I know that when I pick up a Courtney Summers book that it will - without a doubt - destroy my feels, gut me, and leave my head spinning, yet I eagerly await her next powerhouse. While I did devour this in one day, I am going to need a moment to process. This was just as heavy and powerful as I expected it to be. My God this one kicked me right in the teeth and asked for three month's rent up front because it was going to be staying in my head for a while.

Biking home one afternoon, Georgia Avis is hit by a car and left injured on the road. She stumbles into the woods following a flash of pink and discovers the body of Ashley James, missing two days. Ashley’s sister, Nora wants Georgia’s help finding the killer after they determine he must be the one that hit Georgia.

Full of shocking twists and unbelievable revelations, I’m the Girl is a gripping, enthralling thriller that kept me on the end of my seat unable to stop reading. It was so easy to read and definitely makes you question the wealthy power hierarchy that exists in our current world. And the ending was so perfect for the story, it couldn’t have been better!

I’m honestly not sure what I just read. The entire cult culture of Aspera had me completed creeped out throughout the book, which had me looking forward to the culmination of the story at the conclusion. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Everything about “I’m the Girl” fell flat for me. While Georgia’s character came full circle & we saw her mature in regards to her relationship with her deceased mother & her attitude towards Aspera, I didn’t feel we got closure when it came to her mom, Matthew, Cleo, Nora, Justin or Kel. I feel like there are so many places Summers could have continued the story & wrapped up the various character lines in a more satisfying way. Left me hoping for more.

Trigger warning: sexual assault

Georgia has a dream. She aspires to be an “Aspera Girl”, a coveted position that only the most beautiful in town can have at the most exclusive member club. One night, she finds herself in the woods after being hit by a car and having her bike stolen. While she crawls for help, she finds the body of missing girl, Ashley. As she recovers, Georgia’s life becomes intertwined with Aspera, Ashley’s family, and all of the secrets in between. A psychological thriller that will leave you unsure of who to trust.

A beautifully written thriller that covers incredibly difficult topics. This book left me at the edge of my seat multiple times as I felt myself become entranced by the mystery that is Aspera. A must read for anyone looking for a dark read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

WTF

Sixteen year old Georgia Avis has always thought she could be more than she is, and she won't let anything get in her way. After finding 13yo Ashley's dead body on the side of the road and being nearly killed herself, she is found by Cleo, wife of Matthew, owner of Aspera; a very elite club where George's mom used to work and got laid off on bad terms. She later sees this as an opportunity for a job while connecting with Nora, Ashley's big sister and trying to find out what did happen to her.

I cannot rate this. I have no idea where I stand. I kept tearing up spontaneously after finishing it. Some books make you uncomfortable, this was past that for me. I should have paid more attention to the trigger warnings… It truly shook me to my core. I binge read this in a little over a day and that was a bad call. I also finished this book yesterday and had related nightmares last night. Basically, what I'm saying is be mindful of trigger warnings and take care of yourselves.
Anyway, this was still very very well crafted and the characters had such layers and were so complex and flawed. I absolutely loved Nora and Tyler, but Georgia drove me nuts. I think that's part of what's so interesting about this book though. The plot also kept me captivated and reading despite feeling very bad while reading...
I just don't know if I can truly recommend this though, like part of me wants to but part of me wants to protect everyone from this? I don't know... I'll still keep reading Courtney Summers's books though...

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, grooming, pedophilia, murder, child pornography, sexual assault...
I probably forgot some.

This book made me sad. The book has the same kind of melancholy and harsh reality as the other Courtney summers books, but something about the murder victim being only 13 made me just so sad. The murder mystery is really interesting and tense, and the rest of the plot surrounding Georgia wanted to be "in" with the rich crowd was really well written and also really disturbing. There are a lot of really awful things that happen in this book, so be aware of that. overall this was a really good but very saddening. Just like I expect from a Courtney Summers books lol.

I posted my review to my Goodreads on August 29, 2022. I submitted my review to barnesandnoble.com on August 29, 2022 under the username "lilyd". I posted my review to Amazon.com on I'm the Girl's release date, September 13, 2022 under the username "lilyd". I have linked my Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon review pages below.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader’s copy of this book!

2.5 stars

I was so excited to start I’m the Girl. Unfortunately, the important message of this story is hindered by its lackluster execution. There are aspects of this book that I loved, but I want to start by talking about why I’m rating it 2.5 stars.

The plot of this story is almost nonexistent until the very end, which does redeem the book somewhat. I like stories that are slow-paced, but I feel like I was just reading endless pages of description about what every character was wearing and random hand movements they were making rather than reading dialogue simmering with tension or about anything of import. There are other ways to convey the dichotomy between the rich and the poor besides painstakingly detailing characters' outfits. I feel like I barely know the characters as a result of this dull, repetitive description, and while I understand why Cleo and Matthew Hayes were mysterious figures, I shouldn’t feel that way about Georgia or Nora.

Georgia’s desire to be an Aspera girl was reiterated on practically every page in the first half of the book, yet we don’t really learn why she wants to be one. I’d rather have the motivations behind Georgia’s dreams be overstated than the dreams themselves. It says that Georgia wants to use that position as a way to escape poverty, and that she wants to prove to her mother that she can be an Aspera girl, but we didn’t get a real window into how Georgia’s economic standing and her relationship with her mother impacted her life. That would have been more interesting to read about than to read paragraphs upon paragraphs about how much Georgia wants to work at Aspera.

I know that I read a prepublication copy of I'm the Girl, but the writing style of this book was clumsy and confusing at times. Some of the attempts at lyricism here defied the rules of grammar, and not in a necessary or inventive way. I had to read some sentences twice to make sure that I hadn’t misread anything. Also, certain words were taken out of the dialogue to make the dialogue sound more natural, but it read as clunky. For instance, instead of a character saying, “Are you working at Aspera?” they would say, “Working at Aspera?”. This isn’t a quote from the book, but a made-up example so that you know what I’m talking about. It’s not a horrible writing choice, but it does make it harder for readers to figure out who is being spoken to or talked about. And yes, people talk casually in real life, but not in the way that I was reading. Like, someone I know might say, “You working at Aspera?” but they wouldn’t take out the “you”.

Also, I don’t want to police authors, but this is the third Courtney Summers book in a row that deals with avenging a sister after something has happened to her. I was actually excited to see that Georgia didn’t have a sister, and then Nora was introduced, and I was disappointed. I don’t have an issue with that subject matter; I just think that there are only so many different ways you can talk about being the sibling of someone who has been killed or sexually assaulted or abused in some manner. There are only so many nuances and different thoughts you can have about that. Plus, Courtney Summers' previous book, Sadie, expressed all of those thoughts succinctly and beautifully, and in a more expert way than in I’m the Girl.

Additionally, I was uncomfortable with how lesbianism was portrayed in this book. Every time Georgia sees a female character in this book (besides Liv and Ashley), she describes her breasts or her body or objectifies her in some manner. There is even a scene where Georgia peeps on Cleo, which is a complete boundary breach. I am upset to see that our lesbian main character (who we are supposed to root for) is depicted as a predator. This perpetuates negative stereotypes against the LGBTQIAP+ community.

Now, moving on to the aspects of this book that I loved. Refreshing, right?

Georgia’s refusal to admit that she was a victim was painfully real. Her journey of realization is one that a lot of victims go through, and to see it written in a non-judgmental way was lovely. Throughout the course of this book, Georgia keeps repeating that she looks beautiful, and then there’s a moment where she looks in the mirror and all she can say is that she looks young. She realized that she should not be seen as beautiful, not by grown adults. I loved that.

While the dramatic irony employed in I’m the Girl for readers that know that this book is based on the Epstein case does give away its plot, I loved how naive Georgia was. I’ve read some reviews saying, “How could she be so stupid?” or things along those lines, but there’s a reason why teen girls get groomed. It’s not because they’re stupid, it’s because they don’t want to believe that anything bad can happen to them, and because they are at the hands of master manipulators.

There was one small twist in this book that I did not see coming, and I appreciated that.

The whole tone of this book is monotonous until the last 10%, and while that makes the reading experience less than enjoyable, it does mean that the climax of this book surprised me and got my adrenaline flowing. I'm the Girl ends at the height of its action, and I loved that choice. It made me start to feel actual emotions about this book, and my heart was still pumping after reading the final page.

16 year old Georgia wants to be a model. When she steals money from her brother to get headshots done, it sets her life down a path no one should go down

Right out of the gate I was confused. And when I finally figured out what was going on, I didn’t like it.
The story was just ok, and the writing was disjointed and vague.
I felt that I was left to assume many things about the characters and settings, as a result, I feel I missed a lot of the story as I can’t be certain what the author was trying to put across.
It felt like instead of adding depth to the story, the book was relying on the shock of the murder to keep it interesting.


