Tw: assault, rape, murder of a child

This book was so disturbing. A teenage girl almost gets killed, stumbles upon a dead body, and basically joins a cult. She’s also sexually assaulted multiple times.

It’s weird because I loved the book Sadie by this same author but this one, I truly did not like. It made me sick to my stomach, and this teen girl is just being manipulated by everyone around her.

There is nothing redeeming about this story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hated it. Like passionately. Disgusted by it. Super uncomfortable. I'm actually really bothered by it. Cleo was terrible. Georgia was dumb. The men in this book, just dumpsters. <b>Massive TW for sexual assault, statutory rape, murder of a child.</b> This book sickened me and I didn't find one second of it interesting or enjoyable. I thought [book:Sadie|34810320] was fucking depressing but this was completely awful to read. I'm really not easily disturbed this book almost physically sickened me. This girl is so dumb and so naïve and so desperate and she is SO TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF that it got really hard to read. Nothing prepared me for it.

I was excited to read this title based on the authors other work. I knew to expect a dark story, but I didn't anticipate how dark this story would be. I will have difficulty recommending it to teen patrons.

This is a hard one to review. I'm the Girl (quite graphically) tackles the issue of wealthy people grooming and preying on pretty teen girls from impoverished backgrounds.

It's one of a couple books recently that is clearly drawing on the Jeffrey Epstein case, including a woman involved in recruiting and grooming the girls. Topically, this is important and relevant. What I appreciate about this approach is how it portrays the nuance of what the process is like for teen girls who are exploring their own sexuality in ways that are and AREN'T safe. And how they might not understand the difference.

The difference is power- a peer doesn't hold undue power over them while an adult does and is preying on their inexperience and naivete. In this case, the main character is a lesbian, which further muddies the waters in how she thinks about men being interested in her. We actually get two quite explicit scenes back to back, clearly intended to demonstrate the difference in both power and desire, regardless of supposed "consent" (not that a 16-year-old can actually consent to this with an adult). One scene involves the result of grooming by an adult with power over her, the other is an actually consensual encounter with her girlfriend. The contrast is stark, but the progression is realistically drawn which might be very uncomfortable for some readers. I do think it's effective for what Summers is trying to do thematically.

Now as a NOVEL with a mystery plot, this book is less successful. The pacing is weird, the reveals aren't always well explained, there are conveniences that don't entirely make sense, and a lot of things are less surprising than I think they're intended to be. But maybe that's because as an adult reader, it's obvious how incredibly naive the main character is. But this is a very real problem, and it's true that there are people with privilege who get away with this kind of thing.

And, much like how I have felt about other books by Summers, I think it's important for teenagers to have access to books like this even if they are explicit and mature at times. Because protecting them from these books isn't always protecting them from things like this happening in real life. I think a criticism of this will be that it's too much for teenagers and shouldn't be YA, but I don't agree. I think the novel is clearly written from a teenage perspective and with their real feelings in mind. It doesn't feel didactic or like it's infantilizing the burgeoning sexuality of teen girls- just trying to draw some lines between where that sexuality can be explored safely and where it is being exploited in harmful, predatory ways. There is a huge amount of value to that. The narrator of the audiobook nails the voice of a teen girl in this place in life. Excellently done.

I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I have loved other books written by Courtney Summer's and I tried really hard to like this one. I read more than half of the book before finally deciding to not finish it. The story is very fragmented and the characters are confusing.

I loved this book! Georgia is a very relatable character because her desire to lead a life of wealth and privilege is one shared by many. As the story progresses the layers are peeled away to show the darkness beneath all of the glitch and glamor. The truth of what is actually going on is really shocking. Very well done.

Book Dynamics✨
1 POV
3 Parts


Georgia. Georgia. Georgia. You poor stupid girl.

This book is infuriating and heartbreaking all at once. You never forget truly how young Georgia is. She is beyond naive. A kid thinking she knows best. It made me want to scream!

There are really no revelations that unfold. It’s exactly what I thought would happen. I’m not mad about that but I am disappointed in the ending. It felt very rushed. Part 1 and Part 2 were a long set up for a very rushed Part 3.

