A story of self discovery with high school drama, teenage angst, some mystery, some romance, bullying, and more.

I listened to the audiobook I liked this story. I really liked the main character, I even understood why she wanted to be called Jo instead or Jo-Lynn. I like strong female characters and I still remember what it was like to be in high school.

Jo-Lynn was one of the cool girls who liked to hang out with the guys. She was often told” you’re not like the other girls”. Jo and Maddie used to be best friends. Maddie was actually her only real female friend but something happened and Jo became an outcast. Where are Maddie and Jo ever really friends?

When Maddie goes missing, Jo becomes concerned. She thinks something is wrong, or something happened. Everyone else is quick to write Maddie off as a runaway. To find out what happened or if something happened; she needs Maddie’s friends to talk to her - she needs a way in and therefore agrees to a fake relationship with Hudson. Hudson is a popular boy who likes Jo.

The story has a lot of twists and turns which keeps you reading but it’s not the only thing that keeps you interested. There’s the mystery of Maddie, but there’s also the mystery of Jo and what happened in the past. How did Jo become an outcast? Why does Jo care so much about Maddie? Partly because of the past. Who they use to be and how she thought Maddie saw her and accepted her.

I liked the main character. The story isn’t really about a missing girl but about Jo. There’s so much more going on in Jo’s life. She wanted people to see her, to really see her but first she needed to figure out who she really was herself..

I would like to thank Net Galley for this advance complementary copy in exchange for an honest review. I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who wants to read it, but especially young woman.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Audio for an honest review in exchange for an advanced audiobook.

5 stars

What a fantastic book. I just loved Jo-Lynn, a high school senior. Due to a nude picture of her that was leaked, she has been basically friendless and everyone assumes the worst of her. Her neighbor and former BFF Maddie Prices asks Jo for help and then disappears. Jo and an old fling, Hudson, work together to help figure out what happened to Maddie.

Lots going on in the book, mystery, love story, healing old wounds. But the key to me is how girls get slut shamed and boys get congratulated. It is a story as old as time, can we finally cut it out?

Fantastic narration by Georgina Sadler.

ARC review!!! I loved this book! This book would heal high school Stephanie. It was done so beautifully! The perfect YA book!!! Jo hyphen Lynn is the perfect girl ever!!! This book tackled so many topics and it was done great!! Every plot hole that was opened in the beginning perfectly wrapped up at the end!! The plot twist was done perfectly as well! I like how it started with one thing but a whole other plot was introduced and tied in perfectly with the existing one. Jo hyphen Lynn deserves the word and everything more!

Please check your trigger warning!!!

First off, this book was so addicting to me. So addictive and so good, I definitely did not see the multiple plot twists that happened throughout this book.

It took me on a fun journey that I really just didn’t expect. But there were two things I didn’t like about this book. There is a ton of slut shaming. It’s pretty much part of the plot and backstory for our main character Jo-Lynn. The second thing I didn’t like was the entire message continually being dragged out is the “not like those girls” or “girls like me”. It was just a big circle of girls and boys slut shaming and degrading others. I hated that but also understand that it was for the plot…but I still hated reading that.

Also, how in the world did this one school have so many crappy people?????

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC audio of Not Like Other Girls.
I rate this story 4.5 stars.
*Spoilers may follow*
Meredith Adamo created a fantastic narrative and provided a clear voice for young girls. She displayed an incredible understanding for girls who have been faced with a confusing and scary situation that involves unsaid consent. As a victim myself of being influenced by a older guy who I was seeing in high school and he attempting to turn things around on me and suggest that because I didn't say no, I wanted it, this story hits extremely close to home. As that experience happened a long time and I have long forgiven myself, I struggled with the same feelings, emotions, and concerns that Jo did. Major props for the writing and emotional side of the story.
In addition, this story gave me such a cinematic, nostalgic feeling. This brought me back to some of the earlier 2000s teen sleuth dramas, like Pretty Little Liars, etc. It was a fun setting!
While it was fun, the mystery part of it also made it a little bit far fetch for me as a whole because of all the layers to the dramatic revelations that Jo found.
It was entertaining, dramatic, poignant, and yet therapeutic. Great story!

