Released September 13, 2022 from Wednesday Books
Courtney Summers broke my heart again. I’m the Girl is a beautiful, sad, furious and important novel. I’m glad I read it, and now I need about a dozen romcoms to clear my brain.
I’m the Girl is billed as a young adult thriller, though I’m not sure how I feel about the “thriller” label. It’s the story of Georgia Avis, a 16-year-old girl who is invited to work for Aspera, a private members club for famous and influential men. She also discovers the body of Ashley, a 13-year-old girl, on the road from her town to Aspera.
The book is partly a mystery as Georgia and Ashley’s sister Nora investigate Ashley’s murder. But really it’s also a literary novel that looks at abuse, grooming, consent, power, and wealth.
Georgia is such a well-developed character, someone difficult to like but so easy to understand. As an adult reading this book, I can see every awful piece of manipulation from the adults around her, even as Summers writes the novel from Georgia’s own perspective. It’s incredible and disturbing.
This book is so beautifully written that even with the dark subject matter, it’s a pleasure to read (and I appreciated the romance between Georgia and Nora to give some brightness to the story). And I hope that I’m the Girl opens conversations with teen readers about consent and dealing with similar situations.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my review copy of this book.
Leanne Olson 
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