Review: GIRL HEART GIRL by Lucy Sutcliffe

FACTS ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: GIRL HEART GIRL
Author: Lucy Sutcliffe
Publisher: Scholastic Ltd.
Price: 6,99€ (Amazon)

Pages: 273
Genre: LGBTQIA*, Growing Up, Youtube 
Year: 2016

BACK OF THE BOOK / WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

Lucy always knew that her idea of Prince Charming was different to that of other girls...

And then she meets Kaelyn online - and everything starts to make sense.

Could her Prince Charming be a girl?

An inspiring and uplifting memoir about falling in love and finding yourself.

Spoiler Warning if you don't already know about Lucy and her life!

An inspiring, uplifting and sympathetic story about sexuality and self-acceptance, Lucy Sutcliffe's debut memoir is a personal and moving coming out story.

In 2010, at seventeen, Lucy Sutcliffe began an online friendship with Kaelyn, a young veterinary student from Michigan. Within months, they began a long distance relationship, finally meeting in the summer of 2011. Lucy's video montage of their first week spent together in Saint Kitts, which she posted to the couple's YouTube channel, was the first in a series of films documenting their long-distance relationship. Funny, tender and candid, the films attracted them a vast online following. Now, for the first time, Lucy's writing about the incredible personal journey she's been on; from never quite wanting the fairy-tale of Prince Charming to realising she was gay at the age of 14, through three years of self-denial to finally coming out to friends and family, to meeting her American girlfriend Kaelyn.

(Source: Amazon)

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK

Most people who buy this book are probably fans of the author Lucy's Youtube channel. Well, I hadn't even heard of Lucy when I bought this book and only wanted to read it because it has this incredibly amazing cover that might be my favourite book cover of all time and that would certainly be the book cover that I would choose if I were to write a book myself. The book cover and the title also clearly indicate that this is an LGBTQ* book and since I haven't read many LGBTQ* books about girls I certainly had to buy it. 

I must say that I was actually quite surprised when I learned that this is the book of a British Youtuber and was a tiny bit worried that it might not be something for me because I never watched any of Lucy's videos and just didn't know anything about her and her life.

Now that I've read the book I can safely say that this book is an inspiring read no matter if you are a fan of her Youtube channel or if you don't know her at all and are just looking for a great LGBTQ* book focusing on the L.

So, although I had found out that this book was from a Youtuber, when I finally started to read it I still didn't know whether it was a fiction story or a sort of memoir of Lucy's own story. And I actually went into the book expecting a fiction story and was a bit skeptical when the main character turned out to be very young, only 12 years old I think, in the first chapter. I then thought that this was a fiction story about a young girl and wasn't too pleased with that. Obviously, it would be great to have more LGBTQ* representation in Middle School books but I hadn't expected that of the book and was a bit disappointed because I just didn't want to read a whole book about a 12 year old.

Gladly, that wasn't the case at all as I began to learn when I read on. I also eventually realised that I wasn't reading a fiction story but the author's own story about coming to terms with her sexuality and that story just started at that young age, but the book covers her story until the time that she wrote the book and was 23 years old. And when I realised that I was actually very happy that she started the book with her being so young because it was very interesting to learn about her journey and to read about her growing up.

I could immediately relate to the protagonist/Lucy and felt very close to her throughout the whole book. I obviously watched several of her Youtube videos after I finished the book but I enjoyed it very much to get to know her first solely through her words in this book. She opened up a lot to the reader and although I wasn't a fan before I read the book and didn't even know her, I clearly became a fan of her through reading this book. 

I already really enjoyed the book but then, on page 19, a new chapter began, titled "HERMIONE GRANGER" and I was sold. The first sentences of this chapter made me fall completely for this book and I just LOVED that there's a chapter in this book about Harry Potter and about Lucy's love for it. In many ways this book just reminded me a lot of myself and I would not only copy this insanely beautiful cover for my own book but would also most definitely dedicate at least one chapter to my love for Harry Potter. 

Lately, I wrote so many reviews in which I complained that I couldn't really relate to the protagonist, that he/she wasn't likable and didn't really open up, etc.

It was the complete opposite with this book. I could relate so much to Lucy and felt so much for and with her. 

I also found this book to be very inspiring, especially for queer people, because Lucy also mentioned some LGBTQ* media that helped and influenced her, like The L Word and the Coming Out interview of Chely Wright on Ellen. I loved the way that Lucy described what it meant for her to see queer representation and I could so relate to her and it was so emotional what she wrote about watching this interview and what it meant for her and how it inspired her.

Generally, the book made me very emotional while reading because I could just 100% identify with Lucy and basically just wanted to give her a long hug all the time.

CONCLUSION

This is such an incredibly beautiful book - both inside and outside - and it has a very special place in my heart because I relate so much to Lucy and her story and it hit very close to home for me.

When I bought the book I hadn't even heard anything of Lucy and just bought the book solely for knowing that it's an LGBTQ* story and because I worship its cover. 

Now that I have read this book I have a lot of love for Lucy and am very thankful to her for writing this inspiring book that in my opinion can help a lot of young girls come to terms with their sexuality, feeling not alone and being able to relate so much to what Lucy has written.

I really loved this book so much while reading it and wish there were more books like it.

It's so positive, so inspiring and motivating and interesting even if you have never heard of the author before. It's a truly uplifting story about female - female love, finding yourself and growing up. 

And I think it's also quite interesting to read it when you know about what happened after the book got published because it gives you another perspective on the book. But I think everyone who read this book and hasn't heard of Lucy before will definitely want to find out a lot more about her afterwards. 

RATING

I happily award this book 5 out of 5 stars.