Courtney Summers does it again with a knife-sharp thriller, tense plotting, chilling revelations, and desperate characters, Loved loved loved it

Courtney Summers does an amazing job of conveying what it feels like to be a teenage girl sometimes in ways that is both impressive - because accurate - and deeply depressing - because accurate. This book follows that trend.

There was a lot of this story that I actually really enjoyed. The characters were written really well and seemed fully fleshed out. I felt for a lot of them when they had horrific things happen to them. I also really like the premise of this story. However, so much just fell flat. I hated the way this story was presented. I think these are really difficult topics and I hate the way they were handled. A lot of this story is men abusing their power but I didn’t like the way the main character reacted to that abuse of power. Sort of made her seem complicit. I understand that she is underage and oftentimes doesn’t understand what’s going on but I found it odd that she seemed to make advances towards men to gain the upper hand. Maybe that is what the author intended, no one is truly innocent? I’m not sure. I felt uncomfortable at times reading it but did like some of the twists and turns.

What a whirlwind!! This was one of those easy to read books for me - even when things got chaotic and messy, I was so invested I just had to keep going.

Things I loved about I’m the Girl” are:
- The plot was unique and interesting. The second I saw the book summary I couldn’t stop thinking about reading it, and there were lots of twists and turns I didn’t expect throughout.
- Queer characters! A WLW relationship! A queer main character in the middle of a heteronormative town/culture who’s trying to fight back!
- I felt this had a pretty quick pace - things developed quickly and I never felt like I was endlessly reading about the same thing.

However, while I loved the premise and the pace of the book, there were some issues I had with it:
- There were so many twists and new details added all the time that I found it hard to keep track of what the main plot was, where characters and relationships were at, and even how it ended. I think the ending was intentionally left vague, but I still had no idea what to think and was left without a sense of closure on Georgia’s story.
- At times it felt like elements were added more for shock value or to make the reader uncomfortable than to push forward the narrative or the message of the book. This deals with some very sensitive, difficult to read topics, and not subtly - it really hits you over the head with them.

Overall, I enjoyed reading and would love to check out more of Courtney Summers’ work, but felt this could have been developed/refined a bit more to have a bigger impact. 3/5 stars for me!

I was super excited to receive another Courtney Summers ARC since I absolutely loved The Project. I'm the Girl was a very harrowing read. I anticipated some triggers but this was hard to read at points. There were parts that pulled me in and kept me reading but there were a couple chapters throughout that felt dragged out. Still a good read.

I am a sucker for books that cover heavy topics, and this one did not disappoint. Summers does an excellent job tackling everything in this book to make it a read that will make you feel, but not make you uncomfortable. Georgia is a great main character who unfortunately doesn’t know much, and that plays a role in her attitude and personality traits. All around, I think Summers executed the story amazingly and everything developed nicely into a great psychological thriller.

Prepare yourself because this book touches on some major heavy topics. It was so well-written and touches on real life issues. I hadn't read books by Courtney Summers prior to this, but I will now. Everything was so well done and emotional in a way that I wasn't anticipating.

I gave this a four out of five stars. It’s hard to say I enjoyed this because of the heavy topics. It can be triggering at many times. Trigger warning for: loss of parents, murder, car accident, under age seducing an older man, etc.

*Arc provided by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.*

**Trigger Warning: I’m the Girl contains rape, child pornography, murder, alcohol abuse, drug use, and grooming.**

I’m the Girl is a story both heartbreaking and gruesome about growing up in a world that is dark and dangerous. Georgia Avis is such an unlikeable character but not because she is poorly written, on the contrary Courtney Summers took me right back to high school with her character. Georgia is every girl I knew growing up and even a little bit of myself. She’s just a kid who wants better than what the adults in her life have told her she’s capable of. She’s discovering her body and how despite it physically being hers it is perceived as something else entirely to the men around her. Coming to terms with your body and sexuality is enough for the average teenager to deal with but throw in finding the dead body of a thirteen-year-old girl and you’re bound to be a mess.

While reading this I knew almost instantly after the character was introduced who killed Ashley and why. I also knew why Georgia’s mother felt the way she felt about certain things and people. There were times where I just wanted to scream at Georgia to open her eyes to everything around her, but I remember being that young, and stubborn thinking I knew everything. It’s painful to see someone even fictitious make such harmful choices for themselves and not even realize how serious the situation could be/is. Sadly, in a world where people are now judging their self-worth by interaction on social media it’s all too easy to see how events in this book happen in real life every day. The story really made me draw parallels to the Epstein/Maxwell case, and Weinstein abuse.

If you can get through the very heavy subject matter I'm the Girl is a great story.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This unfortunately didn't capture my attention as much as I wanted. It ended up being a forgettable read.

Georgia wants to be an Aspera Girl, a pretty girl catering to the rich guests staying at Aspera. Her brother Tyler, who takes care of Georgia,  doesn’t want her to work there at all. Their mother used to work at Aspera as a housekeeper, but she was fired and, for some reason, this is coloring Tyler’s opinion about Georgia's new job, which is as a digital concierge. He is further worried for his sister because she discovered the body of Ashely James, a local missing teen, on the road to Aspera. Georgia and Nora, the sister of the dead teen, seem determined to uncover what happened to Ashley, potentially placing the girls in danger. Can they uncover the truth, or will they become victims themselves?

