I'm the Girl

By: Courtney Summers

Narrated by: Lori Prince

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The program includes a bonus bridge story, Greetings from Sunny Los Angeles, featuring Dan Bittner as West McCray.

"Narrator Lori Prince pulls listeners into the complicated world of teenagers with her portrayal of 16-year-old Georgia Avis, who longs to escape poverty and sees her beauty and sexuality as her ticket out." - AudioFile magazine

The next searing and groundbreaking queer young adult novel from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Courtney Summers, already hailed as...

"A stirring, thought-provoking thriller.”—Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push

"A stunner."—Kate Elizabeth Russell, New York Times bestselling author of My Dark Vanessa

"Powerful."—Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling and Printz Award-winning author of Firekeeper’s Daughter

When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley's older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is guiltiest.

A spiritual successor to the breakout hit Sadie, I'm the Girl is a bold and masterful account of how one young woman feels in her body as she struggles to navigate a deadly and predatory power structure while asking listeners one question: if this is the way the world is, do you accept it?

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2022 Courtney Summers (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Raw and Real

This book does a fantastic job describing the confusing feelings of being a teenage girl as she attempts to navigate her place in the world. As a queer, attractive woman myself who was socialized to seek male validation as my self-worth, I found Georgia’s naivety and inner dialogue to be pretty spot on. There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book, and I wish the author had spent more time fleshing out the storyline vs detailing some of the triggering scenes. But overall, an important read for young women.

Intense

Reeling from finding the body of a dead teen then being hit by the murderer’s car Georgia doesn’t want to team up with the girl’s sister Nora. Georgia has ambitions of a bigger life than her deceased mother’s, dreams her mother tried to thwart. Solving a murder isn’t part of the plan. After losing money to an unscrupulous photographer promising her a modeling career, Georgia wants a job as an Aspera Girl at an exclusive resort where discretion is *everything*. But everything can be relative.

Courtney Summers pushes the boundaries of comfort with sexual innuendo both appropriate and inappropriate. It made me question my own thoughts on the age of consent, manipulation and attraction. Georgia oozed both sexuality and innocence. In my day, high school students sometimes had parent approved relationships with adults. At most it was considered inappropriate, never a crime if both consented. The idea of a teenager being too young to consent wasn’t part of the discussion. Decades later we know more about power and grooming and the vulnerability of minors as well as sex trafficking.

I’M THE GIRL pushes the boundaries of legality. At times Georgia appears to be steering interactions, though behind her behavior is the naïveté of a young woman who doesn’t consider the potential consequences of her actions. While the responsibility always lies with the adult who crosses the line, the reality is that some people still wonder if she “led him on”. When “him” is “her” all bets are off as to how outsiders will perceive blame.

Without directly asking those questions, Courtney Summers made me squirm mad question what I *know* with what I experienced and the culture when I was Georgia’s age. I wondered what charges, if any, a prosecutor would deem viable.

I’M THE GIRL evokes a plethora of emotions, some conflicting. Though not every reader will love this often disturbing book, I’M THE GIRL is a brave exploration of both the beautiful and ugly sides of a teen’s emotional and sexual awakening.

Great performance of characters

Loved the performance, didn’t like the story overall. Not my favorite genre but I’d read a different book of hers because the writing was good.

I wasn’t ready

You have to be of a certain mindset to read a Courtney summers book. But this one was a new level. I’ve always been able to handle her books a better because the main character sees the red flags, is fighting against what’s wrong. But when the main character is a victim in every sense, it makes it a gut punching read.

excellent

Book was great, it definitely heavy and speaks of the world as it is and the changes that need made. Lori Prince narrating as always the best.

not the best

the story was predictable and fairly boring I was hoping for more because Sadie was so amazing but this felt like lazy writing. the main character was completely unlikeable. would not recommend