Not Like Other Girls is an engaging debut that is a coming of age mystery and romance. This book had me hooked from the start, with Jo-Lynn journey from outcast to detective as she digs into the disappearance of her former best friend, Maddie Price.

I found myself constantly guessing what might have happened to Maddie. The fake dating trope was also a fun addition, and I really liked the chemistry between Jo and Hudson as they navigated their complicated history and worked together to find Maddie. I thought Jo’s character growth was well done, especially as she confronted the hurt and betrayal that led to her ostracism.

While the buildup was solid, some plot elements at the end felt a little out of place. Despite that, the overall experience was still enjoyable, and the underlying themes about how young women are treated and judged felt important and relevant.

Overall, if you’re a fan of YA mysteries with a touch of romance, “Not Like Other Girls” is definitely worth checking out.

Not Like Other Girls is a powerful debut novel that definitely lingers in your mind for a while after you finish the last page. It is hard to describe what this novel is about - because it isn't about any ONE thing. It is about consent, broken friendships, new friendships, sexual assault, new love, being failed by those who are supposed to be protecting you, losing direction, self-worth, secrets, telling your own story, speaking your truth, and being seen for who you really are and not the image others have created of you. The novel is raw and heart-wrenching at times but there are bright moments of humor and profound lessons that Jo-Lynn learns herself and that she teaches to others. Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this important novel.

Thank you, Meredith Adamo, for pulling me out of a major book hangover! I absolutely devoured this book. It had all of the teenage angsty drama that I live for and then some.

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥, 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙥, 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣—𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.“

Jo, my girl Jo, funny, sarcastic, witty and HURTING. Man oh man has this girl been through it. (DM me for triggers) My heart hurt for this girl in so many ways. She faced so much that many of us dealt with as teens and so much more. I’m so glad social media and taking pics with phones wasn’t a thing when I was in high school. Ugh, I’m showing my age here, but seriously Jo’s story can resonate with any woman. The need to be wanted and to be seen for her was so strong and SO NECESSARY. Her growth throughout this story was beautiful and painful and done so delicately.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄’𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨. 𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙅𝙤.”

I love the way this navigated childhood friendships, high school friends, repressed trauma, boundaries, and parental relationships. I loved the support system that Jo had in Hudson and Tess. HUDSON! Gah, what a sweetie. I love how The Birds finally showed up. Maddie’s disappearance was absolutely nuts and all the mystery surrounding it was both fun and frightening. That last bit had me on pins and needles. This book was hilarious but also very serious, immature but also very mature. The romance made my heart flutter with the newness of teenage love. Meredith Adamo’s writing utterly addictive and the way she balanced so much emotion with levity in this book just amazes me; she’s definitely one to watch!

Content: vague open/fade to black, some language

Thank you to Bloomsbury for a gifted copy. My thoughts are my own.

Jo-Lyn Kirby is seventeen years old and smart. Jo is struggling on academic probation and is trying to keep this from her parents. When Maddie (her former best friend) disappears, Jo feels guilty as Addie needed to talk to her but it didn’t happen. Jo gets involved in a scheme to find out what happened to Maddie. Will Jo find out? She works with Hudson, a guy she has a long history with. Jo and Hudson decide to be in a fake girlfriend and boyfriend scenario. There is friendly and playful exchange of teasing, funny, and finally a “touching” romance. Will the romance last? Eventually Jo’s past comes out showing her betrayal, bullying, and many instances of sexual harassment and assault. Jo has been excluded by the guys she used to be friends with. Why?

The author has written an edgy and raw mystery with twists and turns. It shows the complications of being a teenage girl. One important aspect of the story is understanding self-worth. At times it was a sad story for me to read as I could understand the situations she got herself into. The characters in the book were well developed. It’s a worthwhile novel to read regardless of your age.

Jo-Lynn Kirby is not like other girls. Part of this is by design, as her mother had her competing in beauty pageants from a young age and wanted to make sure she stood out from the crowd. But a lot of it is by accident, as Jo grows up hanging out with boys, whom she both enjoys and disdains, while secretly yearning to make a connection with girls her own age.

