Book Review: Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo

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I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

You don’t know what reminders you need until they’re staring you in the face, waiting for you to see them. To be seen.

This book is on the top of my favorites for 2024 and I’m going to tell you why.

Adamo tells you the story of Jo-Lynn; a senior at a prestigious high school where grades matter and life happens in the fast lane. But for Jo, her life is seemingly a disaster. She’s been branded as “that girl” – the girl who likes boys, might be a little boy crazy, so she must be a trashy girl. She’s branded as the girl no one can trust and no one would like. But the more she processes these labels she’s been given, the more she comes to finally realize that these labels don’t define her and that bad things really did happen to her. But she has to realize that first. 

I think everyone can relate with terrible or even terrifying experiences from our high school years and how much we suppress or accept things as OK just because we can’t see ourselves. Or even because those around don’t see us. They don’t see those inner screams that we don’t know how to voice and so much goes ignored.

 This is THAT story. A girl who couldn’t see what was happening to her or who she was. 

But this is also a book about how friendships come and go. The pain associated with losing people we considered as our best friends and those social growth pains that happen. 

But this is also a book about something even darker happening in the school around them all that can ruin a lot of lives and how desperate people don’t want that information out there.

For me, this book brings forward my own painful experiences at the age of 17. Of not seeing who I was or who I wanted to be and letting bad things continue to happen to me and around me because “everything’s fine”. 

Thinking it’s normal to be treated terribly by those around you, because they’re just being playful or funny. This story provides a therapeutic outlet for anyone that’s been taken advantage of or mistreated and we told ourselves that it was normal. Because it’s not normal and these kinds of unacceptable behaviors happen far too often. Even worse is those of us who it happens to, are usually in a family setting where those closest to us don’t even see what’s happening or refuse to acknowledge it. 

That’s the most painful part of those experiences. Not being seen until AFTER. When we’re already broken and putting all of our pieces back together. This book is for all of us because: You are seen. You are heard.

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Powerful, brilliantly plotted, voicey, gripping, beautiful, heart-wrenching, hilarious . . . Read this book.” -Liz Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas

When Jo-Lynn Kirby ‘s former best friend-pretty, nice Maddie Price-comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it’s some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked-and since everyone decided she deserved it. There’s no way Maddie would actually come to her for help.

But then Maddie is gone.

Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can’t shake the feeling there’s more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind-and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo’s with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she’d rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie’s disappearance, she’s left to wonder who she’s really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.

Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut that takes a hard look at how we treat young women and their trauma, through the lens of a missing girl and a girl trying to find herself again.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meredith Adamo (she/her) is a YA author based in hot, humid North Carolina, but she’s originally from Rochester, New York, which is her favorite place on the planet. She likes to write about girls who can make you laugh and break your heart—ideally on the same page. Her non-writing interests include collecting vintage bakeware, crocheting the ugliest blankets you’ve ever seen, and grocery shopping. 

Her YA mystery Not Like Other Girls will debut from Bloomsbury YA on April 30, 2024.

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