I could have liked this book if it wasn't for one major thing- the catfishing plotline. Maybe it was obvious going into this, that that was a major element but if it was I completely missed it. The justifications for it were weak, and I hate it in all circumstances but particularly in this novel and it was all solved way too neatly. There are also several other elements of this novel I take issue with and was uncomfortable with.

However saying that the main points of strife in this novel, both of the MC's mothers were handled with grace and care and done very well. It was just the actions (or nonactions) of the MC's particularly Jeannette that I take issue with.

This book is told in dual perspectives (Jeanette and Jacks) and for the most part, handles transitioning between the two very well. Jeanette's best friend Violet and her boyfriend are wonderful characters and I did wish that we saw more of them as they're about the only truly stable characters in this thing.

Overall, this book had potential but I didn't feel like it followed through.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*
Thanks to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book!

This was one emotional rollercoaster. Jack and Jeanette were so real and emotional, it was hard not to feel for them based on their home lives. I liked this book for sure. It felt like classic YA contemporary and I always love those feel good stories. I wish Jeanette would have been herself the whole time. I also wish her independence would have kicked in earlier. I loved the found family tropes here and I think the characters really came full circle by the end of the book. It was cute, but also heavy at times in regard to both Jack and Jeanette's mothers. I'm glad I got to read this book, I always love discovering new books and authors and this was a great one to read on my commute to school!

The Girl Who Wasn't by Cara Thurlbourn is the second book in the Arnhurst series. It focuses on Jeanette, Violet's friend who was introduced in The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling. Jeanette is having a rough time, she is the target of all bullies at school, and at home, she has to help her mother who has anxiety issues. That is until one day, she meets Jack on the bus headed to school... How far is she willing to go to find a lasting friendship?
I really liked this book, it is very enjoyable and entertaining. I liked how the characters were constructed and I appreciated that Violet and Freddie from the first book reappeared in this one.
I would recommend you this book of you liked The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling, and if you like YA and coming-of-age stories.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 / 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a fun coming-of-age story, that doesn't quite end the way you think, but is still fun and interesting all the same. The main premise of the story is an unpopular girl, Jeanette, tries to get to know a popular boy, Jack, by pretending to be someone else. What follows is a touching story of how far one would be willing to go to find a real connection.

Somethings that stood out to me:
>>> Maybe it's because I'm getting older and it was a long time ago, but I loved all the high-school and teenage drama.
>>> Catfishing aside, I liked the notion that the image we present to others versus who we want to be are often two different characters. And that sometimes we need to find people who help us reconcile both those identities to find (and accept) the true person underneath.
>>> I liked the reflection of coming to grips with emotionally charged situations, carrying the heavy burdens of anxiety or peer pressure, and how that realness and authenticity “lightens the burden” and makes us feel seen and heard.
>>> The relationship dynamic between Jeanette, her mother, and her sister really got to me. The situation, the emotion, the struggle, ALL of it -- something about the way the author described this made it feel so real to me. And, even as heartbreaking as it was, it really felt like the icing to the story to me -- it was definitely my favorite aspect to the story.

There were some plot points I wish were fleshed out further with a few more chapters, it seems like there's still a lot more story here that we can get into. The book is labelled as the second in a series. I'm definitely going to add the first book (The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling) to my tbr, and hope that there will be a third installment on the horizon.

Bottom line: I would recommend, with some caution for trigger warnings (anxiety disorder, mental health issues, domestic violence, anger issues)

#TheGirlWhoWasnt #NetGalley

This review will be shared on IG @reads.with.joy and on my blog readswithjoy.wordpress.com/

What a sweet and touching read!

After LOVING the first book (The boy who lived in the ceiling) I was so excited to read this.

The girl who wasn't, focuses on the life of Jeanette (Violet's friend from book 1) and the relationship with her mother and then a new friend, Jack.
Just like the first book, this story is an insight into the struggles that some people faced behind the closed doors of 'home.' After the separation from her father, Jeanette's mother has crumbled into depression and become a compulsive hoarder.
Meanwhile, Jack's mother is aggressive and occasionally violent to his father.
It also touches on the dangers of social media, peer pressure and bullying over peoples appearance.

As the story progresses, both characters learn to stand up for themselves despite surround pressures and eventually find the courage to be their true selves.

There's a little twist in the love story at the end, but don't worry, it's still a happy ending!

Overall, a great YA read, 3.5 stars.

Thank you to #netgalley for the copy.
This review will be shared on IG @ByElleJayce

My rating ~ 4.5.

I really enjoyed this coming-of-age story and felt it was a true representation of teenage life especially with social media becoming such an integral part of our daily routine.
The story follows the lives of Jack & Jeanette, their chance meeting, and the subsequent chain of events that unfold.

The author touches on some very complex and challenging subjects and although these issues aren’t the main focus, they are the catalyst to what drives the main characters.

I couldn’t help but compare Jeanette & Jack to Andi & Blaine from the 80’s movie, Pretty in Pink, but with modern-day technology and, of course, social media. 
Rich vs Poor. Popular vs “Weird”. Rejection/Acceptance. 

