⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
The Girls I’ve Been is a story about Nora, the daughter of a con artist, who is taken hostage with her girlfriend and ex-boyfriend during a bank heist.

“The girls I’ve been. The perfect daughters to the women my mother has become to con her marks.”

I’ve been eyeing this book for a while since it’s been on my bookshelf and tbr. I have to admit, the red really does stand out so I couldn’t put reading this off too much. I brought it with me while on vacation and finally got a chance to start reading this book when we were driving back home (a 15-hour journey). I started the book in the morning on the ferry from the island to the mainland and finished it while in the car. One of the things I can immediately say; THIS BOOK IS AWESOME! I just couldn’t stop reading it! A total page turner!

As someone who mostly reads fantasy books, I enjoy mystery books just as much! especially the kind that keep you on your toes and guessing what’s going to happen with every turn of the page, this book does exactly that! The synopsis intrigued me from the very beginning and with the more pages I’d read the more intriguing this book became.

The way the chapters were written were really adding to the flow and storyline. I loved how the plans, items gained and time were constantly listed at the beginning of the characters and how transcripts of phone conversations were written down. It added amazingly to the atmosphere created by the author. It made the story engaging as well as very fun. The humour used in these little parts, such as “Plan #1: scrabbed”, or “Holy shit, I am the damsel in distress and I might just be getting saved.” made the book also very fun to read.

A bank heist is not something often seen in books. The characters being hostages, but far from “damsels” was a part that I really liked! I loved how they went about the whole situation and trying to free themselves.

Nora is such an amazing character! I loved every moment more layers of her personality and past came to light. She was super complete and complexly written. All the different girl’s she’s been and the different vibes all these girls have were astonishing and intriguing to read about. The flashbacks to the moments she was those girls also really added to the whole story. I couldn't wait to learn more about her. Her growth, strength and personality were truly amazing. I was also a very big fan of Iris. She is such a character by herself with an amazingly funny personality as well. I would love to be friends with them all in real life. Same with Wes, who is such a caring and strong person as well.

The story, unknowingly, deals with some heavy topics. I hadn’t really noticed it at the beginning, but the more I learned about Nora and the girls, about Iris and Wes, the more apparent these topics became. I’m a big fan of how these topics were woven into the story and how they were part of them growing up, but not something to be shy about. They didn’t seem taboo or something to keep to yourself and I truly believe that it was a believable way they were depicted in this book.

Overall, I absolutely devoured this amazing book. it had a fun and engaging plot with intriguing character that stole my heart.