Girls Like Girls (2023) is the debut young-adult romance novel by American pop singer, actor, and director Hayley Kiyoko. The book expands upon the narrative of Kiyoko’s breakthrough 2015 song and viral music video of the same name, which became an important touchstone for LGBTQ+ representation. Set in the summer of 2006, the story is told from the perspective of 17-year-old Coley, who’s sent to live in rural Oregon with her estranged father following her mother’s recent death by suicide. There, she meets and falls for the beautiful, popular, and closeted Sonya. Their intense connection forces both girls to confront their desires amid the pressures of their small town and Sonya’s possessive ex-boyfriend.

As Coley and Sonya navigate their tumultuous relationship, the novel explores The Role of Stigma in Repressive Social Environments through casual antigay bias and the rigid gender expectations of the mid-2000s. Coley’s journey is shaped by her efforts to process her trauma, showing how Grief as an Isolating Force can be overcome through vulnerability and connection. Ultimately, the story champions the idea that finding and accepting oneself is an act of Authenticity as an Act of Courage. An instant #1 New York Times bestseller, Girls Like Girls was adapted for film in 2026. The film was directed by Kiyoko herself, starring Maya de Costa as Coley and Myra Molloy as Sonya.

This guide refers to the 2024 Wednesday Books trade paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, death by suicide, graphic violence, sexual harassment, physical abuse, bullying, pregnancy termination, mental illness, suicidal ideation, gender discrimination, antigay bias, substance use, and cursing.

Plot Summary

In 2006, 17-year-old Coley is reeling from her mother’s recent death by suicide when she’s forced to move from San Diego, California, to a rural Oregon town to live with Curtis, the father she hasn’t seen since she was three. Grieving and isolated, Coley resents Curtis’s awkward attempts to parent and initially refuses to unpack, a small act of defiance against her new, unwanted reality. On her first venture out on her bike, she’s nearly run over in a strip-mall parking lot by a minivan. A beautiful girl named Sonya gets out to check on her, and Coley is instantly captivated. 

Sonya invites Coley to join her and her friends, including her aggressive, on-again-off-again boyfriend, Trenton, as well as their other friends SJ, Brooke, and Alex, for a day at the local lake. Desperate for a distraction, Coley agrees. At the lake, however, Sonya quickly drifts back to her established friend group, leaving Coley feeling abandoned. The day sours when Trenton, as a “joke,” throws a fully clothed Coley into the water. Furious, Coley storms off, but Sonya follows, and a heated argument gives way to a surprisingly tender moment of connection. Sonya writes her phone number and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) screen name on Coley’s arm, but the ink smears and is illegible by the time Coley gets home.

Figuring that Coley is ignoring her, Sonya shows up at her house, determined to hang out. Their connection deepens as they steal a bottle of champagne from a 7-Eleven and share it by a set of railroad tracks that becomes their secret spot. They spend the rest of the day at Sonya’s lavish home, where Coley gets a glimpse into Sonya’s life of privilege and pressure, meeting her demanding mother and her sweet younger sister, Emma. In the privacy of Sonya’s bedroom, Coley does a silly dance to cheer Sonya up, forging a moment of genuine, unguarded joy between them. They begin spending nearly every day together, their bond growing through late-night AIM chats and long afternoons by the tracks. Coley slowly opens up about her family, revealing that Curtis was never a part of her life. The dynamic with Sonya’s friends, however, remains tense. 

At a barn party, Coley meets Faith, Sonya’s former dance rival who’s openly lesbian. Faith warns Coley that Trenton is a bully, which Coley has already witnessed firsthand. When Sonya sees Coley and Faith talking, she becomes jealous and pointedly dances with Trenton, reasserting her place in her social circle. The barn party is broken up by the police, and the group is forced to hide in a gully thick with poison oak. To treat the inevitable rash, Coley and Sonya return to Sonya’s house. The night culminates in a deeply intimate and charged moment where they undress to their underwear and apply a special medicated wash to each other’s backs. Coley spends the night, and in the darkness of Sonya’s bed, Sonya wraps her arms around Coley and holds her until morning. The next day, however, Sonya is distant and evasive, leaving Coley confused and hurt. Once they reconcile, Coley opens up about her mother’s death. They both admit to loving each other and share their first kiss.

The tension between Coley and Sonya explodes at a subsequent party where Coley, after seeing an intoxicated Sonya making out with Trenton in the laundry room, kisses Alex out of spite. Sonya sees them and becomes enraged. The following day, Coley learns from Alex that Sonya betrayed her deepest secret, telling their friends about her mother’s death. Heartbroken, Coley confronts Sonya just before she leaves for a month-long dance camp. Sonya cruelly dismisses their connection, claiming that she’s just “touchy-feely” with all her friends, leaving Coley utterly shattered.

While Sonya is at camp, Coley begins to build a new life for herself. She briefly dates a 7-Eleven employee named Blake and then later gets a job as a hostess at a hibachi restaurant called Makoto’s, where she finds a supportive community, especially in her openly gay coworker, Kendrick. She also tentatively starts to repair her relationship with Curtis, who shares old photos of her mother and reveals that her mother was the one who left him. Coley learns that Curtis made the tiger’s-eye pendant that her mother wore the day she died, adding another layer of complexity to her parents’ history. Meanwhile, Sonya’s private LiveJournal entries reveal her inner turmoil; she’s miserable at camp, struggling under the pressure from her mother and wrestling with her intense, confusing feelings for Coley. She feels haunted by their connection and is terrified of what it means for her carefully constructed life. Though Faith tries to extend solidarity to her over her self-loathing, Sonya resents her, feeling that she can’t have the same kind of open love that Faith gets to have.

Sonya returns from camp, and her first encounter with Coley is at Makoto’s during a family birthday dinner for Emma. The reunion is fraught with unspoken tension. Later, they meet in the restaurant parking lot. Sonya confesses that she’s scared but that her feelings for Coley are real, though she frames it painfully by saying, “I know you’re wrong, but this feels right” (286). Hurt by the implication that her identity is wrong, Coley ends the conversation. Seeking to repair the rift, SJ invites Coley to a party, explaining that Sonya only told her about Coley’s mother out of a panicked desire for advice, not malice. Coley decides to go, hoping for a real conversation. At the party, she and Sonya find a quiet moment by the pool. Just as they’re about to kiss, Trenton appears, enraged. He attacks Coley, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against the concrete. Seeing Sonya in distress, he then grabs her jaw violently. The sight provokes Coley, who flies at Trenton and beats him until Alex pulls her off.

In the ensuing chaos, Sonya’s friends turn on Trenton for his violence. As her friends defend her, Sonya finally sees the truth of her situation. Coley, bruised and bleeding, starts to leave, but Sonya runs after her into the street. Done with hiding and fear, Sonya tearfully confesses her love, and they kiss. She promises to stop running from her feelings and to finally be with Coley. Sonya’s laughter follows Coley as she bikes home, no longer running but riding toward a future where she’s finally, openly loved.