A review by xabbeylongx
She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick, Rachael Lippincott

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Spoilers Ahead: 
This book is a massive slow-burner, but I’m really into it? It started off really slow, and I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to finish it, but I’m so glad I managed to continue on with it. 
We follow Alex and Molly as they meet. Molly has been pining after this girl, Cora, since she first met her. Molly has crippling anxiety, and, therefore, Cora doesn’t know she exists. As they move into the same college, and Alex rocks up at one of the parties, only to find out that Cora is actually very attracted to her, Molly isn’t a massive fan of Alex, especially when she embarrasses her in front of everyone. 
Alex, however, has her own problems; her mum is a drunk, spending all of her - and Alex’s - money on alcohol, and her ‘girlfriend’ - I use the term loosely - thinks that she can’t take relationships seriously. She’s about to go on tour, and she makes a deal that if Alex can stay faithful and not flirt, then their love can be rekindled. 
Alex and Molly re thrown together when Alex finds out about Molly’s secret crush. She agrees to help her ‘get’ Cora, and by doing so, she is also showing her ‘girlfriend’ that she can be a good person. 
Alex compiles a plan, and ends up being a mentor for Molly on dates. However, as they start spending time with each other, they realise that maybe this isn’t what they want. Molly realises that she stopped liking Cora like that, and Alex realised that she deserves better than her controlling girlfriend, and they end up getting together. 
The romance between Molly and Alex is so sweet. In the beginning, I wasn’t rooting for them, and even though I knew they would end up getting together, I thought they were way too different. Even now, it sort of feels quite unrealistic that they ended up together, purely just because of how much their personalities clash, but I respect it. 
The characters themselves were okay, although I think it would have helped if I had liked them a bit more. Molly actually infuriated me. She made most of her obstacles for herself, the only one who was actually putting them up. I sympathise, I have been known to be anxious for a while - most of my life, actually - but come on. There’s being anxious, and then having no common sense and blaming anxiety. They were very quick to throw down diagnosis after diagnosis here. However, I do like the similarities, as well as the differences, between the two women, especially with the problems they face with their mothers: the internal racism and the alcoholism. I thought it was very cool! A very pleasant read. 
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