Courtney Summers has yet to write a book that I didnt' enjoy! She does not shy away from real and dark topics and her angry, strongwilled, teenage girl main characters are so real and so easy to root for. My only problem with this book is that the main character automatically assumes everyone is wanting the worst for her, except for the people that actually do. Otherwise, I loved the setting and the main character's voice. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

I've loved Summers' previous YA novels, so the as soon as I first heard about this one, I was dying to read it. I was even more thrilled when the publisher reached out directly to me with an early copy! I honestly, I thought I would zoom through this one as quickly as I did with [Sadie] or [The Project]. But this one just didn't resonate with me. Maybe because I got a late summer cold in the middle of reading it is partly why I never found myself terribly eager to pick this one up. I am not sure why this one didn't work for me, really... I struggled to connect with the characters and there were even a few moments where I contemplated not finishing it - completely the opposite of what I anticipated.

While I liked the immediacy of the writing, I think it actually somehow slowed the pacing down because it wasn't always clear what exactly was taking place. The opening of the book - and premise - where Georgia Avis discovers the corpse of the younger sister of a classmate that she has long been drawn to - does hook the reader in, but it all gets a bit garbled in between the weight of grief, the sexualization and victimization of these young teens and the plethora of male predators in this Iowa town.

Georgia finally starts working at the town's ritzy and exclusive resort, but the price of being an Aspera Girl is higher than she imagined. Georgia's overall naïveté is mind-boggling. Her vanity, shallow attitude and odd blinders make it difficult to connect with her - or to root for her romance. Nora deserves better... I am sure that this will incite lively discussion amongst readers, but to be honest, I wish that I had skipped this one.

This was my first book by Courtney Summers and it was pretty good. I passed it on to work so they would order a copy

Not every Courtney Summers is for everyone. However, each one will hurt in just the right amount in just the right way that makes you come back over and over which is exactly what this one is.

Thank You to the Publisher and Net Galley for my review copy.

This book was sooooo interesting to read. The main character is unlikeable, but you are still rooting for her. I suspected every single person of being the bad guy in this, I couldn't just pick one. I was literally nervous the whole time. The one thing I didn't really feel was the chemistry between the main character and the love interest. It was believable that they would start to have feelings for each other due to the close proximity and obsession with the murder that happened, but other than that.. they didn't seem to have any... spark? I felt more chemistry between the main character and her boss's wife honestly.

Courtney Summers is still the queen of YA thrillers that make you itch under your skin. I will always pick up books by this author because she never does what I expect her to do!

I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

Well, this was a dark, uncomfortable book which had that trainwreck feeling where you want to look away but can’t.

Georgia is a naive 16 year old who thinks her way to bigger and better things is her beauty. Her dream is to be an “Aspera girl” at an exclusive resort. After falling for a scam and posing for “modeling” pictures, she then discovers the body of a 13 year old who was raped and left in the ditch and then hit by car and her pictures are stolen.

The victim’s sister, Nora, is a high school classmate of George’s and is looking for more details and answers. Her dad has gone drunk and off the rails and she and Nora he come bound together in this tragedy.

The relationship between the two girls was my favorite part. I guessed where this book was going early on but that didn’t make it any easier to read. It was a heavy read, dealing with heavy subjects where wealthy people have all the power and can world it without concern with the innocence and well being of anyone else. Many CW here so please check those out if you need them.

I will say I was shocked this was YA. It was very dark and graphic and heavy so I would be mindful of that.

"I'm the Girl" is one of those novels that is incredibly difficult to read but nonetheless an important commentary on how the wealthy take advantage of the poor. As an adult reading this, I found myself frustrated with Georgia and her family for most of the book. To me, it was so obvious what was going on, but I suppose that was the point? To point out how naive and easily manipulated young women can be, especially by men in power? What stuck out the most to me was how women like Cleo can also benefit from the exploitation of other women like her. I think I would have liked the book more if I was a younger reader, but as an adult who could see the warning signs I was just angry. Also - if Georgia's mother and brother knew what was going on at Aspera, why didn't they just tell her instead of making her feel like she was unworthy for years? They could have protected her. I would have liked more information about the ending as well. Did anything happen to the people at Aspera? What about the other girls working there? Overall I do think this is a good book, but I was left wanting more answers and questioned the characters decisions too much.

