***I received an ARC, ahead of release, through an influencer program. All thoughts are my own.***

Content Warnings: Homophobia, self loathing, bullying, depression, mourning, strong feelings of rejection, violence, drug/alcohol use/abuse, abandonment, and a hate crime.
Mention of: self-harm, suicide, suicide attempt, teen pregnancy, and abortion.

When I first saw that there was going to be a book about the story we saw in Hayley's video, "Girls Like Girls" I was excited and ready to see where it took us. I was not expecting to go through as many emotions as I did. This was a one sit read but there were times I had to pause because, my eyes were so full of tears, I couldn't see the words anymore.

This book gives us such a beautiful, real, and emotional summer read. It felt like we really got to see depth, and backstory, from every character except a mean girl...and let's be honest I really didn't want a reason to feel sympathetic towards her anyways.

We primarily follow Coley and see the summer through her eyes but we also get glimpses into Sonya's mind, and heart, with the addition of her LiveJournal posts. I loved seeing the difference in emotion from Sonya's public vs private posts...you could really see how much she desperately tried to maintain the persona she has publicly...which is really leading her to suffer and keep her from real happiness.

Though it was very hard to watch Coley be hurt by Sonya it also felt incredible realistic. Sonya's grown up in a small town where everyone knows everybody, she's crafted this persona that goes with the status quo and she's seen how love can end, hurt, and destroy people.

Both Coley and Sonya believe they aren't worthy of love and attention, they both see love as something that eventually sours and leaves you all alone.

This book reads like a novella, it flowed so smoothly...I was not expecting to read this in one sitting. I really thought I was going to read a few chapters per day and maybe have it finished in a week or so...but it was entirely too good to consider putting down before the end.

Ugh I just need everyone to read and experience this book 😭