, but I keep forgetting that, just because it didn’t make sense with some of the decisions in the storylines. I also feel like the focus when it came to what they want in relationships was wrong for 16 year olds.
I also feel like the story went everywhere and nowhere at once. It got to the point where it was really confusing, and I had to go back several times and reread to try and make it make sense. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good plot twist, but this were way to many drastic twists all packed together, and not making sense.

Also reading the blurb I, and many others, thought it would be a sapphic romance book, which it was not. The blurb is just misleading.

I also don’t know if I’m on board with calling it a teens/YA book. I definitely think it has some parts that would make it an awesome book for teens and YA to read, especially with the current bookbans and all those things. However, some of the topics were way too heavy for teens, and I feel like the trigger warnings and content warnings were not enough. The way they talked and went about some of these heavy topics is not something I would link to a teens/YA book.

Overall, I enjoyed some parts of the book, especially the parts where they had the talks about gender construct and all the things around that. And I feel like those are the parts YA should read, but I would not recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

[SullenSapphic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley and the Author in return for my honest review. I usually give a synopsis of the book / audiobook I am reviewing at the beginning of my review. However, I will not be with this one because it would be misleading and a truthful synopsis would give spoilers which I don’t like to do so I won’t be giving one.

First, from the given synopsis of this book / audiobook, one would think that this is going to be a sapphic book. I will give one spoiler, it is not. So, if you’re looking for a YA book about coming of age sapphic teens, this is not it. We find out who one of the characters really is and they’re still in the queer spectrum. However, I do not feel this character and the characterization of this character was handled correctly AT ALL. From listening to this book, I don’t believe there was a sensitivity reader involved in this process at all. Not only for the development of the one character but also the dealing with their situation and the fact that this is being sold as a Teens & YA book.

This leads into the other subject matter handled in this book that is being sold as a Teens & YA book. This book deals with SA situations. Massive amounts of homophobia and transphobia. Certain characters somehow find themselves in a gang grape situation, one of the MCs offering themself in place of the other to save her. This isn’t a dark romance and I’m still scratching my head on how this situation even came to be on paper for a high school Teens & YA book.

My last thought on this book is that there are so many storylines and ideas that are crammed into this book that it is a bunch of things jumbled together. Frankly, my brain feels jumbled trying to get my opinion out in words because I’m still trying to understand what I just listened to. If this was a physical book I was reading, I would have DNF’d it half way through.

I really hate leaving such a bad review but I love queer content and this content is not it. It wasn’t done right and I hope the author does better in the future.

📓 Teens & YA
📓 High School Setting
📓 Homophobia
📓 Transphobia
📓 Bullying
📓 Identity Struggles
📓 Coming of Age
📓 Mentions of SA
📓 Situation Leading to Gang Grape (doesn’t happen)
📓 Queer Fiction

[Di · Rating 2 out of 5]

I held off on reviewing this because I honestly didn't know how to put my thoughts into words.

Going in, I expected a coming-of-age story about learning to be comfortable in your own skin and finding your identity. Based on the marketing, I pictured a lighthearted YA novel about friendship, growing up, and teenage self-discovery. Instead, I felt completely blindsided.

For a book marketed to teens, the lack of content warnings is what bothered me most. I wasn't expecting the story to jump from fairly innocent moments to themes involving graphic sexual content, including discussions of anal sex, implied gang rape, and several other heavy topics. That's a huge leap, especially for the audience this book appears to target.

I also struggled with how the gender identity storyline was handled. I found myself confused rather than enlightened. It felt like pieces of the story were missing, almost as if several chapters had been cut, because I never felt like I fully understood the character's journey or the author's intended message. A story centered on identity deserves nuance and clarity, and for me, this one didn't quite get there.

The narration unfortunately didn't help either. I tried listening at multiple speeds hoping it would click, but I never connected with the performance.

I rarely rate a book below three stars because omg you wrote a book!... Many can not! But..... between the writing style, the pacing, and how the sensitive topics were handled, this one simply wasn't for me. I also think another round of editing could have helped tighten the story and improve the transitions.