This was my first ARC book and I really enjoyed it! While I have been out of high school for a few years, this book really brought me back. It made me wish I had read this book while I was in high school. Like many young women and girls, Jo experienced a huge betrayal by her friends. I believe that a lot of girls could relate to her story. I know that I definitely did and I’d like to hope that this book will help girls who might be going through something similar in their own lives. This book had me reflecting on my teenage years. It was well written and I definitely felt like a teenager again reading through Jo’s perspective. Her spunky attitude and humor had me laughing at parts and then feeling emotional over some of the more deeper parts of her story.

4.5⭐️

Holy sh!t..
I loved this book.

I got the (really well narrated) audio ARC from Netgalley 🫶 and was hesitant at first because of the title, I couldn't figure out if this was an ironic "not like other girls" or a serious one and I was still pretty confused on that point until about 40% through the book.

What I didn't expect was the insane emotional impact that this book would have on me. This feels like the kind of book that's important.

This feels like the book you get assigned in class or find on your own when you're like 15 that changes the trajectory of your life. This feels like something I wish I had read when I was in high school. I'm honestly kind of mad that she didn't go back in time and give me that chance.

When trying to explain this feeling to people, I compared it to reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower or 13 Reasons Why or The Outsiders. Not to say that this book is on par or above or below those, but just in the way of how impactful, I think it could be on the YA scene.

Even when Jo was annoying the crap out of me with her "not like other girls" vibe, I never disliked her. There was always something about her that made me care for her or feel sympathy for her. Watching her change and come into herself throughout the novel was everything to me.

The mystery and the fake dating plot were really fun, too! They gave the story so many more layers.

The only reason I can't give it a 5⭐️ is because I got a little confused and a little "over it" by the end. The mystery plot kinda went wild, and I doudn myself forgeting who was who and who did what to whom and why this person was mad at that person and just gernally got a little lost. It felt a bit rushed, and by that point in the book, I barely cared about the mystery anymore as I was so invested in Jo herself.

I was so proud of myself (a notoriously easy crier)for not crying at all throughout the read, but then she had to go and hit me with that authors note😭.

I hope this book gets the love it deserves!

I happen to be a big fan of characters that are messy, troubled, loners or basically any one that feels real.

Jo was that character for me in this book and I loved her. It’s hard to describe the plot of this book because there are pieces of many different stories, but it’s part coming of age, self discovery, a little bit of love, and a lot of awful teenager behavior, but it’s so realistic.

The narrator had a great teenage voice and perfectly captured Jo’s spirit. Very well done. Loved the audio and the book.

This felt exactly like Veronica Mars and I LOVED IT.

Jo is incredible. She has had a really rough go of her teenage years so far and things become even harder when a girl from her school, her ex-best friend Maddie, goes missing. Or runs away? That's our mystery. Jo thinks she can possibly unravel the truth and seeks help from one of the "in-crowd". He agrees to be her pretend boyfriend to get her access to the social scene that Maddie was a part of. Turns out Jo is way more involved in the situation than she could have ever thought, and there is something truly sinister happening. Through some amateur sleuthing to figure out what happened to Maddie and what's happening at her school, she also begins to understand what happened to her in her past was really damaging, and a none of it was her fault and she has been let down by really all the friends and adults she had in her life. Characters in this book will absolutely surprise you!

There is an incredibly sad and intense story being told and it is one too many teens face and they face it alone. Not Like Other Girls is one of those books that I wish had been around and available to me as a teen. I think a story like this can also be super beneficial to adults and parents that there's often a lot more going on in a teens life than you can possibly imagine. Jo is brilliant and beautiful and people took advantage and did terrible things to her and made her feel like it was her fault. This happens all the time in real life and I wish it didn't.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Audio for a digital review copy. I'm preordering a copy of this book right now because I will absolutely reread it.

Trigger Warnings: sexual assault of a minor - in the character's past but is an on page memory, revenge porn - leaked nudes of a minor, kidnapping/hostage situation

Not Like Other Girls was such a good read. The story covered so many complex topics and blended them within the narrative in a way that felt so true to Jo's journey. The main character Jo-Lynn is a relatable teenage girl who has been outcast by her friends and peers after her nudes were leaked. Jo has gone through so much that she hasn't fully grasped the depth of her trauma and she has come to blame herself for everything. When her ex best friend, Maddy, goes missing she has this unexplainable desire to figure out how and why Maddy has disappeared which takes her on her own journey of finding the truth, while coming to terms with her own traumas and the realization that those around her have failed her and she is not to blame. This story is compelling with relatable characters, a little bit of mystery and a lot of heart.

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!