Reviews tagging 'Death'

As raparigas que fui by Tess Sharpe

120 reviews

niamhc_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

This had me hooked from the first page.

Sharpe's writing is beautiful and effortless. I found myself in awe at her skill, honestly I haven't read anything this well written in a while.

The story revolves around Nora, and bounces back and forth between the present, where she is trapped as a hostage during a bank hesit, and her past, where we learn about the girls her mother made her into to con criminals.

There is a great balance of past and present, and I was never bored throughout. Every character was fleshed out and had good motives. I fell in love with Nora and Wes and Iris. 

This book deals with some pretty heavy subjects so make sure you read trigger warnings, but it is handled so well through the characters and story telling.

I cannot recommend this book more. Its reignited my love for reading.

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ellajappinen's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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ramintah's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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madsborne's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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kayladaila's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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redefiningrachel's review against another edition

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

4.75


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goldyyy's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

2.75


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lunagirl_alice's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was amazing..  but i will say very clearly PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS i did but not check thoroughly enough & i can tell you there is a lot of triggering content in the book, so take care of yourselves when you choose the media you consume 💗 I was so intrigued by the idea of this book, and i wasn’t disappointed. The format of the book is written in the present tense with Nora, in the bank, but we also jumped back into her past and learn more about what she’s been through. Honestly her past is so sad, i felt heartbroken reading what she went through but it’s really important as it shows you exactly why she thinks and behaves the way she does. I live for protective Nora, Iris (her girlfriend) has Endometriosis and the way she still takes care of her despite the fact they’re also in a life or death situation was amazing. I really loved the endo rep, it’s not something that’s often in books so it’s nice to see that representation. We also see Iris helping and even though she’s in pain she is also a big part of the plan and is so smart and helpful. The found family vibes were so cute, they were all so protective of each other while simultaneously arguing and disagreeing. Highly recommend this book as long as you’ve checked trigger warnings and are in the right headspace!! ✨

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aproudmc13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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


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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

The Girls I’ve Been combined many typical elements of YA fiction in such an interesting and engaging way that I haven’t seen before. I wish I could give five stars but apparently, I’m very critical at the moment with giving books five-star ratings and always find something why I won’t give them this rating. 

Without spoilers, I can’t say a lot about the plot but this much: In the past, Nora has lived with her abusive and criminal mother from whom she was able to flee when she was a teenager. Now, in the present, she just wants to pay in some money with her friends when a bank robbery happens, confronting her with her past and giving her chance to put it behind her. 

What this novel did especially well was the combination of coming-of-age elements with the mystery/crime aspect of the story. The coming-of-age story is quite dark and serious which I didn’t expect but which was still greatly done. When looking at the mystery front, it was so clever how the characters slowly gathered pieces of information and things that could help them. The plans they had were just so creative and fun.  The ending was great as well but what I didn’t like about it was the fact that
the robbery wasn’t connected to Nora’s past at all. I think it would’ve been even more interesting if this had been the case


Throughout the whole novel, there was a great feeling of tension. This tension was mainly created through the short chapters and the mixing of the past and present storyline which was executed so well. In general, I enjoyed the writing style, and there were so many sentences I just had to (virtually) underline since they were so great. 

Looking at the characters, I generally liked them and found them interesting, even though there was a bit too much telling around them at the beginning. I especially loved to see the relationship between Nora and Iris which was just so cute. Talking about Nora, it’s so empowering to see how tough she has become after the abuse she had to endure. It was also so amazing to see how she
was able to free herself from her mom in the end


All in all, The Girls I’ve Been was a great read with great characters and storytelling. I would love to read more from this universe or from the characters. 

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