Any Other Girl

by Rebecca Phillips

During the summer before senior year, a love triangle threatens to tear two cousins apart, in this novel by the author of Faking Perfect . . .

After a disastrous, reputation-destroying party at the end of junior year, Kat Henley has a new plan. When it comes to boys—especially other people’s

Don’t touch.
Don’t smile.
Don’t charm .

In the past, drawing attention to herself helped distract people from what really makes Kat different—having two gay parents. But it’s also cost her friendships. Kat can’t afford to lose any more of those, especially not her cousin, Harper. They’re spending one last summer together at the lake, where they run into an intriguing newcomer named Emmett Reese. After years of trying to prove she’s just like everybody else, Kat has found someone who wants her because she’s not . A boy who could be everything she wants, too—if Harper hadn’t liked him first . . .

“Phillips will soon be a must-read YA writer for those who love romance and drama.” — School Library Journal

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Summer, High School, Young Adult Romance

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2016

About the author

Rebecca Phillips is a copyeditor by day and a TV series binger by night. Oh, and sometimes she writes novels. Rebecca lives in beautiful Atlantic Canada with her family, which includes a spoiled senior-citizen cat.

Learn more about Rebecca's books by visiting her website: www.rebeccawritesya.com

Reviews

[Rebecca Phillips]

Hi! Author here.

I had an absolute blast writing this. Compared to my last book, Faking Perfect, this one is more light-hearted and heavier on the romance.

Other book facts:

1. I wrote about half the manuscript during National Novel Writing Month (2013).

2. I researched/looked at many 1940s pin-up girls for my inspiration for Kat.

3. Kat has two dads and they were probably my favorite characters to write, ever.

4. The vast majority of the book takes place at Kat's family's summer cottage on the lake. I wrote this novel during the dead of winter, with a view of snow out my window, so it was challenging to evoke summer-y thoughts.

5. There are bonfires, swimming, carnival rides, pranks, s'mores, and lots of kissing.

I'm so excited to share ANY OTHER GIRL with you all!

[Susan's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kat is over the top, irrepressible, and impossible to resist! She kisses all the boys, but is never tempted to keep any of them. She is a born flirt (having inherited this trait from one of her oh so charming Dads!) Kat's sense of drama was great fun, making this a great read.

I loved how Kat took so much care in putting together her outfits, imitating all those famous screen sirens.

Lana Turner anyone?



Or how about Ava Gardner? When she was being pretty in pink...



Or vamping it up in satiny black:



Kat's cousin, Harper, has a crush on the new boy, Emmett Reese. Unfortunately, Emmett only has eyes for zany , theatrical Kat. Kat tries to honor the "bro code" and keeps things in the "Friends Zone" but, ultimately, her feelings for Emmett are too strong to resist.

Emmett has his own problems. His father physically and verbally abuses his mother (and him) and generally makes life miserable for everyone. Kat is his one true, good friend who knows his secret and is there for him.

I really enjoyed this "summertime madness" story. Rebecca Phillips is one of my favorite YA authors. I hope she publishes another book soon! It's been too long!

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kat is a confident teenager with quite the reputation at school; she’s a natural born flirt. Her abrupt personality either intimidates or attracts boys but it’s also managed to lose her quite a few girlfriends, all accept her best friend Shay. However when Kat’s too friendly nature is directed at Shay’s new boyfriend she suddenly finds her self alone, friendless and at the center of the school’s latest gossip. Lucky for Kat she’ll be spending her summer with her dad’s at their holiday cabin along with her cousin Harper for the last and best summer yet.


In Short

Firstly, I have mixed opinions about Kat, she was an okay protagonist but her attitude and behavior annoyed me. She was extremely obsessed with her appearance and was always thinking of ways to talk or act to impress others. However she wasn’t always this way, when she was younger she used to play soccer and overheard another parent complaining about Kat’s rough and tumble nature and that is was the result of being raised by men and having no female influence. Shortly after this Kat paid a lot of attention to way she dressed and acted, to always make sure she appeared feminine, she would also try to attract attention to herself and therefore take any unwanted attention away from her parents. While I admire Kat’s reasons for changing her attitude and trying to be ‘girly’, I still didn’t understand how this could somehow forgive her for her other transgressions. Outright flirting with your best friends boyfriend who didn’t appreciate your advances and then when you’re caught out simply state that you didn’t do anything wrong? Gah, at least own up!

In regards to the romance, I'm sure you're able to summarise what happens but I'll just say that it was sweet and the more it progressed the more I started to feel a little sorry for Kat but I wasn't able to fully invest in it. Her character growth was slow and she won me around a little in the end, but I still felt she had a lot of growing up to do and sadly I preferred the secondary characters to the main MC's. Any Other Girl was a fun, sweet and short read filled with a summer romance, controversial characters, becoming your true self, growing up and friendship and for the most part I really enjoyed it.

