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A review by gmommers
The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe
4.0
Nora O’Malley doesn’t know who she truly is. Growing up as the daughter of a con artist, she has been a lot of different girls, molding herself into whoever her mother needed her to be for each specific target. But when her mom ended up falling in love with the terrible man they were meant to be conning, Nora made her escape.
For the past five years, she’s been playing the part at a normal life. But that all goes to shit when her ex-boyfriend turned best friend, Wes, her new girlfriend, Iris, and herself become hostages in a bank robbery. Her past might be the only thing that can save them...or the very thing to get them all killed. And it doesn’t help that she’s been lying to Wes about Iris while lying to Iris about who she really is.
Randomly decided to read this one night and I was not disappointed by the decision. The nonstop tension and action made sure I never put this book down. The story jumps between the bank heist in the present and the different girls Nora has been throughout her past. We get to see the past Nora survived as well as how she’s still working on breaking down the barriers she has put up.
The relationships between the characters are complex and well done. Nora and Wes are exes but remain close friends. All three of them are friends, but Nora and Iris had been keeping their relationship a secret from Wes. And Wes knows the truth about Nora’s past, but Iris doesn’t. This is a lot of layers to unpack, and they get to do it in the middle of a bank heist. Talk about your bad timing. Despite all of this, their “former boyfriend, current girlfriend, yet three amigos” relationship worked seamlessly.
Each chapter starts with a snippet of the time and its relation to when the bank heist started as well as the plan the gang is currently working on and the items they have to work with. I thought this was a nice touch because it gave you quick information that could’ve otherwise bogged down the narrative. And although escaping the bank robbers unharmed is the main storyline, there’s the underlying mystery of how Nora ended up escaping her con artist mother and dangerous new stepfather also driving the plot, and the way the two collide is quite explosive.
Last, but not least, please enjoy two of my new favorite quotes.
For the past five years, she’s been playing the part at a normal life. But that all goes to shit when her ex-boyfriend turned best friend, Wes, her new girlfriend, Iris, and herself become hostages in a bank robbery. Her past might be the only thing that can save them...or the very thing to get them all killed. And it doesn’t help that she’s been lying to Wes about Iris while lying to Iris about who she really is.
Randomly decided to read this one night and I was not disappointed by the decision. The nonstop tension and action made sure I never put this book down. The story jumps between the bank heist in the present and the different girls Nora has been throughout her past. We get to see the past Nora survived as well as how she’s still working on breaking down the barriers she has put up.
The relationships between the characters are complex and well done. Nora and Wes are exes but remain close friends. All three of them are friends, but Nora and Iris had been keeping their relationship a secret from Wes. And Wes knows the truth about Nora’s past, but Iris doesn’t. This is a lot of layers to unpack, and they get to do it in the middle of a bank heist. Talk about your bad timing. Despite all of this, their “former boyfriend, current girlfriend, yet three amigos” relationship worked seamlessly.
Each chapter starts with a snippet of the time and its relation to when the bank heist started as well as the plan the gang is currently working on and the items they have to work with. I thought this was a nice touch because it gave you quick information that could’ve otherwise bogged down the narrative. And although escaping the bank robbers unharmed is the main storyline, there’s the underlying mystery of how Nora ended up escaping her con artist mother and dangerous new stepfather also driving the plot, and the way the two collide is quite explosive.
Last, but not least, please enjoy two of my new favorite quotes.
It was the perfect meet-cute, except when you’re a girl who likes other girls, there’s this little additional dance, because what if she doesn’t? So you’re not looking for red flags like a girl does with a guy – you’re looking for rainbow ones.
I see the steel wrapped in fear that all little girls find on the spike-strewn road to womanhood.