I began this audio-book but struggled to engage with it. Regrettably, it didn't resonate with me.I appreciate NetGalley and Bloomsbury Audio for the opportunity, but I won't be completing this book.

I think if I was a high school girl I would really like this book, Jo-Lynn (also goes by Jo) is everything I wanted to be back then: confident with boys, loves they way she looks, goes to all the parties, drives without a license, and basically has no parental guidance or curfews (her parents say they will enforce rules but never do). It was very interesting getting to see adolescence through the eyes of this popular girl and I appreciated the main goal of Adamo's writing being to teach young girls about coping through traumatic events (like revenge porn and rape).

Though I also have criticism about the plot, the first thing I wanted to address is Jo's character and if it really fits in the YA genre. Jo-Lynn is in high school, but she walks around in life as an adult would, with no age restricting rules. It set the tone for an unrealistic story which is confirmed when we get down to the knitting gritty of the plot. Jo's ex BFF Maddie goes missing and it really doesn't make sense why 1.) Jo and fake BF Hudson are so keen to solve her disappearance and 2.) the police stop their investigation immediately. Yes Maddie leaves a note behind saying she ran away but she is a minor so I don't believe the investigation would stop there with her whereabouts being unknown to her parents. As mentioned, Hudson and Jo establish a fake relationship in order to investigate Maddie's disappearance without anyone finding it suspicious. I know this excuse is more of a ruse to get Hudson his dream girl, but both teens' motives in wanting to find out what happened to Maddie and keeping their investigation a secret aren't solid. Jo's reasoning is a little understandable is you frame it to a teenage girl, but it's more pathetic than valid in the end. Another questionable aspect to the plot is the school giving 10K to the valedictorian and regularly publishing a list of the top students so everyone knows where they stand on getting the cash. I don't see how this wouldn't create a cheating scandal at your school. The players in the scandal and in the disappearance case were far to many to keep track of, as well as all the other side characters like The Birds and the journalist staff at Jo's mentorship. It made for a convoluted but confusing mystery, with clues coming easily to Jo simply because she had so many people to ask for help.

My final comments are about the audio book. The narrator was a fantastic choice for Jo and I loved the range of voices she put on for all the other characters. There is the issue of everyone calling Jo-Lynn "Jo Hyphen Lynn" or "Jo Dash Lynn" which I think is a mistake that never got edited out (probably because it is read like that 90% of the time).

I just reviewed Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo. #NetGalley

This was really really good! I've read a few YA thrillers lately but this one is definitely sticking out to me. I loved Jo and seeing her open up and grow through the novel. She was definitely over looked by her peers but is such a strong person. I loved seeing how she could connect with others as she works to find out what happened to Maddie and try to figure out who why lying or not. I saw part of the twist coming but not all of it and it was such a good twist! This book deals with some heavy topics but does a great job at it and such a strong debut! Overall, so so good!

Jo-Lynn Kirby has often been told "you're not like other girls." She was the cool girl who preferred to hang with the guys. But one of those guy friends betrayed her by releasing nudes of her, and she's become an outcast. Her neighbor Maddie is now a former friend. Maddie mysteriously asks Jo for help and then goes missing. Most people think she ran away (after having received disappointing news), but Jo is sure there is more to the story.

Unraveling the mystery will require re-entering the friend group that has discarded her. To help her do that, a popular boy named Hudson hatches a plan to fake dating her. As she unravels the mystery, she also reexamines her own situation, confronting trauma she has not allowed herself to recognize.

A strong debut by Meredith Adamo. I look forward to reading more from her.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury Audio for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Reminded me of all the things I love the most about Karen McManus books. Jo has an incredibly strong and realized voice that had me on the edge of my seat the entire story. This cast of characters was incredibly memorable and I genuinely enjoyed all of their various contributions to the story (especially my beloved Hudson.) There was a moment probably 75% of the way through where I was worried things were getting a little too twisty, but I thjnk the revealed scale of the plot made the payoffs very worth it.

I’m ashamed to say that I fell into the trap set by the beginning of this book. I didn’t like Jo; I wanted her to be quieter, nicer, more “likable”. It says terrible things about me, of course, but I think it also speaks to our predisposition (as a society) against girls like Jo: loud, flirtatious, brash, the girls who take up space, who aren’t ashamed, etc. And then as we got more and more of Jo’s story (the big neon “notice me” sign above her head and all that implies), I couldn’t turn away.

