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.