I’m the Girl went back and forth for me. I liked the mystery within the novel, but there are some topics that could be triggers for some. To me it felt as though I’m the Girl functions as a commentary on society and the way life is for those who have versus those who do not, as well as what benefits come with fame or power. It is an intense novel with some intense characters. It was a tale that kept me hooked, but at times I was annoyed by the characters and the positions that they put themselves in. I did like the Sadie Easter egg in this novel, which makes me curious if there were others that I missed.

Although I loved the idea behind the book I did not love the execution. I wish there had been more of a focus on the murder.

3.5 stars!

When 16 year-old Georgia Avis finds the dead body of 13 year-old Ashley James after narrowly being hit by a car, she feels compelled to investigate with Ashley's older sister Nora. Drawn by her want to get out of her small town, she is lured into a world of privilege, wealth and power.

I think part of what makes this book so hard to rate is also what makes it a very hard read with important topics. This book was at times physically difficult to read because of the terrible things happening in this book. I do think an issue this book had was in the marketing. It did not read like a thriller or mystery. It was also marketed as being LGBTQIA+ and although there was a sapphic relationship, I wanted it to be more prevalent. A lot of people don't like Georgie's POV and choices, but at the end of the day it's important to realize that she is just 16 and completely out of her depths. I do like Sadie by Courtney Summers a lot, but unfortunately did not feel like this lived up to it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Though at first glance, I'm the Girl seems like a murder mystery, at its heart this book is a deeply powerful and timely coming of age story that explores what it means to be a young woman. Unflinching and beautifully written, Courtney Summers has once again proven that she is a master of the thriller, taking us inside the mind and hearts of nuanced complicated characters.

2.5 stars if I'm being generous

I was really disappointed by I'm the Girl, because I loved Courtney Summers' other books. However I felt like the composition of the book was not coherent enough, and there were just things that were missing.

The hint of a good story was there, but I felt like it wasn't quite teased out. The pacing was off, with the first part going on for forever and the second part being rushed. Summers was clearly trying to give a way only small amounts of information to keep the reader guessing, but instead I felt confused and removed from the story. Because it took me 15 or 20% of the book before I felt like I actually understood the events that had occurred as the set up to the rest of the book, I was not able to immerse myself in the story or understand George's world. I wasn't able to feel like I was coming on the journey with her, only that I was a distant observer. Which is fine for some books, but for this book I would have preferred to have that time closer to George, because I was unable to get close to her for the rest of the book.

As to what is missing, I think it is twofold. First, I think it is missing a page-turner mystery. Yes, there is a mystery. And yes, Georgia, along with Nora, tries to solve it. But the mystery is not driving the first half of the book the way it should. As I already said, the first half drags, and part of that is because there is too much happening that is not the mystery aspect of the book. It's just Georgia doing stuff.

The other thing I feel is missing is any agency in our main character. I think someone else will argue that Georgia did have agency, but from my perspective there was very little. And that is part of the tragedy, isn't it? That she is a victim of the control of those around her. They manipulate her wildly. Maybe if there had been an "after" portion of the book, I would feel like I got more of Georgia's own power. But as it is, I felt that it wasn't there, and that if it had been there it would have improved the book.

The themes in this book are really important. It's about power and sexual abuse and grooming and the way the rich and powerful continue to exploit young girls. I was left wondering who exactly this book is for, but I think that question makes it clear it wasn't for me. I don't wholly want to dissuade anyone who has enjoyed Summers' previous work, I just feel like the composition of the story could have been more effective.

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This an interesting read.. Not my favorite by this author, but still pretty good.. Honestly, I've forgotten a bit of it.

I loved Sadie but this one was really hard to read. Lots of grooming/sexual abuse/exploitation, etc. It wasn’t for me.

Excellent psychological thriller by a great author. It kept me guessing. I was disappointed by the ending because it felt like it left the entire plot just hanging.

This was not an easy read, and while the author tried to throw in some surprises, I found it somewhat predictable. Sixteen year old Georgia is naive, as most 16 year olds are. But a lot of her naivety has to do with the truth being withheld from her. She aspires to be an Aspera girl, and finds herself in some unpleasant situations along the way. The ending fell flat for me. This book just didn’t quite work for me.

Well I wanted this to be the sapphic romance thriller of my dreams and it wasn't quite that. It was fine. Quite dark for a YA, in my opinion, I read a lot of adult and a lot of YA and some of the content in here. definitely would be a lot for the average teenage reader, I think. There were also a lot of elements going on that I'm not sure always worked together. This made it confusing sometimes but I will say that I did kind of guess what was going to happen after a while and was even surprised when I was actually right. It was a short read which was nice because it mostly kept the pacing consistent. The main characters were pretty good, though I wouldn't say they were necessarily memorable. Overall, I think this was a good read for what it was. It wasn't perfect, but as far as thrillers go, it was pretty alright and I'd probably read this author again.