Two separate storyline’s, 20 years apart based in the same apartment in NY. One half is during the 1950’s, a storyline of forbidden love between two women which outlines the harsh reality of being homosexual during the1950’s. A very sad tale of hiding from persecution and living a secret life.
The other part is equally sad about a forgotten teenager with a broken family and the affect of mental health issues.
I had mixed feelings on the characters themselves, Ava I had great empathy for, and I liked how she shows her teenage insecurities while trying to put together the secrets of the past.
Gillian, I did not like. I did not see the fascination with her character by others in the book. Dovie frustrated me, she didn’t seem to have the passion that she mentioned in her letter at the end. Also her treatment of the ‘green eyed girl’ and the consequences that passed down the decades annoyed me.
I read this book in a couple of days. I enjoyed it overall but it did I leave me feeling sadness for all parties who lived in the apartment.

I really couldn't get into the writing style of this one so it just wasn't for me, I can see that this book would be great for the right audience though.

I will be more selective with the ones I select via netgalley in the future

This had a lot of things I like - I love a novel with multiple time scales and multiple perspectives, especially when there is a link, in this case the same apartment over 20 years.

I thought this would be more like The Confession by Jessie Burton which I loved, but it wasn’t quite as complex.

I think this novel lacked depth and length. I was really really enjoying it until the second half which felt rushed. It was trying to be a mystery but didn’t feel very mysterious, and towards the end felt very “tell not show.”

I felt the characters in the 1950s storyline were thin and undeveloped which was a shame as I liked the 1970s characters a lot. I just wasn’t convinced by the character of Jillian who seemed a one-dimensional character, yet who everyone was convinced by.

I also found the way the two stories connected weak and unconvincing and lacking massive development.

A short read which should have been longer.

3.5 stars

This is a great read, really evocative of both time and place with a great contrast between the two timelines. Dovie and Gillian's story is tragic, but in an unexpected way which just adds some extra pathos to the story.

That Green Eyed Girl is a charmingly bittersweet novel about love, jealousy and the human need for the safety of acceptance.

It's a great premise, setting a dual timeline novel around a single apartment in New York with otherwise very little connecting the two protagonists. Both Ava and Dovie are engaging in their own rights - very different characters but both clearly trying to do their best to be loved. I found both their stories moving, and enjoyed seeing how the two tied together by the end.

Through solving the mystery of what happened to Dovie, Moylan explores the female experience in 1950s and 70s New York, particularly the cruel prejudice suffered by gay women and the stigma surrounding mental health. In many ways, it's a coming of age story for Ava, and there is something particularly effective about seeing the underlying injustices (both those affecting Dovie and in her own timeline) through her young eyes.

An engaging story with lots to think about: The Green Eyed Girl has all the ingredients for a great book club read.

I was absolutely hooked by this story from the very beginning, it pulled me in and played on my mind - I wanted to find out what happened next to the characters. It is a tale of heartbreak and sorrow, devastating loss, mysteries and true love that lasts a lifetime - it provided a snapshot into the 50s in NYC and what life was like then for people like Dovie and Gillian. Heart-breaking to consider the 50s were not really that long ago and yet if you did not conform and fit in with what was considered 'normal' then the persecution could be brutal and life-altering.
Ava's story provides a more modern perspective, as she navigates her own troubles (mother with mental health problems; absent father; boy trouble) while trying to unravel the mystery of the box delivered to her apartment and the story of Dovie and Gillian.
The characters are brilliantly believable and the story is beautifully told - I wanted to find out what happened and at the same time didn't want the story to end. An amazing and spellbinding debut novel, I look forward to reading more in the future from this author.

