Courtney Summers is known for her books that hit hard, and this one is not an exception. I love her raw emotional, and realistic writing style. It is unique and outstanding. I'm the Girl was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it met my expectations. If you are not afraid that the book will leave you devastated and heartbroken, then I highly recommend it.

*My full review will come closer to the release date.

this whole book was just me thinking that tiktok sound “it’s hard to watch her be so.. dumb”. it was really frustrating to read

Courtney Summers is a genius.

As far as I'm concerned, that's not even up for debate. No one does it like her, for good reason! Summers is unafraid to keep her protagonists prickly and world-weary and unlikable, and she fearlessly takes on the myriad ways this world is built to hurt and exploit and overlook and fetishize girls. Summers herself has described I'M THE GIRL as the 'spiritual sequel' to SADIE, which seems to have confused some readers or led them to believe that this novel is retreading the same ground or attempting to 'outdo' her runaway hit. This is a misreading, both of Summers' goals with I'M THE GIRL and of the complicated narrative moves she's made in this novel. Like SADIE, I'M THE GIRL pulls at the threads of patriarchal power structures, revealing patriarchy's spider-like network of support systems, and like most of Summers' novels, it does so by hyper-focusing on a young woman whose life has been upended by unspeakable trauma.

Unlike Sadie, though, I'M THE GIRL's Georgia isn't cynical and jaded, hasn't been worn ragged by the cruelties of the world. George is a dreamer who is drawn to the glittering world of the elite and all the opportunity it represents, and she's just starting to understand the fickle power her beauty affords. After so many wise and weary Summers protagonists like Romy, Sadie, and Parker, Georgia's naïveté seems almost offensive. I spent much of the book wanting to shake her by the shoulders, to get her to wake up and see the horrible truth of Aspira and the Hayes that leers from every page, plain as day. But she doesn't, until it's far too late -- and this isn't a fault of George's but rather proof of how insidious this sort of abuse and exploitation is; it's so horrible, so unthinkable that it hides itself in plain sight, relying on the disbelief and obliviousness of others to turn a blind eye. If SADIE is a novel concerned with patriarchy (and the true crime genre)'s external manipulation and exploitation of girls and their traumas, then I'M THE GIRL is concerned with patriarchy's internal manipulation of girls -- that George longs to be an Aspira Girl without necessarily understanding the full implications of that title, longs to wield the power she thinks her beauty represents, is not a miscalculation on Summers' part but rather a sickening look at how sexual abusers have learned to co-opt third wave feminism's sex positivity into girls' internalized willingness to participate in their own abuse. (Which is not to say that the novel or Summers or I take an anti-sex work stance or a sex-negative stance! Rather, the novel brilliantly demonstrates how blurry the lines can be, particularly when some women have opted to gain whatever power they can by colluding with the patriarchy.)

I could write about this novel for ages -- it's thrilling and tender and sharp and soft. Summers never gets enough credit for the formal risks she takes in her books, but I was blown away by this novel's construction. A stellar, stellar read.

I couldn’t get into this one. I felt like I joined the story halfway through. DNFed at 20%. May try again with print copy

Once again Courtney Summers pens an addictive and relevant read that will keep readers glued to the pages! Whether your and adult or a young adult doesn't matter. Readers of all ages can enjoy this gripping read!

This one was REALLY good. I was hooked the whole time. I tried to predict what happened and who did what, but it kept having twists and made me clueless. I enjoyed the premise and the main character is absolutely my favorite. The ending was phenomenal! There are major trigger warnings (rape, dead bodies, etc) but it was a great and thrilling read. I truly enjoyed this book, would highly recommend everyone check it out!

I received this ARC was given to me to review from the publishers and NetGalley. All comments above are solely my true opinion after reading this book.

“I’m the Girl” by Courtney Summers is a powerful, gritty, cut-throat novel with a bold message delivered point-blank that readers cannot ignore. In this gut-wrenching queer thriller, readers are going to be pulled into a world full of beauty, charm, and wealth including deception, lies, and secrets. Once you’ve entered this world … it’s impossible to leave.

“Everyone knows I’ve found her, and in the exchange of all our meeting eyes, I can no longer tell if I’ve come out for this grim parade or if it’s come out for me.”

Georgia Avis never expected to find thirteen-year-old Ashley James dead. Sure, Ashley was a wild child and no one was surprised when she ran into trouble—or caused it. Yet, no one ever could have predicted Ashley’s antics would get her killed.

Who would hurt a young girl? And why?

These questions haunt Ashely’s older sister, Nora, who seeks out Georgia for answers since she was the one who found Ashley. Together, they try to find out who is responsible for Ashley’s death, hoping to bring the killer to justice before they can harm someone else. The more clues they uncover, the more Georgia is pulled into a life of wealth, privilege, and beauty. As Ashley’s killer goes to extreme lengths to cover their traces, Georgia begins to realize the life of money and power that she desired is more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.