As a parent, a dark romance reader and SA/DV survivor, I would be genuinely shocked if my teenager picked this up based solely on the cover and blurb without any content warnings. Marketing this as older YA or New Adult, along with including clear trigger warnings, would have better prepared readers for what they're getting into.

This book had the potential to start meaningful conversations about identity and self-acceptance. Unfortunately, the execution didn't work for me, and I walked away more confused than moved.

[Yvonne Cornejo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got access to this book via the publisher on Netgalley. #thebookofgirl #netgalley

When I read the description of this book, I was intrigued by it and thought it might have a good message to share for a younger audience, but after finishing it, I'm not sure how I feel about the content and how it was delivered. The narrator did a good job, there was just a few issues with the pacing and not being very clear which character was speaking.

The book tells the story of Cecile, a young girl that is looking to make girlfriends. She becomes friends with Kennedy, who introduces Cecile to her other friends Vanessa and Dani. Throughout the book, you get the feeling that Cecile isn't being the most honest about her past and who she is.

Apologies for the change in pronouns, it is very confusing to know what the character likes to go by as you progress in the story. You find out that she is actually biologically male and likes to dress and act as a girl, but doesn't consider herself trans. I felt that the story could have been better in how it handled these delicate topics, especially for the age range that it is targeting (YA), but overall it was a bit of a miss for me. I think there is more nuance that was missing from this book.

On top of the main story of Cecile trying to fit in, there was also this minor story line with Vanessa and her boyfriend who is part of a gang and at one point in the story, she is kidnapped by the gang and it is insinuated that they are going to gang rape her because her boyfriend talks about how their sexual exploits. Cecile/Oscar (at this point he had confessed to Kennedy that he was a boy) offers to replace Vanessa and is rescued just before they are raped. It was such a wild thing to include in the story again considering the age range that would be likely to read this book.

I think the overall message of being okay with who you really are and being true to yourself is great, I just don't think this book did a great job explaining that.

[Tierney Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

LM Francis’ The Book of Girl possesses significant ambition, but, I think, ultimately struggles to bridge the gap between its thematic intentions and its execution. I appreciate the author's attempt to make a bold, resonant statement regarding gender identification, equality, parity, and the complexities of friendship. These are vital, nuanced topics that deserve exploration in contemporary literature.

For me, though, several elements hinder the experience, such as the characters often feeling disconnected from their age and environment, acting in ways that lack emotional authenticity; how much narrative telling there is; how many side characters there are, meaning you’ll need to focus quite a bit early on. I also found the narrative progression frequently undermined by leaps in cause-and-effect logic, particularly regarding the development of interpersonal relationships, which made the story difficult to accept as well as I’d have liked. But my biggest bugbear is the inclusion of an attempted sexual assault that feels like a poor choice to advance the story and character arcs. I’d like to see a clear and prominent trigger warning included for the sake of reader welfare. Or really, a better way to get the main characters from one situation and dynamic to another.

The author’s underlying message is well-intentioned, for sure. And parts do work, in particular the story stars well with Cecile proactively looking for female friends and being rewarded with some seemingly good ones. But more careful handling and consistent character work would help the book to reach its full potential. With a focus on more character development, this narrative could be more impactful.
While this debut novel does not quite achieve its goals, it does show promise and have a few moments to enjoy.

Thank you to the author and the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Rivulet027 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have this tendency that if I start to feel that I’d give a book less than three stars then I DNF it, but then I listened to this book. The cover is giving middle grade. The tags for this book are: LGBTQIAP+, Teens & YA, and Women’s Fiction. The audiobooks tells you that trigger warnings are on the author’s website. The trigger warnings on the author’s site are: sexism, sexual assault, transphobia, racism, and homophobia. This review contains spoilers.

I think the narrator, Taylor Meskinmen did a good job.

