The Girl I Used To Be by April Henry

The Girl I Used To Be
by April Henry
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
Henry Holt and Co.
May 3, 2016

I obtained a copy of The Girl I Used To Be from Netgalley. I've read some of April Henry's books, so I was excited to get my hands on her newest one. The premise is incredibly intriguing. It's always been believed that Olivia's father killed her mother and that Olivia survived the attack.  Fourteen years later her father's body (well, part of it) has been found and now evidence proves that he was killed around the same time as her mother. If her father is not her mother's killer, that means that the killer is still loose and Olivia is the sole survivor. Now she has to find him before he finds Olivia.

The premise is fantastic, but the believability is low.  Olivia is supposed to be an emancipated 17-year-old that easily rents a house (not an apartment, but a house) in her old neighborhood, and yet no one realizes who she is, despite the fact that she keeps asking about the murders.  She's able to embed herself in this community, again as an emancipated 17-year-old, and yet no one even questions her background or how she came to be in the town other than her answer of "I'm saving money for college by living somewhere cheaper." It is a murder mystery, so some aspects may be a little more unbelievable, but the whole time, I keep thinking that these people are crazy not to think something's a little off with her.  

Bottom Line: I had a hard time connecting with the characters.  I'm a fan of April Henry's work and have many of her books in my library, but this one was not one that I loved.  I honestly just kind of liked it.  It had an okay resolution, but in my mind the first chapter ruined the ending a bit. It might be added to the school library as it is a good fun read, but you do have to put logic aside for a bit with this one.

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

Walk the Edge
by Katie McGarry
29 March 2016
Harlequin TEEN

Katie McGarry is an expert on walking a fine line of teen romance. She manages to not have the romance be too sweet or too explicit for my high school students (or me!). I read the first book in the Thunder Road series, Nowhere But Here in September, but this one, in my opinion, is a bit better and more compelling. It certainly feels more relevant.

Razor is in the motorcycle club Reign of Terror, and Breanna is the "perfect" student and daughter who's tired of always being just that. When an innocent moment between the two is photographed (and appears to be much less innocent), Breanna's world is turned upside down. The two make a pact that she'll help him solve a mystery that's been haunting him and he'll help her out of this bind. They are, as in most romances, slowly drawn together. They don't fit together, but something just makes perfect sense, and as the mysteries deepen, they fight to discover who they are apart and together.

I liked the realistic portrayal of teen issues. Social media, cameras on every device, and people who don't understand or care about the lasting impact of reputations (especially online), are only adding to the stresses of teenagers today. Cyber-bullying and blackmail are happening more and more often as kids (and adults) have a much more visible online presence.

Breanna's family annoys me. Her constant forgiveness of them without any change on their parts annoys me as well. Perhaps that was what was intended on McGarry's part as many people live with horrible families, but put up with less than ideal situations. It did make the fact that Breanna and Razor fit together so well so much of a payoff. Razor is a fun character who is easy to picture and not that hard to relate to. Seeing the two interact and go through some major issues together was so sweet.

Final thoughts: good story, great characters, decent ending (there were a couple of things I wish McGarry would have explained), a fun read.