⚠️ This is a heavy book with enough TW’s to fill a whole other book

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Courtney Summers...please blink twice if you are okay....fun and jjoke aside..this book is way too dark for YA. This may even be too dark for some adults. Fro that alone, I struggled to read this book and I am no way close to the YA age. I know Courtney Summers writes books that are very mature YA but I do not categorize this novel anywhere close to this.

I am going to give it 4 stars but it is because it may have its place in fiction because some young ladies are in situations that they may be wondering how they got there but this was quite a struggle for me to read.

In I'M THE GIRL, 16-year-old Georgia longs to be an "Aspera girl," working at this glorious resort in town where the rich and famous go to unwind, despite her late mother's attempts to dissuade her from going near the place where she herself once worked. When she ends up there, she's disappointed to only get a job working in an office, but she intends to make her way up. Meanwhile, after discovering a dead body, she finds herself pulled into Nora's search for her sister's killer which also involves the resort.

I went into this book as a diehard Courtney Summers fan, and as such, it did not disappoint. However, I have to say that, even though I loved it, I didn't love it nearly as much as I loved SADIE and THE PROJECT. Also, at the beginning I had a hard time getting into the story because so much was happening immediately, but a lot of it was vague. Starting in the middle of the action is good, but I just felt like I was trying for too long to piece everything together and catch up.

Once I got into it, though, I didn't want to put the book down, which is how I feel reading every Courtney Summers book. And like every Courtney Summers book, this one is difficult to read because the subject matter isn't pleasant. I think it's widely known by now that this author is going to rip your heart out. I went into this knowing that it was inspired by Jeffrey Epstein, so I understood what was going on at Aspera way before Georgia. It made me feel like she was being way too naive and blind, but then again, I think the unfortunate reality of situations like these is that girls can get sucked in without realizing how sinister everything really is until it's too late. I guess my only real critique is that I wanted more from the ending. I certainly don't expect a happily ever after from a Courtney Summers book, but the ending felt just a little abrupt. Still, Courtney is a master at gut punching you with the bleak, harsh truths of the world.

My favorite thing about this story is the relationship between Georgia and Nora. Courtney said this was her most romantic book so far, and it certainly was, even though the romance comes secondary to the mystery.

All in all, this one left me eagerly awaiting the author's next book. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

eARC Review: I’m The Girl by Courtney Summers

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy of this book to review for my honest opinion!

TW: GRAPHIC depictions of child sexual assault, pornography, and grooming.

My Rating: 2/5 stars

My Thoughts: So I honestly don’t know entirely what I feel about this book. I was mainly confused the whole time because it felt like nothing was happening, and yet a lot happened. I also was confused by the main character, I had a hard time knowing what her intentions were and what she was thinking. She’s a kid, and what happens to her in this book is awful. To be honest it felt kind of torturous to get through as it was very repetitive and very very bad things happen.

There wasn’t much investigating of the main crime going on and it felt very cultish with the obsession of Aspera and all that. And some things happened in this book where I was like “where did that come from”. I don’t think this book needed to be as graphic as it was. I think it could have gotten the importance of the message out without it. As it was unexpected and upsetting to read.

Overall it gets a 2 star because it discusses important things and I would say is a good cautionary tale. Courtney Summers certainly knows how to write a gut-wrenching story. Sadie made me sob my eyes out. I’m sure there is a group of readers out there for this book but unfortunately I was not one of them.

I’m The Girl is a young adult mystery about a sixteen year old who discovers the body of a local girl. It contains thriller elements but it is also is a coming of age story. Due to the graphic nature of this book I recommend it to readers sixteen and older.
Georgia is struck by a car while riding her bike to Aspera, a golf course and resort for the rich and famous where she’s dreamed of working as one of their elite “girls” since she was thirteen. When she wakes up injured by the side of the road her bike, cell phone and the explicit photographs of herself she was carrying are all missing. While stumbling to find help Georgia discovers the body of Ashley James, the thirteen year old sheriff’s daughter in the brush nearby. As she recovers from her accident she’s enlisted by Ashley’s older sister (Nora) to investigate exactly what happened that night. But due to all the attention from the murder and accident and her youthful beauty she attracts the notice of the Aspera owners (Matthew and Cleo) and she’s finally closer than ever to being an actual “Aspera girl”. Georgia juggles her skeptical older brother slash guardian, a blossoming romance with Nora, unexpected demands at Aspera, the investigation into the murder and the demands for answers from Ashley’s grieving father.
As a reader you are very aware that something isn’t right with Aspera and only the main character’s age, naïveté and ambition keeps her from seeing the reality. It is a “ripped from the headlines” type novel echoing the #metoo movement and Jeffrey Epstein allegations as Georgia is pulled into a world of sex, money and power where the bodies of young girls are commodities to be bought and traded.
I will state right off that this is not the feel good book of 2022. It is dark and gritty and has detailed scenes of the grooming and exploitation of a minor. The mystery and thriller elements keep the reader interested but there are also serious topics of discussion about abuse of power, consent and female sexuality. I thought Courtney Summers did an excellent job of showing the more complicated and human parts of a teenage girl and her desire to be special and beautiful.
Overall this is a dark and tragic story about two teenage girls that are abused and exploited for the gratification of powerful men and the wall of secrecy that protects abusers. I would recommend it to readers that enjoy reading about challenging contemporary topics.
3.5 stars (Rounded to 4)

