For years, everyone believed Terry killed Naomi. And for years, everyone was wrong.
April Henry
The Girl I Used to be
Format:
Audiobook
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Olivia was only three years old when her mother was killed and everyone suspected her father of murder. But his whereabouts remained a mystery. Fast forward fourteen years. New evidence now proves Olivia’s father was actually murdered on the same fateful day her mother died. That means there’s a killer still at large.
Now Olivia is determined to uncover who that might be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?
Point of view:
1st Person. Entirely from Olivia’s POV.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
I don’t read a lot of YA at this point. Mostly because I read a lot of romance and that’s become a little odd when the protagonists are the same age as my kids. Sooooooo, when I won a little contest on Amy McFadden’s Facebook page and she offered me a YA Mystery/Suspense/Thriller – I was all in.
This is my first book by April Henry and I will be adding more of her work to my “to read” shelf. These are exactly the kinds of books I would have consumed in my tween/teen years and they’re enjoyable as an adult as well. The book immediately starts with the discovery of Olivia’s father’s remains and sucked me in. I listened in just a few days and enjoyed Olivia/Ariel’s journey in learning more about her parents, their disappearance & murder, their hometown, and trying to discern who may have been responsible for their deaths.
There is a tiny bit of romance, but it plays such a small part in the story that I wouldn’t consider shelving this under that category. I feel like I had to stretch believability a bit when it came to how few people recognized Olivia considering how much time she spent interacting with close friends of her parents. Overall, I enjoyed the story and liked that, while I had my suspicions, it wasn’t immediately clear who the murderer was. Henry also included a thrilling chase aspect when the murderer tries to thwart Olivia’s investigation. The ending was heartwarming.
Narration:
Amy McFadden is one of my favorite narrators for a reason. She has an amazing range of voices – which was perfect for this book as characters ranged from teen to elderly and she gave them all unique sounds. McFadden also highlighted the wide range of emotions for Olivia adding depth to the story.
I won a free copy of this audiobook from a contest on Amy McFadden’s Facebook page and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
About the author:
New York Times-bestselling author April Henry knows how to kill you in a two-dozen different ways. She makes up for a peaceful childhood in an intact home by killing off fictional characters. There was one detour on April’s path to destruction: when she was 12 she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to noted children’s author Roald Dahl. He liked it so much he showed it to his editor, who asked if she could publish it in Puffin Post, an international children’s magazine. By the time April was in her 30s, she had started writing about hit men, kidnappers, and drug dealers. She has published 25 mysteries and thrillers for teens and adults, with more to come. She is known for meticulously researching her novels to get the details right.
You can connect with April Henry here:
About the narrator:
From Amy McFadden’s website: Hi! This part is all about me. Just me. It feels weird to write a bunch of stuff about myself but I don’t like pictures of me so I’ll have to use words instead.
I live in Michigan with my fiancé, Joe Anderson. He makes me laugh so much I never have to do situps. Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t do situps anyway, but hey, it’s still a nice bonus to our love.
I’m an actress now, and I used to be a 2nd grade teacher. I loved that part of my life, but after doing it for a bunch of years, I was ready to move on to the next version of me. They’re not really very different versions-teachers and actresses both reach out and engage people through stories. I’m NOT a morning person, but waking up to tell stories makes mornings better-than-tolerable.
I love books and the Muppets and smart people and kind people (not necessarily in that order) and sleeping and chocolate and coffee and writers and learning and Oreo cookies and a bunch of other stuff-but I’m starting to make myself gag on all this love.
I hate a bunch of stuff, too, but who cares about that junk? It’s probably the same stuff you hate, so I won’t bore you. Except I REALLY hate listening to people eat bananas.
You can connect with Amy McFadden here:
My Favorite Quotes
For years, everyone believed Terry killed Naomi. And for years, everyone was wrong. – The Girl I Used to Be by @aprilhenrybooks #Audiobook narrated by @amymcnarrator #Mystery #Suspense #Thriller #YoungAdult
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There must be other ways the killer slipped up, made a mistake, screwed up the details. Maybe I can figure out where they went wrong. – The Girl I Used to Be by @aprilhenrybooks #Audiobook narrated by @amymcnarrator #Mystery #Suspense #Thriller #YoungAdult
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Grief is a strange thing. You can feel it coming, and then it hits and it’s all you can do to keep breathing. But eventually it passes, and you pick yourself up and start moving again. – The Girl I Used to Be by @aprilhenrybooks #Audiobook narrated by @amymcnarrator #Mystery #Suspense #Thriller #YoungAdult
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Rellim Reads 
Woah! This post has compelled me to read this book. I’ll surely get back to you once I read it.
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