The Unforgivably Long

The more of this book I read the more I enjoyed it and soon enough I was glued to it, I actually read this in one sitting and was fully prepared to love it but sadly the ending ruined it for me. For instance as you can tell from the synopsis, Kat and Harper are both interested in Emmett but Harper stated her feelings first therefore calling ‘dibs’ as people say. Now Harper is a very shy person so Kat decides to set up a double date to put her at ease. As a result Kat ends up taking Nate the homophobic, hotheaded douchebag, who everyone continues to dislike, rightly so. Please forgive me for this spoiler but it’s predictable from the synopsis to say that Emmett doesn’t like Harper in fact he likes Kat so for a few chapters we have Kat ‘trying’ to do the right thing and her attempt is meager at best but then she caves and starts to date Emmett while Harper is away playing soccer. WAIT, dating someone who your cousin likes isn’t exactly my problem….

It’s not until after this not-so-secret relationship between Kat and Emmett is revealed that Kat decides that Harper should actually give Nate a try because he’s actually ‘not that bad’…. Hmm was I supposed to just disregard the homophobic slurs, the disgusting name-calling and his despicable behavior when drunk? I don’t think so and frankly I’m quite shocked that someone as strongly portrayed as Kat, who supposedly wants the best for her cousin after betraying her on an emotional level would suggest this? It strikes me as a poor apology, basically ‘I’m sorry I took him and I feel bad so here’s a lesser replacement, take this, forgive me?’

Apologies for my rant, for those of you that actually read this far along can see why I decided to split my review in two parts. Kudos to those for reading!

Literary-ly Obsessed

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Carlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading my backlog arcs!


Any Other Girl is an older book on my shelf, so my perspective today versus when I first got it in 2016 is probably very different. I read different genres now, but I still love a good younger romance and Any Other Girl was just that. Honestly, I truly enjoyed this read, my one complaint is that no one gives Kat a chance and no one pumps her up for her positive qualities. I had a hard time reading a book where a character with such an infectious personality is put down for those things, rather than taught how to use them properly. She's smart and fun, but she carries the weight of everything on her shoulders and it gives the book a heavy feeling. Anything positive in her life comes with a "what if" or "but" feeling, and even though it works out in the end, it doesn't feel like a feel good romance read. I still loved Kat, I loved her journey with Emmett and her summer, I just wish there had been more to her family helping her understand her qualities and more communication between her and her friends.

[Claire (Book Blog Bird) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kat likes to flirt. A lot. A naturally touchy-feely person, her innate flirtatiousness sometimes gets taken the wrong way. Like when she flirts with her best friend Shay’s boyfriend at a party. Deciding to turn over a new, non-flirty leaf, she leaves town to spend the summer at the lake with her parents, aunt and cousin. When Kat and Harper meet a hot new neighbour, Emmett, and Harper lays claim to him, Kat finds she has to reel in the flirtatiousness in order to not hurt Harper’s feelings, despite the fact she and Emmett are starting to develop feelings for each other.

It took me a little while to warm up to Kat. I’m all for flirting – yay flirting! – but I do think that flirting with your best friend’s boyfriend is not the most awesome decision if you don’t want your best friend to fall out with you majorly, although I did think her resulting social banishment was a bit harsh.

She was also obsessed with her appearance. I got that she dressed and acted extra girly so that people wouldn’t think her two dads had done a bad job in raising her, but I’d rather have seen her stick two fingers up to the nay-sayers instead of bowing down to what they thought represented a feminine ideal. Putting people in boxes according to their gender is something that gives me the squint and I’m not going to start banging my drum for gender neutrality here, but I would have liked Kat more if she’d done the things she enjoyed doing despite what other people thought. By the end of the book, however, I started to like Kat and I was glad she started to pick up with the hobbies she used to enjoy.

The romance in Any Other Girl was quite sweet and Emmett seemed nice but I wanted Kat to just tell Harper that she liked him too. I didn’t like that Harper called dibs on him. No one has the ‘right’ to anyone else’s feelings and if the situation was reversed and two guys decided between themselves which one of them was going to end up with the girl, I think we’d all be a bit outraged.

For me, Any Other Girl didn’t have the same bite as Faking Perfect did. It wasn’t a bad story by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn’t gritty or edgy like Phillips’ previous book.

Maybe I’m just a twisted cynic, but I like bad things to happen to characters. Like that little sociopath kid who puts two insects in a jar to see which one will eat the other first, I like to see how characters will react and (hopefully) grow under extreme pressure. The worst thing Kat had to deal with was fancying a boy that her cousin had a crush on and handling her cousin’s ire when she finds out that Kat started seeing the boy behind her back.