Where do I even start with I'm the Girl? Well- I'll tell you this first, I could not find any official trigger warnings, but there are quite a few, including murder, rape, grooming, trauma. It's certainly not easy fare, but I suspect if you've decided to read about a Courtney Summers book, you already got that memo.

Anyway, I will say that I... well, I can't say I liked the book, it's about the murder of a young teen, for goodness sake, but I appreciated the book without a doubt. And I was certainly entertained by the story, and hooked from the start. I had a few minor issues, but I still find the book wholly worth the read.

What I Liked:

►This was one messed up town. I mean, murder kind of makes for a rough neighborhood, but that isn't what I mean. From the outside, I think the town is supposed to feel somewhat upscale, with this weirdass country club-esque place lurking in the woods. But nothing in this place is as it appears. I think from the start of the story, you can tell that something is just... off about this whole place. And I love that!

►I wanted Georgia to have a win. I mean, you can't help but root for her. Even if I didn't fully connect to her (see below), I still absolutely felt for her. Nothing she's gone through in her short life has been easy or pleasant, and now that she's found a dead body, the trend is obviously continuing.

►Obviously a lot of important topics are discussed. Courtney Summers never shies away from the tough stuff, and as you can see from the earlier aforementioned content warnings, this book contains those in droves. This one in particular takes a hard look at so many issues, though I fear mentioning a few of them could end up in spoiler territory (I may be overthinking, but yeah). So, just know it's heavy-hitting, and we'll leave it at that.

►The writing, as always, is great. I think the author just has such a way of writing this type of story, that it just sucks you in and does not let go. Which leads me to my next point...

►I could not put it down. This is probably the biggest pro for me, and one you should take into account more heavily than anything else- I could not stop reading the damn thing. Like I said earlier, the subject matter is dark and harsh, but despite that, I simply needed to know what happened next. That says a lot about how the author manages to write such compelling characters and story arcs.

What I Struggled With:

►I just had trouble with Georgia. I am totally down with messy, complex, and flawed characters, don't misunderstand! Yes, Georgia is all of those things, but none of that is why I had trouble connecting to her. I think a big part of it was that I didn't fully understand why she was behaving in certain ways? Obviously, I could understand her responses based on trauma, loss, fear, but some facets of her personality just seemed so inexplicable to me, I guess? And maybe if I knew a bit more about what she was feeling/thinking in those moments that confused me, I would have felt more of a connection with her.

►I did want a bit more from the ending. Honestly though, I think this is just how Courtney Summers rolls, and I have sort of learned to expect that? Even so, worth mentioning.

Bottom Line: Features a lot of tough topics and a bunch of messed up characters, which is to say, it's pretty great!

I am a Courtney Summers fan from WAY back. Her books have become darker and less YA, and I don't have an issue with that.

I'm the Girl had themes that I've come to count on from Summers: a feminist look at the dangers and stereotypes women have to contend with.

But this book also had really dark themes - grooming and sexual assault - that I struggled with. As much as I admired this book, I found it triggering and disturbing in a way that made it hard to for me to read to the end.

This book was kind of rough for me to read. It wasn't bad just real heavy material. I think I was expecting alittle more from this book than what I got.