I enjoyed this book for about the first little bit over fifty percent. For that time, I thought I was ready a story about Kennedy and Cecile. Kennedy lost her mom when she was young, she a bit standoffish and sarcastic. She’s quick to judge others and she just can’t see herself falling for the ‘ordinary boy’ her friends assume she has a crush on. Cecile moved in with her aunt, an aunt who does her make-up for her. She’s starting her senior year at a new school, but maintaining one friendship from her old school. She loves learning about all things girly and is carefully writing them all down in a notebook. So, for the first about fifty percent of this book I thought I was reading about a transgirl who is learning how to be herself while making friends her senior year of high school and developing a crush on one of those friends. I thought this book might end up being sapphic in a sweet way. Some of the metacommentary on girlhood was a bit heavy-handed. The school play that is really just a pretend wedding also seemed odd and an awkward vehicle for introducing Kennedy’s cousin, aunt, and eventually uncle.

Then Cecile comes out to Kennedy and the book goes into a flashback and completely changes the narrative of what I thought I was reading. It felt very abrupt and jarring. When the flashback ends the book quickly shifts again to one of their friends being in a dangerous situation, which they then try to solve themselves. There is then a trauma recovery chapter that isn’t from the POV of either of the characters that got traumatized, instead it’s from the friend who is waiting for them to recover.

At the end of the day, it feels like the core of this book is that the gender non-conforming character gets traumatized and convinced to get into situations that will continue the trauma so that the ordinary girl (and yes, she calls herself this multiple times) can learn that she loves embracing heteronormativity.

The book does its best to end on a high note with the friend group and members of the community showing support for the gender non-conforming character, but the end message seems to be: if boys who like to crossdress were allowed to crossdress and enjoy being one of the girls then they wouldn’t feel pressured to transition.

At the very least I would also at trigger warnings for kidnapping, gang rape, transmisogyny, and drugging.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ALC. This does not influence my opinion.

Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about this book.
I feel like it tried to take on way too many social issues to challenge them, but ultimately fell short. Instead it ended up with characters putting each other on pedestals instead of listening to each other, and talking over each other, acting like they knew what the other felt and what was best for them, and any challenge to that was shut down.
Kennedy kept talking over people, overanalyzing them, calling herself a “professional people watcher” despite being wrong almost every single time, and hurting people while doing that. I love that she accepted Oscar right away, but at the same time hated how she put him on a pedestal and tried to tell him how he feels or should feel. It felt to me like Oscar became a symbol to her instead of a friend and person, and I strongly dislike that. I did not see enough character development in Kennedy, so a lot of her bullshit remained sort of unchallenged.
Oscar himself didn’t really get the room to figure out himself, because everyone was so overbearing. He was a very nice character though, and in my opinion the kindest of them all. I love how he learned to stand up for himself and started to grow into himself, I like to believe this would continue after the book ends.
Overall I do like the premise of the book, it brought up many important issues, some of them in a really good and productive way, others less so. The teenagers acted like teenagers, including all the awkwardness, and that was great.
In the end, I’m still felling a bit conflicted about this book, but am happy I read it.

[Felicity Oberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book; it appealed to me straight away when reading the blurb on NetGalley. I immediately requested the ALC because the blurb promised a YA story centred on high school seniors navigating relatable teenage struggles. Instead, it was a struggle to get through. While I didn't DNF, I came close on many occasions. It felt as though the author tried to include every possible hardship and traumatic experience, leaving little room for the characters or themes to breathe.

Despite my frustrations, there were aspects I appreciated. I enjoyed the discourse about femininity and Kennedy's unwavering view that one should be an individual and be celebrated for it. However, there were moments where it relied on broad stereotypes about certain groups, which came across as reductive and occasionally dismissive. The characters dialogue made them seem more immature than high school seniors - their inner thoughts were much more well rounded.

I have issues with some of the darker content (sexual assault, transphobia etc). While there is a broad statement to look up possible trigger warnings on the authors website, I believe that given the audience this book is being marketed to, it should clearly communicate the triggers. While I believe stories exploring identity, sexuality, and queer experiences are incredibly important, they need to approach difficult subjects with sufficient care. Without clearer content warnings and more thoughtful handling of these themes, I worry this book could have a negative impact on vulnerable readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the gifted ALC - I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Angie Carlton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this as an ALC through Netgalley.

I DNF'd this at about 40%. Normally I would not review a book that I don't finish, but this is one of those rare circumstances where the content is objectively so bad that it needs a review.