What I did like, however, was that this was a fun read. Rebecca Phillips’ writing just flows so nicely, it’s no effort to read and I found myself immersed in the story in no time. It was the literary equivalent of floating on your back in the swimming pool on a warm day: very pleasant and completely effortless.

All in all, this was a pleasant, fluffy summer romance story. Recommended as a book to take to the beach for fans of Jenny Han.

I was given a copy of Any Other Girl in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Kensington and Netgalley.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

View this review and more others on Let's Say It's a Blog.

*Digital ARC was received from Kensington Publishing through Netgalley*

Rating: 3/5

I read this sometime back in January and honestly it took me almost two weeks to finish it because partly I was so busy that I kept putting it off. And partly, maybe it’s because I didn’t really find any part of the book that made me want to sit down for hours, ignoring the world and keep reading non-stop till the last page.

Any Other Girl told a story of a girl who’s raised in a family a little different than others. It’s not that Kat doesn’t have such happy family because she did; it’s just that instead of having mom and dad, Kat was gifted with two dads and that’s okay for her. More than okay actually because her dads were both amazing, caring, and clearly dream parents. What’s not okay was how some people tended to judge her as a maladjusted girl just because Kat loved to play soccer and happened to be raised by men. This was a quite fresh theme for me and I was eager to find out how the issue would be resolved. Unfortunately this part that I thought was the main issue of the book was apparently not the main issue. People’s judgment of gay parents was apparently just a layer of background story of Kat’s personality while the rest of the story would mostly focused on Kat’s personal problem with her best friends and the boys.

I tried to understand where Kat’s coming from, why she’s so flirty and doesn’t even think the side-effect of her acts, and maybe at some point I think I did get it. I even felt sorry for her especially during that apology-scene with her bestfriend. But it’s her ignorant that I couldn’t quite tolerate. Kat did realize that she’s flirty, or at least that’s what I got from her narration, yet just because she didn’t have any hidden meaning besides casual flirts, she thought it was okay to do so to any boys―bestfriend’s boyfriend no exception. It’s a little selfish for her I think to ask people to understand her actions all the time. Also, when there’s an explanation telling the reason Kat loved to flirt and being the center of attention among the crowd was because she wanted to show that she was also like any other girl who’s raised in general family. I sensed a little of unfairness judgment here for teen girls. Does every girl love to flirt that much that you should be all flirty and attention-seeker to be considered as a ‘normal’ girl? I really don’t think so. But it might just be my opinion or I might misinterpret what the author actually meant so feel free to correct me.

I actually did enjoy some parts of the story. Like how I loved the side of Kat who could ask for an apology so sincerely, like how she apologized not because she wished for the forgiveness, it’s because she wanted the peace of letting the other knows that they could label her anything when she’s really not and that’s okay because she somehow was the one who plays the wrong move at first. I loved her friendship with her best friend slash cousin. I loved how sweet the romance scene could be. Also I loved how Rebecca summed up the story in the end that life goes changing every minute and that’s fine because after all what’s not? That you might got into a fight with your best friend and it changes your friendship that it’s impossible to go back to the ‘before’ state but at least you go forward to the ‘after’ state with new perspectives, new level of maturity, and new ways to solve any upcoming bumps together. It’s just too unfortunate that the story was actually very simple, with an even simpler ending and issues-solving, yet it’s all those dramas that stretched the story out to be that long.

The plot of the story might not what I would remember for a long time but the moral lessons I got from this book would definitely be something that I would keep in mind. There’s these words Rebecca wrote about family that was so beautifully true that I really loved.

‘Like any other family, we fought and scratched and drew blood and then kept on loving each other in spite of it all. The bonds we shared were strong yet elastic, like ligaments connecting bone―easy to injure and difficult to heal, but ultimately resilient.’

This is one of those books that you might enjoy to read in a lazy Sunday afternoon when you don’t feel like heavy-thinking or getting your emotion so worked up. It’s not really a bad book because Rebecca’s writing is good and even a bit poetic. But considering the whole factors, I’ll sum it up to an okay.

[Cristina (My Tiny Obsessions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read full review HERE



This book was somewhat different from what I was expecting, and that’s such a good thing. I really liked that Rebecca Phillips took such a used theme, and gave it its own spin.

I really enjoyed the writing, the only small problem I had – and it wasn’t with the writing itself – was with the passages, which could totally be because I was reading the unfinished version. I thought that the passages were sometimes abrupt, some even encompassing long periods of time. But once I got used to them, I saw them coming and it was ok.

About the characters, I have to admit that none of the characters arose giant emotions out of me, though I did really like Kat and Emmett.

