The Girls I've Been

i loved it so fucking much??? as an abuse survivor myself, i related to it so much that it made me sad. i literally highlighted half of this book. the characters are so??? i fucking love them??? especially lee!!
it's also really funny and happening and has some truly badass moments. also can we talk about how iris has endometriosis?? that's so fucking rare in books and i love the rep...
it's also wonderfully feminst which i love to see!! this book is just really fucking powerful
JUST READ IT AAAAAAAA THIS BOOK IS THE SHIT

4.5 so rounding up. Tess Sharpe read her own book and it worked. TW: this is about surviving some really severe (though not graphically detailed) physical and sexual abuse. You will be strapped in to this rollercoaster right until the end, which fell a tiny bit flat, but still felt earned. I very much appreciated Sharpe's notes at the end about endometrisis and crisis help references and that therapy is normalized. This book will be a quick sell to teens, especially with a movie/show already planned for it.

Now THIS is a mystery book. THIS is how you write intersecting timelines and characters in a way that doesn't confuse or bore the reader, but pulls them further into the story. THIS is how you write a character who is morally grey...I mean truly morally grey, not just slightly grey but overall good (like I see so often). THIS. THIS. THIS. I'm sure you can sense that I tore through this novel. Sharpe does an excellent job from beginning to end weaving the six different girls, yet focusing on Nora who is truly one of the best characters I've read to date (maybe because we have similar personalities...yes I am biased, I'm a reader, I'm supposed to be. Maybe.) Gahh, this book made me so happy to have read. What a strong start to 2021!

i loved it so fucking much??? as an abuse survivor myself, i related to it so much that it made me sad. i literally highlighted half of this book. the characters are so??? i fucking love them??? especially lee!!
it's also really funny and happening and has some truly badass moments. also can we talk about how iris has endometriosis?? that's so fucking rare in books and i love the rep...
it's also wonderfully feminst which i love to see!! this book is just really fucking powerful
JUST READ IT AAAAAAAA THIS BOOK IS THE SHIT

Book/Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Cover: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TRIGGER WARNING(S): PHYSICAL ABUSE (CHILD/TEENAGE) SEXUAL ASSUALT (CHILD)(OFF PAGE)RAPE (MENTIONED)PARENTAL NEGLECTVIOLENCEMURDER (IMPLIED)MENTAL HEALTH

POV: Single, First PersonSeries/Standalone: SeriesFirst in series: YesSafe or Dark: Darkish (see trigger warnings)

DISCLAIMER: I'm a 35-year-old woman writing a review for a young adult book. Do with that information what you will.

“We're all gonna die because I waited for the bacon donuts”

“Book/Reading Notes”

golf clap

BANG

“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There's just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there's a normal.”

“You know, you hit enough girls, eventually you'll find one who hits back.”

“You don't have to just be taught to trust, you have to grow up in a life full of people who are worthy of it.”

“the best con has a seed of truth”

3.5 (rounded up). Quite an entertaining book. This one is for the fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It was fast paced & thrilling, which makes for a great page-turner. This definitely reads with that overly-dramatic tone I often associate with YA books, with our main character's inner monologue being especially guilty of being full of platitudes and cliché phrases. When I first started reading it, I rolled my eyes a few times. However, as the story went on, it managed to capture me. As long as you go into it knowing this is written in this particular way, you are likely going to enjoy this plot. I'm not sure I care enough to read the sequel, but maybe if I can find it through Libby.