Source Purchased
Published by Wednesday Books on September 13, 2022
Rating:
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 2018 breakout hit, Sadie, I'm the Girl is a masterfully written, bold, and unflinching account of how one young woman feels in her body as she struggles to navigate a deadly and predatory power structure while asking readers one question: if this is the way the world is, do you accept it?
I’m always excited for a new Courtney Summers book, so when my book club selected this for our October read, I was really looking forward to chatting about it! And this was a great book club pick that generated a lot of interesting discussion.
I have to admit that this was not always easy for me to follow. The time jumps and so many characters popping in and out confused me at times. And I think it was the most challenging of her books for me. But in a way it felt like the most optimistic ending for a Courtney Summers protagonist, although I can see how the ending might be disappointing if you are new to her books! There is no big tidy resolution with baddies held accountable by the law. And as expected, it paints a bleak picture of the world. But for me, what mattered to the story was not solving societal problems, but George’s place in the world and what she chooses in the end.
There is kind of a mystery in the story, but to me the culprit was pretty obvious early on, which I don’t think was unintentional, since I thought George’s journey to figuring out what happened and who did what was more important than the reader figuring it out.
George was a tricky character. She was so difficult, in a book full of difficult people, but what Courtney Summers does so well is depict the real messiness of people, particularly young girls. They’re complex and not always perfect ‘likeable’ heroines.
Being at book club and chatting about this book really helped me hone in on what I liked about it, but I did have to sit with this one for a while after finishing and think about it before I could put my thoughts into words. But it will definitely be one of my standout 2022 reads.