Read this book! If I hadn’t started reading it so late in the day, I would have finished it in one sitting. It started with a suspenseful hook, and while it took some getting through the middle of the book where not much happens except for a lot of talking, it had a suspenseful ending.

I loved reading as I kid but struggle to find time as an adult. It’s often impossible to sit down to focus. While this book was not memorable overall, I’m sure it’s not you, dear book, it’s me.

The Girl I Used to Be would be a treat movie, with actors being able to flesh out the characters and make the story a visual thing. Reading it was not enjoyable because it was simply too hard to believe to suspense belief.

A mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. April Henry has done a perfect job of giving a story that is gritty, fast-paced and great for a YA audience. The main character, Olivia, is a confident and independent young woman determined to find the truth and she will let nothing get in her way.

***This ARC was provided by netgalley for an honest review***

17 year old Olivia Reinhart who was once known as Ariel Benson received a surprise visit from two police officers. Olivia who is in emancipated minor who changed her name after her mother was murdered learned that her father died 14 years ago probably on the same day as her mother. The two police officers are concerned that the killer is looking Ariel Benson today.
After learning of her father‘s death she feels the need to return to her hometown of Medford even if the killer is looking for her. Well the young 17-year-old be able to bring her parents killers to justice or will it prove to be too much for such a young person?

A fast paced thriller about a girl determined to find out the truth behind her parents' murders. April Henry has proven herself to be a popular thriller writer for grades 7 and up. This one doesn't disappoint.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused

All her life, Olivia has assumed that her father murdered her mother and then fled, just like everyone else. But when parts of her father's body are found in the woods near where her mom was killed, everything changes. Now it's a presumed double-homicide. Olivia moves back to her home town to investigate, enlisting the help of a boy she used to be friends with along the way.


It's a fairly decent bit of mystery that has a good payoff at the end, with lots of red herrings and an unexpected bad guy. The book did a good job of building up the tension and slowly doling out clues to the mystery without it feeling stilted. But the real heart of it was Olivia's journey of trying to redefine herself after believing she had a murderous, abandoning father her whole life. There's a lot of time spent in self-reflection and discovery that I liked.


However, a lot of the book felt...too easy? Olivia is an emancipated minor, which already feels a little bit like a cheat. Yay, no guardians to worry about, she can just move towns on a dime. Oh and she can afford to move towns. Oh and she can get a new job in mere days. Oh, and here this best friend and helpful neighbor just fell into her lap. Once the mystery got going it was okay, but the set up felt like it didn't start in the right place and took a lot of "conveniences" to move to the proper starting point.

(to be posted 2/25)

I thought that this was really good. I have had this book for years but it somehow got lost in my pile at some point. I am glad that I decided to dust it off and give it a try because it turned out to be quite an enjoyable read. This was my first experience with April Henry's writing and I am rather impressed. This was a really fast read and I loved the fact that the mystery kept me guessing until the very end. I found this to be an overall enjoyable read.

Olivia is a seventeen-year-old living on her own as an emancipated minor. She has spent years in the foster care system before going out on her own. Her life wasn't always like this. She had a family until her mother was killed when she was only three years old. She then lived with her grandmother until her death a few years later. Everyone always assumed that her father killed her mother since he hasn't been seen since that fateful day so many years ago. Oh, and her name was Ariel back then but that was really a lifetime ago. When new evidence that proves her father could not have been the killer, everything Olivia thought she knew is called into question.

I was really curious about what really happened to Olivia's parents. Olivia/Ariel was there that day but she was so young that she just doesn't remember. It was really interesting to watch her try to piece everything back together and figure out what really happened. There were so many possibilities and I never knew which way things would end up going. I have to admit that I didn't figure it out until everything was revealed which is just how I like it to go. There was a lot of excitement towards the end of the book and things were rather intense for a while but I was pretty satisfied with how everything was resolved.

I liked Olivia/Ariel. Considering everything that she has been through, she really has a lot to be proud of. She is a hard worker and is completely self-reliant. She was very focused on her task in this story and wouldn't let herself be distracted by romance, even though there is a touch of that in this story. I really liked how she was with Nora, the older woman that used to live next door to her grandmother.

I would recommend this book to others. I found it to be a fast-paced mystery that kept me guessing. This was the kind of book that can really hard to put down. I look forward to reading more of April Henry's work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via NetGalley.

The author tries well enough to build this fantastical world but it fell a bit short for me.

Leaving a neutral review on amazon and goodreads.

This review will also appear on swoonyboyspodcast.com . I will add the link once it's live. Also posted review to goodreads and amazon.

