Think there was just a bit too much going on here - might have worked for a younger audience if the big message really is to just be yourself.

The first thing I need to say is that my exact rating for Like Other Girls is 2.5 stars. Originally I rounded that rating up to 3 stars, but on reflection I just couldn’t justify rating it that highly because I have some very serious issues with this one.

I think the majority of the problems come from the fact that Claire Hennessy is trying to tackle too much in a book which is less than 300 pages. Whereas one of the issues might have been able to be dealt with effectively in such a short book, the majority of the topics she is trying to address overlap are handled poorly.

If this had been a book focused on abortion and the eighth amendment it would have been pushing five stars, because that aspect of this novel is handled very well. If this had been a book focused on sexuality and gender it would have been a one star, because it’s transphobic to say the least. However, this means that the first half of the novel is a one star and the second half is almost a five star and that doesn’t make for an enjoyable reading experience in the slightest. I was angry at myself for appreciating the way Claire Hennessy used her platform to fight the eighth amendment, because I was angry at the way that she had written about trans people (which made me even angrier about that, because without that this could have been a new favourite book).

This is where I get spoilery, so as always if you haven’t read Like Other Girls yet it’s time to move on…

Like Other Girls starts with each chapter counting up: week zero, day zero; week one, day four etc. At first the reader isn’t aware of what this is pointing towards – is it tracking the weeks at school? the time that the girls have been rehearsing for their musical? – but around halfway through the book we discover that despite using condoms Lauren is pregnant with the child of her recent ex-boyfriend, Justin, and that is what is being tracked.

Lauren wants an abortion, but because she lives in Ireland she has no choice but to fly to Liverpool to get treatment. Telling her parents she’s going on a trip to Cork with Q Club – a group of LGBTQ+ friends she meets regularly – she makes the journey by herself, as thousands of Irish women have in the past.

This aspect of the plot is handled with aplomb. Lauren seeks advice in Ireland and accidentally walks into a pro-life clinic masquerading as a pregnancy support clinic, but she knows enough about her situation to realise that she’s being lied to. Lauren anonymously goes to the press with her experience, desperate to help other girls in the same situation as her, and the controversy that the article stirs up begins discussions about the eighth amendment and the way that abortion is viewed in Ireland.

When Lauren does have her abortion, she isn’t filled with guilt or regret, which is realistic. The only times I’ve seen abortion addressed in YA, the characters are either extremely remorseful or the entire situation is completely glossed over, so it was brilliant to see the other side of the story represented. As I said earlier, if Like Other Girls had focused entirely on Lauren’s accidental pregnancy, it would probably have ended up being a five star for me. In fact, the only criticism I can find for this aspect of the plot is that it seems unrealistic that Lauren’s brother wouldn’t ask which concerts she was planning on getting tickets for, as she gets the money for her flight to Liverpool by asking for £300 in ticket money for Christmas.

However, then we get to the ‘problematic’ aspects of the novel. (I’m putting problematic in air quotes there, because Lauren mocks the use of the term at various points throughout the book. Possibly Hennessy knew this was going to be a big criticism of Like Other Girls and was trying to invalidate that criticism internally?).

Lauren is a horrible person. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me too much – I’m not opposed to reading about horrible characters – but it is taken too far throughout this novel. Lauren’s sense of humour is infuriating (I literally updated my Goodreads status asking whether this was supposed to be funny, because all of the so-called ‘jokes’ fell completely flat) and most of her comedy is directed towards the gender and sexuality of her friends in Q Club.

These ‘jokes’ included:

‘Marc with a c. If you’re going to go to all the trouble of picking a new name after you come out as trans, at least pick Mark with a k. For fuck’s sake. The world of manly, masculine, macho names open to you and you pick Marc with a c.

And, like, if you’re deliberately going for something not super-macho then why the need to take testosterone and to talk about it all the time?’

and

“Half the pop stars out there are now bi, apparently.”

“Attention-seekers.”

and

‘There has to be something clever and amusing to be said about how wanting a dick makes you act like one’

The sad thing is, I have more examples and I could go on.

