To say I "enjoy" Courtney's books doesn't sound quite right - they are heavy, unrelenting, and often depressing but also beautiful and so well done. I found I'm the Girl heartbreaking and compelling and I read it in one feverish setting because I could not put it down. Highly, highly recommended.

Mother Of All Otters!! 😳😯🤯🥺😳

This quickly became a favourite of mine by Summers. I've read all her books and this was so good! It's raw, true, at times depressing & heart breaking, but yet so bold with the topics & subject matter. Be prepared for ALL the feels with this novel. The suspenseful aspect is nothing short in this novel, mixed with trying to figure out who you are and what the world wants you to be.

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Sixteen year old Georgia was nearly run over and stumbles across the body of thirteen year old Ashley. Her older sister Nora and Georgia decide to work together to figure out what happened to Ashley, and stop it from happening to anyone else. But as they investigate and dive deeper into the world of the wealthy and privileged, of which Georgia is not, she'll be facing more than just a murderer closing in, but who she is, her own self, & how a young woman can fight against what feels like an unfair and unbalanced battle.

The ending was so perfectly done, even if bittersweet. You will be clueless the whole time and not see it coming. The twists & turns are plenty and you'll be kept at the edge of your seat. As tough as some of the subject matter is, Summers does it with raw and real justice. I was breathless and shocked once I was done and yet again, a hit by her! Riveting, relevant & well executed. Be ready for some tough things with this one.

🔴 Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for this ARC.
Release Date: September 13, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review. #AMUSTREAD

This one was REALLY good. It was an extremely fast paced book that had me hooked from the very beginning. I was excited about the big reveal at the end. What a pay off!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'm the Girl was thought-provoking and honestly, pretty creepy and made my stomach turn a couple of times, which was definitely the point. However, although this story was a murder mystery (marketed as a mystery/thriller), that plotline kind of took the backseat. This book is very centered on Georgia being thrown into the upper echelons of society and the secrets that they hold. They are teeming with money and power, and with that, guilty and unimaginable horrors. I still can't tell if I liked Georgia very much, even though I know she's supposed to be an unlikable character. I tried to sympathize with her and could only do so a portion of the time. I would definitely recommend this to fans who are looking for something in the vein of Euphoria, actually.

Every time I read a Courtney Summers book, I can't imagine she can outdo herself with the next one. I'm always wrong. Sadie is one of my favorite books and I'm the Girl has the same gritty, emotional and raw feeling. It was hard to put this one down and I was sad when it was over. I think most woman remember when they realized the power that their sexuality can wield. How confusing and scary it feels. My heart hurt for Georgia and her need to be something special to someone that she thinks matters.

I'm the Girl is a well-written, extremely powerful, and quite dark story of sixteen-year-old Georgia who has aspirations of being accepted by the area's elite crowd. She's fixated on her looks and believes that past choices made by her mother have now stripped her of her desired future. She is willing to do anything to change that. Adding to her own teenage troubles, Georgia discovers the body of another young girl who was brutally murdered. As I initially stated, the writing is superb; the characters, the places, everything is beautifully developed/described. I truly felt like I was in the small town and then later at Aspira. The themes and material is very dark., which makes some parts difficult to read. There are quite a few detailed references/depictions of sexual assault, rape, and murder. I wouldn't necessarily categorize this book as a thriller; it is more of a tragic drama. While the story is upsetting in many ways, I did really like the book and will be recommending it.

**Check Trigger Warnings**

As expected, Courtney Summers has left me gut punched. To which I will always respond with, “Thank you, may I have another?”

This starts with 16-year-old Georgia finding the body of a local 13-year-old girl from her small town.

She goes full Nancy Drew with the victim’s older sister, Nora. Infiltrating a bougie spa-like country club type place near the site of the body.

The suspense had me wincing ahead of time, just waiting for all of the shoes to drop. Georgia is both parts naïve and guileful. It is stressful to see her try to navigate through situations with so many traps that she cannot see.

Many will be frustrated with her character for her naivety, but the author wrote an article that brought up one of the many hard questions you will ask yourself after reading.

“And I knew when I wrote I’m the Girl, there would be the question—though there should be no question—of who some readers would feel more betrayed by: its abusers, or its victim.”

The inclusion of Georgia and Nora’s romance was a light in all of the dark. It was pure and wonderful, the exact opposite of everything else.

The writing was lyrical and beautiful while presenting such harsh truths.

Overall, this book is Georgia becoming and understanding what it means to be a woman in this world and if she is willing to accept it.

Check it out, when it hits shelves, 9/13/22!