Summers creates another electrifying, heart-pounding thriller with a sucker punch ending. It’s another addictive read Summers will have to add to her shelf of “emotionally scarring stories that readers will never forget.” This book definitely opens some wounds and people should be especially careful of any trigger warnings before reading. Otherwise, this is another powerfully written story with strong female protagonists who will stop at nothing to uncover the secrets they seek.

Readers will easily fall in love with Nora for her unflinching determination to hunt her sister’s killer. Georgia took a while to warm up to as sometimes her thinking and perception of the people and world around her felt very shallow, selfish and narrow-minded. Yet, Georgia’s circumstances and her family life back up her thoughts and emotions, which validates the way she understands herself and other people. Georgia does become quite an admirable character. Though she does have a few ups and downs and loses herself a bit along the way, she is someone who becomes aware of her self-worth and is driven by her need to create a better life for herself.

“I’m the Girl” is not a story to cozy up with. It will leave a lot of people feeling unsettled and asking themselves several questions along the way. When picking up this book there is one important question all readers will have to answer … “Are you The Girl?”

“I’m the Girl” hits shelves on September 13th, 2022! A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for inviting me to read a free e-arc of Courtney Summer’s newest title and providing me with the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Courtney Summers for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. It’s as shocking, disturbing, and realistic as Sadie was and I finished it in a day.

This book follows Georgia Avis, a queer girl who dreams of becoming someone. She believes the way to achieve this is by becoming an Aspera girl and working at the resort. She then finds the dead body of a girl that’s been murdered and her world turns upside down. She starts working with Nora, the girl’s sister, to find out what happened and starts to expose what’s truly happening at Aspera.

This book hurt to read because of Georgia’s narration. It was sad seeing that she truly believes these people and thinks that she’s climbing up in the world, when she’s really just being taken advantage of. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending - I sort of expected it, but I feel like it could have been expanded upon a little bit more.

This is a difficult book and I’m not sure that I “enjoyed” it, but that’s how Courtney Summers books are. It was well-written, gripping, and it brought up some very important and relevant topics. I highly recommend it.

Courtney Summers has done it again with her latest novel, "I'm the Girl". What an awesome story this was from the first page to the last.

I have a number of Courtney Summers books lined up to read - but I know that reading the next one will be difficult - so I let them pile up. However, when I was approved to read “I’m the Girl,” by Ms. Summers I had to mentally prepared myself - be aware there are going to be trigger warnings, be aware that the ending is not going to be happy, and be aware to be thinking about this book long after you’ve finished reading it.

On the surface, this book seems like a simple murder mystery - Georgia Avis, being raised by her brother Tyler, discovers the dead body of thirteen year old Ashley James, daughter of a policeman and sister to Nora, who Georgia has long had a crush on. Nora and Georgia decide to try to find Ashley’s murderer. But this is a Courtney Summers book - and nothing in this is “simple.” Once Georgia starts working at Aspera, an exclusive resort, and, basically, end up going down a rabbit hole of power, control, vulnerability, manipulation, deceit, and everything in between.

While reading this book, I was struck by a few things - that sound really odd - when mentioned separately: Epstein and 1950s Hollywood. Epstein and Maxwell came to mind because, well, just read the book. When Georgia described the beauty of the Aspera Girls, I immediately thought of Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth - two beautiful (and talented) 1950s movie stars. As one learns more about the Aspera Girls, I thought of both women’s unfortunate upbringing and how men they loved and/or respected treated them. Ms. Summers did mention that Marilyn Monroe influenced this book - something I didn’t know until afterwards.

I can never say that I enjoy a Courtney Summers books - but I always look forward to reading her next book when I learn it is coming out. Ms. Summers deals with difficult subjects and this book is no exception.

Read an eARC from NetGalley
Content warning: statutory rape (graphic), child sexual abuse, kidnapping, car accident, vomiting, stalking, blackmail

Georgia Avis is a queer girl who wants one thing: to be one of the girls serving the rich and the famous as an Aspera Girl. She collects her modelling photos from But on her way home from collecting some headshots, she stumbles upon the body of a 13-year-old. What then starts is a passionate pursuit of the girl George is meant to be while the house of cards falls apart to reveal a rotten core that feels all too real.

Bleak in the way that exploring the way power and wealth take advantage of girls’ search for validation, this book is a search for autonomy starring deeply flawed, messy, compelling girls.

If you’re at all familiar with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and stories from his survivors, this book has echoes of it in its set-up. There is a powerful man and his partner who have massive wealth from vague sources. They make promises and push the envelope in terms of trust at every opportunity. It is disturbing and deeply upsetting.

Repeated throughout the book is the notion that the world belongs to men, and women can try to wrangle what control they have from that system, but eventually it backfires. It’s cruel, brutally honest, and the journey to the ending is heart-obliterating.

This book takes place in the same slice of contemporary fiction as Sadie (there’s a nice reference about a third of the way in). The exploration of sisterhood definitely makes it a companion piece, with Nora’s search for what happened to her younger sister Ashley shares some echoes. But it’s a side plot that illuminates what could happen to George, even as she convinces herself that she’s different.