Catfishing is prevalent in society & where some use it to be cruel or to scam others, most are just trying to fit in and be seen, like Jeanette.
Modern-day pressures to look & act a certain way put unrealistic standards on us all, but especially teens who are so scared to be the real them they hide behind images of "perfection"
This is reflected beautifully in both Jack & Jeanette and their daily lives. 

One of the things I enjoyed most was the 'confusion' aspect. It reflects real life. On the surface, we want to present as having everything together and figured out, but underneath, our legs are flapping about trying to keep our heads about water. Jeanette's (and at times, Jack's) inner monologue shows the struggles they have with family, friends, sexuality, and just wanting to be "normal". I can personally relate to this now and when I was younger. 

The only reason I give this 4.5 is that I felt the ending was a little abrupt. I don't have any lingering questions, I guess I just wanted a little more. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me an ARC ebook in return for an honest review.

My review will also appear on my bookstagram account @piggindani_reads

This review contains spoilers.

I did not realize it was part of a series when I requested an ARC of The Girl Who Wasn't. It was fine to read as a standalone though. I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing was good quality but the pacing was off and there was room for more character development. The first half felt slow, it picked up in the second half and then the ending felt very rushed.

Spoiler: Jeannette's feelings about Jack and Suzanne were not examined AT ALL and it's not clear how everyone just resolved their feelings.

This book didn’t go the way I was expecting it to. It was even better. I thought this was going to be hour typical popular boy falls for nerdy girl while also being catfishes by this nerdy girl online. I think there’s a Netflix movie like this. But that’s not what this was.

The author took the time to explore a lot of social and personal issues that teens deal with in our world today. It shows the reality of what it’s like at that age and the paths it can lead to. I genuinely enjoyed this read and would recommend to anyone interested in a YA romance that depicts true teen angst.

If you like any of these five things, you will want to give this book a whirl!
1. Catfishing trope
2. Platonic magic
3. Texting conversations in books
4. Messed up parents
5. Musical theatre/choir

This book was so fast-paced and fun! I was definitely anxious a good deal of the time about how the catfishing situation was going to work out. I also found myself highly invested in the relationships that both lead characters had with their respective mothers. One mother was abusive to the father in question and the other was a single mom that had hoarding compulsions and wouldn't leave the house. Both of those at-home situations enriched the overall story of the book and made the characters grittier and more likable. I also loved Violet, the female main character's best friend. She was endlessly supportive, including giving the female MC time and space to decide to tell her things. Their friendship was *chef's kiss*. I won't tell you who, but there are also a few queer characters in the book, which was great! The only main downside to me was how the main plot unraveled near the end. I wish we could have gotten more of Jack's perspective about it all, including how he felt after Jeanette apologized. But, overall, a good read!

This is really a young adult book, so if that doesn't do it for you, this is not for you. The main character is Jeanette , a student studying A levels and living with her mother. Her mother has problems which don't make life easy for Jeanette. She is the unpopular girl at school, but has a good outlook on life and as the book progressed I liked her more and was rooting for her. This takes the reader back to high school, who is hot and who is not but also shows the gritty reality of living with parents with problems.
Characters well described and their interactions and conversations are well written .
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4205967388

The Girl Who Wasn’t is the sequel to The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling.

This story follows Jeanette, a peculiar girl coming of age and trying to find her grounding. With extremely low self-esteem and a mother who hasn’t left their home in years, her life is far from easy. She is 17, picked on at school, and has one really good friend, Violet.

Enter Jack. Football player, handsome, popular...he too is dealing with a strange life at home and has severe anger issues.

When Jeanette and Jack meet on the bus, it seems impossible that their worlds could intertwine. Desperate to be his friend, Jeanette creates a fake profile on social media and begins communicating with Jack all the while he believes she is entirely someone else.

I want to say that I LOVED The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling. This book was extremely odd for me. I couldn’t really relate to the characters and I just didn’t connect with them the way I did the first book in the series. It was okay and I was curious as to how the story would end. But it was just so-so for me.

I really love the way Cara Thurlbourn writes a book. She grabs you from the first chapter and you are hooked till the very end. I read The Boy Who Lived in The Ceiling. a couple of months ago and couldn't put it down. The Girl Who Wasn't was the same way. Great characters who will stay with you long after you have closed the book.

I really enjoyed this book as a theater lover and Cara Thurlbourn made her characters lovable and well liked. I also like how I thought the book was going a certain way, but then at the end it went a different way. So I would recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wise Wolf Books, and IBPA for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jeanette and Jack—two year thirteens about to separate from their childhood lives with mounds of hidden problems that no teenager should have to face. Through a haphazard series of events, the two become unlikely friends. There are many secrets that they both keep as they try to navigate their last few months before uni.

For me, this book took on way too much; I actually feel that the manner that the topics were addressed in is rather irresponsible, considering the target age group for this novel. Thurlbourn tried to address typical teenage angst, but she also threw in hoarding, severe mental health issues, neglect, physical abuse, bisexuality, volunteerism/good samaritan-ism, therapy, manipulation, and social media dangers…all into one relatively short plot line. I admire the effort to give teenaged readers access to real, relevant, and challenging topics, but when these things are written about, I do believe that authors also strap on the burden to do them justice. These are real issues that teenagers need help navigating, not cute plot devices. I’m sure that there are much better reads than address challenging topics tactfully.