Kat is a bit different from the usual female main characters in YA novels. She’s very sure of herself, she loves to flirt, and she’s fully aware of her power over guys. That said, I really loved how none of those things were a factor in the romance, which, by the way, it’s a slow-ish burn.

The biggest themes of this books, however, did not lie in the romance, but on being true to oneself and the importance of friendship and family.

To be honest, I found Shay’s reaction in the beginning of the book a bit much. Yeah, what Kat did was wrong, but Shay, being her best friend and all, knew her well enough that she should have known that Kat’s intentions weren’t what they seemed. I kind of hated that she didn’t even give Kat the opportunity to explain herself.

When it came to Kat and Harper’s relationship, I really liked it. I was super sad when both of them started keeping secrets from each other, and here I don’t think that Kat held all the blame. Kat did try to get Harper and Emmett together, even when she was already having feelings for him, so I can see how hard it would be to come out to your cousin and say how interested you are in her crush… things just snowballed. Harper, on her hand, could see perfectly that there was something between her cousin and Emmett, and she also didn’t try to talk to Kat about it, instead she tried to push Kat into someone else, and I didn’t think that was cool at all.

I actually really loved the romance and how Kat and Emmett became good friends before anything else started. I liked how accepting he was of her, and how because of that she learned to accept herself a bit more too. And they were both so similar in some ways, the way they carried responsibilities that weren’t theirs to begin with, that made them kind of perfect for each other.

Kat grows a lot in the summer, and I couldn’t help but feel proud of her when she got back to the things she loved without fearing the judgement of others.

I was kind of hopping for some development in the Nate and Harper front, and I’m a little sad that it didn’t happen.

Now, I LOVED Kat’s dads. LOVED THEM! I loved how simple and normal they were portrayed. I could honestly read a whole book about Kat with her dad and her pop. I also really liked Emmett’s mom, and my heart broke so much for her during this book. Most of all, I loved how involved all of the parents were in this story.

In the end, I really liked this novel. Despite some issues with the writing, some so not fleshed out characters and some avoidable situations, it was a pretty damn good read.

[Cynthia (Bingeing On Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was another book that didn't really evoke strong feelings in me. There were things that I liked and things that I didn't. I didn't expect to like Kat at first. It took me a while to connect with her. The book starts with her flirting with her best friend's boyfriend at a party. It irritated me that she would do that at all, but then when her friend confronted her about it, she shrugged it off and said she didn't do anything wrong. She was just saying that the whole flirting thing was part of her personality and her friend knew about that and nothing was ever going to happen with the boyfriend anyway, so who cares?

But as the book went on, I kind of understood just why she felt the need to flirt like she did and why she didn't mind extra attention. Kat grew up with two dads and she quit soccer after hearing soccer moms complain that it is not surprising she wasn't "ladylike" because she was being raised by men. Ugh. That kind of ignorance bugs me. So after that, Kat quit sports and started dressing up more and doing her hair and makeup, etc. She also drew extra attention to herself because she wanted people to pay attention to HER and not her dads. So I could kind of understand why she felt the need to show off her feminine wiles to any guy she met.

After this disastrous incident at the party and her best friend shutting her out, she heads off to spend the summer at her family's cabin, along with her cousin, Harper. I really loved Harper and I loved their relationship. That was one of the things that I wished the book had focused even more on. I mean, there was a focus on the friendship, but only in the fact that a guy was coming between them. So Harper seems to be a great friend (and family!) and she called Kat on her issues. When Kat explained what happened with her best friend's boyfriend, Harper didn't hesitate to tell her that she was wrong. I think we could all use friends like these, right?

So that brings us to the guy, Emmett. Harper has a crush on him immediately and is therefore off-limits to Kat. I think that's awesome because there is a girl code about not going after a guy that your friend likes (or at least, there should be). I can't really call this a love triangle because nothing really happened between Emmett and Harper. Emmett liked Kat, but Kat didn't want to do anything. Admirable, yes. But since Emmett and Harper were never really together, she really wasn't doing anything wrong. I feel like a lot of drama could have been avoided if Kat had just been honest with Harper. But she started keeping certain things from her and then things spiraled out of her control.

There was some character development and some growth in this book, which I liked. I just didn't like the romance as much and wished there had been more focus on the friendship between Kat and Harper, as well as a focus on some of the family issues that made Kat the way she was. Her dads seemed great and I kind of wanted more of that. Emmett was also a bit of a bland character. He was very sweet and also honest (which I loved), but I didn't sense much chemistry and there was some family drama with him that didn't need to be there. I thought his family drama took focus off of what was going on with Kat. This was not a bad book, but I think it could have been better.

