Emily Keating should probably spend more time doing her homework, but instead she is busy trying to figure out her place in the world. Something that isn’t easy for a 17 year-old, especially when you’re trying to help your friends.

There is Declan, who is suffering from depression. Lucy, who Emily used to have a crush on, whose current relationship looks like it is getting more serious than anyone expected. Hugh, Emily’s ex-boyfriend who is dating someone else. Barry is Emily’s best friend, the person she can always rely on and the one that almost everyone else thinks she is destined to be with.

Emily’s interventions don’t always make things better. In fact she often makes things worse, for everyone including herself.

At its core Good Girls Don’t is a story about teenagers getting to grips with friendship, sex and sexuality and everything that entails.

There are times when Emily isn’t particularly likeable, there are times when she is irritating, there are times when I want to bang certain characters heads together and tell them to cop on; typical teenage stuff really. But I kept turning the page because I wanted to see where their friendships and relationships were going.

I read Good Girls Don’t by Claire Hennessy when it first came out in 2004 and loved it. I was a couple of years older than the characters, at the time, but what struck me was that it was one of the first contemporary novels (especially YA novels) I came across with gay and bisexual characters. That it was written by an Irish author, and a teenager at that, was a bonus.

More than that, while the sexuality of the characters is entwined with the plot, the story isn’t all “So and so is gay or bisexual, shock horror”. There is normality to it all. This, somewhat depressingly, is as refreshing today as it was in 2004.

After reading Hennessy’s marriage equality related short story, Good Girls Vote Yes, involving Emily and her friends I decided to track down a copy of the original to re-read.

I’m glad I did. It’s still an enjoyable read.