This book is a definite 5 star read for me. It is really quite frightening to know that as recently as the 50's gay people were so persecuted and had to live in fear, and lead lives where they had to lie and were not able to be open. As a gay woman myself I'm glad to have been born slightly later and grown up to see so many changes, in this country and some others at least. I thought this was a cracking story I liked the main characters, I also liked the fact there were different characters and 2 different story lines, and I was curious to see how they would come together. This book kept me page turning as fast as I could read, I am an impatient reader but the pace of the book was great, and so was the story. I really enjoyed reading this book, and am very happy to recommend it to other readers.

A New York apartment in 1955.… a New York apartment in 1975…. What links them is the unexpected delivery of a box from Paris, containing random items including old photo albums and unsent letters. It arrives in teenager Ava’s life just as her family’s world is imploding. Unable to make sense of what’s happening around her, she tries instead to piece together the heartbreaking mystery behind the box, revealing the thirty year old story of young teachers Dovie and Gillian.

The author is great at creating two distinct, yet linked, atmospheric worlds, thirty years apart. Her main characters are believable and it’s easy to have empathy with them. She tackles tough issues of mental health and forbidden love with a sensitive and confident touch.

The only reservations for me are that I felt the story drifted a little and it didn’t surprise me as much as I would have liked. Also, the characters’ emotions and motivations were explained a little repetitively. This felt unnecessary because the author has already succeeded in capturing them so well. So maybe a little more editing could have been done. These are minor quibbles though and I enjoyed the book. It was a thoughtful and engaging read.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. With thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley.

4+ stars


There's a few lines in this book,that just left me so sad,about the trials of loving someone of the same set in the 1950's . All things that were so accepted back then,but so very very wrong.
It wasn't the only thing in this book that left me a bit emotional,the whole thing did.
The two main characters Dovie and Ava endeared themselves to me enormously,and before the end of the book I felt I was going to be weeping for them.
There were highs too,of friendships and enduring love and family.
It's a book I'll be buying for a few people. Definitely.

I loved this book. The story of two women in love and the secret life they had to live, to avoid being persecuted by society, wouldn’t normally be a book that I would choose to read, being a lover of crime genre but the cover, the blurb, the author tempted me to give it a go and I’m so happy I did. It is a wonderful but sad tale of what life was like for those who didn’t fit in with what society considered ‘the norm’ in the fifties.

Written beautifully, the characters are believable and I found myself so empathetic, that I even became emotional and was moved to tears at some points, again unusual for me. I was grabbed right from the start of reading ‘That Green Eyed Girl’ and I look forward to reading more from Julia.

A really solid addition to the genre; reliable, if a little predictable in places. Would recommend if you know what you want from this sort of book, as it definitely delivers that.

That Green Eyed Girl
By Julie Owen Moylan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was lost in this wonderful story of deceit, love and heartbreak ❤️

This is a true love story of Gillian and Dovie at a time when they would have been locked up for being in love with each other (mid century NYC). Fast forward 20 years and we follow Ava and her own personal struggles and teenage dilemmas when she receives a box with a link to the past.

We follow Ava piecing together the past, and then we rewind to follow to story of Gillian and Dovie.

I loved how Julie Owen Moylan took us back and forth between the two stories. I cried at points - something I don’t normally do when reading!

Not my typical thriller/psychological genre of books to read but I am so glad I read this. Would absolutely recommend this fabulous debut novel.

#love #1950s #1970s #LGBTQ+ #ECT #MentalHealth #AmateurDetective. #BloodyBrilliant

Since starting with NetGalley I have read some wonderful books. Some are sublime and some, like this, keep me reading past my bedtime, waking in the night and wondering about what is happening to the characters as if they are real people, and feeling bereft once I have finished the book.
The story of Dovie and Gillian in the 1950s, and all the danger and secrecy surrounding their relationship was brilliantly written. The worry, the joy, and the danger of intrusive Judith affected me deeply. The very slow unfolding of the whole story whilst being intertwined with Ava’s story and all the difficulties she is trying to manage, keeps the reader deeply engaged at all times.
Ava’s mother is mentally ill, her father is absent and pursuing his own interests, and Ava is left alone for much of the summer, fending for herself and trying to unravel the mystery of who were Dovie and Gillian.

