The Girls I've Been

The Girls I've Been is an incredible story about how our past affects our future. How the people who raise us impact who we are. How hard it is to know who you are when you always had to be someone else. It's not a pretty story. There is pain, there is anger, there is suffering. There is horrible things that happen to a child that should have never happened. But there is growth too. There is healing, though it is an upward battle. There is light and love and friendship mixed in with all the darkness.

In just over 300 pages we follow the events of the bank robbery, but we also go to the past. We see the different girls Nora has been. We see what she had to do; what her mother taught her and how she can use it today. We also see glimpses of what is happening just outside the bank with Nora's sister, Lee, who has once again come to her rescue.

I'll say it outright, I could not find anything I did not like about this book. I liked just about everything. And what did I love? The relationships in this book. Nora and Lees, Nora and Wes, Nora and Iris, Wes and Lee, Iris and Wes. All of these characters experienced being alone. At one point in time or another, they had no one to lean on. Yet over time, they found each other; now they didn't have to go through life alone. For Nora, that's a difficult adjustment, which is great to see and it's executed perfectly. She's the one who has always protected everyone else; she's always the one who saves the day. Now she's got to work together with her friends and it's amazing.

I loved the writing, I loved the plot, I loved the flashbacks, I loved the dialogue, I loved the first-person format, I loved the characters, I loved the character growth...I loved this book. It was excellent and I can't wait to tell everyone I know about it. If you like mysteries, if you like thrillers, if you like to sit on the edge of your seat unable to put a book down because you're dying to know what happens next, The Girls I've Been is for you. I hope you'll read it because you will not be disappointed.