Overall: grab if you’re not deterred by infuriating MC

Favorite Character: Nora

CAWPILE-
Characters: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Writing: 8
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 5
Enjoyment: 9
Total: 8.00

I want to give a small precursor here that there should be absolutely massive trigger warnings for this book, and there were none in the advanced reader copy I received. While I have specific triggers that this did not hit, it may be beneficial for others to be aware before they pick this book up. With that being said, huge content and trigger warnings for sexual assault, sexual abuse, grooming, child sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, troubled teen industry mentions, and murder (okay, duh on that one).

Courtney Summers returns with another fantastic thriller. Summers is somehow capable of capturing the multifaceted aspects of teenage girlhood in all of her books, and "I'm The Girl" is no exception to this. Georgia is a frustrating main character, enraptured with the idea of a place rather than the truth of a place. She lives in a rural community that doesn't support her or gives her space to process trauma, and instead, hides things and blames girls for the things that happen to them.

This story is excellent, especially in that it's conceptually not the most unique. If you grew up in rural communities, you know this story or someone in your hometown knows this story. The golden, gleaming pinnacle of uniqueness comes from the Aspera aspect of it all. You are left wondering if it's truly a ticket out, or a death sentence after all. This was well written and very enjoyable, with complex characters and their needs.

It's strange... how a book can violate you so badly, without doing anything. I'm not okay. And thats how Courtney Summers writes books. They don't have happy endings. The princess doesn't get her happily ever after. Sometimes she just lies in a glass coffin for all eternity. It's raw, and dark, and shows you the evils of the world. How easy is it for someone to believe they could be something, anything to someone else because they were noticed. How easy it is to be groomed into someone you're not, just to fulfill someones fantasy. The world isn't lollipops and rainbows, and Courtney Summers reminds you of that fact with every page she writes.

my first novel by courtney summers and I'm dying to read more! thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC!

This book just sucks you in and hits hard! Packs quite the punch. The very obsessive nature of Georgia was so authentically teen angst - but she is incredibly unlikeable. As always, Summers (the author) delivers an authentic and emotionally powerful read. Still, I like this one as much as Sadie….

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a review copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Let me start off by saying that I loved Courtney Summer's first book, Sadie, and had high hopes for this one. "I'm the Girl" didn't land for me and my biggest struggle was with the writing style! Each character and side character is introduced as if we've already met them and know their background and it was extremely difficult in the beginning to get a grasp on who these people were and what was happening.
This book is labeled as YA but it's definitely in the upper reaches of YA because this book has some very dark and intense subjects such as rape and grooming. I'm not one to shy away from dark or taboo subjects so that in itself didn't bother me but the main character kept making such questionable decisions as she continued to get pummeled with these messed up situations. It was hard for me to understand why she did what she did throughout this book. Summers does a great job at bringing stark realities to YA readers, but overall this book was a bit of a miss for me, and that saddens me to write that.

This book was heavy in all the right ways. Georgia is a sixteen year old girl living with her brother following the loss of her mother. Georgia has dreams far bigger than her years and will stop at nothing to reach them. When Georgia finds the body of a young girl on the roadside everything seems to change and Georgia attempts to reach those dreams far quicker. Georgia aspires to go to Aspera and be an Aspera girl despite warnings from her mother before she passed away, from her brother and from all the signs right in front of her. Throughout this story Georgia learns some of life’s terrible lessons but hopefully finds closure with Nora at the end.

I liked that this story depicted the realities of being a teenage girl and how being told how beautiful one is can shape the course of their decisions. This story was raw and real but a good read overall.

I was gifted an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m The Girl follows our main character Georgia, after she wakes up with no memory of how she got on a secluded road, bike stolen, and next to a dead 13 year old girl, Ashley…the Sheriffs daughter. Georgia soon realizes that Nora, Ashley’s older sister will not settle for no answers. Together, they begin to retrace her sister’s steps. Meanwhile, Georgia is dealing with some of her own issues. There are intimate photos of her that were taken from the accident, and the man who took them is just suddenly gone. Both girls will learn that the journey they are taking will lead them to far more heartbreak than they could have imagined.

I will not lie, this book was a hard one to read. Check out trigger warnings if you choose to read, because even though this is marketed at a YA thriller, it does have a lot of adult themes. I think that the message is important and the book did a good job of helping you understand what/why someone might fall into these scenarios. However, it can be very difficult to read at times.

