A review by charmel
The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Four stars for my first book of 2022, not bad!


“I was raised for a kind of slaughter. But I grew into a huntress instead. One who always hits her target. No matter what.”


The Girls I've Been was interesting. It has a uniquely interesting premise, plot, and characters. The book centers around Nora, the daughter of a con artist who was taken hostage in a bank heist. To survive along with the other hostages, she must pull a con to escape.

Other than that, this twisty YA thriller also talks about hard and sensitive topics such as the aching journey of surviving abuse. It really amazed me how Sharpe could fit all these themes in a 300 paged book.

“If you can’t beat ’em, you join ’em.
Or, in this case, you con ’em.”


As I said, the plot was interesting. It kept me on edge every time I read, it was action-packed, entertaining, and fast-paced. The writing style was also remarkable here. Although I didn't enjoy the confusing and messy time jumps, Sharpe still managed to showcase the raw emotions and hardships the main character has been through.

Our main character, before becoming Nora O'Malley, had been a lot of girls; Rebeca, Samantha, Haley, Katie, and Ashley. She's a girl who escaped, who learned from her past, who survived, and is surviving. 

The only downside of her character for me is that at a very young age, she has done some pretty unrealistic things. But pretty much, she was a well-written character with true flaws and original quality. 

I loved the side characters. Their chemistry with Nora was *chefs kiss*. Wes was her ex and now he and Nora have the best platonic friendship or what we call the Franken-friends (see, men and women can have a deep bond and just be friends!). Iris is the badass girlfriend of Nora and she's one of the strongest fictional girls I know. All these shared pain and backstories have made them heal together, become stronger together, and live life through roller coasters together. The sweetest found family! 

“This we share. Scars and knowledge and broken safety that was never really there in the first place, because we were born to bad apples.”


I don't want to say that this book is not your typical YA thriller but this book *really* is a unique and nontypical YA thriller.

morally grey bi main character, the best platonic m/f relationship, found family, mental health representation, and lots of cons. all these in this book!!!