Week 15 Review: The Girls I've Been

From Goodreads:

A slick, twisty YA page-turner about the daughter of a con artist who is taken hostage in a bank heist.

Nora O'Malley's been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother's protégé. But when 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 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 . . .

My Review:
This was such a fun read! I've enjoyed her books before, and this one sounded really good, and oh, it was! I loved watching Nora deal with being in a bank that is being robbed, while learning more of her past and finding out whose these girls that she'd been!

To deal with your ex-boyfriend, and your current girlfriend, at the same time, not great, even if all 3 of your are friends as well. But to have the bank held up? Yeah, that got Nora's mind whirling, of plans and survival, and I loved watching it unfold! 

While that is going on, we got her past, of her mom raising her to be a pawn in her con games, as the perfect daughter, no matter how much it might harm the girl who became Nora was. To see these iterations that she became, and what she learned, and how she applied those lessons.

As Nora was plotting, dealing with the robbers, she was also dealing with the truth of her past becoming clear to Iris, which Wes kept poking, since he figured it out instead of her telling him, which was a lot going on. Plus it set up a threat for the next book-her step-father, but Nora has leverage. So I'm excited to see where book 2 goes! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read the sequel! 

Author: Tess Sharpe
Series: The Girls I've Been #1
Read: April 11th, 2024
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Published: January 26th 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars