Review: The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

Title: The Girl I used to Be

Author: April Henry

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books

Publishing Date: May 3rd, 2016

Pages: 240 

Genre: Young Adult Mystery Thriller

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

When Olivia's mother was killed, 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. It's up to Olivia to uncover who that may be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?

The Girl I Used to Be is a young adult mystery thriller about a teen girl, who just found out that her father was murdered the same day her mother was. Olivia goes back to the town her parents grew up in, in hopes of finding out what happened to them.

What made me pick this book up: 

I had just finished The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry and I absolutely loved it. So I saw this one by her and decided to give it a try.

What did I like about the cover: 

There's a lot I like about this cover, to be honest, the girl is absolutely beautiful, she has such striking beautiful eyes. It's just like a photo I would like to take. The thing I like the most is it looks like she's trying really hard to keep her head above the water, so she doesn't drown. Much like Olivia in the book, she feels as if she is going to drown from everything going on.

What made me read this book: 

Like I said, I had already read one April Henry book and I fell in love, so I decided to try the second one. I actually read about this book first, a while back.

What did I like the most: 

Oh goodness, there was so much I loved. I loved the mystery. I loved Nora and Duncan. The whole book had me wanting more and more until I could figure out who did it. I'm pretty sure I had that staring into space, mouth wide open look on my face quite often while listening to this. I also really like that it's a quick read. There was very little downtime, where there wasn't much going on. I didn't feel like there were many fillers, and for a good thriller/mystery, that's exactly what I'm looking for. 

What didn't I like: 

I have a love/hate relationship, mostly because I love not figuring the book out before we're supposed to. But at the same time, I just had to know. I think I didn't like not-knowing, but at the same time, I loved not knowing. There really wasn't anything I didn't like about this book.
Actually, there was one really sad part, that I hated. But I won't give it away.

Once again, another April Henry book that was well written, had a great story, great characters, lots of suspense. I absolutely loved it.

I write mysteries and thrillers. I live in Portland, Oregon with my family.
If you've read one of my books, I would love to hear from you. Hearing from readers makes me eager to keep writing.
When I was 12, I sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine.
My dream of writing went dormant until I was in my 30s, working at a corporate job, and started writing books on the side. Those first few years are now thankfully a blur. Now I'm very lucky to make a living doing what I love. I have written 20 novels for adults and teens, with more on the way. My books have gotten starred reviews, been picked for Booksense, translated into six languages, been named to state reading lists, and won the Oregon Book Award.