The book centers around teen Georgia Avis, whose life changes forever when she discovers the dead body of thirteen-year old Ashley along the side of the road, near the wealthy Aspera resort. Along with Ashley’s sister, Nora, Georgia sets out to unravel the mystery surrounding Ashley’s murder, while all the while, desperate to become an “Asperan Girl”.
I’m the Girl was an extremely fast paced book dealing with murder, assault, relationships, and class issues. Full of interesting and well-developed characters I highly recommend this book to fans of mystery/thriller books.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this e-arc.*

From the beginning, the reader is thrown in the deep end and experiences some disorientation that mirrors the narrator's dramatic experience in the moment. Slowly, we learn more of the secrets of the organization and the powerful people that run it, through the eyes of a young girl who wants nothing more to be a part of them. Sometimes the naiveté of the main character is frustrating as the plot moves forward, but at the same time the portrayal feels authentic to her age and experiences. I couldn't put this down; while I would rank "Sadie" above this book, it was a compelling read that I would recommend to others.

This book deals with some heavy topics. I felt like it was more of an exploration of a teen (Georgia) growing up and learning who she is and what the world is really like, than a mystery/thriller. And although it is listed as young adult, I'm not sure this is really appropriate for younger readers. Overall, I just couldn't connect with the author's writing style nor the plot itself.

I fully respect what the author did with this novel, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why this is marketed as Young Adult, considering the topic. Initially, I thought this was a murder mystery, but it's not - it's a very heavy, dark book. If you do pick it up, please check the TWs.

I'm quite conflicted on how to rate this book. I know this is a plausible story, one that could happen or maybe happen somewhere, but it makes for a miserable read. There's not an ounce of hope - it's basically one bad thing after another. At points, it was exhausting being inside Georgia's head, as she's so gullible and so sure of how the world works. Some scenes made me uncomfortable, especially when Georgia being assaulted by a male character doesn't "count" because she's into girls. Granted, it is not my place to comment on this, but it truly didn't sit right with me. It's a bleak story, with no "light at the end of the tunnel".

Even after everything that Georgia goes through, there isn't much development to her character. This much trauma is ought to change anyone, and especially a 16 year old girl that recently lost her mom. I couldn't grasp how easily she believed everyone around her has good intentions after literally finding a dead girl. She didn't once question anyone from Aspera. I also can't believe her brother was so disinterested in what's happening with her at Aspera, considering he know what their mom found out after working there.

I also think the pace of the book was weird. The first few chapters were a bit confusing because we're thrown right in the middle of the action, but we're barely given any points to center ourselves. It's very confusing for a good 2 or 3 chapters. The rest of the book was also a bit disjointed, without any exact direction. There wasn’t a big reveal, at least in my opinion. I just didn't really see any point to the story.

The ending was abrupt and I think a bit rushed. It didn't answer any of my questions and, to be honest, it didn't tie any of the loose ends. There's no conclusion to this story. I get that open endings are a thing, but this one did the book a disservice if anything.

I'm the girl missed the mark for me. It was pretty lacklustre, with no direction whatsoever and some questionable scenes. Sure, the writing was pretty good, but not enough to save this book.

As soon as I see that Courtney Summers is going to be releasing a new book, I immediately add it to my to-be-read list. I don’t need to see the cover or read the synopsis; I just know that I will want to read it. Plain and simple as that. This novel is anything but plain and simple, though. I’m the Girl is everything that I love about this author’s writing, and it did not disappoint.

I was invested in the story as soon as I began reading it. The writing is wonderful, the characters are intriguing, and the story was chilling and relevant. In a world that values power, wealth, privilege, fame, and beauty, people will go to extremes to be a part of that lifestyle.

Georgia was the type of character that I felt for. I felt a plethora of emotions for Georgia Avis. She was young, naïve, superficial, trusting, and lucky to be alive. I wanted to reach through the pages of the book and give her a big hug and tell her that everything was going to be alright, however, on the flip side, I also wanted to shake some sense into her and warn her against certain situations and people. She was only sixteen. She’d had a difficult relationship with her mother, she wanted a better life for herself, and she was adamant about trying to achieve it.

I am not going to go into the details of I’m the Girl. That’s for each reader to uncover. This novel deals with some powerful and disturbing subject matter, but as I previously mentioned, it is a relevant story. The situations that occur in the real world are the scariest because they aren’t just fiction, they can and do happen.

I’m the Girl was a propulsive read. As much as I enjoy reading, real life does manage to weasel its way in to distract from my beloved reading time, but with this book, I shrugged off some of my other obligations so that I could just read a few more pages, and a few more after that. Courtney Summers delivered a well-crafted story that kept my suspicions on high alert, punched me in the gut, made my pulse pound, and kept me riveted to the pages.

*5 Stars