Review: I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I was really looking forward to this book after loving Sadie. This has that same ominous feeling as Sadie, but is not told in the same mixed media format. This book is pretty heavy and does have alot of triggers. I'm not sure how I feel about this book even after sitting with it for a bit. It is an uncomfortable read for sure, and it has several unlikable characters. This is going to be a difficult one to review without spoilers.

Georgia is 16, and she has big dreams. She dreams of working at the exclusive members only club in her town, Aspera. She wants to be an Aspera girl, but unfortunately she doesn't know what that entails. Her mother worked at Aspera, but she kept much of her work a secret from her daughter. This of course had the opposite effect and make it look glamourous instead of dangerous to Georgia. With her mother having lost her battle with cancer, she can't giver her the facts and tell her the truth of the club and the wonders and dangers that lie within.

At the heart of this story, Georgia is naïve, immature, and trusting of everyone around her. She takes everything everyone tells her at face value and believes them. So when she gets caught up in a murder investigation, she finds herself in situations that she really should never be in. While you think that the investigation might be the main focus, there is a much bigger much more sinister plot happening around her. Speaking of the plot, it was kind of all over the place. One moment we are with Georgia and Nora as they are "investigating" the murder, the next minute we are with Georgia as she is trying to better her position and "live her dreams" at Aspera. Georgia is being groomed and manipulated by the people she thinks are protecting her and she doesn't even know it. My biggest issue with this book is the flow of the varied storylines, they didn't feel cohesive and the ending was abrupt. The message and overall plot was good, but it didn't deliver in the end for me. Perhaps it was messy by design as was the message and content of the book. It doesn't deliver on atmosphere and the emotional aspects. It gives you that squirmy, icky feeling and I always had that feeling of waiting for the jump scare to happen. Georgia finds herself in several messy and ugly situations. You aren't sure if you want to hug her or shake her. As an outsider looking in you can't imagine why she can't see the danger right in front of her, but as a realist you know that kids/people get sucked into these kind of situations all the time in the real world. People, kids especially, get caught up in the promise of wealth and better things, especially when it comes from an adult they trust.

Overall, this was just ok for me. I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it either. The message was haunting but the execution was not to my taste. I would caution readers to look up trigger warnings before diving in as this has many when it comes to grooming, SA, manipulation, etc.

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