Verdict: A sharply observed, nostalgic literary coming-of-age novel about queer identity, the early-2000s indie music scene, and a first love that keeps pulling two women back together.
Best for: Readers who love literary fiction, music-soaked nostalgia, and slow, character-driven queer stories.
Heat: 🌶🌶 (moderate — desire and longing woven through a literary narrative)
Rating: ★★★★ (4.0 average on Goodreads early ratings)
Tropes: Coming of age · First love · Second-chance reconnection · Small-town escape · Music scene · Queer identity
If your favorite reads sit at the intersection of literary fiction and queer longing, Long Island Girls by Gabrielle Korn is a standout on our Best Sapphic Romances of 2026 list. It’s less a genre romance than a nostalgic, music-soaked coming-of-age story — but the ache of first love and reconnection runs right through its heart.
What Is Long Island Girls About?
It’s 2005, and Susan is barreling down the Long Island Expressway with a car full of friends on the way to an indie rock show. Eliza is a surprise in the backseat — unexpected, out of place, and impossible to ignore. Their connection is immediate and electric, but complicated from the start, shadowed by the kind of small-town rumors that stick. As fast as they come together, they’re pulled apart.
As Susan moves from Long Island to Brooklyn, from college into the insular world of indie labels, she starts to build the life in music she always dreamed of. But the scene that once felt like home reveals its limits, forcing her to reckon with who gets to belong, who gets to create, and what it costs to stay.
When Susan and Eliza reconnect years later, the pull between them hasn’t faded — and neither have the unresolved histories that first drove them apart. Moving between the raw intensity of youth and the clarity of hindsight, Korn captures the ache of growing up, the messy joy of queer identity, and the way music, memory, and desire shape who we become.
What Makes This Sapphic Coming-of-Age Novel Work
✓ Vivid, nostalgic atmosphere. Korn recreates the early-2000s indie scene — the shows, the labels, the mixtape culture — with sharp, evocative detail.
✓ A dual-timeline emotional arc. Moving between raw youth and older hindsight gives the reconnection real weight and poignancy.
✓ Honest queer identity. The book sits with the messiness and joy of figuring out who you are, without tidy resolutions.
✓ Something real to say. It probes who gets to belong and create in a scene that claims to be open — giving the story genuine thematic bite.
✓ A first love that lingers. Susan and Eliza’s connection is electric and unfinished, the kind that shadows everything that comes after.
Tropes & Themes at a Glance
| Element | In Long Island Girls |
|---|---|
| Category | Literary / contemporary coming-of-age fiction |
| Central trope | First love & second-chance reconnection |
| Setting | Long Island & Brooklyn indie scene, mid-2000s onward |
| Structure | Dual timeline — youth and hindsight |
| Heat level | Moderate — desire within a literary narrative |
| Tone | Nostalgic, introspective, bittersweet |
| Published | June 2026 |
How Spicy Is Long Island Girls?
🌶🌶 out of five
Desire is central to the story, but this is literary fiction rather than a steam-forward romance. Intimacy is present and honest, woven into the emotional and coming-of-age arc instead of foregrounded as spice. The pull between Susan and Eliza is charged, but the writing prioritizes feeling, memory, and character over explicit scenes.
What to expect: An introspective, character-driven literary novel with a nonlinear structure. It leans reflective and bittersweet, exploring identity, belonging, and the limits of a scene — so approach it as literary fiction with a love story at its core rather than a plot-driven romance with a guaranteed tidy ending.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll love it if…
✓ You love literary fiction and character-driven queer stories.
✓ You’re nostalgic for the early-2000s indie music scene.
✓ You enjoy dual timelines and reflective, introspective narration.
✓ You want a first-love story with real depth about identity and belonging.
It might not be for you if…
✗ You want a fast-paced, plot-driven genre romance.
✗ You need a guaranteed, tidy happy-ever-after.
✗ You prefer high heat over literary longing and atmosphere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Long Island Girls a romance or literary fiction?
It’s literary fiction with a queer love story at its heart. Expect character-driven, coming-of-age storytelling rather than a genre romance structure — the relationship is central, but so are identity, memory, and the music scene.
Is it a true sapphic story?
Yes. The emotional core is the connection between two women — Susan and Eliza — and it’s shelved as lesbian/queer literary fiction and romance on Goodreads.
Does it have a happy ending?
It leans bittersweet and reflective rather than offering a guaranteed fairy-tale HEA. This is a literary novel about growing up, so the ending is more about clarity and reckoning than a neat bow.
How steamy is it?
Moderate. We rate it two chili peppers — desire matters, but intimacy serves the emotional arc rather than the page count, in keeping with its literary style.
Do I need to know the early-2000s indie scene?
No, though it adds flavor. The nostalgia is vivid enough to draw you in whether or not you lived through that era’s shows and mixtapes.
If You Loved Long Island Girls, Read These Next
📚 Sweetbitter Song — another lyrical, literary sapphic read with an aching love story.
📚 In the Lonely Hours — a tender, emotionally driven contemporary slow burn.
📚 Anderson in Bloom — if you want a second-chance reconnection with a lighter touch.
📚 The sapphic BookTok books everyone is reading right now.
📚 Our full Best Sapphic Romances of 2026 mid-year masterlist.
The Bottom Line
Long Island Girls is a nostalgic, thoughtful, and quietly moving literary coming-of-age novel. Gabrielle Korn captures first love and the pull of the past against a richly drawn indie-scene backdrop, with real things to say about queer identity and belonging. If you want a sapphic story with literary depth and a nostalgic soundtrack, it’s well worth reading — just come for the atmosphere and ache rather than a tidy romance formula.