I loved The Girl's I've Been, so finding out about this sequel made me so incredibly happy, What makes me even happier, is being able to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! While I did struggle to piece some things together, simply because the more specific details from The Girl's I've Been left my brain a long time ago, I still thought this book was tense, and engaging. Really kept me on my toes with the fast paced action, the majority of which is deep in the mountains, but never feels too "samey", as the novel jumps from perspective to perspective, and includes flashbacks to the recent past to help break things up. I loved the characters. The core trio are especially really well written and defined.

Nora and the gang really deserve a break, but selfishly I'm now wondering if and when there's going to be a third instalment.

The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe is a YA thriller that I read a few years back now and really enjoyed, it was fast paced, had me hooked and characters that were easy to root for so when I heard this book was coming I knew I would need to pick it up.

The Girl in Question again follows Nora, Wes and Iris who we know from the bank robbery from the previous book but instead this time after graduating high school they are going on a backpacking trip in the woods when Wes’s new girlfriend gets kidnapped dure to a borrowed flannel. Most of this book takes place over about a week while the characters are in the forest but there are flashbacks to weeks and years previous.
This is a series I would recommending checking out the content warnings for as there are a lot of things discussed and it’s better to be safe.

I really like how this book is written, it’s not something I find in a lot of the books I read but I don’t think the story would work without it. Unlike the previous book we get Iris, Nora and Wes’s POVs but like the previous book we get flashbacks to previous weeks and years that are important to the story. Jumping between times and POVs kept me hooked and wanting to know where this was going but it also helps give the reader as much of the necessary information that possibly can be.

Along with seeing more of Iris, Wes and Nora we get to see Lee again and meet Wes’s new girlfriend Amanda. I would have loved more time on page with Lee but that didn’t work with the plot which makes sense. I really liked getting Iris and Wes’s POVs because while I felt like I had a decent grasp on Nora already it help me understand them better and where their actions come from - there was a point this was particularly helpful with Wes after a reveal that was unexpected. Amanda’s character was an interesting one who I think I liked but don’t think I still completely understand even if a lot of her actions do make sense.

There were parts where it took me longer to get into the story but once I was hooked I could not put it down and just wanted to know how it was going to end. There were some twists that didn’t surprise me as much as they once would have but then there were some where I never would have expected it but it still made perfect sense and I really liked that. There is a lot I would like to say but can’t without risking spoiling something, I will say I would love to see some of what Wes gets up to after this book ends and what this trio’s future will end up like but the story also ended in exactly the right place.

A fantastic sequel that doesn’t feel like it was just added because book 1 did well and I can’t wait to see what Tess Sharpe comes out with next. This book reminded me why I loved The Girls I’ve Been and I will be recommending this pair upon release again.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Children’s Group for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐
The wilderness setting had my pounding throughout and added the right amount of suspense but the end was anticlimactic. It did have some twists that had me gasping out loud and flipping the pages even faster. I highly recommend if you need something to get the heart racing even though it's not really necessary for finishing out the series. It's still a good time and it's multi POV.

That cover is still a let down though.

Tess Sharpe does it again - The Girl in Question is full of her evocative writing and sharp twists that will leave you gasping and itching for more.

Tess Sharpe has done it again, this was a cracking book and just like her last had me at the edge of my seat.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of the bok in exchange for a review.

Tess Sharpe does what Tess Sharpe always does in this sequel to The Girls I’ve Been— full of unique storytelling, twists and turns, and a heart-wrenching narrative of a girl who has lived a life of abuse and exploitation as she finally breaks free of the shackles holding her back.

Nora is such a unique heroine, I was actually unsure whether I’d like her when I was first introduced to her in the first book, but she quickly won me over with her quick wit, her deadpan humour and her fierce love for the people around her— namely Iris, Wes and her sister, Lee. And I loved her even more in The Girl in Question. She’s the star of the show, I’m enamoured by her journey, by her intelligence and I just love a heroine who outsmarts everyone around her and that’s Nora. The book started with a bang, launching us right into the story while the plot was fast-paced, energetic and had me teetering on a knife’s edge and I didn’t want it to end. I could read Tess Sharpe forever, honestly.

I just love Tess Sharpe, truly. She’s never written anything that I haven’t adored because she favours unique stories about queer girls who are queer and it’s just who they are. They exist, they love and they live and they thrive. Far From You will always hold a special place in my heart but Sharpe is an auto-buy author for me and I’ll always recommend her books to everyone I know. Everyone who loved the first book will be really happy with the sequel— I’m glad Sharpe wrote a second book because Nora’s story didn’t feel finished in the first one. We’d only just seen the tip of the Nora-shaped iceberg in The Girls I’ve Been and The Girl in Question satiated all the questions I had from the first book.

Just go and read Sharpe’s whole backlist because you will never be disappointed!!

I absolutely love The Girls I've Been so I was really excited to read this one and it totally lived up to the hype and I enjoyed it just as much as the first book.

This took me a little while to get into (partially, I think, because I'd forgotten some of the first book 🙈) but once I did get into it, I couldn't put it down!