The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay
By:Dale Walls
Publisher: Levine Querido
Genre:Contemporary, Romance, YA
Originally Published: November 21,2023
Official Summary: “Queer Love. Something Dawn wants, desperately, but does not have. But maybe, if she can capture it, film it, interview the people who have it, queer love will be hers someday. Or, at least, she’ll have made a documentary about it. A documentary that, hopefully, will win Dawn a scholarship to film school. Many obstacles stand in the way of completing her film, but her best friends Edie and Georgia are there to help her reach her goal, no matter what it takes.
A touching and joyous story of queer friendship and girlhood set in the vibrant city of Houston, THE QUEER GIRL IS GOING TO BE OKAY will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you believe that eventually, everything will be okay.” -levinequerido.com
trigger warnings: minor harassment, some homophobia
Review:
I wanted to love this book, but I only liked it. Perhaps my expectations were too high because the cover and the book itself are absolutely GORGEOUS!
Yet there are plot points that feel underdeveloped. The emotions that I think the author was trying to invoke from readers are not all there.
BUT I still believe The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay is worth the read!
Read it for the: LGBTQIA+ Representation, Found Family Trope, A Glimpse at Queer Love
LGBTQIA+ Representation
It’s difficult enough to find a book that has one character who is queer, but here we have a glorious cast to represent the queer community!
Edie: the responsible one, the one who is set to be valedictorian, the one who has them all covered when it comes to giving sagelike advice. Also the one who has to lie about who she is and who she loves. As she fears being a disappointment to her extremely religious family.
Georgia: the poet, the getaway driver, if you need an emergency mani/pedi she is your girl. Who is also a nervous wreck about getting into her dream school, Kenyon College. She dreads being left behind by her friends when they move away to college.
Dawn: the heart of the crew, lover of movies–watching them and making them, whose love language is gift giving. She loves love and wants to define it and find it for herself because she knows that there are an indefinable amount of ways to love. She is also her fathers caretaker, practically raising herself now that her mother has passed.
The girls are complex characters; having both highs and lows as they get through their senior year together.
Their stories take place during the month of March and roll over to the beginning of April. From the moment Dawn receives an email notifying her that her film excerpt has garnered her a spot in the next round of the Austin Film Festival to the day of the film festival. Short chapters recount the days without a definitive narrator, the narration bounces between the three girls.
Dawn, Georgia, and Edie represent unique experiences when it comes to growing up queer. Whether it be growing up in a household where you are raising yourself, where you are loved and accepted, or one where you have to hide.
Found Family Trope
The girlies love each other and I loved reading about how they came to know each other. From their funky playlists to the serendipitous trips to the beach. They are a crew who found each other and are never letting go. Together they define love when it comes to friendships, they are honest to each other no drama between them. They are just 100% supportive of one another. It was refreshing to read a YA novel where the inner circle didn’t have some sort of drama.
One of my favorite chapters to read was when they went shopping together. Dawn wanted to find an outfit to wear for the film festival. When she found the dress despite it being way out of her price range, Edie and Georgia were the best hype women:
“ ‘Wow. I mean, absolutely wow.’ Edie shot from her seat.
‘Incredible, amazing, genius, never the same, never been done before, not afraid to reference or not reference, daring, put it in a blender, pour it out the blender, drink the juice, stunning. I mean.’
‘I…don’t know what any of that meant, like, on a constructive level, but thank you, Geo, for the contribution.’ ”
(Walls, 59)
Their friendship was just a joy to read!
A Glimpse at Queer Love
The Negative
Lots to love right? Why isn’t it a 5 star read?
The pacing and the sub plots
Overall the pacing was slow. Walls is very descriptive and focuses a lot on creating the scene. I loved these details. However, there were times when I thought things were going on a little too long.
Georgia and Edies’ storylines are extremely underdeveloped. Edies’ whole storyline is that she has not come out to her parents due to her fear of being rejected by them because of their religious beliefs. This puts a strain on her relationship with her partner, Ben, who is very much out and does not want to pretend to be something they are not.
—SPOILER—
There is the inevitable point in her story when her family finds out that she is gay. A moment that had been built up, but there is no discussion amongst the family instead her mother tells her:
“No, You’re not. And I don’t want to hear about it again, okay?” (Walls 186).
I was disappointed. I wanted there to be some attempt made by Edie where she tries to take control of the situation. Georgia, who knew about the conversation, doesn’t even ask about how things are between her and her family, which kind of contradicts who these girls are as friends?? They would’ve definitely checked up on one another but for some reason this doesn’t happen. It’s something that is just washed over and I wish there would have been more time dedicated to Edie.
There is also the awkward subplot for Georgia. Her family is her and her mother, they are an unbreakable duo. So close that Georgia calls her mother Frankie because they’re like best friends. Then her mother starts dating Simone, who turns out to be very creepy and makes his intentions clear that he is interested in Georgia. Georgia struggles to tell her mother outright about the advances her boyfriend has made towards her. Eventually she writes a letter to her mother explaining everything. I understand the inability to voice words especially when recounting traumatic or uncomfortable experiences, writing things down can be a lot easier to explain things, but that’s where my understanding ends
The series of events afterwards are glossed over. Georgia confided in her friends before writing the letter but little action was taken with them. I would have loved to have seen them say that they would be by her side if Georgia wanted to talk to her mom together as a unit and be there for support. Also would have loved a heart to heart with her mother. It felt rushed and random because there was little time spent on the situation, so I wondered the purpose of it.
Basically…
I understand that The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay is supposed to be Dawns’ story, but I believe I would have liked it better if the subplots were given more time to exist or were nonexistent. There would have been more of an impact of emotions if there was a better balance of details given to the girls when it came to their individual storyline. Together I loved them but when they went on their own the story felt choppy and rushed.
3 stars! Grateful for the trio and representation. I have hopes for future work by Dale Walls.
Thank you to Hear Our Voices and to the author for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. Always a pleasure to work with you!
