Review: Drawing inspiration by the Jeffrey Epstein trial, Courtney Summers has written another gritty, raw, and unflinching thriller. Though I didn't have a visceral reaction to this book like I did with Sadie, this book did infuriate me on many levels. 

  I found Georgia to be a very frustrating character. There were many times when I wanted to shake her until I realized she was purposely written as a painfully naive character. Once that clicked for me, I was able to let go all of my frustrations and become a watcher. Georgia has been led to believe that she is essentially worthless if she can't use her body and beauty to make something of herself. Her dream is to become an Aspera girl, a girl who is beautiful, put together, affluent, and works for the private and exclusive club. While her deceased mother who is knowledgeable of the on goings of the club has tried to pull Georgia away, Georgia only interprets this as a confirmation that she is not worthy. Desperate to seek love, validation, and affirmation, Georgia takes desperate steps to fight her way to Aspera no matter what. 

 Summers interrogates the themes of privilege, power, glamour, deceit, and complicity throughout the novel. As a reader you are very well aware of what is going on in Aspera and watch in horror as Georgia is quickly groomed and used by others. There are moments in the book that made me very uncomfortable, but like gapers delay while driving I couldn't look away. There are lighter moments in the book in which Georgia has a romantic relationship with Nora, Ashley's sister, but even this relationship is one of shared grief and a desperate attempt to figure things out when you can't trust the adults in your life. 

 It would be unfair to compare this book to Sadie though it is thematically similar. I think Summer's intent with I'm the Girl is to show the reader how easily young women are preyed upon and the toxicity of misogyny that we live in our daily lives. While it is a powerful, unrelenting, and bleak read, it is definitely not a book for every reader. I very much needed a lighter book after finishing this one.    

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: Grooming, sexual assault, gas lighting, sex with minors, underage drinking and drug use, death of a parent from cancer, and pedophilia. Recommended for mature and older teens only.

If you like this book try: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis, Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson