Trigger warning for SA. This book was SO good. I loved the mixed media storytelling and I absolutely couldn't put it down! I never read on my phone and I had my Kindle app on it open WAY to late at night wanting to read more.

Girls Like Her* is a hard-hitting, emotional novel that pulls no punches in its portrayal of a fifteen-year-old girl’s fight for justice. Ruby Monroe’s journey is raw and heartbreaking as she navigates the criminal justice system, accused of murder with little to no support. As Ruby waits in a Dallas jail, her only hope lies in her state-appointed caseworker, Cadence Ware, who must find a way to clear Ruby’s name before it’s too late.

What makes *Girls Like Her* stand out is its unique narrative structure, told through a combination of letters, meeting notes, news articles, and court transcripts. This format provides readers with an intimate understanding of Ruby’s world—her thoughts, fears, and perspectives—as well as the insights of Cadence, who becomes an unexpected ally in Ruby’s fight. The dual perspectives create a multifaceted portrayal of Ruby’s character, and the shifting viewpoints keep the story engaging and dynamic.

The setting of Dallas adds a layer of realism to the story, and as a Texas native, I found the local references and context particularly compelling. Sumrow expertly weaves the socio-economic divide and the biases that plague the justice system into the narrative, making it a poignant commentary on how underprivileged individuals, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, are often overlooked and unfairly prosecuted.

The twist ending is as surprising as it is heartbreaking, further underscoring the book’s central theme: how the system fails those who need help the most. *Girls Like Her* is a powerful, unflinching exploration of injustice, empathy, and the struggle to be heard in a world that often turns a blind eye to the most vulnerable. It’s a compelling and thought-provoking read that will resonate long after the final page is turned.

Absolutey stunning. Reminds me of Deposing Nathan by Zach Smedley. Don't know how to talk about my feelings about it without spoiling everything but yes absolutely yes.

A raw, gripping, authentic, and boldly original novel about a fifteen-year-old Texas girl set to stand trial for murder—and the one person who might be able to help her clear her name.

LOVED THIS!!!!
Everything you want in a YA Thriller/Mystery. I loved the trial running alongside the story and us finding things out via that and not just through Ruby's letters or her correspondence with Cadence.

Part of the ending was expected but I had not pieced it all together properly so there was still a little shock factor there for me.


I rated this 4 stars!

Wow! I loved that this book took place in Dallas, TX and was accurate. The authors note in the novel was full of facts and it was obvious she had a dedication towards this topic and wanting to further educate others.

Both heartbreaking and eye-opening. I had a hard time putting this book down. It really opened my eyes to teens in the justice system. I also really liked the format the story was told in.

Girls like her is a dark, raw and gripping read, it certainly isn't what I expected. It was written really well giving the story via letters, transcripts and flashbacks, it gave an harrowing insight into the US justice system and opened my eyes as a reader to the raw emotions. I felt for Ruby and I thought her character was greatly created. This story was powerful and one that certainly leaves a mark

I want to start by saying that this is not a light hearted, feel good book where everything is rainbows. this is dark, important & necessary. This was an incredibly powerful & moving book. It’s told through a collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles & court transcripts; which adds even more of a realistic sense to the book.

The story goes between past and present. The POV switches between Ruby & Cadence. Whilst this was great to see in the mind of both characters, I don’t feel any of the plot/mystery was easily predictable. I enjoyed getting to know them both. I was fully engrossed throughout the whole time. The mixed media made this book even better in my opinion. I loved reading the court transcripts and the letters to Maya. I feel it was paced perfectly, nothing felt missing and everything came together in the end.

Ruby is such a complex character who is easily misunderstood and judged for her history, as well as being poorer than the rest. The prosecutor is particularly hard on her for these reasons. I think the writer did a brilliant job of writing about the injustices in the system. Things like this are so important to shed light on. Melanie did an incredible job of creating such a powerful, thought provoking book. it kept me thinking about it for days on end. There is an incredibly important message in this book and I feel it is a necessary read for everyone.

thank you to harper 360 for a copy of this book. all opinions are my own.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5/5

“Girls Like Her” is a gripping, raw, and deeply emotional novel that plunges readers into the harsh realities of the American justice system, seen through the eyes of fifteen-year-old Ruby Monroe. Accused of murdering a wealthy businessman, Ruby finds herself alone, distrustful, and facing a trial that could condemn her to a life behind bars. The only person who seems to care is Cadence Ware, her state-appointed caseworker, but trust doesn’t come easily to Ruby, especially after everything she’s endured.

Told through an inventive mix of letters, court transcripts, meeting notes, and flashbacks, the story slowly peels back the layers of what really happened on that fateful day. The epistolary format works well here, adding an extra layer of suspense and making it hard to put the book down. Each short chapter feels like a cliffhanger, pulling you deeper into Ruby’s world and making you desperate to know how it all ends.

