Jo is ‘not like other girls,’ or at least that’s what everyone wants her to believe. After being ostracized after nude pictures of her were leaked – Jo’s grades are failing, she’s on academic probations, and only has one friend left. When her former friend goes missing, she finds herself falling down a rabbit hole of academic dishonesty and dark secrets.

Part coming of age, part true crime, part SA survivor story – this is a story that is so many things at once, without feeling bogged down. I was so invested in Jo and her story, it felt so real and nuanced. It tackles the incredible pressures and expectations put on teenage girls and the immense bravery it takes just to exist in that world.

Not Like Other Girls does not shy away from darker realities of teen life. I think this book is so beneficial for teens to read, as well as parents to understand the empathy required in difficult situations. Reading how Jo’s parents would not listen to what she was really saying really made my stomach drop. It really shows the importance of solid support systems!

Honestly a great read for fans of Mindy McGinnis and Tiffany D. Jackson – Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut.

Jo is not like other girls. At least, she’s told that she’s not and she believes it. And in some ways, she’s not — she’s Jo — but she’s also just a teenage girl.

Part mystery, part first love, part coming of age, part healing journey, part broken friendships, part whodunnit and part crime ring, this book will have you glued to the pages (or in my case, the audio!)!

I loved Jo. I thought she was feisty, strong and flawed. She felt real and listening to the audio version, it felt like a friend telling me a story. There are so many layers to this book — from silly teen angst to SA, you are immersed in story. Like Shrek, this book is an onion, peeling away the layers of Jo right alongside her as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and sleuthing.

**Trigger warning for SA on this review**

I’m gonna go a little heavy on this review. I very much enjoyed this books thriller premise. You go on a journey with Jo as she tries to figure out what happened to her missing friend. Along the way, she begins to discover that some things that happened to her are in fact not ok or acceptable. I effing LOVED seeing her learn to accept that and heal and take her power back.

One of the biggest parts of this book that impacted me was the authors note. One of the hardest struggles of SA for me was acceptance. That it happened, that it wasn’t my fault, that it’s ok that I’m still effed up from it after all these years. I want to thank Meredith for using this as an outlet and a way to open up discussion on r*pe.

Fantastic and exciting story! I loved reading it along with the audiobook - the narrator has a very pleasant voice and I enjoyed both versions!

5 ⭐️

Wow. Just wow. I honestly wasn’t totally sure what to expect from this book when I started it - a fake dating romance with a little side mystery? A mystery with a side of romance? It was both, the romance and the mystery shining equally at different times throughout the book. Plus, an entire story woven seamlessly between the romance and mystery of how Jo takes back her own power and life. What a debut from Meredith Adamo!

The romance between Jo and Hudson was the sweet first love of high schoolers. I loved their communication and easy openness with each other, even around what can be awkward topics like previous hookups and money.

The mystery was perfect. At no point before the epilogue did I see where the twists were going or how everything was coming together. Maybe I’m just bad at mysteries because I don’t read a lot of them, but I thought it was written phenomenally in the way it jerked around from one theory to the next. It kept me guessing who was lying and who was telling the truth all the way through.

Even more important than the romance and the mystery, though, was Jo’s transformation throughout the book. What starts as Jo shaming herself in the same way everyone else shamed her, turns into Jo coming to grips with her trauma and confronting the people who didn’t support her when she needed them the first time. Jo taking back her life by first believing herself was such a powerful message in not discounting what you know to be true just because other people skew the story from the outside. I also loved that Kathleen was a witness for her, never played the innocent bystander when she could step in, and made sure that Jo knew she wasn’t the problem. Too many times, young girls don’t have a friend like that, and it can make a hard situation harder because they’re suffering alone. The whole storyline of Jo’s growth was the true standout of this book, and it hit even harder after listening to Meredith’s afterword about writing Jo based on her own experiences. What a brave thing to do. I would’ve given the whole book 5 stars for this plot, even if I had figured out the mystery from page 1.

Narration of the audiobook was excellent! Georgina had the perfect voice for a high school girl who was constantly on the verge of breaking down or yelling for one reason or another. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another book of hers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review! I truly loved this one and will be listening again to see if I can pick up on all the clues that led to the ending.

I have been rendered speechless by this incredible, heart wrenching debut from Meredith Adamo. This story is very messy, complex, deeply emotional, but so important. Not Like Other Girls is a story about sexual assault and it amplifies survivors’ voices and stories while also calling out the friends, family, and systems that have failed them.

This book is heart wrenching on so many levels as it also touches on toxic relationships, emotional abuse, broken friendships, and slut shaming, BUT the inaction from the adults in the story made me truly want to scream. At the end of the book, I didn’t realize how much tension I was holding in my shoulders from being so angered by the adults and school administration for consistently failing to offer support to these girls and hold the abusers accountable. Adamo’s characters reflect how parts of society can be so cruel while blaming survivors of sexual violence - these individuals “seek out attention” and are “just asking for it.”