This is already in my top 5 amazing books for 2022, Congratulations to Julie Owen Moylan for creating such a spellbinding story. There was such hype on Twitter about this book, but every word was true. It’s a masterpiece.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

This book made me cry, but it also took me to smoke-filled jazz bars and made me want to dance. A brilliantly written, evocative and moving novel.

4.5 ⭐

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a whirlwind in the best possible way. I loved the narration, the plot, the mystery, it all came together very well.

1975: When a box arrives at Ava's apartment addressed to no one, she starts trying to piece together a mystery to distract from her family life falling apart. Her mother is ill and her father has more interest in his new girlfriend. Ava becomes invested in the life of the woman who used to live in her apartment and the person who was meant to receive the box.

Twenty years prior, Dovie shared a home with her girlfriend and coworker, Gillian. When another teacher at their school, Judith, figures out they are more than friends, she uses this information as leverage on Dovie and sets off the events that lead to the box turning up twenty years later.

The split narrative was done so well, I loved how the storylines blended with details from each one feeding into the plot of the other. I loved Dovie, she's madly in love with Gillian and such a people-pleaser. Ava is sweet and easy to empathise with, her need to solve the mystery to distract from her life adds a sense of urgency to her narration while also factoring in typical teenager drama.

I read this in one sitting and was very invested in Dovie's story, there was a good twist in there too and overall it was a very enjoyable read! I look forward to reading more by this author!

Good dual timeline book that takes place in the 1950s and the 1970s. In the 1950’s we meet Gillian and Dovie who live together and both work at a school, we then meet Judith who has a secret about them and she blackmails the pair into letting her move in with them because she’s desperate to connect with them and curb her loneliness. In the 1970’s Ava is living in that same apartment with her mother, whose mental health is rapidly deteriorating, when one day she receives a mysterious package sent all the way from Paris, but who is the recipient and does does it bring both of these timelines together? You’ll have to read to find out!

This is a wonderfully written book that touches on the stigma and treatment of gay women and mental health patients in America, heartbreak and bravery, and how to say enough is enough and take control of your own life. It’s written with such care and detail, and honest to gods, this book broke my heart in multiple places.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A phenomenal debut. Stunning prose, a powerful, poignant story and characters who will live in my heart for a long time.
Set across dual timelines in 1955 and 1975, both times are evocatively conjured, and the mystery at the heart of the novel had me utterly gripped. I whizzed through this in a weekend, but am already looking forward to rereading it in the future.
It’s only January, but I’m sure this book will be one of my favourites of 2022 and will be absolutely everywhere when it’s released!

I ADORED IT. What a novel. What a talent. There are phrases that will stay with me forever, which is so rare for me as I read voraciously. I loved how both timelines were interwoven from the beginning and how the plot unravelled in both - how Ava was so invested in Dovie and Gilly's love story and why it meant so much to her personally. All characters felt real and authentic, even the peripheral ones. In fact, Franny - Dovie's sister was my favourite character and their sisterly bond was stunning. I'm really excited to watch this heartfelt, gripping and gut-wrenching novel soar.

This novel really gripped me! I wasn’t keen on the cover but the blurb pulled me in and in the end it was a great find. Recommended to some friends already!

I was drawn to this book by the blurb, it intrigued me! I love books set in New York of the past and the dual timeline of 1955 and 1975 piqued my interest. Firstly, this book is really well written, emotive and has great characterisation. The three main girls - Dovie, Gillian and Ava are well developed and you really feel for them. The book has obviously been well researched and really evokes the New York of its time, the jazz bars and underground clubs and the sheer unrelenting heat. It is an interesting look, through the character of Ava's mother, at how mental health was treated in the 70s, how electroconvulsive therapy was still the 'cure' for things doctors just didn't understand. I honestly loved this book and would thoroughly recommend it. What a debut!