This one's hard to rate as I'm not a young adult but I am a sucker for them. I expected to love love love this. I did love all the lies and unlikable and untrustworthy characters. However Georgia didn't seem, I don't know, fully developed? I didn't get a chance to really connect or root for her. And I'm confused on her behavior and thinking. One minute she understands people sucks and men want her for her looks but then almost shocked at how men and rich men do bad things? I don't know. The style of writing also had me feeling like I was missing something. Like a book beforehand. It was dreamlike and just jumped in and I felt so confused I had to go back and read it cause I was just not getting it. Trying to be super like lyrical and to me it came out choppy, a bit sloppy, and very much confusing

I expected way more suspense and feels and for the book to kill me a bit like Sadie but it definitely missed . Still it did have it's unsettling moments and shined a light on import topics. But still underwhelming. I was expecting to be way overwhelmed by the end

For some, especially younger people it's gonna be a rough read (emotionally) and I'm going to give it 3 instead of what I think could be 2 because again I'm not a young adult anymore. I still love this author and the premise but not what I expected from this author at all

Courtney Summers' novels always manage to destroy me, and I'm the Girl is no different. All Georgia Avis wants is for others not just to recognize but also to reward her beauty. After all, beautiful people run the world; it is something we all know because we see it daily in the news. At seventeen, Georgia is impatient and ready to do what it takes to reap those rewards owed to her. What she endures with no complaint and, even worse, no idea about its heinousness hits you in the gut. Georgia does understand the world even though she appears naive and innocent, but what strikes the reader the most is her belief that there is no other way to obtain what you want. It is as heartbreaking an idea as it is repugnant. Watching Georgia maneuver not only a murder investigation but also the life of the highly wealthy as she tries to obtain everything she wants is Ms. Summers at her finest.

This book seemed right up my alley and in many ways, it was. However, the amount of trigger warnings that I would need to give before recommending this book to a student makes it a little difficult for me to say that I would recommend this one in the classroom. I think the right reader would love this story, but it isn't the story for everyone, especially those who already have a history of trauma.

Lord, Courtney summers knows how to mess me up! This book will mess with you at times, I found the protagonist likeable ,Georgia is just trying to get thru life and will do whatever it takes to make. I do feel like at times the book was hard to get thru but I finished and overall I loved it. It started with Georgia finding 13 year old Ashley murdered and raped. Georgias main goal is to be an aspera girl and teams up with Ashley’s sister Nora to take down Ashely’s killer.

Georgia Avis finds the body of 13-year-old Ashley James. Determined to find the killer, Georgia teams up with Ashley’s older sister, Nora. The investigation puts Georgia in danger as she’s thrown into the world of the wealthy and privileged. A world where beauty is everything and everyone is guilty.

The was a fast paced read where all the characters were unlikable and untrustworthy. It’s a YA read but the book is filled with a lot of trigger warning such as rape and sexual and physical assault. Overall, I thought the book was just ok. I loved the pacing but I didn’t find it suspenseful and the last few pages were confusing. I reread them multiple times and I still have no idea what they meant.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copyin exchange formy honest review.

I'm the Girl is an eye-opener. Layered with an underlying current of danger, it's a book all should read. Stories like these only come around once in a while though there are parts throughout that are experienced by teens frequently. (The looks, the comments, the unwavering reality that the world wants us to grow up quickly). It's thought-provoking, cutthroat, and heart breaking. It's all I expect from a Courtney Summers novel and everything I hope for.