[Teri Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley

Most people would assume a two star review to be full of negatives about the book, but that's not going to be the case here. I don't have a lot of negatives to point out when it comes to Any Other Girl. So why two stars? Because by the time I'm halfway into my next book I know I'm not going to remember that I even read this one. Any Other Girl was cute enough, I read it quickly in one sitting. My issue was that nothing really stood out to me. I didn't hate any part of the book, but I didn't love anything either. I wouldn't say not to read this book because I'm sure many people will enjoy it but hopefully it'll be more memorable for everyone else.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy via netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

This was a heartfelt, quirky, and fun summery read. It's full of character growth, heart break, acceptance and all things we learn growing up during a summer as a teen. I really enjoyed the story's pace it was a great afternoon read, probably would've been better during summer and not winter since now I have a case of the blue wishing I could be at the lake. But other then that it was lovely. 4.5 stars

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a copy from Netgalley, In exchange for an honest review.)

The characters in this annoyed me a few times, and I couldn't warm to them enough to really like them, but they were alright.

The pacing in this was a bit slow for me, and after a while the book started to drag slightly because of it. Apart from that though, it was an okay read.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Fast-paced with appealing characters, Any Other Girl by Rebecca Phillips is a gripping young adult novel that touches on quite a few relevant social issues.

Kat Henley's friendliness is often perceived as flirting and as the story opens, a conversation at a party with her best friend Shay's boyfriend ends their two year friendship when Shay accuses Kat of flirting with him. The last weeks of school are uncomfortable since all of Kat's friends are also Shay's friends and they turn their backs on Kat in support of Shay. With her apologies falling on deaf ears, Kat is more grateful than usual to be spending the summer at her family's summer cottage. Eagerly anticipating their last summer together before her cousin Harper leaves for college in the fall, the two girls are delighted to discover a new family is staying at the lake. They quickly invite Emmett Reese to hang out with them and as soon as Kat realizes Harper has a crush on Emmett, she vows to keep her distance from him but will her match making efforts pay off?

Growing up with two dads, Kat learned the best way to deflect negative attention from them was to draw attention to herself. She is naturally exuberant but this attention becomes a way to validate her self-worth and this is where she runs into trouble. She carefully cultivated a girly girl persona to prove to outsiders that she does not need a feminine influence but in doing so, Kat also gives up anything that could be perceived as tomboyish.

Harper is the complete opposite of Kat. Quiet and unassuming, she lacks confidence and her self-esteem took a beating after her parents' divorce. She has never had a boyfriend or made a big deal about liking a boy, so Kat realizes very quickly just how much Emmett means to her. Harper and Emmett have a love of sports in common but their interactions are often awkward and uncomfortable. Tension mount between the cousins once Kat begins to realize that she has feelings for Emmett and that he feels the same way.

Emmett is a nice, polite young man who quietly observes what is going on around him. He is dealing with family issues the best way he knows how and he is just biding his time until he can leave for college. Trying to avoid his parents as much as possible, Emmett uses running as an escape and he has created a safe place to spend time when things between his parents get too bad.

Despite both Harper and Kat liking the same young man, this is not a typical love triangle storyline. Kat's main focus is fixing her cousin up with Emmett and she respects Harper's feelings for him. For his part, Emmett never makes any type of commitment to Harper but once he realizes Kat does not plan to act on her feelings for him, he does make an attempt to see if there is any spark between him and Harper. Only when that fails does Kat even consider a relationship with him, but she remains torn between her loyalty to her cousin and her deepening emotions for Emmett. Kat continues trying to avoid hurting Harper but when the truth finally emerges, the ensuing rift between them seems impossible to repair.

By summer's end, Kat is more self-aware and she has a much better understanding of the impact her behavior has on others. She also realizes that she can maintain her femininity while at the same time participating in the sports she loves. Kat also manages to face Shay and apologize for her actions with her boyfriend without expecting anything from Shay in return. Kat grows and matures throughout the novel and while she makes a few necessary changes, she still retains the traits that set her apart from others and make her unique.

Any Other Girl is a sweet young adult romance that manages to avoid unnecessary angst or drama. The characters are multi-faceted with easy to relate to flaws and imperfections. The storyline is well-developed and Rebecca Phillips adds depth to the plot with sensitive portrayals of realistic situations such as homophobia and Emmett's troubled home life. All in all, it is a heartfelt novel that I greatly enjoyed and recommend to readers of all ages.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review also found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...

** I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher Kensington via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is January 26th 2016**

I am not a stranger to Phillips work. I had previously read Faking Perfect (read review here ) and enjoyed it. I did not realise this when I picked this book up however now that I am aware I now have a new author to look out for when I am in the mood for the YA genre.