Then the summer before high school, a small miracle happens:

QUOTE
The first year the Prices lived across the street, I thought Maddie was snobby and uptight in her starched Our Lady of Lourdes uniform and patent leather shoes. She thought I was wild and unruly and way too boy crazy.

But neither of us had many–really, any–friends. Yes, I had those boys, but it wasn’t the same. They didn’t care if I felt invisible, so desperate to be seen, you know?

I practically screamed it: Just see me!

Finally, finally, someone did.

And when I looked at Maddie, I saw a girl who needed to be seen as badly as me.

The shift was stunning, sudden but seamless. Enemies, then friends. It was summer, and I was home alone, and so was she, so why not be alone together?
END QUOTE

Unfortunately, their friendship doesn’t long withstand the traumas of adolescence. By the time Jo and Maddie are both in their senior year at the prestigious Culver Honors High School, the girls are barely speaking to one another. Though, really, Jo is barely speaking to anyone at that point. Ever since her nudes were circulated among the student body, her only friend has been Miles Metcalf, the nerdy smart kid who’s well on track for valedictorian. He’s the only other student who hasn’t turned his back on her since the nudes made her a social pariah.

So when Maddie comes looking for her with a desperate, uncharacteristic plea, Jo’s knee jerk reaction is to decline. But she still has enough fond memories of their past together to agree to meet and talk about Maddie’s problem later on. When Maddie doesn’t show up for their meeting, Jo is understandably aggrieved. Her feelings change quickly when she learns that Maddie has gone missing. Everyone else seems to think that Maddie’s vanishing act is just a cry for attention, but Jo knows her former best friend. Something more complicated is going on, and Jo is determined to get to the bottom of it.

But investigating means having to make an effort to get back in with the rest of Culver’s student body. Jo’s life took a serious hit when her nudes got out, not just socially, but academically and emotionally as well. Will Jo be able to work through her pain to gather allies who will help her find Maddie, and perhaps rescue both her former best friend and herself in the process?

Not Like Other Girls is a heartbreaking book about a teenage girl who’s never been taught how to have friends, and whose parents, though never abusive, fail her over and over again. The way Jo learns how to stand up for herself, how to speak her truth and do what’s right not only for herself but also for others, is both inspiring and cautionary. As a parent, it was so hard for me not to feel that Jo didn’t have to suffer the way she did, if only her parents paid attention to her and cared enough to ask questions and, ultimately, listen. Instead, her mom says stuff like:

QUOTE
“You won’t try. You never do. That’s the trouble with girls like you.”

She means wild girls. Reckless girls. Difficult girls who talk back and slack off, who tease bright boys with even brighter futures and roll their eyes when other girls dare speak–not in a nasty way, necessarily, but not nicely either.

Or else find a synonym for “bad,” and that’s the kind of girl I am.

Was, I mean. Past tense. I’m trying–trying–to be better, or at least less terrible. But the trouble with girls like me is that screwing up comes to us so easily.
END QUOTE

Filled with startling plot twists and unexpected depth, this debut novel has a few rough spots but is ultimately a compelling portrait of a damaged young woman learning how to be a good friend. Jo is awful but at least she’s self-aware, and is capable of affecting change both in herself and in her environment. And that’s a good thing, not only for her continuing development into a decent human being trying to unlearn the misogyny ingrained into her, but also for her ability to unravel the complex webs that have trapped her former best friend, and to bring justice to those in desperate need of it.

Not Like Other Girls is not like other books that I have read this year. Each character is well written and narrated. It’s a powerful read and layered. Teen mystery intertwined with teen life. Jo is so much like many teenagers in the 2020’s. Her life is a mess and no one is there to pick her up. But they are there to put her down. I too often witness pre/teens with crappy home lives that carry over and are bullied in all areas of their lives. There is no happy space for them. Jo is strong and discovers who she is along the way.
When Jo’s friend, Maddie, goes missing, a friend from her past unites with her and they uncover many secrets about their town and classmates. Jo’s POV and insights were my favorite parts.
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for the ARC read in exchange for my review.