2.5 stars
what an odd reading experience
i don't understand the message this book was trying to put forth and i don't understand who this book is for.
the conversations that are had in here are typically conversations that i really appreciate having and hearing about. but i just don't feel like their was a "good" moral to the story here - men are always going to abuse their power and we just have to deal? i don't think that was the actual intent but that is how it came across.
the entire time Georgia is trying to get attention & validation from men and i don't think she ever really grew past that.
the romance did not work for me at all - i never found myself rooting for the relationship and it felt so strange, tonally speaking, to be included in this story

I'm the Girl
by Courtney Summers
Pub Date: 13 Sep 2022

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Courtney Summers. She has a powerful and such real way of writing that pulls the reader in to whatever world she is writing about. Some of her previous works have had a dark theme and this one falls under that heading. While her words were well written, they were also very hard to read due to the ugly subject matter. This is not what I would call an "enjoyable" read...there are a number of triggers (child grooming, sexual abuse) and the whole book made me feel beyond uncomfortable and raw. That is a sign of a great writer...one who makes you feel; however, this book is a one-time read for me.

I still look forward to whatever else Courtney Summers will pen!

Superb writing. The description in this book was like no other. I grew a great fondness to some of the characters and felt like I was right in the scenes with them. The storyline was interesting to me but I did feel like it was lacking something. Overall, I really liked this book though.

“I think maybe when a girl dies the way Ashley did, we all do a little.”

This book is an absolute heartache of a read. It’s entirely too real and a glaring spotlight on the innocence of teens even as they are being forced into adult situations faster and faster.

Georgia Avis is a poverty stricken teenager who dreams of being more than she thinks she has been. Of being an Aspera girl. The pinnacle of success in her 16 year-old-mind. The one thing her deceased mother said she wasn’t good enough to be.

Georgia plans to use her beauty and allure to prove her mother wrong. Unfortunately, finding the body of a dead and abused 13-year-old girl, Ashley James, on the road to do so, puts some obstacles in her plan. Or does it? Georgia is thrust into the elusive and exclusive gates of Aspera and thinks she’s on the way to everything she’s ever dreamed of. Until Ashely’s sister Nora confronts her with questions and doubts about the day she found Ashley.

While Georgia’s ultimate goal and mindset throughout this story is to become an Aspera girl, we also see her navigating normal teenage emotions/life while living through the aftermath of finding the abused dead body of a young girl she knew. Georgia is working at Aspera. Falling for Nora. Trying to figure out what actually happened to Ashley, and also trying to mentally recover what she endured on that road and what she doesn’t even realize she’s endured since. It’s… a lot.

We as the reader are made aware in subtle ways what’s happening to Georgia and I swear I spent much of my reading time begging her to see what I could. Begging her to understand something she couldn’t because she wasn’t told and just didn’t know. Begging her to fully understand something I most likely wouldn’t have understood fully at 16. Begging her, when she wasn’t the one in the wrong.

I think this book was so many things, but I think for me it was a solid reminder that as mature as some teens are they are still children. They deserve transparency and honesty from us about this world because in it there are people who will try to hurt them. They deserve the power to know that they deserve more than to bow at the feet of those with more power than them. They shouldn’t have to accept things just because they aren’t the one on top.


TW: teenage drug use/drinking, death/murder, overdose, discussions of rape/SA, alcoholism, grooming, sexual assault, statutory rape, rape, discussions of parental incest, allusions to pedophilia, discussions of being drugged without consent,

CW: on page consensual sex (since this is YA)

This was a quick read with a good introspective on how girls are used and used up by people in power and not always just men. However it felt unfinished to me and I felt like I didn't really know Georgia that well so I wasn't totally invested in her.

I'm the Girl is a brooding, provocative story of a young, beautiful girl who stumbles upon a crime scene and enters a dark world in which men have power and use it to consume young girls.