All of those make me extremely uncomfortable. Lauren is bisexual, and her attitude to other bisexual people irritates me: she believes in the worst kind of stereotypes, claiming that she hates the word bisexual because it sounds as though you can only ever be sexually satisfied by having two lovers at once: wtf?!

She is very judgmental towards her pansexual friends too, derogatorily referring to them as the Posh Pansexuals and assuming that they are just straight girls wanting to fit in with the Q Club (when she herself is a bisexual girl with a boyfriend: double wtf?!).

She complains constantly about the fact that her boyfriend is a white, cis, straight guy, yet when he tries to break up with her she begs him to stay… Only for them to break up a couple of chapters later and for her to act like it’s no big deal, like she didn’t care about him anyway and had been trying to get rid of him. Riiiiight.

But the worst thing of all about Like Other Girls is Lauren’s attitude towards her transgender friends. She has a crush on her best friend Steph, but after they have sex – an intimately described f/f sex scene the likes of which I’ve never seen in YA before – Steph freaks out. A few weeks later she messages Lauren and explains that the reason she was uncomfortable is because she is trans, and soon starts going by the name Evan and using he/him pronouns.

Lauren begins hating Marc from Q Club because she believes he’s brainwashed Evan into feeling this way, and that he wouldn’t be transgender if it wasn’t for Marc’s influence. She also accuses Evan of only coming out because they had sex: it’s obvious that Lauren thinks the world revolves around her and that Evan’s decision is solely for her benefit, and that’s a terrible attitude.

It wouldn’t be so bad if Lauren went through some kind of redemption arc, but because of the short length of this novel there just isn’t time for that. She feels some empathy towards Marc after bumping into him at the therapist’s office after he attempts suicide – she has to get counselling because of alcohol abuse, another plot point which is somehow crammed into this story – but that’s the only thing that makes her attitude begin to change. Then she sabotages the school play to make some statements about gender and abortion and we’re expected to believe she’s a better person and her views have changed? Sure, sure.

I am not trans but I have seen this review from a trans readers on Goodreads, so I don’t believe I’m being overly sensitive with my criticisms of this novel. I’m not aware if the views of her character actually reflect the views of Claire Hennessy herself, but a topic like this should have been dealt with with far more sensitivity.

This could so easily have been split into two books, and then perhaps all of the topics might have been dealt with in a satisfactory manner, but as it is this is not a story I would recommend. I hate saying that, because Nothing Tastes as Good was a five star read and is one of the best books I’ve ever read regarding anorexia, but this just wasn’t the book for me. I wasn’t looking forward to reading Like Other Girls because I thought that might be the case: unfortunately I was right, but for so many more reasons that I first assumed.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

An interesting look at conformity and how that affects teenage girls. It emphasizes the idea of being yourself and believing in your self.

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Like other girls was a great coming of age story with a new outlook on LGBT relationship and coming to terms with ones sexuality, there are also some great mental health moments that crop up.

I loved Like Other Girls by Claire Hennessy.
I wish this was around when I was a teenager. Every young person needs to read this book. It's got everything in it - teenage angst, pregnancy, trans, queers, parties, drinking, annoying teachers, musicals everything.
Read it in one day.

I'm so glad someone finally wrote this book! I'm also glad that someone was Claire Hennessy as I've really enjoyed the way she's tackled teen issues in her past books.

I had to smile at some of the reviews of this book on Goodreads. People seem to be surprised that a teenager in a book isn't perfect. Lauren doesn't always say the right thing or act the right way, but then what teen does? I do believe she learns from her actions and everything she experienced made her a stronger person. However, even if she didn't learn that wouldn't have affected my enjoyment of the book. People don't always magically change for the better (despite many teens online believing they should in every.single.book), they don't always learn a valuable lesson, they don't always get what they deserve. Fiction reflects life and shitty people exist.


Anyway, enough derailing. The book.


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I wasn't sure how to approach this review as I thought revealing Lauren's experience might spoil things too much. I messaged the author and she assured me that it wouldn't be as she had revealed details herself in discussions.

So here it is: while dating her tosser of boyfriend (I really hated that guy) Lauren becomes pregnant. She decides she doesn't want to be pregnant. She's young, she has plans that don't involve a baby and her boyfriend is an ass. It's as simple as that.

