Books
The singer-songwriter is slowly building an entireGirls Like Girlsuniverse.
When Hayley Kiyoko was 15, she fell in love with her best friend.
But when Kiyoko went in for a first kiss, her friend got spooked and broke her heart.
It didnt end well, says Kiyoko, who locked herself in her room for days after the breakup.
I wanted to change that narrative for myself of how it should have ended.
I wanted it to end in hope.
While the former worries she isnt worthy of love, the latter has never been with a girl before.
The story follows their courtship, culminating in a final chapter that closely mirrors the music video.
Coley is a vehicle for my experience of learning to love myself and falling in love with this girl.
Sonya represents a real person in my life that I had fallen in love with.
Were all worthy of being loved and deserve to have the love that weve seen in fairy tales.
Below, Kiyoko talks about possibilities for expanding theGirls Like Girlsuniverse even more.
You included LiveJournal entries to give insight into Sonyas state of mind.
How was that significant to your own experience?
I thought including [those entries] would be fun for readers.
Can you talk about how you tweaked the music videos plot in the books final chapter?
Deciding where the music video takes place within the novel was the hardest choice to make.
I put it at the very end.
It was hard to put together, but I figured it out.
When the book ends, Coley and Sonya are at a new beginning.
Would you ever write a sequel?
Well see how this book does [commercially].
A lot of people have told me that when the book ends, they still want more.
When the music video ended, it was beautiful, but you wanted more from it.
This was an homage to that.
Do you have any plans to adapt the book into a feature film?
The feature film conversation is still on the table.
How do you think their relationship would have played out today?
I have no idea.
When everyone found out about theStalexthing, I was finding out at the same time.
Sometimes it can get messy, but theyre worthy of love and a hopeful or happy ending.
I hope people feel seen, heard, understood, and hopeful for their futures.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
This article was originally published onJune 16, 2023