This book portrays every toxic teen behavior and tries to make it seem acceptable. The characters, I think, are supposed to be upper high school age, but come across more like middle schoolers. The adults address them as "children" and the hierarchy and social politics are very much like middle school.

The sexual ideals are absolutely toxic and I'm not talking about the transgender subjects. I'm talking about young girls thinking its cool and sexy to be treated poorly by men, and being treated inappropriately during sexual intercourse (it even dives into rough anal sex).

Maybe this comes around in the end and explains that its all bad, but frankly I couldn't keep listening to find out. I'm a parent and grandparent. I am open to letting our kids and young adults explore adult topics in books, but I also think that book age labels are important for helping consumers know what they are potentially getting into. Its unfortunate, because the characters here are in no way written to be appealing to an adult reader, but the content is in no way appropriate for Teen/YA marketing.

The story itself was a disconnected mess. We literally spend 15 minutes talking about underwear shopping.

The audio narrator was fine, but didn't do a very good job of separating the characters. I sometimes had a difficult time following who was who and remembering which character was which.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to finish this book but I just couldn’t. In its current state I do not think this book is appropriate for its intended audience. This book is written for young adults but is not at all appropriate for them. This book attempts to discuss gender roles, trans people, sexual relationships, friendships, and dating. This is discussed in the book but is done in a way that glorifies inappropriate behavior and unacceptable. Rape and sexual assault is brought up but not properly discussed. I when one character discusses non consensual sex, it is brushed under the rug as if that is just something that happens. There is extensive discussion of gender, gender roles, and transgender people but it is ultimately a very negative judgmental view. Cecelia/Oscar is treated very poorly in multiple instances but it is normalized within the book as if this is acceptable and to be expected.

I believe that in its current state, this book is not appropriate for teens as the things that discusses does not provide any clarity as to whether the actions are acceptable or not. When it does discuss if the actions are acceptable or not, it leaves it in the teenage point of view that allows for transphobia and rape to be normalized. It is also extremely insensitive when dealing with the stress and trauma caused by events in the book.

Thank you BooksGoSocial for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[LP Phillips · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you (or not, honestly) NetGalley for the ALC.

I’m… not quite sure who this book is for. And I definitely wasn’t expecting the major theme of “it’s so hard for feminine cis straight men in this world…” I just… no. I think that this is an attempt at analyzing/criticizing gender essentialism, but it doesn’t land, giving much more of an impression that this book leans into stereotypes than dismantles them. It’s also very clearly biased towards one point of view- as a queer woman(ish) identified person with a masculine leaning gender expression, I was shocked to read over and over that boys in dresses are gawked at but “women in ties don’t get a second look…” like… what are we doing here?

Some of the verbiage, too, was strange. Are teenagers today dedicated to calling their friends “girlfriends?” Do they refer to hot guys as “studs?” And, I’m nitpicking at this point, but… the repeated use of the words “police school” made me laugh out loud in the wrong way.

It’s been mentioned by other reviewers, but the sexualization of these kids is also bizarre. I know and understand that teenagers have sex, and I applaud well done sex positive YA… But the repeated discussions of anal sex and sexy panties felt genuinely creepy. Again, who is this book for??

[Em’s Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and L.M. Francis for the opportunity to read this ARC.

There were many enjoyable and wholesome parts of the story. The character interactions and sweet moments between girl friends were nice to listen to and reminded me a lot of my own experiences with teen friendship. However, when it came to the more serious issues I do feel the execution could be greatly improved. While I believe the author had good intentions surrounding the topics of LGBTQIA+, gender identity, and sexual health, the messaging was confusing in the context of the story which may be harmful for its intended teen audience. I also felt some important topics were introduced but not fully addressed or given a solution, for example when a situation involving consent was swept under the rug. It seemed like there was more time given to some of the pettier problems between characters. Overall I believe the book needs some work and deeper thought to improve how these issues are portrayed.

I will say that the narrator did an excellent performance! I don't often reach for audiobooks as I struggle to follow them, but this narrator was great at acting out the scenes in a way that kept me engaged and listening.

