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A review by inking_thinking
The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe
4.0
⭐️ 4 Stars ⭐️
Nora O’ Malley has been lots of different girls. Her mother is a con artist who targets criminal men, taking Nora for the ride. But on one of her mother’s con, she falls for the mark. Nora decides to pull the biggest con, which is an escape from that life. Ever since then, Nora has been playing a normal life. But she’ll need to dust off her skills after three problems start to arise.
- Her ex walked in on Nora and her girlfriend, Iris. They are all friends, but Wes didn’t know
- The day after Wes finds them kissing, they have to go to deposit money they raised at a fundraiser
- As soon as they enter the bank, two robbers start robbing it
“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There’s just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there’s a normal.”
The story jumps back and forth between the last four years of Nora’s life. During the chapters that feature the present, the book tells us how much time has passed since being held captive, what the working plan was and what items they had to help them. I thought this was a nice detail to add because it tells you quick information that will be helpful in the future and reminds you what is going on. This story focuses on one theme: Survival. It’s a story about how you may go through some of the worst moments, and how in the end, that will make you stronger. It also throws in a surprise theme of how you should keep those you care about close. Not only does the author do a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat, she throws in Nora’s complex relationships showing how they are affected by the present but also the past.
“What didn’t kill me didn’t make me stronger; what didn’t kill me made me into a victim. But I made me stronger. I made me into a survivor.”
Often, when I’m reading YA books there tends to be some pacing issues. But let me tell you, I thought the pacing was brilliant. I never felt bored while reading it and wanted to know what will happen next. The author creates this fast-paced story by having short chapters and fast dialogue scenes. A smart move for the author to do because it grabs your attention. The author also does a great job of balancing dark and heavy scenes with humor and thrilling parts. By balancing out the story with humorous and thrilling elements it helps to not make the story dark and depressing.
Nora O’Malley is different from any character I’ve read. She is someone you don’t want to mess with but throughout the book, you will come to love her character. Nora has been through some rough times, but we see her persevere and keep going. She has been through so much pain and hurt, but we see her evolve to eventually breaking past her barriers. Wes and Iris are complex and incredible side characters. Both of them have their own stories that we get to see in the book as well. Many times in YA books, we don’t get to see the side characters’ backgrounds but in this book, we get to know all about them. The only criticism I have about these two characters is that I wished we got to see more of them in the present. We got so much information about them in the past, but not much in the present.
"I am someone who survives."
The relationships between the characters were incredibly complex, with many layers to untangle. Nora and Wes are exes, but they are still friends. They still care about each other so much even though some events happen that rattle their relationship. I loved seeing that they were still friends, and I feel like this doesn’t happen a lot in YA books. I would love to see this in more YA books because this happens in real life. I was disappointed that we did not get to see Iris and Nora’s relationship more. We get so much of Wes and Nora’s, so it made me wanting more from the other one. I wish that their relationship was expanded upon more and we got more scenes between them.
The ending was a little underwhelming. I expected more out of it, and to me, it felt open-ended. I would have liked to find out what happened rather than not knowing. I expected it to have more of a solid ending to mark the end of Nora’s story. But her story still has more to it.
TW: Domestic Violence, Sexual Assaults, Child Molestation, Gun Violence, and Lots of Crime
Content warnings from the author: bit.ly/2NcdmLP
Check out my review on my blog: https://inkingandthinking.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/the-girls-ive-been-review/
Nora O’ Malley has been lots of different girls. Her mother is a con artist who targets criminal men, taking Nora for the ride. But on one of her mother’s con, she falls for the mark. Nora decides to pull the biggest con, which is an escape from that life. Ever since then, Nora has been playing a normal life. But she’ll need to dust off her skills after three problems start to arise.
- Her ex walked in on Nora and her girlfriend, Iris. They are all friends, but Wes didn’t know
- The day after Wes finds them kissing, they have to go to deposit money they raised at a fundraiser
- As soon as they enter the bank, two robbers start robbing it
“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There’s just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there’s a normal.”
The story jumps back and forth between the last four years of Nora’s life. During the chapters that feature the present, the book tells us how much time has passed since being held captive, what the working plan was and what items they had to help them. I thought this was a nice detail to add because it tells you quick information that will be helpful in the future and reminds you what is going on. This story focuses on one theme: Survival. It’s a story about how you may go through some of the worst moments, and how in the end, that will make you stronger. It also throws in a surprise theme of how you should keep those you care about close. Not only does the author do a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat, she throws in Nora’s complex relationships showing how they are affected by the present but also the past.
“What didn’t kill me didn’t make me stronger; what didn’t kill me made me into a victim. But I made me stronger. I made me into a survivor.”
Often, when I’m reading YA books there tends to be some pacing issues. But let me tell you, I thought the pacing was brilliant. I never felt bored while reading it and wanted to know what will happen next. The author creates this fast-paced story by having short chapters and fast dialogue scenes. A smart move for the author to do because it grabs your attention. The author also does a great job of balancing dark and heavy scenes with humor and thrilling parts. By balancing out the story with humorous and thrilling elements it helps to not make the story dark and depressing.
Nora O’Malley is different from any character I’ve read. She is someone you don’t want to mess with but throughout the book, you will come to love her character. Nora has been through some rough times, but we see her persevere and keep going. She has been through so much pain and hurt, but we see her evolve to eventually breaking past her barriers. Wes and Iris are complex and incredible side characters. Both of them have their own stories that we get to see in the book as well. Many times in YA books, we don’t get to see the side characters’ backgrounds but in this book, we get to know all about them. The only criticism I have about these two characters is that I wished we got to see more of them in the present. We got so much information about them in the past, but not much in the present.
"I am someone who survives."
The relationships between the characters were incredibly complex, with many layers to untangle. Nora and Wes are exes, but they are still friends. They still care about each other so much even though some events happen that rattle their relationship. I loved seeing that they were still friends, and I feel like this doesn’t happen a lot in YA books. I would love to see this in more YA books because this happens in real life. I was disappointed that we did not get to see Iris and Nora’s relationship more. We get so much of Wes and Nora’s, so it made me wanting more from the other one. I wish that their relationship was expanded upon more and we got more scenes between them.
The ending was a little underwhelming. I expected more out of it, and to me, it felt open-ended. I would have liked to find out what happened rather than not knowing. I expected it to have more of a solid ending to mark the end of Nora’s story. But her story still has more to it.
TW: Domestic Violence, Sexual Assaults, Child Molestation, Gun Violence, and Lots of Crime
Content warnings from the author: bit.ly/2NcdmLP
Check out my review on my blog: https://inkingandthinking.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/the-girls-ive-been-review/