The Girls I've Been

By: Tess Sharpe

Narrated by: Tess Sharpe

A New York Times Bestseller * A USA Today Bestseller * In this feminist, suspenseful thriller the daughter of a con artist is taken hostage in a bank heist—and will need to tap into all her skills in order to survive.

“If you’re looking for a queer YA contemporary book with complex characters, loads of action to keep you reading WAY past your bedtime — and a story so well written I might have shed a tear over it — you need to read The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe. It will keep you captivated until the last page.” —Culturess

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 her 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 the 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 . . .

A FORBES, BUZZFEED, BOOK RIOT AND KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Critic reviews

A FORBES, BUZZFEED, BOOK RIOT AND KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AND CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A COSMOPOLITAN 100 BEST YA BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD READ, REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE

AN ALA RISE: FEMINIST BOOK PROJECT AND ALA RAINBOW BOOK LIST SELECTION

★ “A captivating, explosive, and satisfyingly queer thriller.” —Kirkus, starred review

★ "An arrestingly incisive narrative . . . fiercely captivating and impressively characterized, this tightly plotted thriller is engrossing from start to finish." --Booklist, starred review

★ "Not since Veronica Mars have hardscrabble swagger, enormous grief and teenage noir been combined into such a satisfying piece of storytelling. The Girls I've Been is a heart-wrenching, perfectly paced, cinematic thriller . . . a romance, a tragedy and a story about reclaiming agency and power. It is a triumph." —Bookpage, starred review

"YA thriller fans, The Girls I've Been is the perfect read for you." —BuzzFeed

"This action-packed story sizzles with suspense . . . In this thriller, characters prove that they can rely on their strength, friendship, and desire to be the confident and caring people they know themselves to be." —School Library Journal

"Sharpe (Barbed Wire Heart) focuses as much on [Nora's] trauma—and the systems of power that enable and excuse abuse—as on mystery and heart-pounding action . . . the small, complex cast of characters and emotional core make this a poignant thriller." --Publishers Weekly

"The tension is absolutely nailbiting." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“A non-stop thrill ride… This book is so INTENSE. It jumps back and forth from the robbery in progress to Nora’s earlier life with her mother, a con woman married to a dangerous man. It’s so well done, extremely cinematic.” —Book Riot

“If you’re looking for a queer YA contemporary book with complex characters, loads of action to keep you reading WAY past your bedtime — and a story so well written I might have shed a tear over it — you need to read The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe. It will keep you captivated until the last page.” —Culturess

“Quick, full of plot twists and reveals that will have the reader on the edge of their seat . . . Strong female leads and well-written characters.” —Screen Rant

I couldn't put it down.

this book is absolutely amazing in the way that it addresses trauma and it also features a bisexual really relationship. And I love that the author talks about endometriosis, the narration is great, and it's an added bonus that the author does the narrating herself. But the story itself is also really good, I couldn't stop listening because I wanted to find out what happened. The way it goes back and forth between past and present keeps pulling you in.

YES

If you like the familiarity of rereading books but you also want to read something new, this is good. It's so well done and interesting and moving and fun somehow too! I will read everything this author writes from now on!

Someone else’s cup of tea

*disclaimer for review
I was always really bad at peer reviews so these are just things that I liked and things that I didn't


While it wasn’t my cup of tea it was intriguing. There were storylines that I really liked. I found myself not super invested in the main character until the second half of the book. But nevertheless I was invested. I did really like her relationship with the side characters and how the story went back n forth between the present and the past. Now that I’m attached to the characters I wish there was more of iris’s storyline. It ends on a pretty open note but it also feels like an end which was really nice. You kinda see it was more about her emotional journey than the bank robbery.

The cons (kind of)
The book wasn’t my cup of tea purely for the style of writing. I’m not sure what it was but I found it a bit “cringy” but, by the end I think the style of writing changed a bit (or I just got used to it and cared about the characters more).
The author had so much vocal fry, I didn’t really enjoy it. It’s what I think adults think teens speak like which kind of irks me. But by the end it did match the character and you get used to it.


Another thing that bothered me a bit was the run down of her itinerary but this was more of a minimal annoyance rather than actual critique I guess.

On the fence? Take the plunge.

Sharpe not only writes an incredible story, but narrates it, too. Amazing. She is an auto-buy author for me now.

Wow, hidden gem - REALLY enjoyed.

This book was great, first one in a long time I couldn't stop playing. Most audible books these days are white noise in my background. I was truly bummed when this book ended-the character development was wonderful and I really just wanted to follow our protagonist a bit longer . :) I love when an author narrates their own book, now I'm off to start the rest of Tess Sharp's books.