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lynnedf's review
4.0
Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review.
I liked it. I think Wendy Walker did a really solid job of creating a mystery that worked - Charlie was a really good protagonist (and it was nice to have a neurodiverse lead). She was able to be part of the mystery while still seeing it from the outside: Charlie knew just enough to push the story forward, while also being enough in the dark that you were guessing along with her.
I don't think anyone will read this and gasp when you find out "who done it" -- BUT I do think you'll be entertained and it was nicely wrapped up.
I didn't figure it out (completely), I really enjoyed the story and the characters, and I thought it was well written. I wish it had been written with a dual point of view, but that's just a personal preference.
Recommended read.
I liked it. I think Wendy Walker did a really solid job of creating a mystery that worked - Charlie was a really good protagonist (and it was nice to have a neurodiverse lead). She was able to be part of the mystery while still seeing it from the outside: Charlie knew just enough to push the story forward, while also being enough in the dark that you were guessing along with her.
I don't think anyone will read this and gasp when you find out "who done it" -- BUT I do think you'll be entertained and it was nicely wrapped up.
I didn't figure it out (completely), I really enjoyed the story and the characters, and I thought it was well written. I wish it had been written with a dual point of view, but that's just a personal preference.
Recommended read.
maralyons's review against another edition
4.0
American Girl is a fast-paced mystery told from the perspective of Charlie, a hard-working 17 year old girl on the autism spectrum.
Charlie lives in a small town, working at a diner owned by Clay Cooper, a powerful man with lecherous intentions. He is murdered and she is the only witness, but she didn't actually see his murderer. Charlie is concerned it is someone she loves as he has so many enemies.
The story is filled with twists and turns, imperfect characters, and a vivid backdrop. I loved how clever Charlie was. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by a full cast. The ebook and audiobook are so cinematic.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.
Charlie lives in a small town, working at a diner owned by Clay Cooper, a powerful man with lecherous intentions. He is murdered and she is the only witness, but she didn't actually see his murderer. Charlie is concerned it is someone she loves as he has so many enemies.
The story is filled with twists and turns, imperfect characters, and a vivid backdrop. I loved how clever Charlie was. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by a full cast. The ebook and audiobook are so cinematic.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.
abbyspragins's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars! I loved Charlie, and she was by far the most enjoyable part of the book. Pretty good overall.
hmbb99's review against another edition
4.0
Wendy Walker has done it again. She has written an excellent murder mystery with interesting characters, that pulls you deep into the story like you are witnessing the crime. American Girl is a story about a neurodivergent teenage who gets wrapped up into a murder investigation. Charlie, who has had a hard life, is just trying to save up for college when her boss is murdered. She was at the scene of the crime so the police think she may know more than she is telling and perhaps she does.
Charlie is a wonderful character. She is neurodivergent so she sees the world a little differently. She works hard at trying to solve the case on her own and to protect those she loves, regardless of the danger she is putting herself in.
The story is full of suspects, as everyone had a motive to kill Clay Cooper. The characters are typical middle class Americans who are just trying to do the best they can. The plot is full of twists and turns, which keeps you guessing. It is a quick read and you will feel like your part of the story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.
Charlie is a wonderful character. She is neurodivergent so she sees the world a little differently. She works hard at trying to solve the case on her own and to protect those she loves, regardless of the danger she is putting herself in.
The story is full of suspects, as everyone had a motive to kill Clay Cooper. The characters are typical middle class Americans who are just trying to do the best they can. The plot is full of twists and turns, which keeps you guessing. It is a quick read and you will feel like your part of the story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.
marilynw's review against another edition
4.0
American Girl by Wendy Walker
Narrated by Paige Layle and many others
Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, has had a difficult life with her mother. A mother that put the fear of almost everything into Charlie's heart, Charlie's mom had made mistakes and she is not going to let Charlie forget it. Charlie feels like she must be the biggest mistake her mother ever made. Way to go, mom!
Still, Charlie is more than awesome. Smart, a great friend to those she feels belong to her, a hard worker, and wise beyond her years, even if she does have trouble understanding the thoughts and motivations of others. She will do anything to take care of those who are important to her.
A man is murdered, Charlie is in the crosshairs of the cops, FBI, bad guys, and the murderer and she's at a loss on what to do. But she knows that no matter what, she is going to protect her friends even if it means not disclosing the truth. The dead man was a bad man and Charlie is making new rules as she goes. Taking care of her friends and getting to college will drive her decisions.