This story offers a little bit of everything for the YA audience. This is a romance as advertised however there is so much more within the pages. It depicts Kat's journey of trying to figure out who she is as an individual and try to change her ways. It shows her struggle between the image that she set out to display to the outside world and the reality of who she really was.

There is the age old love (or not so much) triangle between Harper, Kat and Emmett. Along with this is Kat's struggle to deny her attraction to Emmett because her cousin was interested in him. As a female, I think we can all identify being in this situation at one point or another in our youth. The romance was sweet and endearing as well as heartbreaking and drama filled.

What I really liked about the story is the various issues it also tackled within the story. There was the fact that Kat's parents were a same sex couple and the story dealt with the issue of ignorant people and tolerance. There was also the issue of spousal abuse and the impacts it had on the whole family. Then there are the more common issues of divorce, young love and the struggle to identify the true you.

Combining all of these aspects together created a story I really enjoyed. Phillips writes stories that can really hit home with the YA audience. In fact, upon completing this story I went to purchased one of her earlier works to see what else she has to offer!

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I fell head over heels with Phillips' writing when I read Faking Perfect so when I saw she had another book coming out, I knew I just had to read it. And I'm so glad I did because ANY OTHER GIRL was so good. It was the perfect summer romance novel and I loved every second of my reading of it.

I think the best part of it was that even though it was clearly a romance novel, there were so many other layers to it with Kat worrying she was too much for other people and trying to bring attention to herself rather than those around her. I think it was written so well because I felt Kat taking the weight of the world on her shoulders so that the people she loved didn't have to.

I think one of the best things that Phillips does is to make contemporary feel so realistic and write characters that everyone can relate too, even if they have their own quirks. And just like with FAKING PERFECT, our heroine wasn't exactly the perfect girl, but she owned her imperfections and they made her who she was. And I loved that. I liked that she wasn't so caught up on what she wasn't the best at but actively worked to be better every day. I highly recommend this one to everyone.

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[Dee/ bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a disastrous, reputation-destroying party at the end of junior year, Kat Henley has a new plan. When it comes to boys—especially other people’s boys:

Don’t touch.
Don’t smile.
Don’t charm.

In the past, drawing attention to herself helped distract people from what really makes Kat different—having two gay parents. But it’s also cost her friendships. Kat can’t afford to lose any more of those, especially not her cousin, Harper. They’re spending one last summer together at the lake, where they run into an intriguing newcomer named Emmett Reese. After years of trying to prove she’s just like everybody else, Kat has found someone who wants her because she’s not. A boy who could be everything she wants too—if Harper hadn’t liked him first…

This novel by Rebecca Phillips works with a lot of stereo types. Kat has gone out of her way to lessen the stereotypes that are inflicted upon her family, even going as far as to camouflage her true self. She draws attention to herself as a way of using a barrier against unwanted behavior. She is very loving, only a truly selfish person would willing and unconsciously put themselves into a position to take all of the bad to ensure that loved ones remain unscathed. Emmett is a wonderful person for Kat, seeing her true self and firmly supporting her to be herself.
Wonderful, clean book.

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review from NetGalley.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kensington Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Kat Henley is happy to go to her family's cottage for the summer, after some harmless flirting with her best friend's boyfriend makes her a social pariah. Looking forward to the familiar, Kat is surprised to find that many changes were made in her absence. A surly and mysterious new neighbor might provide a good distraction, so Kat decides to set him up with her cousin. As it turns out, the summer has all of the hallmarks of being the most interesting one ever.

With a quick moving plot, Any Other Girl is a typical YA romance. One part teenage angst, one part love triangle, and one part self discovery, this book features a great main character in Kat. There is more to her than at first glance, as her antics and personal style make her an individual that I would like to meet. Kat's ability to rise above and attempt to change make her a very endearing character. Although there is nothing particularly unique about the plot or the characters, fans of YA romance will enjoy reading Any Other Girl.

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, Any Other Girl is a great read! I absolutely loved seeing the two fathers - Dad and Pop - as the very believable happily married parents, amid all the other personal and family dynamics. The contrast between Kat's two happily married dads drawing negative attention compared to Emmett's parents having a negative relationship was well drawn, especially amid all the other personal and family dynamics. The genre-fiction writing Dad was a fun sub-plot to read! This is a great and honest teen read about the ways that people act when they are trying to protect the feelings of others or when they assume they need to overcompensate for other people's behaviors.

I really liked Faking Perfect by this author and I'm not surprised that she delivered another fabulous book!

