She Gets the Girl

It's worth celebrating the rise of the rom-com novels in LGBTQIAP+ YA novels and the shift away from stories solely focused on trauma; this shows room for a wider variety stories of teens. SHE GETS THE GIRL by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick is a smart romantic comedy with two characters who are richly written. Both Alex and Molly have flaws and room to grow--and their progress is not simple or easy. They both make mistakes, sliding into old behaviors more than once. I especially appreciated the depiction of class through Alex's story. Alex has regarded college as her escape from her alcoholic mother--and ending up like her mother--but now that she's starting her first year, what now? She's still struggling to pay her way while covering expenses for her mother and life isn't easy for Alex. One standout scene is when Alex's friends tell her she shouldn't pursue pre-med, that she should "do what she loves," but this feels impossible to Alex. She needs to make money with her degree; "doing what she loves" is not affordable to her.Even though it becomes quite clear how the book will end, the characters are so engrossing, they manage to make the reading journey enjoyable. I also appreciated that the authors circumvented some cliches and avoided the expected "big moments" of most rom-coms.

I got the book and finished it in 2 days, it’s a cute book! The love story is sweet and genuine with a few laughs and sad moments, but slow burn between the main characters is just really sweet. You can tell that the characters and story is loosely based off of the authors. There’s even cute little notes in the acknowledgment section about it and your just like wow, a lot of this is about there life’s with i think is great. If your looking for a sweet fluffy book with a little bit of angst here and there I would give it a try!

Very much had the classic 90’s romcom feel, only with queer characters. Read in one sitting. Loved the Pittsburgh references. The ending made me swoon.

Such a nice heartfelt book!

A great sapphic rom-com style story, I truly loved reading this book from start to finish!