Soon to be a Netflix film starring Millie Bobbie Brown! In this feminist, suspenseful thriller the daughter of a con artist is taken hostage in a bank heist—and will need to tap into all her skills in order to survive. A BUSTLE, REFINERY29, COSMOPOLITAN, BUZZFEED and MARIE CLAIRE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK of 2021 Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets … As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when her mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.
For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:
#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.
#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:
#3: Right after they enter the bank, two guys start robbing it.
The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage . . .
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The Girls I’ve Been
By Tess Sharpe
Oh my goodness Holy Moly Twisty! There is nothing like this book that got me all twisted and reading like a maniac. Nora’s life has been on the run from the moment she was born. Her mother is a master of the sweetheart con and life on the run, and living a life where you are always running and reinventing yourself. Well, she has had enough of it. But as you know it, Nora gets taken hostage and there the adventure begins.
A beautiful sapphic story about three teens trying to fight their own battles and live a life despite trauma and abuse. t is a story of love and courage, and a heroine from an unlikely past.
Such a great and unique story that will keep you at the edge of your seat. What a fantastic and dark YA thriller.
You know the phrase, “I couldn’t put it down?” Well, I would have read this in one sitting–but I forced myself to save the last quarter inch of its pages so I had something to look forward to the next day. I won’t rehash the fast-paced plot, compliment Sharpe’s amazing writing, or talk about what an addictive page-turner this is, since the other 600+ Amazon reviews do just that. And besides, Barbed Wire Heart arrived today, and I’m anxious to get back to reading another Tess Sharpe masterpiece. A+!
Lots of twists and turns, this book keeps you at the edge of your seat!
I bought this one for my 13 year old daughter and she enjoyed it so much she persuaded me to read it. I’m very glad I did. It had a very interesting protagonist along with some great supporting characters.
This book was WILD.
It was super disturbing and also riveting and it’s almost impossible to wrap my head around what I just read (slash listened to, because I did it on audio). Our main character, let’s call her Nora, is the daughter of a con artist. So when she gets trapped in a bank during a bank heist with her girlfriend (Iris) and ex-boyfriend/best friend (Wes), she’s basically the bank robber’s worst nightmare. Because Nora can talk and fight and survive her way out of anything.
This book has an extremely complicated timeline, where there’s alternating timelines (between the bank heist and her childhood with her mom), but then there’s flashbacks to moments like meeting Iris, or breaking up with Wes, etc. just thrown in. It’s a lot to process. But I somehow wasn’t confused? The chapter titles were extremely clear, and made it easy to understand where we were in the story. This is such a complex, interwoven, layered tale and that sounds like a lot of big words thrown together but it’s really true. There’s a lot going on and a lot to uncover.
I would be remiss without mentioning in huge capital letters TRIGGER WARNING/CONTENT WARNING because this book has a whole lot of effed up sh*t going on it. Child abuse (physical, sexual, emotional/psychological), everything that goes wrong in the bank heist but I don’t want to spoil–just assume it’s bad (but is it really worse than any of the abuse I just explicitly outlined? probably not). All three of the central teens in this book have some pretty tragic stories and it’s a lot to swallow. So just think long and hard if this is the book for you before reading it. It’s very heavy for YA, even for what’s kind of maybe suspense? Hard to categorize.
The preceding paragraphs perhaps revealed little of what I actually thought of this book. But I loved it. It didn’t bring me happy feelings, but I was DYING to know what happened next, I loved all the characters I was supposed to love, and gosh darn I was rooting for those teens. This book had me glued to the edge of my seat and I binged it as much as I could for an audiobook. I also think it was narrated by the author, which is fascinating, and she did a great job. Lots of emotion behind the words! Overall, would definitely recommend for the right audience.
Thank you to PRHA (Penguin Random House Audio) for my review copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
5 stars – 10/10
The Girls I’ve been is a young adult contemporary thriller about a trio of teens stuck in the middle of a small town bank robbery.
The story is told from the first person POV of Nora as she navigates her role as a hostage and tries to figure out what she can use to survive and get her two best friends (also current and ex lovers) Iris and Wes out safely. It also goes back in time and details some of the girls she pretended to be as a child to help with her mother’s sweetheart cons. It becomes rapidly clear that more often than not Nora’s experiences with the men her mother chose were traumatizing and abusive culminating in Ray, the gangster her mother left the con life for. Now five years later Nora is living under an assumed name and trying to put the past behind her.
The dialogue of The Girls I’ve Been is snappy and fun and you can’t help but root for Nora and her friends. The part I struggled with is just how cartoonishly EXTRA everyone is. Lee, her older sister and P.I. is practically mythical in her badassery. Because her mother purposely chose men to grift that were hiding things each man was worse than the next culminating in Raymond who is fat cat villain from every action movie. Wes’s father the mayor? Horrific abuser. Iris’s absentee father? Controlling abuser. And Iris herself (Nora’s girlfriend) is a vintage wearing teenage beauty that can also make a bomb out of common household materials or her petticoats. But at the core of it is Nora is a 17 year old near genius at reading people and hatching plans. I can see how this has already been optioned for a movie. The characters are all bigger than life and that will translate well on the screen. But in a book I prefer for a little more subtlety.
In the end, I give The Girls I’ve Been 3.75 stars (rounded up to 4). Although it is paced much like an action movie there is a lot of food for thought about trauma, abuse, found families and freedom.
* a review copy was provided by Netgalley as part of the YALLWrite/Penguin Young Readers sweepstakes
You can’t con a con artist. Isn’t that what they always say?
Content warnings from the author: bit.ly/2NcdmLP
The Girls I’ve Been at it’s base is a twisty YA thriller following a teenage girl named Nora, who was raised by a con artist to be a con artist. She, her best friend, and her girlfriend are being held hostage in a bank heist, and Nora uses her retired con savvy to hopefully get them out alive. If you read TGIB, then you will find the story is more than a YA thriller. It’s an exploration in healing and survival after experiencing trauma, navigating many forms of love, and a fictional look at a mother/daughter con team relationship, that I’m sure will feel scary relatable for many who have toxic relationships with their mother.
I honestly enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was way deeper than I expected, and I truly felt connected in so many ways to Nora. Not only her though, because even her friends and family grab you, and you’ll want more and more of them. The thrilling aspect of the story would be enough alone, but the emotional and deep parts of this story take it to another level for me. They are that boost from entertaining, to entertaining and impactful for me.
The pacing of this story is good. The chapters are quick, and the dialogue and story are as well. There is a back and forth of time jumping, and it personally took me awhile to adjust, because as I said the chapters are quick, so I felt like I was moving on as soon as I was adjusted in one time frame. That said the time jumps were necessary to establish Nora as a character, and to explore why she is who she is. So they were worth it even if I felt a little bouncy at first.
The end gave me chills. I can’t say much without spoiling, but it’s poetic and the perfect end. So to close. If you’re looking for a YA that’s thrilling, mysterious, dark fun, and also has that deep emotional edge, then you MUST pick up The Girls I’ve Been on January 26th!