tl;dr daughter of a con artist is held hostage in a bank heist... and many things happen...
Premise
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…
Rating
4.5/5 stars
Review
I really liked this book! It was definitely not what I expected but in a good way. Nora is such a clever, cunning, morally grey bisexual badass, and I loved reading her story, both past and present. I really liked the relationships between her and Iris & her and Wes. They're all true found family, and I like how Nora and Wes's relationship remained close & healthy after their breakup and how they're able to mark the clear line between platonic and romantic. All three characters are very complex and definitely surprised me in a good way. I'm in love with Iris, thank you very much.
I love how this book tackled agency and Nora using her past to her advantage, finally gaining the authority over her life that she always lacked in the past. The characters' individual developments do relate to abuse and other traumatic events of their past, so to see Nora take back control of her own life, yet acknowledging its effect on her, was very freeing. This is a book where the title only makes sense after you read it.
There are two main reasons this isn't a 5-star read
1. The story functions heavily through flashbacks, which sometimes slows the pace. I love myself a good dual timeline story, but these flashbacks relied a lot on "telling", so compared to the literal heist-hostage moment of the main plotline, there was a noticeable change in pace. I still couldn't put this book down, though
2. In the end I was left wanting more. I don't really know how else to describe it.
Still definitely recommend though!
Other Info
Standalone
14+
Rep: bi mc, wlw scs, sc with endometriosis
CW: VERY EXTENSIVE, see link here
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Ive-Been-Tess-Sharpe/dp/0593353803
Would I Recommend?
Yes!!
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