I love the sapphic romance that we got. The relationship that forms between Georgia and Nora was super sweet. I also love the short chapters, as it helps you fly through the book. I was granted an e-arc as well as an audio arc, and I enjoyed the narration very much. I read this within about 8 hours. I could not put it down because I needed to know what was going to happen next. Overall, I really liked this book (my favorite from Summers) and would recommend this but only to an older audience like 16+.

!!!!SPOILERS!!!!

This book felt like a huge nod to the Jeffery Epstein/Maxwell case. If you are at all familiar with that, it really takes on a fictional look at what the victims may have felt. Not right away, but as we start to near the end and you find out more and more about the operation that is being ran at ASPERA. Cloe’s character kept on reminding me of Maxwell, and I feel like she was probably a large inspiration for the character. I don’t want to say much more, because it is more shocking to experience the book for yourself.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me early access to both the e-arc and audio!

Not going to lie, a little disappointed with this one. I think I get what the author was trying to do with this book and I think I get what the commentary is but the execution is where I struggled. It's basically about a young teen girl who is determined to be THE girl at a sex club. She's obviously to young to understand what's going on at the club and some of the references and actions seemed obviously to adult for her and yet she was so DANG DETERMINED to get in there. Like why?! Her reason never felt like it lived up to all this effort she was putting in. All shame on all the side characters, like telling her not to do things but then providing absolutely no explanation, like DUH of course she's going to turn around and do it anyways. You're putting a teen girl in adult situations and forcing her to live and be in very scary adult experiences but yet treat her like she's to young to understand. WHY?! WWWWWWWWHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!!! I just wanted to insert myself in the book and sit her down and go, look here's what's happening. All in all, pretty dark content, realistic mystery, a few somewhat surprising twists. Not to bad but not the knockout I was hoping for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so confused and could not get passed the first 50 pages. I wanted to love it but it missed the mark for me. I did not finish this book.

This is a tough one for me to rate. I understand what the story is trying to do, and I did enjoy parts ot it, ,but the YA-ness of it all was so distracting. The main character was so frustrating to read. I know teenage girls don't always make the best decisions, and I think that's an important voice to hear from! But jeeze. It seems like we took that to the extreme. None of her decisions made sense and it kinda felt all for nothing at the end?

Courtney Summers has a knack for writing uncomfortable and heartbreaking books about young women. She does not shy away from exposing readers to the harsh realities of life and dares you to not look away but to face things head on.

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovered the body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James. She along with Ashley's older sister, Nora, try to find the killer. But are they biting off more than they can chew?

Georgia wants what most people want - to fit in and to be loved. She wants to be appreciated for her beauty. She wants to be a member of her town's elite. She wants to fit into the world of privilege. But membership has a price. So many times, while reading I wanted to give Georgia a hug and some sound advice that I am pretty sure would go ignored.

I'm the Girl shows innocence and innocence lost. It shows how the powerful and the wealthy wield their power. How predators’ prey on others. This book also shows how growing up is hard to do.

This book is not a happy go lucky book. It deals with difficult subjects and situations. It shows how naïveté is no match for the ugliness in others. This book is both raw, gripping and evokes emotion.

I had both the book and the audiobook and felt the narrator did a great job with this book.

This book may be a trigger for some due to the subject matter.

This was raw, heartbreaking, gripping, well written and evoked emotion.

Thank you to Macmillan audio, St. Martin’s Press – Wednesday books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

352 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Release Date: September 13, 2022

Fiction, Teens, Young Adult, Mystery, LGBTQIAP+

Georgia Avis is sixteen and lives with her brother since her mother died of cancer. Chloe Hayes finds Georgia on the side of the road after being hit by a car. Before the accident, she found the body of a missing girl. The hunt is on for the murderer and the hit-and-run driver. Georgia is ambitious. She works at Aspera as a digital concierge. Her dreams are to be an Aspera Girl. She knows she is beautiful and wants the most out of life but what will be the cost.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. The book led me in a different way I expected, and it was emotionally raw. The characters are all flaws which makes them feel more real. If you like mysteries with a LGBTQIAP+ theme, you will enjoy this one.

I wanted to read this book because I loved Sadie, But, what in the world did I just read? I read it, and I read it quickly but the whole time I was so confused about what is going on. Georgia Avis discovers a dead body in the woods, has an encounter with the killer, and teams up with the sister of the deceased to solve the murder. She wants to be an Aspera Girl, but what that is exactly isn't clear.