"But I guess that's the trouble with girls like me. We always get what we deserve."

This novel follows Jo-Lynn, or Jo, Kirby as she works to uncover the truth behind the sudden disappearance of her classmate and ex-best friend Maddie Price. Throughout the course of the novel, secrets come out and no one is safe from hiding their truth.

I really enjoyed all the landmark mentions of New York State and Rochester, where the story takes place. I also enjoyed how much insight Jo gave not only when it came to herself, but on everyone else in the story. She one of the most intuitive characters I've read in a YA novel in a very long time. The build-up to the climax was slow, but that didn't bother me because it allowed me to really piece together what we learned in the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel.

This book got me out of a reading slump and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsburg YA for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo was a remarkable debut!
I was so intrigued with this YA mystery.
This had me hooked almost immediately. It’s completely fast paced and layered.
I had a great time reading this. I was captivated from beginning to end. The plot enthralled me from beginning to end and I just adored the main character.
I thought Meredith Adamo’s writing was perfect, and the story as a whole was incredible.
I was totally entertained.

Thank You NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I was intrigued by this one from the beginning!

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Jo-Lynn. Before starting this one I didn’t realize that the main character had the same name as my daughter, only difference is that there is no hyphen. It was kind of hard to disassociate from the name, haha. Jo is in the middle of dealing with the fallout of her nude photos being shared throughout her school. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with this, but it is something that feels more common as almost every kid has a phone where as when I was in high school it wasn’t like that. I felt bad for her from the beginning and it was a shame that her friends basically left her to the way side.

There are a lot more plot points besides that one. Another big one is the missing school mate named Maddie. I love a good mystery and this one was no exception! It was hard to put down as I had to know what was going to happen. As a reader we only get glimpses and understanding at a slower rate, but it feeds on Jo understanding for herself what actually happened and really dealing with the emotions that have been left to be bottled up. It was really well done.

Overall, this was an enjoyable mystery with a really great message for teens. Those who like books by Courtney Summers will like this one.

I was a bit torn while reading NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS by Meredith Adamo because the beginning felt a bit too familiar; Courteney Summers (any title), Laurie Halse Anderson (SPEAK), and other authors have written about girls who are ostracized after sexual assault that was treated like a consensual encounter by the guy(s) involved. The mystery did give this story an additional element but the trauma Jo experienced and was grappling with overwhelmed everything else.

A mystery about a missing high school girl. Jo, her neighbor and former best friend until something changed their friendship forever, doesn't believe she ran away like everyone else thinks happened. This has mature content including drinking, sex, and sexual violence, making it a solidly high school book. I never fully embraced the story but readers who like realistic teen mysteries should like it. I read an ARC of this book with no formatting so that might have hindered my reading experience.

A lot going makes this story a little hard to follow. The undercurrent behind what Jo is dealing overwhelms the story. Sexual assault, scandal and high school drama all packaged together was too complicated for me.

How hard would you try looking for someone who fucked you over, especially when everyone else thinks she ran away? In Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo, Jo-Lynn knows something is up with Maddie and that she definitely didn’t run away. Too many things don’t add up. The only one who believes her is Hudson. Jo-Lynn had become a social pariah after someone leaked her nudes so fake dating Hudson is the perfect way to get back into people’s good graces. Along the way, Jo-Lynn makes more allies (and many enemies). But her goal stays the same: figuring out what happened to Maddie.
This book had literally everything I love: fake dating, a missing girl, social issues, humor, fucked up families, and sleuthing. As much as I loved every single plot point, I feel like it was maybe a little too jam packed. That’s my only complaint is that it had just a little bit too much going on but I honestly do think that every plot point played into the bigger picture so it’s also hard to figure out what should have been cut.
Not Like Other Girls got 4.5 ⭐️ from me and that’s a hard feat to achieve! It publishes April 30!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS is a very important YA book. It should be added to every high school library and classroom and placed in the hands of every teen you meet. It seems like just another fun YA mystery novel on the surface, but it is about so much more. It's about being 15 and wanting, no NEEDING to be taken seriously because you don't feel like a little kid anymore. It's about being 15 and vulnerable, taking those first steps into the adult world and not even knowing you need some allies to hold your hand. It's about getting betrayed by those supposed allies and having your literal most private moments and experiences shared without consent. It's about trauma and friendship and first love.