What really stands out about “Girls Like Her” is how it captures the brutal and often unforgiving nature of the world, especially for young girls like Ruby who have been let down by the adults in their lives. The book doesn’t shy away from heavy topics, with content warnings for violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and child abuse—so readers should approach with caution. The realism of Ruby’s struggles is both heartbreaking and enraging, particularly when it comes to the failures of those who should have protected her.

That said, while the story is undeniably compelling, it does have its flaws. The repetitive nature of Ruby’s refusal to accept help and the constant recounting of her confrontations became a bit tiresome. I found myself wanting more variety in the depiction of her time in jail, perhaps a deeper exploration of her inner thoughts or the day-to-day realities of her incarceration, beyond just the fights and resistance.

The ending packs a punch with a surprising twist that I didn’t see coming, which left me both shocked and impressed. Ruby’s journey, along with Cadence’s own character development, makes for a powerful narrative, even if the pacing sometimes feels uneven.

Final thoughts: “Girls Like Her” is a powerful and gritty legal thriller that offers a sobering look at the justice system and the lives it entangles. While it has some pacing issues and can feel repetitive at times, the overall story is strong, with a memorable main character and a narrative style that keeps you hooked. It’s a tough read, but one that’s worth the emotional investment. If you’re a fan of raw, realistic stories with a strong social message, this one should be on your list.

This review highlights the book’s strengths while also addressing its minor shortcomings, providing an honest and thoughtful assessment that aligns with a 3.5-star rating.

This was a very hard hitting and emotional contemporary novel about crime, circumstance and the way we see victims/perpetrators involved in these cases. The book follows the main character Ruby, who is set to stand trial for murder. Ruby is alone and has no one to turn to until a support worker is sent in to get her side of the story in order to try and help Ruby with this process and reduce her sentence. Because of Ruby's background we see that trusting people doesn't come naturally to her, but as the reality of her situation becomes more real she realises that Candace her counselor might be the only person that can turn her life around. This book is told in dual timeline which added to the mystery, suspense and divulging of information. This also helped with the pacing and kept me intrigued throughout the book as I felt like I needed to know what was happening in the run up to the trial and the trial itself. I really loved the way the author included the collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles, court transcripts, and more, Girls Like Her is a story that highlights the injustices that young people can face in the American justice system due to prejudices and pre-conceived ideas of what these individuals are like. It was a powerful story that will stay with me and I would highly recommend it. This is definitely a story I would like to purchase for our library.
I would give it 4.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc to read and preview.

This was an eye opening book which talks about law, court and the reality behind sex trafficking. I was so heartbroken by the cruelty of the story in a good way.
The author knowing about law makes this story more realistic. To find the answer to every "what if?" was so stressful.
Epilogue of this book made me realise why author wrote this story which made me realise the harsh realities of this society..,....
There are news transcripts, articles, notes which is my favourite thing ever to see in a book.. enjoyed it so much

First off this is not an easy read, it tackles some very heavy topics like sexual violence, trafficking, abuse and murder. But it is written well, I feel like it was using these topics to highlight some very real problems we have in society. The main character is on trial for murdering someone and the whole story is told through a collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles, court transcripts, and more. This really helps to show the full scope of what is happening. I found the main character to not be that likeable, but that ties in with the story as to why people are so quick to write her off. Also if you had been through half of the stuff she had I doubt you would want to be likeable. This narrative had me engrossed, I really wanted to know what would happen to her and how her lawyers would help her. This is not a pleasant topic but the author handled it with care and made me really feel for the character.

A brilliant but slightly terrifying look at America's justice system and how it fails the people who need it the most. I found parts of this really hard to read, but I'm glad I pushed through and kept reading. Amazing.

Melanie always blows me away with taking mature topics and altering it to appeal to kids and now young adults. The reality of Girls Like Her is that it's not the mushy, feel good, can't put down because I want more book, but more can't put down because I have to figure out what happens and why. The book was intense, yet realistic. As someone who loves watching True Crime, Melanie definitely seemed to do her research and wrote to appeal to those who need to hear it, want to read it. Make sure you read through the trigger warnings, again, it's not feel good. Overall, the story kept me on my toes, brought some emotion, and had me guessing. Highly recommend.

This was a powerful but devastating read about a fifteen-year-old girl on trial for murdering a well-loved and influential millionaire. I enjoyed the format of the story as it was told through trial transcripts, letters between Ruby and her friend, and conversations between Ruby and her social worker Cadence. It took Ruby several months, but she eventually developed trust with Cadence and slowly started telling her her heartbreaking story in preparation for her trial. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

This was a very hard hitting and emotional contemporary novel about crime, circumstance and the way we see victims/perpetrators involved in these cases.
In this book we follow our main character Ruby who is set to stand trial for murder. Ruby is alone and has no one to turn to until a support worker is sent in to get her side of the story in order to try and help Ruby with this process and reduce her sentence. Because of Ruby's background we see that trusting people doesn't come naturally to her, but as the reality of her situation starts to dwell on her she realises that Candace might be the only person that can turn her life around.