Boy, knowing Charlie was riding her bike around town had me on pins and needles. The people who should have been protecting her really dropped the ball but they'd been doing that all her life so that's nothing new. The audiobook presentation was interesting. We'd have the narration from Charlie herself but throughout the story we'd have sound effects and vignettes with multiple narrators, almost like a play. At times these instances felt like an unwanted interruption although a few of the vignettes did seem to add to the story. I think all the narrators did a really good job with their parts.
Pub October 17, 2023
This was an Audible Audio selection.
Narrated by Paige Layle and many others
Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, has had a difficult life with her mother. A mother that put the fear of almost everything into Charlie's heart, Charlie's mom had made mistakes and she is not going to let Charlie forget it. Charlie feels like she must be the biggest mistake her mother ever made. Way to go, mom!
Still, Charlie is more than awesome. Smart, a great friend to those she feels belong to her, a hard worker, and wise beyond her years, even if she does have trouble understanding the thoughts and motivations of others. She will do anything to take care of those who are important to her.
A man is murdered, Charlie is in the crosshairs of the cops, FBI, bad guys, and the murderer and she's at a loss on what to do. But she knows that no matter what, she is going to protect her friends even if it means not disclosing the truth. The dead man was a bad man and Charlie is making new rules as she goes. Taking care of her friends and getting to college will drive her decisions.
Boy, knowing Charlie was riding her bike around town had me on pins and needles. The people who should have been protecting her really dropped the ball but they'd been doing that all her life so that's nothing new. The audiobook presentation was interesting. We'd have the narration from Charlie herself but throughout the story we'd have sound effects and vignettes with multiple narrators, almost like a play. At times these instances felt like an unwanted interruption although a few of the vignettes did seem to add to the story. I think all the narrators did a really good job with their parts.
Pub October 17, 2023
This was an Audible Audio selection.
banrions's review against another edition
unfortunetly, this one isn't for me. i made it a solid halfway? maybe slightly a third? of the way through but it's just not really holding my interest, and i've decided not to keep reading things i'm not loving anymore. i don't think this is a bad book by any means, but it just didn't quite grab me as it went on.
it's a 'not for me, might be for you' kinda situation.
the premise was interesting, i've read and enjoyed two novels from this author before, and when i saw the narrator i was doubly excited to listen. paige is someone i've followed on youtube and tiktok where she makes a lot of videos about autism and abelism, and is generally awesome. i loved that they hired an autisic actor to play the character/read the novel and she did a great job. for me, the pacing kinda threw me, and it started off really good and started dragging a bit in the middle and today i just gave up. the little romance stuff going on with charlie and ian was just... not for me. i'm not reading hetero romance stuff unless it's amazing, and i picked this up hoping for a thriller/mystery and it just got too slow on that part. for me. if i had been in a different mood, i might have powered right through and it's possible that i'll pick this back up someday, but it's just not grabbing me right now.
that said, i do love a lot of what it had to say about girlhood, growing up autistic, small town politics, mothers and daughters, rape culture, and i think it's possible that it would have pulled it all together in an interesting way, the middle just lost me, personally.
it's a 'not for me, might be for you' kinda situation.
the premise was interesting, i've read and enjoyed two novels from this author before, and when i saw the narrator i was doubly excited to listen. paige is someone i've followed on youtube and tiktok where she makes a lot of videos about autism and abelism, and is generally awesome. i loved that they hired an autisic actor to play the character/read the novel and she did a great job. for me, the pacing kinda threw me, and it started off really good and started dragging a bit in the middle and today i just gave up. the little romance stuff going on with charlie and ian was just... not for me. i'm not reading hetero romance stuff unless it's amazing, and i picked this up hoping for a thriller/mystery and it just got too slow on that part. for me. if i had been in a different mood, i might have powered right through and it's possible that i'll pick this back up someday, but it's just not grabbing me right now.
that said, i do love a lot of what it had to say about girlhood, growing up autistic, small town politics, mothers and daughters, rape culture, and i think it's possible that it would have pulled it all together in an interesting way, the middle just lost me, personally.
amysbrittain's review against another edition
4.0
This is another whodunit winner from Wendy Walker: a character-driven mystery with a neurodivergent main protagonist, small-town intrigue, and satisfying revenge.
Charlie is a math-whiz teen with autism who is working as much as possible at The Triple S sandwich shop so that she can one day afford to leave her Pennsylvania hometown and attend MIT.
But when the shop owner, Clay Cooper, who owns several other local businesses, is a town council member, and has his hand in most of the local business, turns up dead, everyone becomes a suspect, including all of his employees.