A big thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot, even though there were pieces that were kind of hit and miss for me. In this book, the main character, Georgia discovers the body of Ashley and almost is killed herself. It's a strong setup and the opening scenes in this book were action-packed and intentionally confusing and fragmented to read. I was able to tell right away that we wouldn't be getting the full story as Georgia learns the secrets of both Ashley's death and Aspera. She alludes to things in the past or other things she knows that we don't get to see until later in the story. While I thought the prologue was almost too confusing, I enjoyed this element of the book. Georgia is an excellent unreliable narrator.

Georgia is a fascinating if at times frustrating character to read about. She teeters on the edge of being manipulative and ambitious and being incredibly naive and unaware of what is going on around her. At times this juxtaposition was believable, at other times it was not, but it was always interesting to read about as she explores a new world of wealth and power at Aspera. It also sparks an important conversation about the power dynamics of sex and consent, especially with Georgia being underage.

While the mystery, as it went on, pointed pretty clearly to who had committed the crime, there are so many other layers to this story than just finding out who Ashley's murder was. Georgia goes through a lot, so does Nora, and I actually ended up liking all these other parts of the book that weren't directly related to Ashley's murder the most.

I loved Sadie by this author when I read it, and while I didn't love this one as much, it was still an excellent read.

Courtney Summers is an author that never misses. I have been a fan of her writing since Cracked Up to Be and I'm always ready to read about more of her unforgettable girls. This novel isn't any different from her previous in the sense that it draws readers in immediately and hooks them on the plot and the characters. After finding the body of Ashley, Georgia is then thrust into a world that she is not prepared for. The plot keeps readers on their toes as they route for Georgia even though you are able to see where her story is headed. I loved this book.

Powerful, compelling, and a little uncomfortable to read. This definitely won't be up everyone's alley, but it is so well done, with hints of both Sadie and The Project.

Right from the beginning, this story doesn't hold back on how harsh the world is. It's about heavy topics and it doesn't shy away from them - something that remains true through the end, and is thematically important with a story like this. Summers doesn't pull her punches. We're immediately faced with issues of class, privilege, and misogyny, all filtered through the lens of Georgia, who desperately wants to push through that ceiling and rise above her station.

The characters are as spiky and flawed and messy as ever. This is an area in which Courtney Summers always excels, and that's definitely true in this outing as well. Georgia is stubborn and resentful and ambitious, in ways that girls often aren't portrayed. Nora is angry and fiery and stoic, which all makes perfect sense and makes her quite the compelling love interest. The duo in charge of Aspera are each slyly manipulative, charming and powerful and too polished to be authentic.

And then that ending! I really appreciate that Summers committed to her themes and commentary rather than taking the easy way out. Things end hopeful, but not happy. The resolution is character-based. It keeps the whole story feeling grounded, if perhaps a little unsatisfying in how little gets truly tied up.

The pacing is a little uneven in places. The story has to establish itself on several fronts, which means sections focused more on building up Aspera and the relationships there instead of investigating Ashley's murder. It's not a major distraction but it threw me off early on in my read, since the synopsis is so Ashely-focused - it doesn't mention Aspera at all.

Another thing that I kept pausing on while reading is how old the characters are. Nora and Georgia are about 16, fine. Nothing out of the ordinary there for a YA book, though definitely young enough to capture the creepiness needed for so much of the story's points to land. But Ashley and her friend are 13, and it's implied that they've been partying and drinking and doing drugs for at least a year if not longer. And everyone in town knows about it. Which just seems...a little young? I know that's the point, that they're children, but I also can't imagine seeing a 12 year old (who by all descriptions looks 12) in one of these situations and being fine with it. Or Ashley's dad, a sheriff's deputy, being this chill about his daughter staying out all night. It just felt a little bit unlikely to me, but it definitely did add significantly to how disgusting everything is.

TL;DR: A really powerful, stressful read.

I had a bit of a difficult time categorizing this book. There’s murder, romance, coming of age. I overall liked the story of Georgia Avis but there were just some confusing parts. I thought it was pretty graphic for it to be young adult. The mystery was strong but I definitely wanted more at the beginning and end of the story. It took a minute to pick up after the initial couple of chapters and then at the end I’m left with so many questions, specifically about Aspera girls.

I reallyyyy wanted to like this book but it was not for me. It was incredibly dark and the ending didn't really wrap anything up and felt a little weak.

When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley's older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is guiltiest.

Georgia was so focused on herself and getting validation from others. It seemed like Ashley's murder plotline was put on the backburner and barely acknowledged. I think there were too many plotlines, murder, Aspera, Georgia's reflection on her and her mother's relationship, and Georgia and Nora's relationship. A good thing about this book: the chapters were super short and it was easy to fly through.

