Review: GUY’S GIRL by Emma Noyes
Guy's Girl by Emma Noyes 
Published by BERKLEY on October 24, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thank you so much to Berkley for the free copy of Guy’s Girl and to Yasmine Hassan for the opportunity to take part in the blog tour for this book!
Guy’s Girl is Emma Noyes’ adult debut novel and wow, does it pack an emotional punch! I was sold on the book as soon as I read the first line of the synopsis: “The boy who couldn’t love and the girl who wouldn’t.” I felt myself getting invested in the characters as soon as I read that line and knew I had to find out more about Ginny and Adrian. I became all the more invested when I read the author’s note and learned just how much of her own personal experience was the basis for Ginny’s journey. While I’ve not personally struggled with an eating disorder, I’ve known a few people who have and appreciated that this book gave me a little more insight into what my friends might have been going through on their path to recovery.
The story is presented across multiple timelines and I thought this was such an effective way to follow Ginny’s journey. The path to recovery is rarely ever linear and the author uses the multiple timelines to show Ginny at various points in her life and her successes and setbacks with respect to her eating disorder. Ginny also struggles with anxiety, which has only compounded the problem over the years and led to her feelings of self-doubt, as well as her feelings that no one could possibly ever love her. Ginny’s journey over the years is a heartbreaking one at times, full of raw emotion. I definitely shed a few tears watching her struggle and make frustrating choices that sometimes just didn’t make sense, but I loved Ginny and these struggles and poor choices made her feel all the more real to me, and I was fully invested in seeing her journey through to the end.
While Ginny’s journey to recovery takes center stage, I also enjoyed the exploration of her personal relationships. As the title states, Ginny is a guy’s girl. She has always found it easier to make friends with guys and loves that their friendships are usually drama free, as long as there’s no romance involved. When she meets Adrian, however, that line gets blurred because Ginny feels so much more than just friendship for him. Adrian is battling his own personal demons though and has no interest in romance. He believes it isn’t worth the heartache he witnessed his own mother experience, and therefore, refuses to let love in. While both Ginny and Adrian clearly need to work through their own issues before a healthy relationship is possible between them, I still love watching the two of them together. I would definitely consider the romance a slow burn but watching Ginny and Adrian grow to become each other’s biggest supporters is just beautiful to watch.
Guy’s Girl is a powerful story that is also beautifully written, filled with raw emotions that just felt so authentic. It’s an emotionally heavy read at times, but it’s also a story that is filled with healing, hope, and love.
About Emma Noyes
Emma Noyes told her mother she wanted to be an author when she was six. She grew up in a suburb outside Chicago and attended Harvard University, where she studied history & literature. She started her career at a beer company, but left because she wanted to write about mermaids and witches—eventually publishing her first YA fantasy series, The Sunken City. She now lives in Chicago with her Swedish boyfriend and miniature Pomeranian. Guy’s Girl is her adult debut. Learn more online at www.emmavrnoyes.com.
Top Ten Tuesday – Atmospheric Reads to add to Your TBR
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Atmospheric Books (The Novelry explains this concept as: “A novel feels atmospheric when the setting and the narrative are deeply involved with one another; when characters and plot are physically embedded in their surroundings, and a near-tangible mood lifts from the pages and wraps itself around the reader.” Study.com explains that, “The atmosphere is how a writer constructs their piece to convey feelings, emotions, and mood to the reader. The atmosphere in literature might be tense, fast-paced, mysterious, spooky, whimsical, or joyful and can be found in poetry, stories, novels, and series.”)
I honestly don’t know if the reads I picked are truly atmospheric reads or if their covers are just what I think of when I hear the word atmospheric. They all definitely have the same overall vibe anyway, haha.
Atmospheric Reads to add to Your TBR
1. DAISY DARKER by Alice Feeney
2. THE HACIENDA by Isabel Cañas
3. THE BOOK OF COLD CASES by Simone St. James
4. THE BOOK OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman
5. VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE by Isabel Cañas
6. THE NATURE OF WITCHES by Rachel Griffin
7. THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden
8. SPELLS FOR FORGETTING by Adrienne Young
9. BRING ME YOUR MIDNIGHT by Rachel Griffin
10. THE WILDERWOMEN by Ruth Emmie Lang
* * * * * *
Question: Have you read any of these or are you planning to read any of them?
Blog Tour – IRIS KELLY DOESN’T DATE by Ashley Herring Blake @berkleyromance
Iris Kelly Doesn't Date (Bright Falls, #3) by Ashley Herring Blake Also by this author: How to Make a Wish, Girl Made of Stars
Series: Bright Falls #3
Published by BERKLEY, Berkley Romance on October 24, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQ, Romance
Pages: 400
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the free copy of Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date and to Kristin Cipolla for the invitation to take part in the blog tour for this book!
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is the third installment in Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series. I have loved every book in this series and every wonderful character we’ve met along the way so I couldn’t wait to dive in and finally get to know more about Iris.
When we meet Iris in this new book, she has embarked on a new career as an author of romance novels. Her debut novel went well, but she is struggling to write her second book and her own lackluster love life might be part of the problem. While Iris is thrilled that Astrid, Delilah, and everyone else in their friend group has found love, she often finds herself the odd man out, so to speak. One night, she decides to forget all of her troubles and heads to a bar in Portland. She meets, and is immediately attracted to, a sexy stranger named Stefania, and the two of them really hit it off. Instead of the hookup Iris was hoping for, however, the night ends in disaster. What Iris doesn’t realize at the time, however, is that Stefania is about to become a very important person in her life.
Following her agent’s advice to get out there and do something to take her mind off her writer’s block, Iris decides to try out for a local play that is a gender-bent retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. When she finds out who is playing the lead, Iris can barely believe it. It’s Stefania, whose real name turns out to be Stevie, and it becomes apparent that Stevie has told everyone involved with the play that she and Iris are dating. Stevie begs Iris to go along with it, so as not to embarrass her in front of everyone, and Iris decides to play along, figuring this ought to at least spark some ideas for writing her novel.
I loved this book so much! In spite of their failed one night stand, it’s obvious that Iris and Stevie have major chemistry. Iris is a fun and confident bisexual woman, but in this book, we finally get to see a vulnerable side to her that we haven’t seen before. Stevie is a former actor who has been dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, and the two of them were just so messy and flawed and honestly just perfect together. It was wonderful watching their relationship transform from fake to real, and to see how much they grew to care for, respect and support one another. Some of their more in-depth conversations about things they have gone through just really tugged at my heartstrings because it really made their relationship feel so authentic.
It wasn’t just all heartfelt, vulnerable moments between these two characters either. There was of course plenty of steam and humor, plus several fun appearances by the other members of Iris’ friend group. It also didn’t hurt that Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespearean comedy. Watching Iris and Stevie actually act out scenes from that play was just icing on what was already a fabulous cake for me.
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is another immensely satisfying and heartwarming installment in the Bright Falls series. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys sapphic romance, fake dating, and stories that feature fabulous friend groups/found families.
About Ashley Herring Blake
Ashley Herring Blake is a reader, writer, and mom to two boisterous boys. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and watching Buffy over and over again on Netflix with her friends. She’s the author of the young adult novels SUFFER LOVE and HOW TO MAKE A WISH.