3/5
As for The Girl Who Wasn't, I'm not really sure what to say about it. I think this book definitely had some potential, but it, unfortunately, didn't live up to my expectations.

while reading this i didnt realise it was a sequel or companion book to another one of Thurlbourn's novel but this didnt distract or take anything away from my experience so it's definitely not required.

honestly, i really enjoyed this book. initially, the writing felt slightly juvenile but as the story progressed and we delved deeper into the lives of Jeanette and Jack you could tell the story is aimed at older readers. Thurlbourn tackles tough issues in this such as domestic violence, anger issues, homelessness and mental illness, all while managing to keep an element of light heartedness. the characters were likeable and the story took some turns that i didnt expect but worked really well.

The Girl Who Wasn’t is told in dual perspective, following the main characters Jeanette and Jack. Jack is a popular football player who seems to have everything going for him. He has a girlfriend, many friends from his football team, and a potential scholarship for university. Jeanette, on the other hand, is very dedicated to her musical theater passion and takes care of her mother who suffers from agoraphobia and hoards everything she owns. Jeanette has one close friend, who barely knows anything going on in Jeanette’s life. Jeanette and Jack slowly develop a friendship based on a shared hobby, but that friendship is sitting on a large secret that Jeanette is keeping from Jack, she has been talking to him pretending to be another girl on a fake profile she created.

This book was really easy to read. I enjoyed the idea of a storyline of two completely different people from two different friend groups becoming friends. The secret Jeanette is holding from Jack really adds to the drama of the story. The chapters of this novel were short, which always makes for a great read. Though I enjoyed many parts of this story, there were a few things I wish would have been written a bit differently. The development of the mental health challenges in this story didn’t really line up for me. The fact that the story focused on Jeanette’s mother severely struggling with her agoraphobia throughout the entire book and then was suddenly better at the end of the story with no explanation was a little frustrating for me. I don’t want to give too much away of what I mean but once you read, hopefully you will see what I am talking about. For the most part, this book was enjoyable to read, I just wished that the ending would have been a bit more realistic.

This was a good story. There was a lot going on but it was mostly easy to follow. It was a good love story with good characters.

2.5 stars

Okay, I'm not even super sure what I should say about The Girl Who Wasn't. This book definitely had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. I don't know. Without spoiling anything, I found that the beginning and the middle parts were too slow, and the end part was too fast. The last few chapters of the book didn't feel like a proper conclusion.

And there were definitely a few issues that I didn't particularly like.

I will start by saying that this book had seriously great potential, but I think it missed the mark in several ways.

Our main characters are Jeanette and Jack, two classmates at a British secondary school. Jeanette is living with her mother, who is agoraphobic and has a severe hoarding problem. Jeanette has only one real friend, Violet, but even Violet doesn't know the conditions that Jeanette is living in or the mental health issues that Jeanette's mom is dealing with.

Jack seems like a typical teenage boy on the surface: he has friends, he plays on the football team, and he has a beautiful girlfriend. But then his girlfriend breaks up with him (and starts dating one of Jack's friends) and we learn that Jack likes playing music more than playing football, much to his mother's dismay. We also get the feeling that all is not well in Jack's parents' marriage.

Jeanette and Jack meet on the bus to school one day and start talking (notable because Jeannette is one of those kids that nobody talks to and everybody makes fun of, calling her "Grease Girl"). Eventually Jeanette convinces Jack to come to a choir rehearsal with her. It seems that perhaps something more than a casual friendship might be in the cards for the two of them until Jeanette overhears Jack and one of his guy friends making fun of her.

Saddened by the fact that yet another person is judging her based on her appearance, Jeanette creates a fake online profile using photos of a girl she considers to be much more beautiful, and reaches out to Jack under the fake name of Marcia.

And this is where things fall apart for me. I'm OK with a little "You've Got Mail" vibe, but this blatant and extreme catfishing goes way too far, with Jack believing he's genuinely in love with Marcia despite having never actually met her.

I'm also a little concerned about how many mental health issues are present in this book (agoraphobia, hoarding, Jack's mother's violence, Jack's rage issues) and never fully dealt with. Yes, we get the idea that things are "better" in all those areas by the end, but I think a frank discussion of the problems and the steps taken to resolve them would be beneficial.

“You pretended to be someone else to get Jack to like you, but the whole time I’ve been right here.”

I loved the twist with Suzanne at the very end but feel it should have been earlier and been more of the focus of the plot. That kind of development would have been so much more compelling, and I definitely would love to read a book that centers on that kind of awakening. Also, we get hints that Suzanne has some kind of medical issues that are never really addressed. I'm confused as to why that plot thread was left hanging.

Overall, this book was a decent read, but it could have been so much more. I am definitely open to reading more from this author, especially book one in this series. I've been vacillating between giving this book 2.5 or 3 stars, but I think I'm going to go with 3, because it was an interesting story despite its flaws.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wise Wolf Books for providing me with a copy of this book for review.