Reviews tagging 'Grief'

I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

19 reviews

grimdark_dad's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Sexual assault, Classism, Rape, Sexism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

libscote's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Courtney Summers knows how to write a page-turner. Even though I wanted to throttle Georgia many times, I could also see how she came to believe the different things she believed, based on society and stubbornness. Aspera sounds like it could be a real place, and I can see how it would be both alluring and something you would urge people to stay away from. I think it will stay with me a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death and Alcohol

abookandaspotoftea's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, and Gaslighting

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Child death, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Trafficking, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

The whole book is a TW honestly lol

drraytay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Death, Violence, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Grief, Rape, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Gaslighting

thereadingraccoon's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m The Girl is a young adult mystery about a sixteen year old who discovers the body of a local girl. It contains thriller elements but it is also is a coming of age story. Due to the graphic nature of this book I recommend it to readers sixteen and older. 

Georgia is struck by a car while riding her bike to Aspera, a golf course and resort for the rich and famous where she’s dreamed of working as one of their elite “girls” since she was thirteen. When she wakes up injured by the side of the road her bike, cell phone and the explicit photographs of herself she was carrying are all missing. While stumbling to find help Georgia discovers the body of Ashley James, the thirteen year old sheriff’s daughter in the brush nearby. As she recovers from her accident she’s enlisted by Ashley’s older sister (Nora) to investigate exactly what happened that night. But due to all the attention from the murder and accident and her youthful beauty she attracts the notice of the Aspera owners (Matthew and Cleo) and she’s finally closer than ever to being an actual “Aspera girl”. Georgia juggles her skeptical older brother slash guardian, a blossoming romance with Nora, unexpected demands at Aspera, the investigation into the murder and the demands for answers from Ashley’s grieving father. 

As a reader you are very aware that something isn’t right with Aspera and only the main character’s age, naïveté and ambition keeps her from seeing the reality. It is a “ripped from the headlines” type novel echoing the #metoo movement and Jeffrey Epstein allegations as Georgia is pulled into a world of sex, money and power where the bodies of young girls are commodities to be bought and traded. 

I will state right off that this is not the feel good book of 2022. It is dark and gritty and has detailed scenes of the grooming and exploitation of a minor. The mystery and thriller elements keep the reader interested but there are also serious topics of discussion about abuse of power, consent and female sexuality. I thought Courtney Summers did an excellent job of showing the more complicated and human parts of a teenage girl and her desire to be special and beautiful. 

Overall this is a dark and tragic story about two teenage girls that are abused and exploited for the gratification of powerful men and the wall of secrecy that protects abusers. I would recommend it to readers that enjoy reading about challenging contemporary topics. 

3.5 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Death, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

oracle_of_madness's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This book hit me like an unstoppable force and I know deep in my bones that it has left a permanent imprint that will never leave me.

Georgia is the girl.  She knows her place is to be an Aspera Girl.  On her way to the beautiful high rolling country club, Aspera, she is hit by a car.  When she revives still on the same road, she keeps heading for Aspera but winds up finding a dead body.  Not just a dead body, but a girl she knew, Ashley, who was only 13 and just by looking at her Georgia could see she wasn't simply just murdered. 

This story breaks apart the whole scenario of a teen, who in this case is a girl but could be anyone, that wants her dreams to come true so badly that she is blinded by the light of those dreams and cannot see what is actually happening to her and around her.  This deals with quite a bit of sexual assault to the point that it was hard to read at times.  This is a beautifully written story that really leaves an impact but please be aware of the content warnings. 

Tw:  sexual assault of a minor, unsettling depictions and scenes, violence and murder. 

Out September 13, 2022! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug use

lrcartee's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Georgia Avis wants more from life. She feels she deserves more and is determined to have more no matter the stakes. To Georgia, the epitome of making it is to become an “Aspera girl”. Aspera is an elite resort for the rich and famous surrounding by mystery and secrets. When Georgia is offered a job there, the secrets begin to unravel.

I love Courtney Summers books. I love how she tackles difficult subjects and brings them to light. I wanted to love this book. I did not. There were so many plot points that it was very hard to decide how to write a synopsis. Was it about Georgia’s obsession with the resort and the people who run it? Was it the fact Georgia found the dead body of a 13 year old girl and trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her? Was it about trying to spotlight a young girl’s naïveté and thereby unable to see the dangers that lurked around her? I don’t know! It was all those things and didn’t do any of them particularly well. It was too disjointed and because of that nothing really resolved. As for character development, there was none. Georgia wandered in and out of so many traumatic experiences seemingly learning nothing from any of them. She became very trying.

The blurb for this book says it’s about Georgia and her friend trying to find out what happened to her friend’s sister. To me this was secondary. In my opinion, it was more about Georgia fulfilling her dreams no matter the cost and sometimes stumbling upon something about the murder case, usually by being in situations from very poor decision making.

Another  reviewer wrote that the entire book was a giant trigger warning and I agree. They were all represented, rape, child molestation, grooming, human trafficking, murder, suicide, drug use, classism and more. For me, the book needed more cohesion. As I said I have loved Summers other books but this one, for me, was just too all over the place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

reading_rosie's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship