She Gets the Girl

I think "breezy" and "lightweight" often mean the same thing, but you use one or the other depending on whether you liked the book or not, so I'll say breezy.

I enjoyed the contrast of the characters and how they arrived at the same problem (unwilling to express self) from different angles (lack of confidence, trauma).

I thought the Natalie/Alex relationship was well written and liked how Natalie used therapy-speak to run Alex down.

This was generally well pitched to a YA audience. Suggestive instead of sexual, profanity was used sparingly and was effective when it was used.

The book was entirely uninterested in men, which is totally fine.

I think a month was too fast for the amount of events that occurred, but I'm not 18 anymore.

Found out afterward that the book was semi-autobiographical and written by two wives, would be very interested to find out what their writing process was.

Listened to the audiobook in one day on a long car trip. I thought the audiobook was generally good, except a little too much performance.

I loved this book for several reasons. At the start of the book I sure didn't think I would end up giving it 5 stars, but it turned out to be such a sweet, endearing little story that I couldn't stop listening to it!

One of the most refreshing details of this book taking place in the real world is that homophobia doesn't even get a single mention. It's completely normal that these girls are into each other and the book holds onto that. I've read quite a few queer YA novels the past years that make it one of the biggest plot points in their books and I'm just not there for it anymore. Our lives are not just suffering or bending under the pressure of society. This book gave queer romance a chance, a space to unfold, room for the characters to grow and have their own emotional journeys without the all encompassing negativtiy from the outside. This story is not a prison for their characters but a landscape to explore.

I also ended up loving both of the main characters and I am sure both the way it was written from their two perspectives WITHOUT repeating scenes and the voices by Natalie Naudus and Valentina Ortiz added to it. They both learned and grew and it was just lovely to witness. I was rooting for them the entire way! I do have to say that this book is predictable; positively, charmingly predictable. It didn't bother me because I just wanted them to succeed and be happy.

I wanted to give the book 4.something stars but the fact that I wanted to keep listening and then when it was all over and I still wanted to know what was gonna happen next convinced me to give it 5 instead. Because it deserves it. It's a great queer YA novel and its messages should be treasured.