The Girls I've Been
Ratings65
Average rating4.2
This was crazy good. I don't think I've picked up another book like it. Excited to see the Netflix adaptation
Now THIS is a mystery book. THIS is how you write intersecting timelines and characters in a way that doesn't confuse or bore the reader, but pulls them further into the story. THIS is how you write a character who is morally grey...I mean truly morally grey, not just slightly grey but overall good (like I see so often). THIS. THIS. THIS. I'm sure you can sense that I tore through this novel. Sharpe does an excellent job from beginning to end weaving the six different girls, yet focusing on Nora who is truly one of the best characters I've read to date (maybe because we have similar personalities...yes I am biased, I'm a reader, I'm supposed to be. Maybe.) Gahh, this book made me so happy to have read. What a strong start to 2021!
Book/Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Cover: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TRIGGER WARNING(S): PHYSICAL ABUSE (CHILD/TEENAGE) SEXUAL ASSUALT (CHILD)(OFF PAGE)RAPE (MENTIONED)PARENTAL NEGLECTVIOLENCEMURDER (IMPLIED)MENTAL HEALTH
POV: Single, First PersonSeries/Standalone: SeriesFirst in series: YesSafe or Dark: Darkish (see trigger warnings)
DISCLAIMER: I'm a 35-year-old woman writing a review for a young adult book. Do with that information what you will.
“We're all gonna die because I waited for the bacon donuts”
“Book/Reading Notes”
golf clap
BANG
“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There's just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there's a normal.”
“You know, you hit enough girls, eventually you'll find one who hits back.”
“You don't have to just be taught to trust, you have to grow up in a life full of people who are worthy of it.”
“the best con has a seed of truth”
3.5 (rounded up). Quite an entertaining book. This one is for the fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It was fast paced & thrilling, which makes for a great page-turner. This definitely reads with that overly-dramatic tone I often associate with YA books, with our main character's inner monologue being especially guilty of being full of platitudes and cliché phrases. When I first started reading it, I rolled my eyes a few times. However, as the story went on, it managed to capture me. As long as you go into it knowing this is written in this particular way, you are likely going to enjoy this plot. I'm not sure I care enough to read the sequel, but maybe if I can find it through Libby.
“Wow” is about the only word I have for this book. Honestly, once I started reading I could not stop. Absolutely amazing. Probably my favorite book of the month, tbh, and will definitely make the top 10 of the year list.
The characters are amazing and all have life to them. Nora is super compelling as we try to figure out what she'll do next, how she'll use her leverage, and the chapters of her past teaches us how she became Nora are gripping. Books that skip through time can be hit or miss with me, but these are so so clearly marked and the current day only goes forward, we never go back to the hours before the walked in or something like it.
I also liked that the adults had roles – good and bad – and Nora wasn't self-reliant, she did and does reach out for her sister Lee and believes she'll stop at nothing to save her. It's so nice to read about that trust between a teenager and adult.
The plot and writing... chef's kiss
I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author!
second read through: very good but the audiobook was kind of... pretentious...
excited to read the second one now!!!
The Girls I've Been opens with an awkward trip to deposit a check at the bank. Nora is muddling through with her girlfriend Iris and her ex-boyfriend Wes. Thirty seconds later, they're hostages in a bank robbery. That's when we begin to find out who Nora really is. Or rather, who Nora has been. Nora's mom is a con artist. Throughout her childhood, Nora was involved in different cons orchestrated by her mom. In each of them, she was assigned a specific role to play. A new sense of style, a new personality, a new name. Eventually Nora managed to escape, but she is far from safe. But she also has a lot of experience doing what it takes to survive—defying the odds and making tough choices to make it out of horrible circumstances alive. And that is what Nora spends the book doing: trying again and again to survive.This will probably come as no surprise, but this book is dramatic and intense. It covers heavy topics such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, and endometriosis. It ends with a list of crisis line numbers, which I took as an indication that the author understands both the weight of these issues, and that sometimes young people are faced with trauma no kid should have to live through. The book does a good job at covering healing, therapy, and chosen/found family. It is a pretty unusual genre and premise for YA. I found the audiobook narrator grating and over the top at times, but I think I may just be getting old y'all.I'd recommend this to fans of [b:The Female of the Species 25812109 The Female of the Species Mindy McGinnis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455917180l/25812109.SY75.jpg 45668311] and [b:Sadie 34810320 Sadie Courtney Summers https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556559178l/34810320.SY75.jpg 56026767]—like The Girls I've Been, both are about fiercely loyal sisters. Also [b:No Exit 39938177 No Exit Taylor Adams https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541624527l/39938177.SY75.jpg 56940541] and [a:Kristen Lepionka 15613182 Kristen Lepionka https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1480818152p2/15613182.jpg].
i loved it so fucking much??? as an abuse survivor myself, i related to it so much that it made me sad. i literally highlighted half of this book. the characters are so??? i fucking love them??? especially lee!!
it's also really funny and happening and has some truly badass moments. also can we talk about how iris has endometriosis?? that's so fucking rare in books and i love the rep...
it's also wonderfully feminst which i love to see!! this book is just really fucking powerful
JUST READ IT AAAAAAAA THIS BOOK IS THE SHIT
i loved it so fucking much??? as an abuse survivor myself, i related to it so much that it made me sad. i literally highlighted half of this book. the characters are so??? i fucking love them??? especially lee!!
it's also really funny and happening and has some truly badass moments. also can we talk about how iris has endometriosis?? that's so fucking rare in books and i love the rep...
it's also wonderfully feminst which i love to see!! this book is just really fucking powerful
JUST READ IT AAAAAAAA THIS BOOK IS THE SHIT
4.5 so rounding up. Tess Sharpe read her own book and it worked. TW: this is about surviving some really severe (though not graphically detailed) physical and sexual abuse. You will be strapped in to this rollercoaster right until the end, which fell a tiny bit flat, but still felt earned. I very much appreciated Sharpe's notes at the end about endometrisis and crisis help references and that therapy is normalized. This book will be a quick sell to teens, especially with a movie/show already planned for it.
Twisty page-turner as advertised! I guess I should have known there were some heavy topics coming in, but the author does a great job of writing a range of characters you come to care for/hate/be disgusted by. I am a sucker for strong sister bonds, so that part got me right there. I was also so impressed by the bond between the three teens and all the different kinds of love they embody so fiercely. On another note, it was a delightful surprise to see some representation of endometriosis in YA (or any novel for that matter)! For something so common, it's so rarely talked about with candor and empathy. Would recommend to older teens and fans of books like “Sadie” or “I Killed Zoe Spanos”.
quiero envolverlos a todos en una manta y protegerlos. realmente no era lo que esperaba y me desgarró completamente