Unfortunately not for me, I just couldn’t connect with the story and it struggled to hold my interest, but I did really like the writing though

Thanks to NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
-----
The Girl Who Wasn't was a tough book for me to get through. It's rare that I don't want to finish a book, but I had a hard time with this one. I was more interested in the hoarding habits of Jeannette's mother, than the relationship between the two main characters. Maybe I'm just out of the desired age bracket, but it just fell flat for me.

Very well written, a tale about the struggles of two young individuals and how they relate and help each other through this time.

4 stars

Thank you Netgalley for this arc!!
This was a touching read and the main characters felt very real and emotive, particularly the character of Jeannette. What stopped me from giving it 5 stars was that I felt like it needed even more. But I would definitely recommend!!

‘The girl who wasn’t’ is a YA story which focuses on Jack and Jeanette- two teens with difficult home lives and very different experiences at school. Jack is an athlete with pressures from family to continue his football as a way into university but these expectations make him feel trapped. He has a secret love of music and finds the creative outlet the only escape from his problems.
On the other end of the social ladder is Jeanette who carries so many burdens inside herself about the struggles she has trying to care for her agoraphobic mother. Jeanette is my favourite character in this book because she really reminded me of Hazel from ‘Fault in our stars’ and her desire to impact other people as little as possible. She pushes down all of her anguish but ends up finding solace in chatting with Jack on a fake social media account.
Jeanette’s intent isn’t malicious and I really appreciated the way it panned out in the end (no spoilers). The way the two MCs grew because of their online and real life interactions was really interesting and for me, the style of writing and honest tone made it a really easy read. Nothing about this novel was contrived or overly stylised which I loved and led to a really great story.

This was a really well written coming of age story, covering some really important and heavy topics. The characters were extremely loveable and I would love to see more of them in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for sending me and ARC in exchange for an honest review. I tried this book a couple of times and honestly couldn’t get into the plot. The writing was well done, the story just wasn’t catching my attention. I think I had a difficult time connecting to the characters in the story. It just wasn’t the book for me.

Thanks Again!

This was much better than I was expecting, I knew it would be good but the writing style really blew me away.

I had the hardest time getting through this book, and I think it was because it just didn't really stand out to me compared to similar books of this genre.

I love a good coming of age story but for some reason, I just didn’t connect with this one. It was well written and I won’t completely write off the author, but it wasn’t my favorite.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I didn’t care for the first book by this author, so I skimmed this one and I find I’m not going to like this one either. Unfortunately it’s definitely a it’s me not you situation with these books.

This book just wasn’t it for me and in all honesty I don’t actually think it was the book. I just think it’s how I feel towards it I can’t seem to get into it at all. I tend to love your perspective books they are some of the most fun books because you get to get inside the minds of both the characters so they are fun but for some reason I just could not bring myself to finish reading this book.

Really enjoyed this one
A touching coming-of-age story about how far we’re willing to go to find a lasting friendship.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The ending was a bit underwhelming, but overall I did enjoy this book! It was greatly carried by the characterisations of Jeannette and Jack, who had a great bond so enjoyable to read about. It’s a wonderful coming of age story but not something you need to rush to read haha.

Jeanette and Jack are the stars of this book, where the two come together in a seemingly unlikely friendship. With all the drama of school, getting older and the difficult home lives of the the pair, this book was an emotional roller coaster.

Although this is the second book in the Arnhurst series, I only found out about this after reading so I would say it could probably be read as a stand alone. That being said I would consider reading The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling and would recommend this second book too.

I love a novel where relationships are built up, and have depth and layers to them and this is another book that does that for me. I also appreciated the sense of discovery us readers can get from the characters as there is definitely exploration of the individuals as people when it comes down to their identities, personalities and lives. Some of the topics covered however and how they were handled were part of the reason I could not quite give this book four stars despite enjoying reading it.

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS - No characters named*

The topics of abuse, especially nearer the end were a bit difficult to read and can be triggering for some people. I would have liked to have seen more serious consequences for one of the characters which is one of the few reasons I could not give this book 4 stars. Some reviews suggest the catfishing element of the plot is problematic and whilst I agree with this to some extent and do not agree with catfishing, the consequences were definitely felt and made clear by Cara. Therefore, I think the topic was handled appropriately and made for an interesting but also heartwrenching plot line.

The Girl Who Wasn't takes a look at two broken families, and how these two people find comfort in each other. Jeanette's mother never leaves her house (she's agoraphobic) and is a hoarder. Jack's mom beats his dad. These two hide their true feeling and personalities to try to be more "normal" kn school. Jeanette being part of the music freaks and Jack working his way into the popular crowd becuase of football, that his mom makes him play.

The characters are engaging, real people. They were all lovable, but they also had their faults, making them seem like real people as opposed to just characters. I felt the most connected to Violet, even though she is a side character. There is a book built around Violet by the same author that I know want to read!

I rate this book as 3.5 🌟! I read almost the whole book in one day. Since I had to squeeze in time to finish it, the ending felt a little flat. I may have felt differently if I had had time

I'd like to say a huge thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

#reading2021 #fallreading2021 #booklover #booksofinstagram #netgalley

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I whizzed through this very quickly. The writing was good and I was intrigued to see how the catfishing would be resolved. I don’t know why but the ending left me feeling underwhelmed.

The book obviously takes place in the UK and had to check whether the author was English as there are some american versions scattered throughout. In one of the early chapters, a bag of crisps is called a bag of chips. I think there were a couple more but that’s the one I remember standing out. It just felt a bit jolting.

Overall, a good book but I wouldn’t rush to tell people that they HAVE to read it.

Growing up is hard. Something I truly adore about young adult fiction is that so much of it doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of being young and struggling to gather control over your life when that's a nearly impossible feat.

THE GIRL WHO WASN'T is no different. Jeanette and Jack are struggling with very real, very challenging lives both at school and at home, and it's been fascinating to watch them learn to lean on each other in order to survive even if they didn't always go about it in the best ways.

I find myself wishing the story hadn't ended, though it wrapped up perfectly and concluded in a way I didn't realize I was hoping it would: With everyone doing OK, and a much more realistic "happily ever after" than many stories about love and friendship.

Highly recommend if you want a little heartbreak and plenty of hope.

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
Okay it’s rare I don’t finish a book but… it wasn’t working out for me.
The story is told in dual perspective, 1. A girl who struggles at home with her mum, who loves music and is in the school band. 2. A boy who does football because his parents want him too but he likes music…

Very High School musical vibes but in a British school… well that’s what it tells you but it definitely doesn’t feel like it. It seems really inconsistent between whether the school is set in England or the USA, with so many typical USA style things like football scholarships, yard sales, band… it honestly did not feel like sixth from/college in England. It wasn’t realistic and it didn’t work in the way it does in Netflix’s Sex Education.

It does tackle some hard topics, as i didn’t finish this I don’t know how well they were managed in the rest of the book. Also catfishing?

The book had so much telling and not enough showing, what could have been a really good way to talk about mental health turned into a very long and unclear story that unfortunately it no longer worked for me.

I’m not one for bad reviews, or giving up on a book. But this one wasn’t for me.