She Gets the Girl follows the lives of two girls, Alex and Molly, as they navigate going away to college and what they are leaving behind in the process.
For Molly, it’s her close-knit relationship with her mom that has slipped unintentionally into being slightly codependent and her life as a “socially inept” loner with no friends. For Alex, who has become a caretaker to her alcoholic mother, for every step forward she makes - her home life back in Philadelphia pulls her two steps back. That, combined with turbulent times with her long-distance “sort of” girlfriend leaves her with a newfound self-awareness and a desire to change for the better.
This book has so much character growth. Both girls learn to navigate setting boundaries in unhealthy parent dynamics (with different levels of severity, obviously.) which is something I have never seen in a YA novel before. This is handled so well in both instances, and I wish I had this kind of representation as a teen. Nedra Tawwab would be proud of Alex and Molly!
In addition to the self growth the girls both have individually, the book itself is so well written and the story has such a natural cadence that I was actually surprised when I was almost finished with it. This was definitely a book that I wished there was more of, and can see myself re-reading again in the near future!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.