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5⭐️

[VNerdbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3•5☆
Very sweet

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Most of the story is pretty easy to read and I'd say it's well written and I did have fun.
The characters are pretty alright, especially the dads, they were really good, and I liked the subplot with the newest novel of the series. I also enjoyed the setting and I did think that Kat's emotions were pretty alright and I could also see where most of the stuff was coming from. I also think this book emphasizes how important communication is (even though nobody does it), so I guess that's nice?
However I really dislike the beginning and how this whole problem starts: Kat allegedly flirted with the boyfriend of her best friend. And I say allegedly, because she didn't. But somehow, that never comes up in the book, like, ever. Everyone thinks she did, and after some time she agrees, but she really really didn't do that. Girls and boys can be friends, and all she was was friendly. Like she behaved 100% innocent. Poking somebody in the shoulder? Smiling? Laughing? I behave like that with everyone, and I can assure you I'm not flirting. So I really didn't like how in the end she apologized for behaving wrong and how everyone immediately hated her and just never listened. I'm not saying she shouldn't have apologized, or that she's behaving perfectly always, but her behavior at that moment was absolutely normal, and I wish that just anybody would have acknowledged that she didn't actually flirt. And sadly this comes back a lot. But she's just a very touchy human being and that shouldn't immediately be seen as flirting and I really dislike how this whole book makes it look like it is, and how friendships between girls and boys seem to be pictured as impossible. I feel like it really sends the wrong message.
Just like forgiving Nate felt like the wrong message. Like… yeah, sometimes people do deserve forgiveness, and maybe he did, too, but it took I think a week for Kat to be like "yeah, he's trying, you probably should give him a chance", after he was homophobic, insulted her dads, was pretty sexist the whole time, and more or less tried to force Harper to kiss him. He was also an asshole for… I think 5 years? I'm not sure about the number, actually. But after all of that I found it really weird that Kat was just okay with forgiving him, especially since we sadly do not see any of his changed behavior before that, and only a very little of him after the decision. (Or maybe I'm forgetting something.) I think Harper should have higher standards than "but he's cute", and I think everyone else in the universe should, too, so forgiving him this fast didn't feel right.

So while the whole book was nice to read and I enjoyed the overall story, and also the message of communication is important, I really disliked how homophobia wasn't that big of a thing and easily forgivable, everyone practically abandoned Kat for (not) flirting and that kind of came across as justified in the narrative. Also the book never really addressed how Kat felt responsible for everything, and when it did, it didn't do anything about it. Made me kind of sad.
It's not actually a bad book, or I don't think so, but I don't think it's a good one either, sadly.

[Ariela Penate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kat is known to flirt with guys uncontrollably and she looses her best friend shay because she gets to close with her boyfriend. Everyone turns on Kat but its almost summer so she has a chance to change her life. She goes to her lake house with her two gay fathers, And her aunt and her cousin Harper. they meet their next door neighbor named Emmett. Harper starts to have feelings for Emmett but Emmett has feelings for kat. Kat likes emmett back but she doesn't want to hurt her cousin because thats family and the only friend she has left. But emmett and kat fall in love and kiss while Harper is away on a trip with her father. When she comes back kat decides to tell Harper that she fell in love with Emmett. Harper does exactly what Kat was afraid of, Harper gets really angry and upset with Kat. Kat goes to tell Emmett what happened and Kat breaks it off with Emmett. She choose Harper over Emmett. But after all of that Kat goes back to her home and stays there for a few days. She apologizes to Shay but is still unforgiving. Kat goes back to the lake house to fix things with her cousin. Her cousin tells her the real reason she was upset and they make up. Kat fixes things with Emmett after she finds out that his mother was beaten by his father. His mother is fine after resting for a few days. Emmett and Kat pickup things from where they left off and they were happy in the end. I love this book because it showed me the meaning of friendship and family. I honestly was so into the book, it was really great and i hope you would read it too.

[Ashley Christensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

***PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY FOR REVIEW***

I had real problems with this book.
Friendliness does not equal flirting, and, considering this is YA, it's dangerous to keep spreading this idea around. GIRLS AND GUYS CAN BE FRIENDS. GIRLS CAN TALK TO GUYS THAT HAVE GIRLFRIENDS. AND PERPETUATING THIS IDEA THAT ANY TIME YOU TALK TO A GUY MEANS YOU'RE FLIRTING IS WRONG. STOP IT.

Okay, now that I have that off of my chest.
If not for that, I probably could have easily rated this book 3 or maybe even 4 stars. I really liked the relationship that developed between Kat and Emmett. BUT, I never really liked Kat. She was always so down on herself about the fact that people are assholes and accuse her of trying to be with their boyfriends. JUST BECAUSE SHE IS FRIENDLY.

So, yeah. That really got me early on, and it continued throughout the story.