George is a girl who likes girls, but the plot isn’t about that. It does add a layer of stakes and another boundary between her and the man who runs Aspera. Every time it feels that George gets some autonomy, it’s another two steps backward. The perspective here is so firmly George’s. The depiction of her trying to use her beauty as a tool is uncomfortable when you (and others in the text) remember that she’s only sixteen. She is a child who was forced to grow up quickly after losing her mother and essentially having to be raised by her brother. There are perfectly reasonable reasons for the adults in her life to not share the gritty details, but Summers manages to make George’s frustration so familiar.

All you want throughout the narrative is for George to be right, that her beauty is power and the world is hers, but this is a Courtney Summers book, so prepare to have those hopes shattered.

I really enjoyed Courtney Summers' latest novel I'm the Girl. The initial tone set throughout the book is unsettling and Summers does a great job of keeping that unsettled tension throughout the novel. There's no mistaking that this will not be a fairytale.
Georgia Avis dreams of being an Aspera girl, whose actual position is vaguely defined until the latter half of the work. Being an Aspera girl is a position that affords prestige and a way out of poverty. Summers uses the exclusivity of the Aspera girl as a way to allude to what the girls might have to do in order to obtain such access to wealth. Georgia's mother is dead, father absent, and she is being raised by her older brother, Tyler. When Georgia finally get the in to Aspera she wants, partly due to the discovery of a dead thirteen year old, her world is opened to what exactly being an Aspera girl entails.
While I like the title, and would recommend to adults, I wouldn't put this in my library due to the mature themes and abundance of triggers.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of I'm the Girl.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Didn’t see that ending- her best yet!

Thank you NetGalley and Courtney Summers for the chance at an early read. Wow, this was just such a story that sucks you in in the most shocking way. CW galore, this isn’t an easy read. George has always wanted to be an Aspera girl after being picked up on the side of the road and called beautiful by the provocative secretive owner of this elite club filled with the rich and powerful of the world. After 13 year old Ashley is found by George murdered, her choices and path begin down a literal and figurative road she may not be able to turn away from. This example of corrupt power has mirrorings of Harvey Weinstein, and (if you’re a twin peaks fan) reminds me a hell of a lot like One Eyed Jacks. This is a tough read but seeing George come to terms with not only the power of her body but also how fragile you feel growing up is so real.

It's a bit difficult to describe the experience of reading I'M THE GIRL by Courtney Summers. The author has created a compelling character in Georgia: she is very confident and (seemingly) grounded in how she believes the world operates. Summers manages to give the reader the opportunity to see things Georgia can't even though the story and POV is Georgia's. This creates a very disconcerting read, especially as a reader wonders when Georgia will understand the title of her own story I'M THE GIRL. It makes the book impossible to stop reading.

I'M THE GIRL is a hard read, though, in that the violence toward young girls and young women is relentless. Having read several books by Summers, she takes big issue with the treatment of teenage girls and does not hesitate to take it on in raw, hard-hitting stories. I appreciate that and I especially appreciate how she digs into complex, thorny issues, such as how women can also perpetuate and enable the horrible wrongs perpetrated by men.

Although I finished the book several days ago, I still have mixed feelings about the ending. Of course, I knew it wouldn't be a perfectly packaged, happy ending. This is a Courtney Summers book! But it does feel like it ends a few beats too early. I don't want to reveal anything, but this reader wanted a bit more time between the last big event and the last page of the book.

I, in what you're going to have to believe is an incredibly rare occasion, really don't know what to say. It's moving and painful and a somewhat confusing and occasionally joyous and all of that for the one single reason that...it's true.

#NetGalley #I’mTheGirl

This book is devastating, sumptuous, and impossible to put down. The story belongs to Georgia, a 16-year old girl who survives a criminal act, only to find a girl even younger than she is in the woods who was not as lucky. Both girls are adolescent, but in the bleak and hopeless community Summer allows them, there is little chance for redemption. Here, the men are good-ole-boy monsters, and the women protect and enable them. Hope is scarce, although there is a protective older brother, and an older woman who takes Georgia under her wing. Summers writes that the book posits a question she hopes her readers will have the courage to answer. Highly recommended for readers who love suspense and razor-edged writing. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Haunting and sad. It's frustrating how the world is and courtney took that head on. It angers me for the girls in the book.

I've been obsessively following Courtney Summers newsletter for details on her upcoming book, I'm The Girl. She's posted on social media about how this book is set in the same world as Sadie. If that doesn't give you any indication of how brutal this book is, then I don't know what will.

When I got the email about review copies for I'm The Girl, I immediately accepted.....and then I read the entire thing today. I'm so emotionally drained from this story. The energy of this book is raw and real. It does a deep dive into the power hungry people who seem to have the run of the world. These people enable abusers and will go to great lengths to protect themselves and the good 'ole boys.

It hurt me to read this book.
But the power behind the words is what makes this story one of Summers' best books yet.
Sadie broke my heart but I'm The Girl obliterated it.

I'm The Girl hits shelves September 13, 2022.

Huge thanks to St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for sending me an e-ARC.

Courtney Summers never fails to write a book that feels like a punch to the gut. She had me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire book up until that bitter ending. 5 stars!