I've been a big Courtney Summers fan for years so I'm always excited when she has a new book. This wasn't an easy read in terms of subject matter, but that's to be expected from her books. Well-written, gripping.

Summers new novel is gripping, addictive and hard to put down. When Georgia is run down while riding her bicycle home on a dark road, she ends up finding the body of 13 year old Ashley. Ashley was brutally murdered, quite closely to the Aspera Resort.

Aspera has long been linked as the exclusive resort for all kinds of “executives” and famous people to live out their dreams - even if that includes request for “Aspera Girls” - beautiful young women at the beck and call for the executive floor.

Georgia dreams of becoming an Aspera Girl, but gets hired at the resort as an apprentice. She also starts helping Ashley’s sister, Nora (her biggest crush) explore Ashley’s mysterious death.

I loved the LGBTQ+ addition to this story. TW for sexual assault, grooming, predators.

Thank you, Wednesday Books, for allowing me to read I'm the Girl early!

Courtney Summers is a writer like no other. A writing style that is brutal and raw, in the most beautiful and emotional way. Thrilling and completely addictive, I'm the Girl delves into the not-so-hidden secrets of beauty and its destructive power. I'm obsessed with this story.

This thought-provoking thriller was smart and bold. Although I felt like the identity of Ashley’s murderer was pretty clear from the start, that didn’t diminish the book thanks to its extra doses of social commentary and elegant writing.

courtney summers does it again! propulsive, fast paced and action packed, i can't think of a summers book better than this one; this may well be her best work to date.

Courtney Summers absolutely killed it with “I’m the Girl”. Thrill, suspense, and very human relationships, I think this book is site to be a YA smash hit for fans of Karen McManus.

** A copy of I'm The Girl was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

Courtney Summers does it again! I'm The Girl is gripping and haunting, but still manages to hit you with all the emotions. The story is a rollercoaster, and is a very in-depth look at trauma, grief, female ambition, and the price of secrets.

Sidenote: Can we please get matching covers in the style of Sadie and Cracked Up to Be?

As a reader, I always know that going into a Courtney Summers book means that there will be no happy ending, in fact, you will be utterly devastated by the end of the journey. Now, does this make me back away from reading them? No. Maybe I’m a masochist or maybe I prefer unhappy endings in art (what can I say? Watching Romeo & Juliet at 4 has fucked up my expectations).

Georgia Avis has grand expectations for herself and she’s convinced that working at the exclusive resort Aspera will bring her in close contact with people who matter and will help her kickstart her dreams. Although life for her takes a dark turn when she stumbles upon the dead body of 13-years old Ashley James and the killer is still on the loose and has stolen Georgia’s modeling photos. In order to repay her brother back of the $4k she stole to pay for her modeling photos, Georgia gets a job at Aspera, but is sad when she’s not offered to become an “Apera girl” but rather is left to work in an office alone.

Georgia yearns for the life of the rich and famous, thinking that it will save her from her boring existence, but she doesn’t know the price one truly has to pay to sometimes get the things they want. There’s a particular scene in the book that is equal parts disturbing and horrifying as you see how a man in power manages to expertly manipulate Georgia into thinking that she actually has the power, while in reality she never did.

The thriller/murder mystery aspect of the novel was expertly executed and I loved how everything fell into place without feeling like it came out of the left field for the sake of a twist.

The ending will leave you feeling both frustrated and helpless, but knowing that in the circumstances Georgia was in, it was going to be a given that she’d never had the upper hand.

Another deliciously binge-worthy read that will have you flipping the pages as you get immersed in the decadent world of Aspera while leaving you with a serious case of FOMO like Georgia as she wonders what is going on the executive floor.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press & Wednesday Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Georgia always always dreamed of being Someone. She wants to be an Aspera Girl, women hired by the exclusive resort to cater to their most important clientele. When the body of a young girl, Ashley, is found near Aspera, Georgia teams up with the murdered girl’s sister, Nora, to get to the bottom of things. I’m the Girl dives into so many incredibly relevant issues in a way that always feels genuine. The book made me absolutely anxious and I couldn’t put it down until I reached the end. It’s intense, honest, and an interesting study in the dynamics of power.

This book was everything I wanted it to be from Courtney Summers!!! Books don't have to be horror for them to be spine tingling like this one was. It felt so realistic like it could happen to anyone in the world which is true. There are girls who have had to fight what our main character Georgia goes through in this book.
She is told that she could be an Aspera Girl and she did everything she could to become one despite her late mother trying her best to push her away from it.

We watch as Georgia grieves and deals with each day at a time after the death of her friend Ashley is found in the forest, raped and murdered. Everything about Georgia's story is scary and realistic and I was happy to have been invited to review it.

I was looking to read something different when I came across “I’m a Girl” by Courtney Summers. This book was certainly it. Part New World, part psychological thriller, the novel focuses on Georgia who comes across the body of Ashley. The search of this girl’s killer leads her into the world of Aspera, a place where the most privileged flourish and Georgia may not survive.

While the message of the book is clear, I admit that I probably wasn’t the intended reader for this novel—it was a difficult read, but that was partially because of how thought-provoking this story was. Courtney Summers certainly has a vast readership and her fans will certainly love this story, but unfortunately, this was not for me.

Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, Courntey Summers for the eARC in exchange for my review

Absolute winner! Welcome to the world of power and privilege where women or doing whatever they can to basically make it. I absolutely loved this book. The main character was relatable and I absolutely routed for her! Definitely recommend.

Well that's like a sucker punch. I had an inkling of where the story was going but it zigged a little and still left me breathless. Georgia is 16. Ashley is 13. This is really important to know before you read the book bc it does not shy away from the horrors that can be inflicted on young women and how the adults that are supposed to care for them, are the monsters under the bed. But we have all learned the lesson of whose world it is and how we can live within in. This is in the same world that Sadie exists but in a completely different way.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of I’M THE GIRL by Courtney Summers in exchange for my honest review.***

Being approved for an ARC of I’M THE GIRL is like winning the lottery and I jumped into the book as soon as I downloaded the galley.

Reeling from finding the body of a dead teen then being hit by the murderer’s car Georgia doesn’t want to team up with the girl’s sister Nora. Georgia has ambitions of a bigger life than her deceased mother’s, dreams her mother tried to thwart. Solving a murder isn’t part of the plan. After losing money to an unscrupulous photographer promising her a modeling career, Georgia wants a job as an Aspera Girl at an exclusive resort where discretion is *everything*. But everything can be relative.

Courtney Summers pushes the boundaries of comfort with sexual innuendo both appropriate and inappropriate. It made me question my own thoughts on the age of consent, manipulation and attraction. Georgia oozed both sexuality and innocence. In my day, high school students sometimes had parent approved relationships with adults. At most it was considered inappropriate, never a crime if both consented. The idea of a teenager being too young to consent wasn’t part of the discussion. Decades later we know more about power and grooming and the vulnerability of minors as well as sex trafficking.

I’M THE GIRL pushes the boundaries of legality. At times Georgia appears to be steering interactions, though behind her behavior is the naïveté of a young woman who doesn’t consider the potential consequences of her actions. While the responsibility always lies with the adult who crosses the line, the reality is that some people still wonder if she “led him on”. When “him” is “her” all bets are off as to how outsiders will perceive blame.

Without directly asking those questions, Courtney Summers made me squirm mad question what I *know* with what I experienced and the culture when I was Georgia’s age. I wondered what charges, if any, a prosecutor would deem viable.

I’M THE GIRL evokes a plethora of emotions, some conflicting. Though not every reader will love this often disturbing book, I’M THE GIRL is a brave exploration of both the beautiful and ugly sides of a teen’s emotional and sexual awakening.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this book. I enjoyed it, but the perspective is so unusual that it kind of threw me off balance. I feel like most of the time when we see a character like Georgia, she's just a victim or a cautionary tale, so seeing her POV as the main character felt both refreshing and somehow dangerous. Some of the developments with Aspera and the Hayeses were predictable, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Excellent psychological thriller by a great author. Keeps you guessing & reading throughout. Ending was disappointing in my opinion & the reason I gave it 4 stars ⭐️ instead of 5. Didn’t like the way it left the entire plot just hanging. 😞

This gripping, addictive, riveting cutthroat wild ride makes you numb for hours! You keep giving empty looks, staying speechless as the whirlwind thoughts occupy your mind!

Another bold, depressing story is coming from Courtney Summers hit you like a sucker punch! Her words make you dizzy, disturbed, flabbergasted, shocked!

This book is telling the ugly realistic Aspera world ruling entire town, wrapping law enforcement around its finger. This is the real, bleak, ruthless, vicious world where only money, power and beauty rule!

Georgia Savis wants to be a part of this world by acting her dead mother’s wishes: she wants to be privileged Asperan girl. She wants to be adored. She wants to glow! She wants to feel the pure love!

But her mother’s words keep repeating in her head: “it’s better to know who you are than who you think you’re meant to be.”

Georgia’s life changes when she gets attacked, left in the middle of the road after she’s found 13 years old Ashley James, raped and brutally killed. The same people committed the murder might be her attackers who not only hit her with their car, they also stole her bike, left her unconscious. And she keeps telling the victim’s father Justin James who is the sheriff and her elder sister Nora: she didn’t see the faces of the perpetrators.

She’s lucky enough to be found and taken care by Chloe-Matthew Hayese who perfectly sit on the throne of Aspera Empire, giving Georgia a summer job that help paying the debts after stealing from her brother.

She thinks if she behaves and earns trusts of Hayeses, the sky is the limit.

But there are still unanswered questions out there: who killed Ashley James? Who stole her intimate photos she planned to use for her modeling career? What secrets are hidden behind the closed doors of Aspera?

Georgia is complex, flawed, struggling character who is way too much naive, allured by the pure beauty, lost, loveless, sad, lonely. Only thing she wants to be cherished, loved unconditionally, kissed, held! You get every right to get angry of her obtuseness, naivety. She created a dreamy world in her head and Aspera is the kingdom of the fairytale she’s written. But when the harsh reality collided into her dreams, only thing she is forced to do is waking up from that dreamy world and accept frightening nightmares of her own life!

This book is thought provoking, sad, intriguing!

I loved the bitter ending! Absolutely another heartbreaking, well executed, impeccably written book from Ms. Summers!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.