I really admired the angle Claire took on this. There was no moral dilemmas (at first) or questioning her virtues. She didn't regret having sex or regret feeling like she needs sex (It's still a taboo subject among young girls here). I love that she dealt with the subject in an open and honest way. She just didn't want to be pregnant. End of story (well not really but you know what I mean).

I think I really connected with this book because I was born and have lived my whole life in Ireland. You may or may not know that in Ireland abortion in illegal unless you can convince a board of doctors that you are about to take your own life. Sounds horrific, right? It is. We have no say over our reproductive organs because this is a 'Catholic country' (excuse me while I throw up a little).

You might think I'm exaggerating, that such a law would never really be upheld. Well just have a read at what happened to poor Savita Halapannavar.

When Lauren decides she wants to have an abortion she's treated horrendously by a local anti-choice group masquerading as a women's health clinic. Again this may seem far fetched but you just have to read the lies spewed by the people like Youth Defense. Lauren is a strong who's girl capable of seeing through their bullshit, but many are not. Many are confused, emotional and just believe what they're told.

What's heartbreaking is that Lauren has to face it all alone. She tells no one because she fears what repercussions she may face from both her mother (who she is distanced from as she's also the principal of her school) and her friends (who she's also fallen out with). Women in Ireland do face a possible prosecution if they are found to have had an abortion-up to 14 years imprisonment. Many won't go to the doctor and the one's that do have to pretend they've had a miscarriage. It's currently a very isolating experience and this is reflected in Like Other Girls.

But she deals with it, maybe not in the best way but Lauren comes out the other side fighting. Even though this book deals with tough issues I really enjoyed reading it. The seriousness is balanced out with Lauren's wonderful snarkiness, and she loves musicals which makes her a fantastic human in my book. I also loved that this book featured many LBGTQ+ characters who fit well into the story. It doesn't feel like she included them just for the sake of ticking boxes like some books I've read.

Like Other Girls is an authentic read and you can really feel that the author cared about the issues within. The passion flows from the pages. I hope this book finds it's way into the hands of every Irish teenager.

got an EARC copy off netgalley and the publisher, Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review. This review contains spoilers because it’s impossible to review it and do it justice without spoiling the whole crux of the story, which isn’t in the blurb. So let’s get into the review!…

Like Other Girls follows Lauren and she’s kind of a mess. She has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, she’s struggling to adjust to her best friend b eing trans and her boyfriend is clearly using her. Set in Ireland, you can imagine the kind of trouble Lauren finds herself in. In fact, in true Claire Hennessy style, this novel is overtly political and is a direct response the situation around the eight amendment in Ireland, which I was pretty blissfully unaware of until Claire talked about it on Twitter. The upshot of it is that abortion is pretty much illegal unless it’s for exceptional medical reasons. It’s clear from the writing that Claire feels very passionate about repealing the eight and this book feels like the book she always wanted to write.

Lauren as a character really pops off the page, she seems SO real, which is a main characteristic of anything by Claire I’ve read. Although I couldn’t really sympathise with her, having never been in that situation, I really did feel for her and I was really glad that this book helped me (and will help other readers, especially teens) understand what it means for an Irish woman to get an abortion. The title creates a paradox between Lauren not wanting to be “Like Other Girls” because that’s boring but she DOES want to be like other girls because she wants an abortion like everyone else. This makes for a really interesting and invigorating read and makes her relatable because we’ve all struggled with that at some point. The title was actually inspired by THAT song in Mulan 2 which I know I really connected with when I was younger, it shows that although Lauren may be different to us girls across the pond, we are all in it together. You find yourself really rooting for Lauren right to the end of the book, even if you really don’t like her at the beginning.

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The book also has quite a few subplots going on like Lauren trying to get through school and her sexuality but by far the one that stood at to me was her relationship with her mother. I;m such a sap when it comes to this kind of stuff so I really savoured these moments in the book. The book is also a super quick read, I got through it i less than 24 hours, because that’s just the pace of it. You find yourself desperate to see how Lauren gets on, which keeps you frantically turning the pages. It’s a quick, intense read that tleaves you satisfied and inspiring, it is Claire at her best.