I loved how Adamo laid out all of these complicated emotions and situations. She peeled everything back layer by layer, letting us find out what happened at the same time the main character, Jo-Lynn (Jo), is processing and realizing how messed up what happened to her was. I loved Jo and I wish I could give her a BIG hug. NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS grapples with a lot of heavy subject material, but it's also somehow very funny and relatable. You can't help but reflect back on your own teen years and think about who you met along the way to your path to adulthood. Did you have the allies you needed to hold your hand? I hope you did. I wish Jo had too.

Seriously, get this for the teens in your life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA/Children's Publishing for the ARC of this book. Much appreciated.

Jo-Lynn Kirby is a seventeen-year-old junior in high school. Her former best friend, Maddie Price, disappears after asking Jo for help. Jo has been an outcast ever since her private photos were leaked, so she doesn’t know why Maddie would go to her for help. The police decide that Maddie has just run away on her own, but Jo suspects there’s more to her disappearance. She joins together with her former fling, Hudson, to figure out what happened to Maddie, but she ends uncovering her own secrets as well.

This was such an intense YA thriller. It was so hard to put down. I think readers who love awesome thriller writers like Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson will love this debut thriller!

Thank you Bloomsbury Books US and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book for part of a sponsored campaign.

Content warnings: sexual assault, rape, gaslighting

Not Like Other Girls is, on the surface, a mystery about a girl searching for the truth of what happened to her missing ex best friend. Beneath that, though, is the far more gripping and emotional story of a girl searching to understand the truth of what happened to herself.

Read this for:
-a complex, troubled yet relatable narrator and her powerful emotional arc
-the raw, nuanced and intelligent social commentary exploring what it's like to be a teenage girl and what it really means when you're "not like other girls"
-a mystery that will keep you turning the pages with a surprising end
-a fun fake dating romance that makes consent hot!!

I absolutely adored this book. More than that, it SPOKE to me in ways I didn’t know I needed. This needs to be read by every teenage girl and every former teenage girl on earth, as soon as possible.

I read this book as part of my work on an YA award committee, so, unfortunately, I am unable to give a review due to the rules of the committee.

I will be giving this book 5 stars because that is the standard rating I am giving for all books I read for the committee.

I do want to thank the publisher for this copy of the book. Please know that I did read it and consider it for my work on this committee. I will be sharing this book in my job with my students and promoting it in my library!

This book is about so much more than a missing girl. It’s about how hard relationships with parents, peers, teachers, and friends are when you’re a teenage. I read the book as fast as I could. I read in the car, I read while eating my meals, I read on my breaks at work. I read every second I could because I loved Jo Hyphen Lynn so much. She stuck with me even when I set the book down. Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA for the advanced ebook copy of this book.

This YA book was so good! 🙌 It's got a bit of everything - thriller, mystery, and romance - which kept me engaged the whole time and even though it is YA, it didn't feel YA, like it had way more grit to it!

🩶 Jo-Lynn was involved in a scandal, causing her to lose most of her friends. One day, her ex-best friend Maddie says that she needs her help - but before Jo-Lynn can find out why Maddie disappears. Worried that Maddie is in trouble, Jo-Lynn and another old friend, Hudson, plan to uncover where Maddie is.

🩶 Throughout this coming-of-age book, we watch Jo-Lynn evolve - in her friendships and relationships. I absolutely loved Jo-Lynn's character, and the narrator, Georgina Sadler, was amazing - their voice was a perfect fit.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury Boooks for my #gifted copy to read and review! #ad #sponsored

⚠️ Trigger warnings: SA