The Girl You Thought I Was

by Rebecca Phillips

"A smart and savvy take on coming of age and coming to terms, with a little help from your friends."-Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door

No one looking at Morgan Kemper would think she had a secret-at least not one that she's deeply ashamed of.

To everyone she meets, she comes across as sweet, pretty, and put together. But Morgan knows that looks can be deceiving. For over a year, she's shoplifted countless pieces of clothing and makeup. Each time, she tells herself it will be the last, and each time, it never is.

But when she's caught and sentenced to thirty hours of community service, the image Morgan has carefully constructed starts to crumble. She's determined to complete her punishment without her friends discovering the truth about her sticky fingers, but that's easier said than done...especially once she meets Eli, the charming, handsome nephew of the owner of the charity shop where Morgan is volunteering.

Soon Morgan is faced with an impossible decision: continue to conceal the truth or admit that she's lied to everyone in her life, including the boy she's falling for.

Praise for The Girl You Thought I Was:

"A charming and poignant ode to the seasons of friendship, family, and love, and what happens when we dare to reveal our most messy selves. Simply put, The Girl You Thought I Was stole my heart!" -Darcy Woods, award-winning author of Summer of Supernovas

"The Girl You Thought I Was is an honest, compelling, nuanced look at fallibility, forgiveness, the unhealthy ways we cope, and the people who make us want to be better. If you're a fan of character-driven contemporary, don't miss this one." -Dahlia Adler, author of Behind the Scenes and Just Visiting

• ISBN10: 006257096X
• ISBN13: 9780062570963
• Publish Date: 31 July 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

The Girl You Thought I Was, was a book I went into not knowing what to expect at all. We have Morgan who is a shoplifter and while it's obvious from the beginning she is going to get caught and have to deal with that, I wasn't sure in what direction the story was going to go after that. I liked how the story went through and the direction Phillips took it in. Morgan not only has to deal with the shoplifting problem, and has to do community service for it, she also has to deal with things that have been happening at home that caused her to start shoplifting. Now of course that doesn't all happen right away as she instead tries to distract herself with other things and ignore the problem (as we all do with certain things), this eventually ends up backfiring in multiple ways.

Overall I enjoyed this story. It was a quick read for me and one that I didn't want to put down because I need to know how it was all going to be resolved and if Morgan was going to have any parts of her old life back. I liked the type of community service she did and how she actually learned something from it and didn't complain about it. I felt like we got to see her be herself for a little while and not have to deal with all the other problems she was facing. I did find myself getting annoyed with her friends at times because of how certain things happened and how they just kind of abandoned her it felt like (while understandable to a certain extent, it was also just a bit much). Her family situation is one that is sadly common and I did feel for her in that regard because of how things had ended up happening (just be honest with your kids). This book was a fun read for me and exactly what I needed at the time with all the heavy books I was having to read for school.

[Sam@WLABB]

Morgan had a dirty little secret, which she thought she hid well, and she did, until she was caught. Now Morgan had to battle to preserve her "good girl" image, while earning back her father's trust and fighting the compulsion to steal.

• Pro: Phillips captured those emotions related to Morgan's addiction so well. I experienced her highs and her lows, the adrenal rush, and the guilt that followed. It pained me to watch Morgan struggle, and I was hoping she could get to the root of her problem before she lost everything.

• Pro: Rita was a really wonderful character. She found beauty in the pain, and I am happy people like her existed in this world. She was someone, who knew the whole truth about Morgan, and still believed in her, and I loved her for that.

• Pro: Eli, dear sweet Eli. Eli sort of lost a lot and decided he wouldn't wallow in self pity, and this made me want to grab hold of him and hug him forever. I loved his optimism and his ability to look for the good parts. He was really special and yet flawed, but his flaws were forgivable, because he had such a big heart, was so kind, and was sort of an all-around good guy.

• Pro: The romance was quite wonderful. I think Morgan and Eli complimented each other well, and they found their calm in each other.

• Pro: The characters in the book were so messy and real. They had struggles and shortcomings, and they had to work through all these things. Though they had their own issues, they were all still there for Morgan when she really needed them, and I appreciated how they tried to support Morgan during her recovery.

• Pro: Though I was sometimes disappointed in Morgan, I was always sympathetic towards her. I have to commend Phillips on this, because it not easy to make people care about a character, who at first seems self-centered, selfish, and self-serving. As Phillips pulled the layers away, we learned a lot more about Morgan, and I found myself hoping things would improve for her, that she would make better choices, and that her family could find some healing.

Overall: A compelling and realistic portrait of a girl in crisis, who I hoped would be able to put her life back together.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Amber]

I’ve decided that I love Rebecca Phillips’ writing and I’ve put her on my auto-buy author list. That’s right, it’s official. I loved the book she released last year, These Things I’ve Done, and as soon as I saw that The Girl You Thought I Was was available to review, I had to nab it. And it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Rebecca Phillips has a way of writing characters that makes you fall in love with them. Morgan is a shoplifter, and societal norms say you should hate her for that, but when her backstory is unravelled you can’t help but feel for her. Her parents’ divorce affected her massively, and despite the crimes she has committed, she is a good person who is trying to be better. I thought she was a fantastic protagonist.

I loved Morgan’s relationship with her father and her sister. Morgan lives alone with her father and her cat, and the father/daughter bonding was one of the best parts of the book.

The relationship between Morgan and Eli was also lovely. Their progression felt natural and really sweet. I didn’t like that the book fell into the Second Act Breakup trope, but whatever. I loved it anyway.

This book confirms what I thought after reading Phillips’ previous book, and that is that she writes fantastic relationships whether they’re platonic or romantic. This is where her skills truly shine.

I’m definitely going to have to go back and read the author’s backlog, because I feel like I’m going to love all of her books. And I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!