A fast paced, important and unapologetically political triumph:

★★★★★

This book tackles some heavy topics including gender/sexual identity, gender roles and stereotypes, alcoholism and abortion. There's therefore a lot of interesting discussions, conversations and arguments throughout. Whilst this could make reading the book hard work, the narration of the main character comes across in such a genuine and emotional way that it's easy to speed-read. Similarly Lauren's thoughts, behaviour and descriptions of areas such as sex and periods makes her easy to relate to (even to someone who hasn't necessarily had the same experiences). Lauren isn't perfect and her actions/remarks are addressed by other characters, although I feel that it could have received a little bit more attention so that the story doesn't get wrapped up quite so quickly.

I'd recommend the book to people who are interested in feminism and LGBT+ issues in particular.

Likeable, off beat coming of age story with a strong portrayal of teen friendships and problems, though it sometimes feels like there is one too many issue being juggled. Worth having overall.

Although I finished this in one day, I decided to take a few days to see if I could write a review without spoilers. I don't think I can so all I'm going to say is that I really enjoyed reading this and although Lauren is a problematic character, she is also very thought provoking and her story arc is written incredibly well and felt very realistic. There is anger in this story, and pain and heartache, but also love, friendship and forgiveness. I can't wait to give this book to people.

2☆ Not for Me

I'm afraid this book just wasn't for me. So unfortunately I didn't make it to the end. Which is why my review is short. So I can only write in regards to what I did read.

I feel this book was meant to shock the reader but there was transphobic remarks and sexist comments which I found a little hard to read. I imagine these were to allow the reader to immerse into the hate that people can face.

There was lots of raw subjects being raised within the book, transgender, abortion in Ireland,depression,  to name a few.

Having read previous reviews I knew what it maybe like but I wanted to give it a fair chance especially as there as some great reviews.

Claire's writing is very raw and I applaud her for writing difficult subjects.
However this book just wasn't for me.

The story has very much a teen angst and I really didn't warm to Lauren she wasn't particularly likeable which is another reason I found the book particularly hard.

I'm not entirely sure which genre this book falls into. At a guess I would say General Literature or YA

I do believe this book would appeal to some readers. It just wasn't for me.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this book, and gobbled it up in a day – but thanks to the unexpected appearance of the wondrous orb of the sun in Irish skies I haven’t been inside with my laptop to tell you about it. The rain is back, so now you get to hear about a book I have wanted to read since I heard the author say what it would be about at DeptCon2 last October. I knew this would be a YA book that would bring home the reality of the Eight Amendment – I didn’t expect it to do the same for gender identity and mental health, but after reading it I will be recommending it to every teenager I know.

“I am a groupless, friendless creature in a sea of chat…”

Lauren has all the usual teenage reasons to feel awkward in her own skin, plus a few more – her mother has become principal of her all-girls school; her classmates don’t know she is bisexual; her boyfriend is a grade A git, and her capacity for critical thinking isn’t exactly going down well with her religious teachers. All this before she faces every teenage girls worst nightmare. Pregnancy with nowhere to turn is always terrible, but in a country with the most restrictive reproductive rights in the EU riddled with misinformation it is horrific. Hennessy does an admirable job of telling Lauren’s story with clarity and dignity. Lauren is a smart, acerbic girl who, while occasionally confused by her sexuality, is never ashamed of it. She is not perfect – and this is what makes her an authentic character. She is not just a cipher on which to hang an ‘issues’ book.

“I have felt trapped in this body since I was 10 years old and discovered that, contrary to the impression that Judy Blume had given me, periods were neither magical nor one-off things that happened to turn you into a woman.”

Aside from one scene (when Lauren is called to the office by her mother to discuss a personal matter, something so out of character it was jarring) this book is close to flawless YA, and excels at capturing of feeling different/other/wrong. One of its key strengths is the gradual revelation of many other people who feel just as alienated as Lauren – although for different reasons. Many of Lauren’s darkest moments are when she stays in her room, obsessively pouring over social media; the brightest are when she opens up to those around her. This book is a perfect promotion of the importance of open communication and friendship to mental health. YA is at its best when you know it is shining a beacon of empathy and understanding to young people who feel alone, and we have never had a book that has dealt with the reproductive realities of modern Ireland. Like Other Girls is a book that needed to be written – now it needs to be read!

