Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Girls I've Been: Du glaubst, du kennst mich? Falsch gedacht.

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Girls I've Been: Du glaubst, du kennst mich? Falsch gedacht. by Tess Sharpe

59 reviews

rea's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I read this book in one sitting, literally only stopping to answer the door before I returned to it. It's a tense YA about finding out who you are when your whole life has been about hiding.
Nora is a great character and her struggle with who she is because of the multiple people her mother forced her to be is really well told. She is Samantha and Hayley and Ashely, and the others. She is Nora and Natalie and has manage to piece herself together inch by inch until she is able to stand on her own two feet and begin to deal with the demons in her past.
As much as this story is about escaping from a bank robbery it's more about how you deal with trauma and abuse.

Content Warnings

audbaum's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense 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

3.0

I liked this book, but didn’t love it. I somewhat enjoyed it, because the main character was bi and I am a fan of that, but the story was a bit dark for my taste. If you want to know if it ends happily, which is important to me:

it does

Content Warnings

plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read Sharpe’s novel Far From You last year and loved it, so I was excited to read her newest release. The Girls I’ve Been is a fast-paced thriller with a sapphic couple front and center. I absolutely loved it. I was intrigued from the very first page, and sped through it because I desperately wanted to know what happened next. I was kept on my toes the entire time I read, and never knew what to expect.

Nora was a complex yet realistic and relatable protagonist. I loved her, Iris, and Wesley. Their friendship was amazing, as was Nora and Iris’ romance. Also, major props to Iris for being so resilient and clever while on her period, because I could never. These two are the most badass girls I’ve seen outside of a fantasy book, hands down. The fact that they’re dating makes it even better. *chefs kiss*

The story features two timelines: one in present day where the three teens end up hostages in an armed bank robbery, and one exploring Nora’s past as she grew up frequently moving and helping her mother with various cons. The former takes place over about twelve hours, with a few chapters at the end of the book detailing what occurred in the following weeks. Both were intriguing, and they were managed well, balanced perfectly. Neither one ever seemed to overpower the other.

I don’t read many thrillers, but Sharpe’s are among the best I’ve read and this one is undoubtedly my favorite. I’ll definitely be reading more from her in the future, and trying other authors as well. My interest in the genre has certainly been renewed.

Representation:

bisexual protagonist
sapphic love interest with endometriosis
sapphic romance (f/f)

Content Warnings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

jennifer1001's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

outcrye's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The plot was...okay, for me, there were a few suspenseful moments, but I felt that the strength of the book lay with its characters and relationships, and the underlying plotline kind of took away from that. I suspect that if the overall arc of

the stepdad

had ended in the past and there was more focus on the current situation and the skills she learned coming to use as her peers gradually saw her with new eyes, I would've found the book more solid.

That arc set up a satisfyingly badass final scene with

her abusive mom

, though.

The thing I love most about this book is how Nora, the main character, lived so many lives with the intent to fool but still managed to make real, meaningful relationships in the present. None of those connections are perfect, because Nora sure isn't, but throughout the book, I could see how the past shaped her and how her current relationships developed as she did in order to process it.

In my opinion, The Girls I've Been is primarily a story about trauma, recovering from abuse, and letting go of the toxic habits one would get from having experienced said abuse. To see this victim love and be loved in whole, healthy ways despite all that baggage is interesting as well as heartening.

The only specific criticism I have is about Nora's relationship with Wes, her best friend. All of her other relationships felt very fleshed out and real to me, despite her past and present being so vastly different from mine, and probably most readers'. I would include Wes in this too, but to a lesser degree when compared to the other characters.

All throughout, we are told that Wes and Nora love each other deeply (explicitly platonic, despite Wes also being an ex-boyfriend) and this love is rooted in their shared childhood trauma. I don't doubt the existence of this love. But what I can't understand is why they connected in the first place, what caused that initial draw—how was young, reclusive Nora, fresh out of an abusive situation, able to open up to this stranger, thus beginning their lifelong friendship?

In contrast with her other connections (her sister, her mom, her girlfriend), we don't see how they meet nor do we have key scenes in their relationship that wasn't

related to Wes' abusive father

. The effect to me is that I felt told about their closeness and even though I loved that and wanted to believe in it wholeheartedly, it just couldn't sink in as much as the other relationships.

In my opinion, the story placed Wes on the same level as the other key figures in her life but held back for whatever reason... perhaps because, again, there were so many things grappling for the reader's attention.

Content Warnings