This book is told in dual timeline which added to the mystery, suspense and divulging of information. This also helped with the pacing and kept me intrigued throughout the book as I felt like I needed to know what was happening in the run up to the trial and the trial itself.

Told through a collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles, court transcripts, and more, Girls Like Her is a story that highlights the injustices that young people can face in the American justice system due to prejudices and pre-conceived ideas of what these individuals are like. It was a powerful story that will stay with me and I would highly recommend it.

This was such an interesting book. It’s been a long time since I’ve read an epistolary book that was about something like this. Usually it’s all text messages or DMs, so this was enjoyable. But it was so much heavier than I thought it would be.

Ok so I hadn’t heard about this book until I was at TLA earlier this year. It wasn’t one that they were putting much marketing behind, so of course it was one that I was most excited about. The main character is incarcerated and awaiting trial for murder. But her story is of course, not as simple as it seems.

I know this might be weird, but I think what I liked most about this was the short chapters and the short like trial excerpts throughout the book. And each one ends on something like a cliff hanger or has like a bomb shell ending. It was very hard for me to stop reading at night because I wanted to keep going. It was so good and that format kept me hooked.

This is another one where we get all her information at the end of the story. But the beginning was a little different. Because it had something to work toward, it was ok. The only reason it didn’t necessarily work, was the repetitiveness. She spent the entire book acting like she didn’t need help or want it and she wasn’t listening to anyone, and it was the same way in scene after scene. And that got annoying. I think it would have been better had they showed some of her time in her cell or something other than all the fights she got in being recounted. Idk, I just got bored the more repetitive it got.

The ending was like a bit of a bombshell. I don’t want to say anything to give anything away, but I thought it was badass. I really wish I could shake all of their hands. Because that was excellent work. AND I just want to add on that this is yet another book where I hated every adult in it. What is it with y’all that don’t watch or talk to your kids? Why have them if you’re going to treat them like this? I know her mom’s excuse, but geez. To not even try now? To sell her out for a shorter sentence?! Gross

This was a hell of a book. I don’t want to say much because this is a slow moving legal thriller that will have you trying to guess the plot twist from the very beginning. But even though it’s so good, it is also filled to the brim with content warnings Please be mindful of them when reading.

Thank you Harper 360 YA for a copy of this book.

This is a harrowing story based around circumstances that are very real for so many people. This story is about poverty, drugs and sex trafficking. When Ruby is jailed for killing a well known millionaire, the justice system wants to trial as an adult. The story is told through newspaper articles, court transcripts, letters and meetings Ruby has with her social worker. It looks at whether someone can be a victim when they have committed a crime.

The writer does a brillant job of creating a thought provoking and harrowing piece of literature that may be fictional, yet is only one story of many real ones that exist today. The authors note was vital to this story too, an experience lawyer working on criminal cases, this writer has used her experiences to bring attention to the issue of child trafficking, abuse and the flaws that still exist in the American justice system.

I want to say I enjoyed this book, but I don’t think that’s their right thing to say for this kind of book. A book that talks about the many horrid ones humans can hurt and dehumanise other humans. How children are still not protected from these horrid people and situations and that the law is failing its people time after time.

This books is an important and harrowing story about society and how it treats girls.

This story is heartbreaking and not for the faint hearted. We meet Ruby, who is on trial for murder, as a fifteen year old girl who has been through hell already. Her story is one that is not unheard of in the United States and to read such a stark description of all this fictional girl has gone through makes you worried for those in her shoes out in the real world. To say I enjoyed this book feels wrong in a way as it is such a harrowing story but, the way the story was told in both written sections, court transcripts and letters felt really engaging and I raced through wanting to know how this ended. The author wrote a story that was both informative about things that these girls can go through and well written in a way that never goes into too much detail for a book labelled young adult. I would recommend this book with caution as there are many trigger warnings for those who wish to read Ruby's story but, it is definitely one to read.

A 15 year old on trail for murder with no one who seems to support her. This is the story of Ruby. Even though this book is fictional, it could have been realistic. This book really shows another side of the legal system in America. The story is told through letters, flashbacks, court transcripts and meetings between Ruby and her social worker. How did Ruby end up in jail? What will her sentence be?

In the beginning I had to search for the direction of the story. You’ll dive right into Ruby’s story making it hard to understand why she is in jail. However during the story more and more developments take place and the flashbacks make you understand Ruby.

This book has some trigger warnings for violence, sexual assault, sex traficking, drug and alcohol use and child abuse. Ruby has gone through a lot and she doesn’t trust anyone. However her social worker seems to build a bond with her, making Ruby more open.

Girls Like Her is a good book and Ruby is a great main character. The whole story just felt so real. This book also has great movie potential, since I feel like this book features a story that deserves to be told. In jail you are fragile and vunerable. With everyone against you, you must keep your hopes up and trust in yourself and the system. I really enjoyed reading Girls Like Her and give it a 4 star rating.