I feel like I’ve read so many books recently with some variation of Keystone. But that wasn’t the important part. The important part was Jo - and, by extension, Hudson and Kathleen.

The way Maddie’s story unfurled was also really clever and felt genuine rather than anything slapped together for shock value.

This was a really great YA book that I think a lot of femmes will relate too regardless of age. The messaging and validation of a common shared experience is fantastic. I did feel it dragged on a bit longer than necessary but overall a great book

Trigger warning for SA. The growth, strength and honesty that the main character develops is realistic and hopeful. Huge kudos for healthy (mildly spicy) consensual sex—not to mention sex positive talk among several of the teens. The only slightly negative spot is that the adults tended to be a bit cartoonish and hard to believe. This is a brave, pull-no-punches, YA thriller.

I really wanted to like this book. But I was bored and underwhelmed. Felt like I should’ve just given up on it.

PHEW. I de-VOURED this book in a day! It was brilliant and haunting. The absolute QUEEN of twists on every single page towards the end! The message in this book is SO important. Always believe victims! Thank you for writing this book, Meredith!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review. I received this ARC in audio form.

This book had some heavy topics. *sexual assault *mass academic cheating *kidnapping

I do feel like those aspect were done tastefully. The author really went in deep with how being that type of victim can cause horrific trauma and sometimes you may not even recognize it at first.

However, the mystery part of the story was a drag. I figured out the twist early on, way before the reveal. There were also a lot of side characters. Something it was hard for me to keep up with who was who.

I would rate the story a 2.75 out of 5 stars.

I would rate the audio a 4 out of 5 stars. The narrator kept me interested in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for proving me with an e-audiobook ARC in exchange of an honest review!!

I liked this story. I liked the message it sends. It was emotional and enraging at times, and without spoiling the story, the female friendships, the objectification of girls, the pain and questions when it comes to discussing sexual harassment, let alone experiencing it, are all so important and I appreciate how the author touched on them. The author’s note itself was also very heartbreaking.

With that said, I can’t really rate this book. I felt like the story dragged on too long at times, so I personally didn’t love it. I would say it’s a solid 3.5, a standard YA mysteryish book, but if we take away the author’s note that changes how you feel about rating, imo.

Overall, definitely check it out if you want stories about girlhood, any and all parts of the spectrum, and mysteries!

I was a bit hesitant about this one as I came to it via the good reviews which I usually don’t even look at until I’ve read a book that I’m going to review. All hesitancy is out the window because the 4-5 star reviews are spot on.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury Audio for the Audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There is so much to unpack in this book so you need to go in with an open mind and armed that things are going to get uncomfortable but it’s well worth it.

For the most part I enjoyed the audio reader but for me, I wish I rather read a physical copy. But that’s personal preference of not wanting to listen to certain material from someone who sounds like the teenaged characters they are reading , in this case sexual acts, as it just doesn’t sound right to me and I rather read it and create my own imagery or gloss over it.

However, the young sounding choice of the narrator really made you stay present that this was about teens.

This is a great book for any teen to read as I’m sure they can identify with at least one situation or emotional experience in the book as well as learn something about others.

I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and that the author didn’t shy away from nor made overblown various serious topics that teens may face as they find themselves and approach adulthood.

On top of all that, the book is also a mystery as she searches for her missing ex best friend. The brilliant thing is not only is she searching for the missing girl but she also goes on a self discovery journey.

The only negative is it’s a bit angsty but teens can be like that! I will give the trigger warning that the book deals with sexual assault, revenge porn, rape (including statutory) and grooming are the big ones. But there is so much more that makes one raise an eyebrow.

The book is very well written and shines a light on how self isolation can wreak havoc on your life.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others and well worth the read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again. It’s reserved for the exceptional.

"I'd rather and be wrong than never try at all "

This book resonated with me more than possibly any other book has. Jo experienced more than her fair share of "boy issues" starting from a young age. As a victim of sexual assault, I could feel what Jo was feeling. After listening to the authors note at the end how she too has battled through sexual assault it made so much sence why every single emotion was something I too had gone though at the exact same age as Jo.
This book takes you through loss, relationships, and the yearning for that feeling of belonging and friendships. How sometimes you see others before they see you.

Thank you Meredith for this book. Thank you for the mystery, the suspense and the healing it gave me. I never knew that my feelings were parallel to other young girls. It took me until my adulthood to cone to terms of what happened when I was young and vulnerable. You were able to make a hard subject shareable.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook. Thank you Meredith for sharing, listening, and hearing.