Oh this book! I really don't think that blurb does it any justice. There's so much going on here and so much to love. It reads like a teenaged girl's political commentary on life and it is FIERCE.

Lauren is deliciously snarky, stroppy and opinionated. She is also fragile, emotional and confused. She is a young woman dealing with all that that entails, navigating her way through school and her changing relationship with her mum and all the social expectations thrown at her every day. Add to that a complicated friendship, a confusing relationship and a hormonal rollercoaster and you get a realistic, flawed, honest character responding to the world around her in a believable way. I loved her.

And yet I've seen some mixed reviews of this book. Lots raving about it but a couple where the readers gave up after the first chapter because they felt the book was 'problematic'. I think it's honest. It shows a character dealing with a lot of emotionally charged stuff and having emotional responses. For me it felt like an honest representation of a teenager dealing with a very close friend transitioning - with all her very human responses and reactions of confusion and anger and resentment. So while some readers might immediately say 'argh you can't say that, it's problematic', I was nodding right along with her. Because people are emotional beings and we mess up and we say stuff we shouldn't really say and don't really mean because we're angry or hurt or confused. That's life. Showing readers that reality, and saying it's okay to feel like that, is fair game imho, and what I would have loved to have available to me as a young adult reader.

Claire Hennessy is a legend. She has written an intelligent, informed and angry book showing the injustice of Irish abortion laws. And she has written it so well. She shows the emotional trauma of dealing with a hugely messed up system and she screams about it from the rooftops. Eliza Wass said 'write like it's your only message to the world' and Like Other Girls felt like Claire Hennessy doing just that. Writing what she needed to write.

Claire Hennessy likes to take on important issues, as she comes at it from a way that walks on a knife edge between being problematic and really showing how the issues work. In Nothing Tastes as good, this worked quite well. It would be very triggering for someone reading with an eating disorder, but as a book written to show readers what it feels like to have a eating disorder, it did it really well.

Like Other Girls though, I think goes across the line on some issues. The transphobia really put me off. It horrified me completely and made me dislike Lauren as a character. Considering the ending, I kind of understand what Hennessy was going for, especially as Lauren and Evan have a lot of their own issues which somewhat explained the transphobic comments that Lauren was making and how much she didn't understand what Evan was going through. But I'm not sure it really made it any better. I don't think it was really addressed enough.

The main plotline was obviously very important and I found it very emotional and interesting. It gave me the connection to Lauren as a character that I hadn't managed to find due to her transphobia, If the book had just been this storyline and there hadn't been the transphobic plotline then I think I really could have enjoyed it.

I think this is an important book, especially being set in Ireland, but Hennessy just stepped over the line with what she was trying to show with the transphobia. I think it's good that she tried but it just didn't turn out well.

Last year's Nothing Tastes as Good was one of my favourites of the year, so I was delighted to see Like Other Girls following soon after. And man, is this one timely. As teased on her Twitter page for a few months now, there is no holding back in any way here in dealing with some of the more sensitive issues in modern society. It is particularly prescient with the current state of affairs in debates around changing the laws around the 8th amendment in Ireland.

But that's far from all that's going on in Like Other Girls. It's a proper exploration of what it means to be a teenage girl, not just in Ireland. Lauren has to put up with the ideas of social norms, fitting in, finding her own tribe, exploring her own sexuality, while then having to deal with as the blurb says, every teenage girl's worst nightmare.

The voice of Lauren from the outset is great - it works well with an emerging second narrative told from 'Before,' which is tuned to perfection in its balance of giving us enough to infer what Lauren is remembering, a traumatic something which happened in the summer before this school year.

Lauren attends the stereotypical yet very true school of contradictions, and her mother is the principal. There is an interesting exploration of the role of Lauren's mother as a principal and as a mother. Claire Hennessy makes the point that there may not be room for both. There is the influence of religion from on high in school, which comes more into play when the more serious nightmares come to pass for Lauren. Particularly brilliant is the scene where Lauren first realises she may be living the nightmare alluded to above (Sorry for vagueness, slight spoiler, just read it!). The overbearing nature of the Church in Irish society is not lost on the reader here, through the ever-present thread of religion in school to the preachy and sometimes straight-up wrong advice to people looking for advice.

