The Girl Who Wasn't - Cara Thurlbourne

Genre: Young Adult | Romance | Fiction

Release Date: Expected 30th September 2021

Publisher: Wise Wolf Books

CW: Parental Neglect, Domestic Violence, Abuse, Anxiety, Mental Illness.

Jeanette isn't happy with her life. Her whole world currently revolves caring for her agoraphobic and hoarding mother and it doesn't leave much time for friends or dreams. She's spent her life dreaming of going off to university and studying Musical Theatre, of finally having friends she can confide about her life in - and then she meets Jack.

Jack seems to be very happy. He has friends, is applying for football scholarships and is everything Jeanette wants to be. But it's all a front - his mother is violent and only wants him to play sports because of her failed tennis career but all he wants to do is play music. Then he meets Marcia, the love of his life. But she won't meet him - because Marcia isn't real.

Jeanette knows its wrong to pretend to be someone else - but she doesn't even know herself yet.

Right from the beginning, there was an immediate sense of sympathy and care invoked for both our main characters, and I was definitely attatched to them in some way. The supporting roles in this story were brilliant - I loved Jeanettes best friend, Violet, and she was definitely my favourite. I found Jeanette and Jack to feel very similar to the typical tropes - quiet girl who's secretly cool, angry jock who has a soft side - but I did love how their friendship evolved and grew over time with them.

The Girl Who Wasn't contains some graphic depictions of people with agorophobia and other mental disorders, and whilst they did capture just how serious these issues can be I wasn't fully comfortable with these being vilified and being the only part of Jeanettes mothers personality without any real explanation.

There was some pleasant surprises along the way, I thought this was going to be pretty straightforward like the many nerd/jock stories that come about, but there were some wonderful flickers of hope in what could have otherwise been a very dark story.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Cara Thurlbourne, Wise Wolf Books and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

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