I’m the Girl is a suspenseful queer thriller that I finished within hours. I did enjoy it but I do think Summers’ previous novel, Sadie was stronger. While I’m the Girl was engaging, I found it difficult to empathize with George. I always welcome unlikeable, complex characters. However, I just couldn’t feel a connection to George and her desire to be seen as beautiful and made “the girl” at Aspira.

The deal: Sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis finds the body of a dead girl, then becomes entangled with the dead girl’s sister in trying to figure out who did it, all while also being young and hot and insatiably thirsty to be part of Aspera, the mysterious club of wealth and privilege just outside where she lives. (I got an ARC from NetGalley.)

Is it worth it?: This was incredibly hard to read and I think that’s what made it successful. If I make any cultural parallels (there are many!), it’ll give away the various twists, so I will just not. But if you like teenage angst and reading about beauty and power, while also feeling completely bleak inside, this is for you!

Pairs well with: Any Cassie-heavy episode of Euphoria

B-

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I found "I'm the Girl" to be a quick, suspenseful page turner. The plot revolves around a girl named George who dreams of bettering herself and as she is constantly told she is beautiful believes that the way to do that is with her looks and her body. Her mother has passed away and she is living with her older brother Tyler and they are struggling financially. She knows her mother wanted her to stay away from the fancy, exclusive club "Aspera" where her mother used to work. But George is trying to get hired on there as an Apsera Girl. Basically an elite group of young women who entertain the richest and most elite clients. To me it almost felt like a version of being a Playboy Bunny. Meanwhile, along the road that leads to Aspera, George finds the body of a missing 13 year old girl, Ashley James. Ashley's older sister Nora wants George to help her uncover what happened to her little sister. We spend a lot of time in George's head and for a good chunk of the book, I felt like George was an unreliable narrator because her thoughts are so twisted in how she sees herself and what she is willing to believe about herself and her mother... and Aspera. At the end of the book I decided on an average three star rating for this one. I don't like unreliable narrators and I also knew who 'done it' very early on. I had figured out all the twists well before George did and so I became a little annoyed by how willfully blind George had to be. That said, the book again was extremely engaging and a true page turner. I think that if you have previously enjoyed this author's work you will likely really enjoy this one as well.

Courtney Summers did it again! This book is gritty, dark and thrilling. It's incredibly difficult to put down once you start. I would recommend this to teens 16+, as there are heavy themes of sexual assault, murder, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Aside from those content warnings, this book is a fast paced mystery with plenty of twists and turns. The shady Member's Only Club, Aspera, feels all too familiar in today's world post Epstein. Georgia is an incredibly flawed character, but that makes this book and her journey feel very real.

Great for readers who are fans of crime novels, both true and fictional.

I love this book. I finished it in one day...I just couldn't put it down! There's a lot to unpack here, it's a pretty heavy book, so I'm going to make this short and sweet...I could go on forever about how I feel about this book!😅😮‍💨

I'm the Girl follows 16 year old Georgia Avis who survives a hit and run only to wake up and find the body of a missing and murdered local girl. When Georgia was hit she was on her way to Aspera, an exclusive club for the wealthy and powerful. It has always been Georgias dream to become an "Aspera girl" and climb her way out of poverty into the world of the elite and powerful. Now not only is she chasing her Aspera dreams, she's on a mission to solve this murder.

The writing is beautiful, and not only did it feel incredibly dark, we get a sense early on that Aspera is a cult, a sick and twisted place that we're not sure we should trust. Speaking of, I love unreliable characters, morally gray characters that you're unsure if you should trust, and this book was full of them!
The way the loose ends were tied up was satisfying and incredibly heartbreaking- Georgia's decisions throughout the book are MADDENING- you definitely do NOT forget that she is only 16...her naïveté blatant.

Trigger Warnings including but not limited to- trafficking, assault, murder, drug use, sex with a minor

Definitely an instant favorite for me, I can't wait to get a physical copy in my greedy little hands! If you've read this one, let's talk about it!!!!!

•I'm the girl comes out on September 13•

Thank you @netgalley & @wednesdaybooks for my copy of this thriller!

This story was almost too raw and real for me. It was devastating and brutal. It reminds me of how sometimes it’s hard to just be who you are.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A gutwrenching story of power, corruption, and gender-based violence, this book was very hard to read. I struggled to relate to the characters or understand why they made the choices they did, and the ending felt very bleak. Content warnings for sexual assault, rape, murder, and drug use.