Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - I'm the Girl

2/2/2023: reread for a book club since I hate myself. This book made more sense the second time. If you say Georgia is stupid or an idiot or whatever for being naive (SHES 16 shUT UP) I will put you in a mf blender. I would die for Nora. Good day.

A S P E R A *

There were times while reading ITG where I wanted nothing more than to yell through the pages and warn Georgia. She's reckless. She's angry. She's hungry for power, and she's willing to do anything in her pursuit to get it.

That's the point.

She's sixteen.

Georgia Avis is a teenaged girl whose goal is to work at an exclusive resort for billionaires who desire a place away from the rest of the world: Aspera. Georgia's pursuit for a place in Aspera leads her into the arms of its owners, Mathew and Cleo, who seem like they want nothing but to help Georgia climb the socioeconomic ladder. The stress of bills unpaid and her brother working overtime to make up for money Georgia stole is a constant in the narrative, part of the reason events in the book unfold, and when it's juxtaposed with the luxury of Aspera, it's clear: Georgia wants power, but she equally wants freedom from the way her life is. From the life her passed mother had.

And her beauty is the way out of it.

  He told me I was beautiful!

Georgia knows the way her body is given value in our patriarchal society. But this makes her think she can have equal footing with the adults that control her town, her world, and those in control want her to believe it.

  The patriarchy's dream.

Courtney Summers seriously puts Georgia through the ringer. There are many difficult scenes and descriptions in this book, starting at the first few pages. This book forces us to confront why we as a society are easily angered by a sixteen year old girl- why a town is so quick to judge a troubled thirteen year old girl- instead of focusing on the adults in her life that do real harm. Violence in this book is not for shock value, and that's what makes it different than so many depictions of grooming and assault: they, like the rest of this book, are there to make you see. Force you to see. This happens, this is real.

  It's everywhere.

Don't get me wrong, this book isn't purely bleak. There is also hope, and that hope is seen in Georgia's relationship with another queer girl, Nora. What an amazing character. I loved every page that had her in it. Her grief, her love, her anger. She and her relationship with Georgia are a beating heart in this novel. While a main part of this book is the slippery slope Georgia falls down, it is also about the strength girls are forced to find in the worst situations, and how they won't give up.

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I was given an arc by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
*all quotes are from an advanced copy

Trigger warnings by me here.

SPOILERS BELOW

Criticism:
- SpoilerI'm confused with what Tyler knew. I'm *assuming* he didn't know about the literal sex trafficking or he would do way more to stop Georgia from going to Aspera, right? Was the blackmail her mother had minor things? Maybe about drugs or something else? I think this needs to be clarified for the final edition because the final discussion between Georgia and Tyler didn't clear up enough for me. Because there's no way he would have let her step foot in that place if he knew exactly what was happening, whether he made promises to his dead mother or not.
- please say the word lesbian or queer or gay!

Content Warnings