She Gets the Girl

My first sapphic book, and I loved it! It's hard to find LGBTQ young adult books. I appreciate how you can feel all of the characters personalities and vulnerabilities, and the events are relatable and real. I felt I could relate to both Alex and Molly. I appreciated seeing the different attachment styles. The book is well-written with everyday language. The authors have a really wholesome acknowledgements section at the end and two sneak peaks into other books. Definitely going to buy more of their books! <3 Thank you Rachael and Alyson

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.

At the ripe old age of sixteen whole years, I can’t say I’ve read every single book there is to read. I’ve read the standard rite-of-passage-y, coming of age stories, sure. I’ve met everyone from Percy Jackson to Holden Caulfield to Bella Swan, and some spaces in between, and while they’re all relatable in their own special ways, there’s always something holding them back from being my ultimate favorite. This book granted me that one thing. As a teen, there’s a lot of pressure to be exactly who everyone else wants you to be. You’re always comparing yourself to others, despite how different each of you are, and that’s the universal truth. Every teen is a slave to that. Between the hormones and mood swings, between grades and jobs, these expectations and relationships are sometimes the only thing holding us down. We find comfort in that, and as we find out more about ourselves, we begin to realize that we don’t want to be like that, hence why adolescence is regarded as such a rough point in life. For me, that realization came the form of romantic relationships. All of my girl friends are out there dating my boy friends. It took me a while, but I realized that I didn’t want that. I didn’t want a boyfriend. Soon enough, coincidentally through one of my books (thanks, Uncle Rick!), I would be introduced to the concepts of sexuality and different preferences. I began to resent the stories with their heterosexual main characters and heterosexual subplots. The idea they enforced that the only way was… well, straight. I stopped reading for leisure. My storytelling obsession would be occupied by kid’s shows and video games, where things like that would remain more or less ambiguous. So, particularly lonely and slowly getting over an unrequited friendship-turned-crush, I started looking for anything to read that might appeal to my broken little lesbian heart. It was a process, and I came up with a few different titles. If sapphic teen romance novels are few and far between, sapphic books written by sapphic authors are even fewer. Now that I’m done writing an entire novel of my own backstory, here’s what I actually think of the book: When I finally fell upon “She Gets the Girl,” I didn’t have high expectations. Now that I’d found what I’d wanted, I was afraid that it wouldn’t be any good, and that I’d be right where I started my search. And then I was introduced to Alex Blackwood and Molly Parker. Holy shit. Alex appealed to me especially at first. She took the tortured-ness and attachment issues reminiscent of so many male love interests that I’d read, and put them into the sarcastic reality of the female world. Instead of tall, dark and handsome, she was sarcastic, hot and bittersweet. And then there was Molly. Good lord, I wasn’t sure I’d ever find a character like her. Everything from her relationship with her mother, to the rose-tinted glasses with which she saw Cora, to her nervous demeanor and seemingly friendless past. Buried beneath the humor of Molly’s awkwardness was a certain amount of truth to me. Even the dressing-like-a-grandpa comment made by Alex reminded me of an experience with my own friends. TL;DR : “She Gets the Girl” has opened up a whole new world of novels for me. I found it relatable, fulfilling, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and most of all, heartfelt. I’m no literary critic, but I give it five stars. Perfectly paced, excellently executed, and effortlessly entertaining. Satisfying closure in the end, and doesn’t leave you yearning for a sequel. Truly written by people like me, for people like me. Could’ve used an epilogue, though ;)

I just finished this book. As someone who’s dyslexic, a slow reader and has ADD; this book had me hooked. I couldn’t stop reading it, and when I did all I could do was think about reading it. I love Molly and Alex’s story. Their friendship, their connection, the way they feel so safe with each other, safe to be themselves and everything feels so easy. From a late in life lesbian, I deeply love and appreciate this book. I suggest it to any queer woman and they them out there.

I loved the subtle buildup and how much mushy gushy love there is. It's definitely a wonderful book to read!

It's not a bad book. I didn't like Alex very much. Like any good character, she had flaws. It just happened that I didn't like her flaws, so I couldn't really vibe with her. Molly, on the other hand, was fun to read about. I didn't finish the book. I wasn't into their relationship because I couldn't care about Alex. I was planning to finish it, but at this point I don't think I'll ever will unless held at gunpoint. Again, it's not a bad book. I would rather read other things though.

This one was such a cute opposites attract, friends to lovers story! I could totally see it being a Netflix movie! I feel like both girls had things that they needed to learn and grow (both personally and about relationships) and while this was just over a short period of time I feel like they accomplished so much. I loved watching Molly and Alex for a friendship, and eventual relationship. This one was a quick read, and while I enjoyed it I really think someone more in the age range would love it even more.

Top notch book! This should 100% be made into a rom-com movie! Great story, great characters, big page-turner! Loved it!

This is a great book but fair warning, it's one of those books that never gives the reader any meat. It's good all the way through but you wish there was more at the end after the big event unfolds.

I love this book and would highly recommend it! I bought it for a friend, and it arrived on time with no damage!

My absolute favourite book!

Llegó en perfectas condiciones cosa que es de apreciar. Fue para un regalo y le encantó. Yo no lo he leído pero la persona a la que se lo regalé me dijo que era una lectura bastante ligera y le gusto mucho.

I'm a sucker for the type of romance where character A is madly in love with somebody else and character B tries to help them with a plan, and while they make progress with said plan they fall head over heels with each other because they start to see each other in a different light. This was super cute and funny, I loved how well thought every aspect of the book felt.