I just can't with books that keep doing this. And Kat was clearly just being friendly. If she wasn't, I'd be the first to be like "well, her friends believe this but she totally was flirting." Nope. Just being friendly.

So, this book gets 2 stars, because I finished it, and that's all it gets.

[Biffes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing is, I disliked Kat as a character. She kept saying she just normally flirts with everyone. Well no girl would like that.And the concept of going out of her way to be a girly girl because ages ago made a stupid comment? No respect for Kat on that front either. I didn't quite understand why Harper liking a boy first made him unavailable for her cousin for all eternity? It just sounded childish.
Idek this book was just 'meh', neither here nor there.

[Culture-Vulture · Rating 5 out of 5]

The protagonist is somewhat similar to the one in "The Girl You Thought I Was". So that got to be a bit repetitious, since I read it earlier this year.

I couldn't relate to the protagonist, but that's not a bad thing in a novel: you get to walk in someone else's shoes for a bit.

The plot was good enough to warrant 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, partly because I don't like being bitchy/stingy over YA Romance ratings. It did enough to deserve the 5 Stars.

[Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any Other Girl is a great story. I love reading from Kat's perspective because she has a very different personality than me. Kat is outgoing, bubbly person. This story is relatable on so many levels, and I love the whole idea it gives that everyone deserves second chances.

[. · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one was sooo sweet. first, i just loved the mc!!! and i loved her relationship with her parents and emmett was the cutest. i also am toxic so i had fun with the whole sneaking around and yearning, and i always love a summer book. rebecca has yes to let me down!!

[Crisann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you can't help it if you offend people

[a🧚‍♀️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars ⭐️

boring

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read any of Rebecca Phillips work before, but boy, am I glad that I have finally had the honors of getting my hands on one of her books. I've heard of Faking Perfect, but I've never had the chance to pick it up. Trust me when I say this: I am going to religiously hunt down a copy ASAP.

Any Other Girl is a provocative, fast-paced contemporary romance that will force you to think about accepting your true self in the face of issues relevant to every day discussions. With same-sex parents, slut shaming, assumed betrayal, and all sorts of other shenanigans - this was one hell of a book to blow through during the weekend.

Kat Henley. Friendly. Flirtatious. Sure of herself. Homewrecker? Kat is an amazing narrator who goes through some pretty shitty things. OH NO! She's so nice she must be flirting! You guys know what they say about when you assume something, right? You know, ass-u-me. You make an ass of yourself and the person you assumed something about. Kat is having a nice, friendly conversation with her best friend's boyfriend when this baby kicks off. And, low and behold - Shay, aforementioned best friend, ends their two-year long friendship and accuses Kat of flirting with him... quite vocally. Needless to say, all of Kat's friends are also Shay's friends and typical to young adult novels all of the friends side with the person in the wrong: AKA Shay. Kat eagerly escapes at the end of the school year, grateful for the chance to get away before her cousin leaves for college. She meets Emmet (love the name, by the way) and the two of them hit it off despite the fact that Harper, Kat's cousin, basically called dibs. Ta da....

I loved Kat. I really did. I can honestly tell you that I am nothing like her - so reading about someone so undoubtedly confident was sort of nice. She's outgoing, a girly girl, and outspoken - only one of which I identify with. She was loyal to her family, headstrong in the ways that mattered, and all sorts of fun to read about. I really loved her relationships. What I thought was going to be a story about a fluffy love triangle (I hardcore ship love triangles that are two girls and one guy, by the way) ended up being so much more. Kat takes no shit, and neither does the subject matter of this book. Phillips handles it just as gracefully as her characters - which is part of what made me love this book so damn much.

Another bright spot in this book were the relationships, as I've sort of mentioned above. Kat and Harper, Kat and Emmet, basically Kat and everybody. Kat and Harper's friendship/familyship was the biggest highlight for me. The way the two of them are together reminded me so much of how I am with my cousin, and it warmed my heart in such a way that makes it almost impossible for words to describe. Word of advice: Don't keep secrets from family. It never ends well. But, things went down hill and then climbed steadily back up. To me, that says more about their relationship than any amount of meaningless exposition ever could. The ability to forgive each other for doing stupid, teenage things was beautiful to witness. Then we have Kat and Emmet... ugh... swoon. I mean, it was perfectly paced. A slow burning, gaining speed over time romance is the best romance in my opinion. They truly knew each other. They were best friends and then it turned into a little something more. Like I said, beautiful.

Overall, Any Other Girl is an enjoyable romance that avoids all of the usual tropes that make me shudder in my fluffy pj pants. With dynamic and diverse characters, a set of fathers that made me squeal with laughter, and an amazingly fleshed out plot line - this book has made a name for itself and for its author. If this book is any indication, Rebecca Phillips is one to watch out for.