Charlie must help discover the truth about what happened in order to clear her coworkers--and Charlie herself--from suspicion of murder.
But it becomes clear that Clay was in deep with some seedy characters, and key elements of the mystery of his death stretch back decades--intersecting with Charlie's own family.
Charlie is whip-smart intelligent in her evaluation of the facts of the complicated series of events. She is also somewhat closed off emotionally (this seems to be connected to her autism). She has a difficult relationship with her stepfather and her mother, who loves Charlie deeply but manipulates others in order to get by. (Side note: the storyline concerning the scholarship and her stepfather had me on the verge of screaming with frustration on Charlie's behalf.)
Her longtime friend and could-be love is a steady, supportive force in the background of her life--but Charlie has developed heartbreaking relationship "rules" that prevent her from becoming attached, for fear that she won't be strong enough to leave town and make her mark on the world.
I loved Charlie as our main protagonist. She is not exactly an unreliable narrator, but it does turn out that she's been withholding key information from the reader. I was fascinated, watching her knowledge creep out and its implications unfold, while she discovered essential facts that change everything.
I appreciated the choice to have main protagonist Charlie be neurodivergent--and to name the book about her American Girl.
Wendy Walker writes wonderful, character-driven suspense that keeps me hooked as she guides the reader through a twisty mystery. The fierce loyalty and revenge elements in this intriguing whodunit were immensely satisfying.
I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing.
Wendy Walker is also the author of What Remains and Don't Look for Me as well as All Is Not Forgotten, Emma in the Night, and The Night Before.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see American Girl.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
I began to form rules like math equations. When this happens, people act that way and say those things. When that happens, people act this way and say other things. And those rules stayed in my head, each and every one. I realized I could use them to prepare for whatever was coming. To protect myself.
Charlie is a math-whiz teen with autism who is working as much as possible at The Triple S sandwich shop so that she can one day afford to leave her Pennsylvania hometown and attend MIT.
But when the shop owner, Clay Cooper, who owns several other local businesses, is a town council member, and has his hand in most of the local business, turns up dead, everyone becomes a suspect, including all of his employees.
Charlie must help discover the truth about what happened in order to clear her coworkers--and Charlie herself--from suspicion of murder.
But it becomes clear that Clay was in deep with some seedy characters, and key elements of the mystery of his death stretch back decades--intersecting with Charlie's own family.
Charlie is whip-smart intelligent in her evaluation of the facts of the complicated series of events. She is also somewhat closed off emotionally (this seems to be connected to her autism). She has a difficult relationship with her stepfather and her mother, who loves Charlie deeply but manipulates others in order to get by. (Side note: the storyline concerning the scholarship and her stepfather had me on the verge of screaming with frustration on Charlie's behalf.)
She was describing things I already knew about myself that I thought no one else had noticed because I was so good at pretending.
Her longtime friend and could-be love is a steady, supportive force in the background of her life--but Charlie has developed heartbreaking relationship "rules" that prevent her from becoming attached, for fear that she won't be strong enough to leave town and make her mark on the world.
I loved Charlie as our main protagonist. She is not exactly an unreliable narrator, but it does turn out that she's been withholding key information from the reader. I was fascinated, watching her knowledge creep out and its implications unfold, while she discovered essential facts that change everything.
I appreciated the choice to have main protagonist Charlie be neurodivergent--and to name the book about her American Girl.
Wendy Walker writes wonderful, character-driven suspense that keeps me hooked as she guides the reader through a twisty mystery. The fierce loyalty and revenge elements in this intriguing whodunit were immensely satisfying.
I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing.
Wendy Walker is also the author of What Remains and Don't Look for Me as well as All Is Not Forgotten, Emma in the Night, and The Night Before.
To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see American Girl.
Find hundreds of reviews and lots of roundups of my favorite books on the blog: Bossy Bookworm
Follow me on Instagram! @bossybookwormblog
Or Facebook! The Bossy Bookworm
paprika411's review against another edition
3.0
This was an enjoyable audible book. All the narration was great. I really enjoyed when there were multiple narratives in a scene; it really helped me enjoy the story. Though this was enjoyable it was lacking a bit in the plot. Some parts were predictable, and I really didn’t love the ending. Overall it was good.
everybodyh8krys's review against another edition
5.0
The storyline. The inclusion. The narrator. Everything about this was great! I’ve only read (in this case listened to) two books by this author so she’s still fairly new to me but she’s slowly but surely becoming a favorite of mine.
la_biblio_fille's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0