A review by frankiejo
She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott, Alyson Derrick

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this was so cute omg,,,

i found the characters and their relationships intensely believable. and relatable. VERY relatable. my therapist will be hearing about this book /j

really the only part of this book that i didnt vibe with was the enemies to lovers/hate to love this book was marketed as. its more "brief dislike to really good friends to lovers." that didn't really bother me, because i don't have any strong feelings about that trope, but if that's like, your favourite trope, then just know this version of it is very mild. really, the only thing that i minded on that front was that the initial dislike felt a little...exaggerated after the fact. there were some points in molly's narration where she talked about how she totally misjudged alex at their first meeting and feels absolutely terrible, i...didnt really see that? i mean, their first meeting mostly consisted of alex saying something rude and molly being quietly peeved about it. that doesnt seem to me like a misjudgement, more like getting off on the wrong foot a little bit. i don't know.

but something that i did like on that front, especially in the early parts of the book, is that their relationship feels very equal. i think in enemies to lovers, the early stages in the relationship can feel like "one person bullies the other, who lays down and takes it." that's not the case here. yes, alex is a touch sarcastic towards molly (she tones it down as they get closer, which is also nice) but molly has her fair share of snark too and is more than capable of engaging. her problem seems to be that she can't start a conversation. she seems okay at keeping them going.

i felt the characters had distinct voices, which is important when the POV alternates from chapter to chapter. i also liked the characters' relationships with their respective mothers and the contrast in them.

i was a little nervous going in, since both alex and molly spend most of the book pining after other people, but i was rooting for them in the end. i hated natalie (alex's girl), which i think i was supposed to. but in the beginning, i thought cora was nice and her relationship with molly was cute. in the end, though, i was rooting for alex and molly. cora's not a sucky person like natalie, though. i think the point was that she just doesn't have that much in common with molly. i feel like sometimes the book treats that as an actual flaw rather than as just incompatibility but that was a very minor issue. 

just a very sweet, nice book. some heavier topics are delved into (toxic relationships, alcoholism, and internalized racism) but the tone of the book stays fairly consistent. also, i didnt know where else to put this but: no closeted characters and no homophobia! 

rep; lesbian main characters, half-Korean main character, several sapphic side characters (i think this uni is just lesbians /j), blink-and-you'll-miss-it nonbinary character.

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