Jo is a character I won’t soon forget. Although she was broken, shamed, and silenced, she was incredibly strong and brave. My heart shattered as she worked to understand the depths of her trauma, to put words to how she was violated, and to recognize that despite what those around her said, she was a child and none of it was her fault. Witnessing Jo take her rage and share her story was so damn powerful.

The audiobook was fantastic and incredibly compelling. I think consuming either print or audio for this story will be emotional for the reader, but I was particularly moved by the audiobook experience, especially hearing Adamo read the author’s note and share her story of survival.

Thank you Meredith, for your powerful words and bravery in sharing not only Jo’s story but your own.

TW mention of SA.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this book! This book has left me in tears in a good way. This mystery thriller leaves you in the edge of your seat while also tugging at your heart. As someone who experienced this exact type of SA I was in tears because like Jo I also didn’t find out what had really happened to me until I started therapy. Even to this day it can be hard to wrap your head around. This story follows Jo whose ex best friend goes missing. The police say she has run away but Jo can’t let it go and begins to investigate with a guy who she ends up falling in love with. The twists and turns in this book were amazing. Must read.

This book is an absolutely searing debut from from Adamo. It is gripping, gut wrenching, heartfelt, funny, frustrating, and compelling all at once. No quite just a mystery, not quite just a coming of age, not quite a fake dating romance, I think this book turns tropes and genres on its head and gives us a remarkable story about a girl who is difficult, who is struggling, who is desperate to be seen. I read this book in a day, the pacing was so driving that I couldn't put it down.
My one complaint is really about the narrator's performance, which is a little bit of a spoiler. The choice made regarding one character's grating voice I think gave too much away to the reader from the jump. I wish the choice for this character's voice had been more neutral, so that the story could make me think that this character was trustworthy the same way Jo thought and Jo and the reader could experience the unravelling of that relationship together. Other than that it was an enjoyable performance, but that giveaway with the character put me off enough not to recommend this book on audio.

**4.25 stars**

Ouch.

I’ll admit that at first I had a difficult time connecting with both the main character, Jo-Lynn, and the mystery plot line. Although I can’t say that I ever became truly invested in the mystery, I did end up really loving the story because of all of the other elements.

Jo felt extremely real to me and although I couldn’t personally relate to the majority of her character/personality, I felt like I understood her. The feelings and discoveries that she experienced surrounding her trauma was portrayed so wonderfully and I ended up really connecting with it. I loved seeing her begin the path of healing too in all the various aspects of her life.

I also throughly enjoyed seeing Jo discover things about her sexuality in such an authentic way. I feel like character’s “first time” in most YA books is extremely romanticized, but this one felt very true to the character and her past experiences, and was more true-to-life than other’s I’ve read.

Overall, the mystery did pick up at the very end and I enjoyed the last 80% of the book’s mystery element, but that’s not why I enjoyed this story or why I would recommend it to others. Truly, I feel like the mystery is overshadowed by the self-discovery of Jo as she fumbles through growing up while being a high school girl with a strained family and repressed trauma. The journey Jo-Lynn goes through with her self, her family, her boyfriend, and her friends, are all what would be me 100% recommend reading this delightfully funny, yet extremely heartbreaking story.

I devoured this book. I finished it in just over 24 hours, even with a full time job. I just couldn’t put it down. It’s such a compelling story about a group of honestly traumatized teenagers. It catches your interest with the mystery then keeps your interest with a main character, Jo Hyphen Lynn, you really genuinely care about and root for. Very impressed with this debut!

(Check trigger warnings prior to reading.)

thank you to bloomsbury audio for the audiobook arc of "not like other girls".
⇢ 2.4 ★

the first half of this book was stellar. it had the same atmosphere of "i kissed shara wheeler" and "a good girl's guide to murder". however, the second half severely fell flat in my opinion. it dragged on, yet all of the plots and subplots left me with unanswered questions. there were times were the disappearance plot (the literal main focus of the storyline) got put on the backburner at some points for subplots that ended up being disjointed and convoluted too. the narrator embodied jo, the main character, exceptionally. she heightened the reading experience. the book tackles extremely important topics, but they were not executed effectively throughout the book the way i hoped.

i think my rating would have been a 3 or 4 had i been in high school when i read this. jo is the exact type of girl i wanted to be when i was in high school: sarcastic, edgy, gets along well with the guys. because i am a bit out of the target audience range, i think that affected my eading experience. this would be a great read for people between the ages of 13 and 17.

౨ৎ TRIGGER WARNINGS
* sexual assault / rape
* slut-shaming
* misogyny
* cyberbullying (nudes leaked)

*A review will also be shared on instagram @bostonkatreads within a couple of days*

I don’t dabble often in YA stories, but the blurb for Not Like Other Girls was compelling. This story hits on some important but heavy topics and experiences for young women, and I love how more and more information comes to light the further you get into the story. Overall I really enjoyed this listen and rate it 4 stars! Synopsis, full review, and content warnings below.
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When Jo-Lynn Kirby ‘s former best friend—pretty, nice Maddie Price—comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked—and since everyone decided she deserved it. There’s no way Maddie would actually come to her for help.