[zb · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Book of Girl by L.M. Francis wasn’t for me. I DNF'd it at ~71% (end of Ch.13), and, truthfully, should have DNF'd it far sooner.

The problem with having characters as overt ideological mouthpieces (looking at you Kennedy), is that you then encourage critique from the point of view of ideological conformance/purity/orthodoxy. I don't want to do that, I want good fiction to be good fiction regardless of "the message" or "example" it is (supposedly) setting: give me challenging! Give me uncomfortable! Give me unique!

Alas, this one just didn't work as a work of fiction, for me. The writing (content, grammar and style) was all over the place and definitely required another editing pass (not to mention the story beats were haphazard and discontinuous - temporally confusing, very choppy/like an essay that had its paragraphs shuffled at times...). The characters were flat, inconsistent and uninteresting. The pacing was also eclectic.

The bones/potential of the story are there... this just required further writing & editing passes, and significant refinement, if I'm being honest. I wouldn't recommend it in its current state.

NetGalley provided me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this book, because it had a trans-theme and it was aimed at a younger audience. Since so many books with an LGBTQ theme are banned these days, I'm proud to support.
But I don't know, the story didn't really get me. It took a lot of turns, some unexpected, and I couldn't relate to the themes the girls in the school were participating in. The wedding performance? I thought it was so over the top. And also the drug-gang related story and the sexual assault was so out of the blue.. I was fine reading the story about Cecile's transformation and path to her true-self. I can totally get that and wanting to have friends who take you as you are. Maybe it's because I'm not from the States, and in Europe highschool is different. We don't have a prom or such. But it felt a bit alien for me.
I do think the friendschip between the girls, Ness, Cecile, Dani and Kenny very sweet. How they were there for eachother each in their own way. Also how Cecile and Nisar navigating a difficult time in their friendschip.
I listend to the audio book as well. The voice was fine, but the pace a bit slow. I put it on 1,5 speed, but I'm a fast reader as well :-)
Thanks to #NetGalleyUk for the #ARC. #TheBookOfGirl

[D Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tries very hard to address issues of gender and sexuality in a supportive way but mostly fails to do so successfully. The cisgender characters are either glaringly bigoted or aggressively supportive to the point that they overruled characters. They are theoretically intended to be offering support to and those actions mostly go unquestioned either by other characters or by the authorial voice.
There is also an of racism which was largely addressed as the product of misplaced emotional distress. The book is about teenagers and largely about teenagers, figuring out their own identities and sexualities and relationships, and not always having answers at the end Of the story. Writing characters at that age or stage of life means writing characters who are not going to handle things well all the time, but this did not read as if it were written with that much deliberate intent.
I wanted to like this quite a lot, and I thought the opening scene was quirky and the choice to move from particularly bright opening chapters to much darker and more serious issues was an interesting one with a lot of possibility, Joy and quirkiness do not protect any of us from the realities of harm, but I just do not feel that the execution worked well here.

[Lisa Donohoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me. Characters felt far too stereotypical in parts as well as there being (in my opinion) way too many characters and side characters. Many of them with little substance and many of them fickle.
The story was overly narrative and quite boring. There is work to be done (again, in my opinion) with regard showing not saying and several conversations that didn’t need to be so long / detailed. The plot of the book went down so many different directions that it was hard to keep up at times to be honest.
Also, the name of this book does not sit right with me, ‘The Book of Girl’ just doesn’t make (grammatical?) sense to me. I guess it’s a play on The Book of Mormon, but I can’t understand why??
I want to make very clear that the LGBTQIA+ aspects of this book are not what I didn’t like!! However, the very first category on a list of 3 describing this book is ‘Women’s Fiction’ and I do not agree that it falls into that category at all.
I think this book could have been really special with great insights and learning moments if it had of been better though out and edited.

[BookloverEEr · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐

I received *The Book of Girl* as an audiobook ARC through NetGalley, and overall I enjoyed it.

One of the things that surprised me most about this book was the direction the story took. It ended up being quite different from what I expected when I started it, which kept me interested and curious about where everything was going.

