If you like sapphic teen romance and "peasant/royal" pairings, this book is worth a try! I really enjoyed it, and found myself more and more invested as the book went on.

The writing was simple but good, better than the majority of contemporary sapphic romances I've read so far this year. It rarely felt cringy, and the early banter/teasing between Rose and Danni didn't go too far as to make the romance feel problematic later on.

I actually felt like the romance was really well done. It developed over time; I understood why they liked each other, and I was rooting for them the whole time.

I also loved the greater world, traumas and context that informed their romance and personalities. The story as a whole explored self-confidence, parental expectations, patriarchy, grief and coming out to name a few off the top of my head. I enjoyed the extra depth of the story aside from just trying to "get the leads together."

I also love when there are complex secondary characters and clear character growth from the main leads, which we got from Gonzales' story.

I think it lacked a little in originality, but honestly, that's not what I picked it up for haha It was a solid read for me though.

This book really was angsty teen romance in earnest. Ramp up the trauma. Ramp up the "will they, won't they." Ramp up the conflict. And I enjoyed it for the most part.

I thought the writing was pretty good. Not particularly special, but engaging, and the overarching story and development was well done/paced in my opinion. The characters were distinct, and I felt like the exploration of the mother/daughter relationships added a depth to both Penny and Tate because the reader can see where some of their individual traits, coping mechanisms etc are coming from. Some authors kind of throw these "complicated" relationships in in the background or dance around them, but I enjoyed them being more center stage here.

I admit that I don't particularly love the "will they, won't they" romance trope because it can and sometimes did feel really drawn out, but I enjoyed this story overall anyway. I at least understood why Penny and Tate liked each other as the book went on, and that's super important to me as a reader. I will say, however, their almost kisses often surprised me haha Like they were more ready to kiss during crisis than any other time, and I found myself thinking...is now really the time? Are you really concerned about the edges of her shirt in this situation?

The reason I'm not giving it more stars is actually the end. I was a little surprised at the final conflict between Penny and Tate, including how it was resolved, so I'm not sure I thoroughly enjoyed the "pay off" at the end of the book like I thought I would. For most of the book, I was excited to see what happened next...and then for some reason...I'm not sure, I just didn't love the ending like I thought I would. I can still easily recommend trying it out though.

She Gets the Girl was fun, but pretty predictable, and that can be good or bad depending on what you're looking for.

I would say the writing was good. It wasn't the best I've read for sapphic YA novels, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

In their most simplified forms, we have "clumsy, shy, good girl" Molly Parker and "suave, commitment issues, playgirl" Alex Blackwood falling for each other while pursuing other people in a bit of an enemies to lovers sense. It's a classic romance cliche, and I picked up this book ready for it.

The characters were pretty standard for this kind of novel, and I can see why some readers might be annoyed with them, but they're kind of what I expected. And they do grow over the book. I actually found the growth to be rather convincing, especially as their feelings developed for each other.

I also appreciated that the story was given extra depth with each MC dealing with difficult mother/daughter relationships. Sometimes the mothers felt a little "added for trauma" and "plot," but it did add another layer to their character development.

The romance was pretty good I thought. Again, kind of middle of the road for me. I was hoping they had a happy ending, but I would have appreciated if more of the book focused on their relationship to each other, instead of their attempts to date other people. The one thing I dislike about this trope is that there are always some kind of "casualty," in this case in Cora, who was pretty likable and led on by MCs that the readers know are going to fall for each other. Poor Cora.

This was such a cute story of self and acceptance. I read it as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The art was beautiful and the character's expressions were incredible. I think the expression work was my favorite. Anzu's emotions are so clear and carry such depth through the story.

The story itself is simple, clear and sweet. It's a middle grade graphic novel, and I do think that should guide expectations if you're looking at reading this as an adult, but it didn't affect my enjoyment.

I loved the art and enjoyed the story. Anzu was adorable, and I was cheering for her the whole time.

I loved this book so much. It literally checked all of my boxes for a sapphic read.

Grey gave us rivals who don't cross unforgivable lines, main characters with solid growth arcs, suppporting characters with meaning outside of "helping" the mcs along, communication and emotional growth as a couple, and so much more. The book wasn't incredibly cliche or predictable outside of some happy ways--predictability I always welcome.

I was also really happy with the queer rep. I was happy to have a lesbian MC (Noah) who called herself a lesbian, and I liked how Sage's bisexuality had meaning to her character, but never allowed men to become centered in the story. I've read so many books where a bi character oddly centers men and their attraction to them for no reason in the story. As a lesbian reader, I prefer sapphic books centering women and queerness, so I was really happy to see how it was handled here.

The romance was also really good. I understood why they liked each other. It leaned heavy on physical attraction at first and then a deeper emotional one later, so as a yearning and emotions lover, I preferred the latter half of the book's romance.

I could see some readers being a little frustrated with Noah, who isn't great at dealing with her insecurities, but I thought it was sympathetically written, and I'm glad Sage was ready to journey on that with her. Sage was a trooper from start to finish haha And even if it can be a little annoying to read for some people, it's true to life. Sometimes we need the right person to give us a little extra care.

I mostly enjoyed that Grey chose to give our characters personal conflicts to get through together over relationship conflicts to fight over/through...as in we aren't dealing with "we can't date, you're my sister's best friend" or "I'm not good for you. You're better off without me" or BS that is often the "conflict" in a romance book.

My biggest issue with the book was the writing style. It wasn't very descriptive, and when it was the author leans heavily on telling us what's happening and how. I prefer more "showing" when it comes to writing style, but it was totally forgiven considering how good I thought the story and characters were.

Overall, I loved this story more than I have other contemporary romances.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, and finished it up quickly in an afternoon. I thought the art was beautiful, though not as clean as the art on the cover, which I was more surprised about when I got to the back and saw the character sketches. Those were more like the cover, and the art in the book felt more like sketching, but I do like that rougher style, so I didn't mind!

I really enjoyed the sapphic romance plot. I thought the two women seemed drawn to each other, got closer over the book and ended up as a cute couple. Though, I agree with other reviewers that the romance could have been more developed, this graphic novel is pretty short, so I see why it wasn't. I still thought it was political marriage done right. We didn't have violence against the Amelia as the new wife. We didn't have the "petty maid bullies" or a cruel royal family. I can forgive so much else just for that! I'm here for women being nice to each other, loving each other and supporting each other.

The plot was admittedly a little lackluster, a little generic. But, I didn't mind in this case. I felt that I was able to enjoy the sapphic romance enough to look over it. I do think Amelia and Salira needed to talk about their anxieties a little more, earlier on in the novel, and I admit I was curious about the magic. That could have been developed more.

And without spoilers, heads up for a rather suddenly violent ending.

Overall, I think the Marble Queen was fun to read and worth a try if you like sapphic romance and fantasy. It's not perfect, but I don't think it has to be to enjoy it.