Cover: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 5
Plot: 5
Swoon: 2.5
Overall: 4.1
The 411:
Olivia Reinhart has lived most of her life believing that her father was responsible for her mother’s murder. But fourteen years after her mother’s death, Olivia finds out that her father was also murdered that same day. Now Olivia is determined to find out who murdered her parents and why she was spared.
What We Loved:
I’ve been an April Henry fan since Girl, Stolen so when I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. I think what I love most about Henry’s writing, is that she wastes no time ‘getting to the good stuff’.
The Girl I Used to Be starts with Olivia finding out that her father was murdered. For fourteen years she knew he killed her mother, but now she must come to terms with that misplaced anger. She is set on finding out what really happened to her parents that fateful day. Along the way she meets many suspicious characters from her parents’ past and some forgotten characters from her own.
I thought Olivia was a well-developed character. She was wise and practical yet still a teenager. She’s a character that you never stop rooting for.
I loved that the pace was fast, the story so intriguing, and even as the reveal was happening I was still surprised. The Girl I Used to Be is the perfect suspenseful thriller for young adults.
Um…Not So Much:
Olivia’s friend Duncan, sweet and loyal and not near enough page time. I would have liked to see him with Olivia more. But at the same time, I get that this isn’t his story. I just liked the swoony-ness that he was 😉

I would definitely recommend this book and buy it as a gift! I've already bought myself a copy as well.

This is another great April Henry book. It follows her common theme of suspense, drama, and a who-done-it flair. I really enjoyed this novel and it kept me guessing until the end. Great use of characters and their lives to build the story line.

The plot was fast paced, but it didn't seem like it. It was more like all of a sudden, the reveal was happening. I had a couple theories of what happened, but didn't quite figure it out.

Overall, a quick read with a satisfying ending. I'll definitely keep reading April's books.

This was an okay mystery. It felt simpler than her other books even though the characters were a bit older.

Ok… I think I’ve officially given up on April Henry. This is my third book from her and I haven’t liked any of them. I’m honestly surprised that I’ve given her books this many chances, although they are usually very short and very fast reads, so maybe I keep trying because her books are easy to get through if I’m behind on my Goodreads goal. Wow. That sounds harsh. And don’t get me wrong, I think young teens might really enjoy them. I just think they read a little younger than most YA mysteries I’ve read and loved over the years (like Dangerous Girls, for example).

I feel like there was not much thought put into this story. Things seemed very flat, and the characters all very shell-like… the kind of stock characters that get thrown into stories to fill roles but not connect with you or make you feel anything. The story itself was not suspenseful or exciting, and the anticlimactic ending left me wondering why I even bothered wasting my time. Everything that did happen felt very convenient, as though there was a checklist of things that needed to happen for the book to end when it was time to end. Many things felt unbelievable to me as well. A 17 year old doesn’t just move herself into a new town and start interrogating all these strangers about the intimate details of the lives of her murdered parents without raising some suspicion. Why did these people even talk to her at all, much less tell her the things that they did? I don’t understand. Everything ended so quickly, but nothing was really explained. Rather than tying up loose ends and explaining why things happened, the author cut those loose ends off bluntly and chose to not explain anything at all. It could have been better. Maybe not much better, but almost anything would have been better than what I got.

So… Goodbye, April Henry. I had such high hopes for finding a YA author that writes a ton of mysteries because I LOVE THEM, but unfortunately I’ll have to keep looking for an author that puts a little more thought into their stories. I did like the appeal of Henry’s short mysteries because sometimes I just want a quick escape, but I’d rather read a longer novel that is more complex, more thought out, less convenient, and more exciting.

This is the third book that I have read by April Henry. Each one has been from her stand alone collection of writing and right now that is a big plus for me as I have so many books I want to read. The stories have all kept me on the edge of my seat. Sometimes I guess the outcome and sometimes I don't. When I do, I always feel a bit smarter for having guessed correctly and when I don't......I think, "sneaky, sneaky...I've been had". Great writing and eye catching covers.

Looking forward to reading more books by April Henry.

When Olivia was three, her mother was murdered and her father disappeared. For years everyone thought her father was the killer, but now pieces of his body have turned up and it appears that he was murdered as well. Olivia has changed her name and started a new life, but curiosity about her parents draws her back to the town where her parents grew up. If her father didn't murder her mother, then who did? Olivia moves back into her grandmother's home and begins asking questions. Can she uncover the truth before the killer finds her?

The Girl I Used To Be by April Henry is a thrilling mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Readers will identify with Olivia as she tries to track down her parents' killer. If you like murder mysteries, you will love this one!

Olivia is an emancipated teen, living and working in Portland, when an officer knocks on the door, looking for Ariel. Before she was Olivia, she was Ariel, the little girl whose mother was killed and whose father disappeared.

New evidence shows her father was also killed all those years ago, and Olivia is determined to find out what really happened and who killed her father. Undergoing hypnosis to piece together her flashbacks about that fateful day, Olivia also enlists the help of her old childhood friend Duncan.

This book kept me riveted the entire time to figure out the mystery. Some of my favorite books to read lately are mystery/thrillers from new releases to young adult to the older ones like Barbara Michaels and Phyllis Whitney. You start the story thinking the main character's father killed her mother, then you quickly find out he didn't and there is a killer out there. I had to keep reading to find out who it was and if they were going to get to the main character before she figures out what's going on. Wonderful page turner, very action packed. You get a lot of good insight into the main character Olivia's head and that made me even more invested in the story to read through to the end quickly. Very good book.