Georgia, the main character, is incredibly beautiful, a fact she ruminates on and repeats throughout the book, but she's also incredibly naive -something she vehemently denies and cannot recognize in herself until it's much too late. Georgia is thoroughly unlikeable, as is every other character in the story except her older brother, who acts as Georgia's caretaker. Georgia's love interest is a girl named Nora, who is the sister of the slain girl Georgia comes upon in the first few pages of the story. Nora is cagey, strange, and oscillates wildly between kind and vicious. Then there is the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell characters, who groom and take advantage of young girls, including the main character.

I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot of compelling elements and I applaud Summers' desire to shine a light on the seedier, darker parts of our world. For me, though, it wasn't successful at this task. Partly because the main character is so exceedingly naive that it is frustrating to plod along with her as she walks directly into the sharks' mouths and then seems stunned when they have teeth. Her naïveté also feels…forced. Like she acknowledges repeatedly throughout the story that she understands that men leer at her because she is voluptuous and beautiful, and was even on her knees about to give a gross man a blow job at the beginning, and then is taken aback that rich men do bad things??? The disconnect for me was a difficult hurdle to get over.

There is also a dream-like quality to the writing that sometimes left me feeling confused as to what was actually happening. I had to re-listen to one section of the story three times to make sure I understood what was happening, and even after the third listen, it still wasn't clear. And the ending was honestly nonsensical. SPOILER AHEAD. If these people who had already killed once and clearly had no regard for the lives of others knew she knew what they'd done and was ready to tell, it seems absolutely ludicrous that they would then just let her walk out of there. END SPOILER. For me, the story just didn't live up to the expectations it set forth.

I would caution anyone who is triggered by graphic sex scenes and/or sexual assault to stay away from this book, as there are more than a few scenes in the story, some consensual and some not. This book is definitely for older, more mature teen readers and adults, and ones who can stick out a slow burn, because this book is definitely that.

I'm the Girl is another unique story by Courtney Summers, one that takes on social issues especially the issue of powerful manipulation of the innocent. More specifically wealthy people profiting from pretty teen girls from impoverished backgrounds. They draw them in, groom and train them all the while making them believe they're the best thing that's ever happened to them. The use of women (think Jeffrey Epstein!) to recruit young girls who don't yet realize how to safely explore their budding sexuality is exploitation of power - an adult preying on the inexperience and dreams of minors. The difference between consent and manipulation is graphically explored in I'm the Girl as the main character is a lesbian just beginning to explore her feelings with a girlfriend - a consensual relationship. And then there's a power scene between an adult and a sixteen year old - clearly a case of abuse of power which may be uncomfortable for some readers. I applaud Summers for effectively and carefully presenting the subject manner.

I'm the Girl is the story of Georgia, who discovers the murdered body of a young teen girl. She joins forces with Nora, the sister of the girl, to find out what happened to her. Georgia is beautiful, and has long held dreams of being one of the elite Aspera Girls, beautiful young women who are chosen for their looks to work at a wealthy exclusive resort. This could be her ticket out of poverty. When circumstances land her there, she's excited because it's all she's ever dreamed of . . . and yet, something's off. I'm the Girl unfolds entirely from Georgia's point of view. Her character is naive and innocent - aware of the power of her beauty to a point, but totally unprepared for the harsh reality of real life and the predators lurking out there.

The mystery in this story is convoluted and not always easy to follow as the pacing feels a bit off. However, I recognize that I'm not the target audience as this book is shelved young adult. I do however, appreciate that the story spotlights some extremely difficult issues such as poverty, grooming, sexual assault/abuse and abuse of power. Summers's writing lends itself to rendering stories about young teen girls and once again, she's penned a beautiful yet heartbreaking story. She doesn't sugar coat anything - just lays it out there and challenges readers to read and absorb it and maybe, just maybe make some noise about it. It's a call for action, a cry, a warning we should all heed. Highly recommended to fans of young adult mystery.