What stood out most to me were the themes explored throughout the story. The book touches on several important topics, including themes that are relevant to the LGBTQ+ community, and I thought those aspects were handled thoughtfully. It gave the story a deeper emotional layer and made it feel like there was more to take away from it than just the plot itself.

While I enjoyed the book and appreciated the messages it explored, I never felt completely blown away by it. There were moments that really worked for me, but overall it didn't become a new favorite.

That being said, I'm glad I picked it up. It was a meaningful story that went in unexpected directions and tackled important subjects in an engaging way.

Overall, I gave *The Book of Girl* 3 out of 5 stars.

[Jules ✌ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an audio ARC of The Book of Girl by L.M. Francis. This book follows a teenager exploring their sexuality and gender identity while navigating life at a new school and building new friendships. I appreciated this story because it gave me a different perspective on what it means to be a girl and how those ideas can change from person to person. It also takes on difficult topics such as homophobia, sexual assault, and familial estrangement.

There are a couple of things I'd like to note. This book should definitely come with trigger warnings. I may have missed them, but it contains homophobia, references to sexual assault, sexually explicit content. I also found that the narrator sounded like she was speaking in slow motion. I had to increase the speed to 1.5x or 2.0x for it to sound natural.

Also, despite the adult content, the writing style reminded me of something I would have read in middle school, which made it a difficult read for me at times.

Overall, I would rate this book 1.75/5 stars, with most of that rating coming from the new perspective it offered.

[Liz Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried about this one after seeing the reviews once I received my ALC. However, I am so glad I read it anyways. This book was excellent.

It is YA, but deals with a lot of issues, notably, sex, pressure for sex, anal sex, SA, gender identity issues, and more. So check the TW before reading. I thought this book was well done. It balanced serious issues with a lighthearted feel and explores friendship and girlhood and why they are so important.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and why I agree with some comments that the beginning and the end of this book are seem far apart, I think it’s fair given how much change happens as children become adults. The beginning is very light and fun and by the end very significant cultural issues are addressed. Some issues felt brushed over or simplified, but it felt accurate of how black and white some young people see the world.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and think it is worth a read, so long as you mind your triggers.

[Margeaux (meg_booklover7)]

*Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial Audio for this ALC.*

I really wanted to like this book. I actually chose it because I thought I could listen to the audiobook with my teen daughter. However, there was so much about this novel that wasn't working. The portrayal of the characters were very young with their dialogue being very juvenile. However, they were engaging in very adult activities. There's not much context given and so it feels like the novel is making like of the situations that should be treated with more serious consideration. The way that the novel portrays sex and sexuality is very misleading. It's trying to portray how teens treat the issue of sex and relationships but without the necessary context, it feels like it's promoting the sexualized treatment of girls and encourage thoughtless promiscuity.

I could not finish.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.75
I really wanted to love this one. The premise gave me sapphic vibes, but was not sapphic at all. Without spoiling too much there are queer characters involved. I enjoyed all the different characters and their growth. However, most of the time they acted very childish when they’re supposed to be juniors/seniors in high school. I enjoyed their girlhood friendship. All the girls are very supportive and loving towards each other in a sisterly type of bond way. Cecile was accepted and loved by everyone. The theme and talks of femininity fell a bit short. Some of the themes were too heavy and mature for a YA book. I didn’t see any trigger warnings and definitely need to be added. The narrator did a great job. I enjoyed their tone and pronunciation.
I did recieve an arc from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

[Emilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ALC of this book via NetGalley.

I think I can see where this book was trying to go… unfortunately I found it to miss the mark. While there was some interesting exploration into gender, there were a lot of gendered stereotypes throughout the book that never felt fully addressed to me. This muddled what I (hope) was the intended message.

For a YA book, I thought that some of the content, particularly in the way it was portrayed within the book itself, to not be handled in an age-appropriate way. And on top of that, the trauma that occurred to the characters felt glossed over to me. I personally would not recommend this book to teenagers.

On the other hand, I felt the narrator did a great job, and the drama did keep me listening… however, because of how this book is marketed and the potentially harmful messaging for teens, I gave it 2 stars.