Jo-Lynn's former best friend Maddie goes missing. Jo works to find her old friend.
Jo goes from a very good student to failing. People make assumptions that she is a failure, but did not take in consideration that she was really acting out after trauma. This book comes with content warnings.
I enjoyed reading this!
Many thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up because what I didn’t like about it (the obnoxiously edgy protagonist) is someone teens (the YA target audience) are likely to enjoy/empathize with. As an adult reader who normally avoids the genre because of this trope, it wouldn’t be fair to penalize the book for a genre convention I dislike.

Premise - Jo’s ex-best friend, Maddie, disappears after a humiliating college admissions snafu. While it starts out as a crime investigation, everyone soon believes she ran away. Everyone but Jo. Now Jo and her former (maybe not so former) crush, Hudson, set out to get to the bottom of things.

This is a heavy story - it deals with sexual assault, rape, revenge porn featuring minors, statutory rape, grooming, the dangers of seeking male approval, and the dangers of believing being ‘not like the other girls’ is a real thing and a good thing. It really drove home how unhealthy it is to isolate yourself from a group (in this case the protagonist leaning into her label as ‘not like other girls’ because of internalized misogyny).

The story executes what it sets out to do well, but it’s very high on the angst and is too much of a downer to read on a rainy day. I’d definitely recommend saving this for when you’re in the mood/space for a book that’s a bummer for a significant portion (a well-written bummer, to be fair, and it ends with hope).

Thanks, NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Audio / Bloomsbury YA for this ALC! 

5/5 ⭐️ 
Release Date: 30 Apr 2024

📖: Coming-of-age, fake dating, mystery
🎧: Georgina Sadler

Jo is a bit of a high school loner, but she wasn't always. She used to be a guy’s girl and had somewhat of a flirty personality. However, this all changed when her private photos leaked from a supposed friend. She now walks the hallways, hearing whispers and slut-shaming. One day, her ex-best friend Maddie approaches Jo for help, and then Maddie disappears overnight. Jo feels there is more to Maddie's disappearance and decides to team up with her former friend, Hudson, to discover the truth.

This was incredible! Not Like Other Girls explores the nuances of high school and life as a woman. Adamo dives into how views of women can flip on a dime, and blame usually shifts to them. After Jo’s leaked photos, peers made assumptions about her. She was labeled a slut, a whore, and other degrading names. 

Adamo’s portrayal of Jo made you feel for her and the treatment and support, or lack thereof, that she received. It made you root for her, which made it so enjoyable when she ultimately found herself and her voice. Georgina Sadler also did an amazing job enhancing this story. Not Like Other Girls was an amazing coming-of-age story, and I highly recommend it!

The trouble with girls like Jo is that they always ruin a good thing, they just want attention, that screwing up comes so easily… or at least that’s what she’s been told.

In the beginning of this book, I thought I’d be writing a review about how much I loved reading a thrilling mystery that had a fake-dating trope and kept me laughing, but as the story progressed, I realized I was reading a book that was going to impact me for the rest of my life. Now, no matter what I write in this review could truly do this book justice.

When we are introduced to Jo, she is described as being a troublesome girl with bad grades who has made some bad decisions that’s got her labeled as the school “slut”. As the story unravels, we learn that Jo’s life is not all what it seems & there were a lot of unsettling outside factors that have resulted in this reputation. While the story progresses, Jo's ex-bestie goes missing, and while it's labeled as a "runaway girl" to the media, there's actually a much bigger story behind it with multiple conspiracies. The end result was nothing I saw coming.

Far too many women are going to relate to Jo's overall story, including trying to get her parents attention, how much she doubts herself because of other people, and her just wanting to be liked.

Reading the author's note at the end was so special. I'm grateful to Meredith for sharing her story through Jo and feel an immense amount of healing from this.

I loved the audiobook for this. I had recently listened to the audiobook for "Begin Again" by Emma Lord that is done by the same narrator and she's quickly becoming a favorite.

I hate to say this is yet another prep-school experience gone wrong mystery, because while the focus of the story is solving the disappearance of Jo-Lynn's former BFF Maddie and the unraveling of her past, the real story is of Jo-Lynn coming to terms with things that happened TO her and finding her missing support system. This one feels like it's for all the girls who have had to change themselves just to protect themselves from the bad behavior of boys.

TW: Sexual assault, revenge porn

Great audio narration.