But then Maddie is gone.
Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can’t shake the feeling there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind—and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo’s with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she’d rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie’s disappearance, she’s left to wonder who she’s really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.
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Review: What I loved about this story is that there were always more threads to unravel - more pieces to the puzzle. Jo-Lynn’s narrative perfectly captures the frustration, confusion, and disappointment of being a teenage girl trying to navigate and exist in the world. I LOVED the side characters Hudson and Tess. There was a point that dragged for me a bit in the middle; things felt a bit redundant. But then it picked back up and I plowed through the last 30% in one evening when I had NOT planned to finish this one. The growth that Jo has throughout this novel is tremendous and empowering, and I love how she trusts herself and is able to set firm boundaries in the end.

The narrator for the audiobook was effective and enjoyable to listen to. I loved the different voices and I could tell the difference between which characters were speaking most of the time. A couple of the male side characters sounded similar, but it was also usually clear who was talking based on the other context in the scene.
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CW: sexual assault (under 18), rape (under 18), victim blaming, shared nude photos, alcohol use, missing persons
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Thanks to the Publisher: Bloomsbury Audio, Author: Meredith Adamo, and NetGalley for the eARC audiobook of Not Like Other Girls. This book will be out everywhere on 30 April 2024!

This book definitely has potential, and I can sort of see why so many people enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. The plot is very complex and confusing, the characters fell flat. I would probably not recommend this widely.

Having a hard time deciding whether or not to mark this as a 3 star or 4 on Goodreads.

I FLEW through this book, well audiobook, that I received through NetGalley. The audiobook narration was absolutely fantastic and would definitely recommend consuming this story that way.

Pros:
- strong character development for many of the characters
- extensive plot…plot(s)
- audio narrator was phenomenal

Cons:
- in some aspects, over complicated plot
- ending and epilogue didn’t give me the satisfaction the rest of the book was leading me to believe I’d get
- can’t remember much of a content warning but yea it was more than the YA version of myself would have been up for in 2003-2006.

I’m marking this as 3 star here but it’s a strong 3.5/3.75. I still would recommend but more so for college age and up.

I finished this book in a day. I was so wrapped up in it and just had to know what happened. Maybe it felt a little personal. I was rooting for Jo, one hundred percent. I’ll definitely be recommending this book, especially to my daughter.

Oh my this book was a tear-jerker!

Jo-Lynn Kirby has a story that so many young women have. Growing up and figuring themselves out sexually, unfortunately, during this time, they are preyed on by adults who scare them into silence about the abuse that they endure.

This book is very well put together. The character building was followable and you could feel the urgency and tension in the case of the missing classmate ex-bestie Maddie Price.

Stolen and then leaked photos led to Jo being shunned by her peers and family, causing her to feel that she deserved to be treated in a less-than-honorable way. Now, when Maddie comes to Jo for help she thinks it's more bullying taking place until she finds out that Maddie is missing. As Jo begins to investigate the case of her missing friend, she finds herself in a fake turned real relationship with Hudson Harper-Moore and the two of them uncover a huge underground club with the power to change the outcome of their plans beyond high school.

Jo is such a compelling narrator in this mystery/thriller/romance-ish debut that really hooked me from the beginning. Jo has really been through it, and like most young girls she's been blamed for the awful things boys and even grown men have done to her. It's just what happens to "girls like her". But when pretty, nice Maddie Price goes missing, something just isn't adding up for Jo. She becomes determined to figure out what's going on, uncovering more and more ugly truths about her classmates and their school, while also confronting the truth about things that she's faced in her own life.
This was pretty heavy with perfect comedic relief- I honestly REALLY loved Jo. She was sarcastic and funny, intelligent and cunning, and she felt very REAL. I think her voice will really resonate with teens, and I think her story is an important one to tell (which is a major part of this book - the telling of her story). I worry about the length of this for teens, but I think it's worth trying to sell this hefty book because it's so great.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

I was hooked from page one!! What a great book!! I loved the storyline, the characters, the setting all of it!

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo brought me to my knees. I can't stop thinking about this book. This book should have some trigger warnings. I can't put this book in my junior high classroom, but I am telling all my friends about it.

This was a well-written, and complex, but not difficult to follow, story. The main character was relatable and kept me rooting for her. Overall this was a pretty good young adult mystery and the narrator was great.

Thank you for this advance copy.

I didn't realize I needed this until I was nearly to the end. At first I was like "ugh one of those girls who doesn't get along with other girls." But Jo is young and she is dealing with really big things. I don't remember much of high school myself, it wasn't a traditional high school and I also had trauma so I couldn't relate to the cheating scandals but I love the way she worked through that and connected with her boyfriend.
I didn't like that he said what he did about her in the beginning but young men are stupid. He at least grew out of it. I guess.
We should note normalize that.
5/5 stars.
Also perfection narration for this role. 5/5 narration.