The commentary on 'family planning services' in Like Other Girls is startling, even as factual as it is. Lauren finds herself in her nightmare and goes to what seems like a suitable place to go for advice, only to find that they straight up lie to her, a stark reflection of a similar incident in Dublin in recent times.

In terms of teenage relationships, I found it fascinating and great to read about the support group (Q Club) for LGBTQ teenagers that Lauren and her friends attend. Some of the characters here are great and there's lots of exploration of different situations around gender and binary issues here, that will be of particular interest to teenagers reading this. I thought the inclusion of other friends of Lauren's outside of the group was clever too, as it showed that not everyone is as engaged with issues, from LGBTQ rights to abortion to feminism.

At this stage it's expected with Claire Hennessy, but it's worth mentioning that Like Other Girls is also very funny. It carries that dark Irish humour well, across all these serious issues like abortion and alcoholism, in a way that only certain writers can mix the serious and the humorous.

As with most contemporary YA, it's almost impossible to ignore the constant presence of the internet and Claire Hennessy doesn't shy away from it at all. The never-ending chats, the having to be online and then just the general weariness.

'I am too weary for internet fights, for being yelled at by social justice warriors as though I am even worse than the creepy men who think a female protagonist marks the end of civilisation.'

Just wonderful stuff. Like Other Girls is a fast-paced read, with a ticking clock element that makes you want to read on. The presence of so much good, readable, believable dialogue is also great and makes it an immersive read. Like Other Girls has a lot to say, it has anger, and rightly so. It's drawing attention to a polarising topic in Irish society, but one that as Claire Hennessy alludes to in the acknowledgements section will hopefully be 'historical fiction' sooner rather than later.

You can find Claire @chennessybooks and clairehennessy.com, where she posts reviews and blogs about writing in general.

Like Other Girls was a difficult book for me to make myself read. Lauren was one of the most infuriating protagonists I've read in a long time and her insistence that she was 'not like other girls' made me want to hit her round the head with her own book. Her constant sexist and transphobic remarks were disgusting, and don't even get me started on her boyfriend-who-I-can't-even-remember-the-name-of. Justin, Joel, James, Jason, Jamie... it definitely began with J and he was such a misogynistic prick. He blamed Lauren for punching a creep who tried to kiss her and ending up getting kicked out of the club they were at even though she explained that he had been coming onto her. That's just not a cool thing to do. I'm not really sure what the author was trying to get at with Lauren's narration, because although I am aware that author's don't have to share the same view as their characters, Lauren didn't even change or learn that much throughout the book and I think that's such a dumb move to make. She could have at least realised what a bitch she was being and admitting that she was way over the line.
I'm sure there was some sort of positive message hidden inside the book somewhere but I honestly couldn't find it and don't want to try much harder.

DNF. Too troublesome. I wouldn't recommend this to teens. There are many problems with it.

When I read the blurb for this book I anticipated something a little bit like an older Jacqueline Wilson story – friends falling out, coping with boyfriends and school and hormones, things not perfect but the protagonist finding a way to deal with it. Well, in some respects it is: a lot of what Lauren has to deal with has been dealt with in many MG stories, plus the many references to Enid Blyton's school-set novels adds an air of innocence to the novel. However, Lauren also has to struggle with some very difficult issues including her sexuality, making it a definite step-up from MG to YA fiction. On the whole I thought Hennessy's novel engaging and thought-provoking.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
It's difficult for me to explain what I loved about this book, without referencing some of the bigger issues Lauren faces, hence the 'spoiler alert'. The novel is set in Ireland – a country in which it is illegal for a female to have an abortion, no matter what the situation. Whilst I was vaguely aware of this law, this book really opened my eyes to the ludicrousness, and the danger, of this law. And for that alone, I praise this book.
Furthermore, I have never read a book that explores sexuality in such a diverse way (I did not know there were that many options!). It is important that sexuality is discussed and that people are aware of safe havens – like the group Lauren goes to – exist.
However, Hennessy creates a realistic protagonist in Lauren. She's likeable, yet at times annoying and frustrating. I wanted to shake her and I wanted to hug her, but ultimately I was able to engage with her story.