If I Was Your Girl

By: Meredith Russo

Narrated by: Samia Mounts

Length: 7 hrs

Publisher's summary

A new kind of bighearted audiobook about being seen for who you really are.

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone.

But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda's terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it. Because the secret that Amanda's been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life and her new love?

If I Was Your Girl is a universal story about feeling different - and a love story that everyone will root for.

©2016 Alloy Entertainment (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"[Narrator Samia] Mounts eloquently depicts the changes that take place after Andrew’s surgery - when he becomes Amanda.... Mounts expresses the delight Amanda feels as girlfriends accept her and gentle, thoughtful Grant falls in love with her. Mounts provides a bittersweet tone as Amanda blossoms with the tender feelings of first love even as she fears revealing her secret. Her feelings are juxtaposed with her father’s fear for her safety amid the narrow-mindedness of the small Southern town where they live, which Mounts suggests through the judicious use of regional accents." (AudioFile)

Where's the movie?....I'm waiting

Very entertaining movie and can visualize it being put on the big screen. Movies are for entertainment and this story is that.
Overall, it was a great read. Thanks Meredith, jcc

Very Good Transgender YA Romance

As a trans woman myself, I really enjoyed If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. The story was charming and entertaining, and touched on a lot of feelings and fears I had growing up, and transitioning. There were points in the story that made me cry, some that made me laugh, and overall it was very enjoyable. My only complaints are that, by the author's own admission in the final chapter, Amanda was too perfect. She was completely passable, was able to transition before she started to suffer the effects of male puberty, and nothing was going to give her away, unless she told someone. This, of course, is her big mistake. But all-in-all, I felt she had it way too easy. Her father never misgenders her, never calls her by her dead name by mistake, it was just too easy for her. But still, I enjoyed the story, and I have to say the narrator, Samia Mounts, was awesome! She is easily the best narrator of any audio book I've ever heard. I highly recommend If I Was Your Girl, by Meredith Russo.

My heart fell apart ..

No words can express how I feel after reading this book . I am and forever a fan . As a 29 year old transgender woman I felt like i had walked in Amanda's shoes per say . I think any human being who reads this book will gain insight into a trans persons mind , world , whatever . I can't even put into words about this book . truly amazing would not begin to describe , outstanding , marvelous all of the above . it felt so real like walking besides her on her journey . I can't wait to see what Meredith writes next . and the narrator kept me on edge the whole story amazing job . in so many words I love it .

beautiful story

what a good book ! i loved it and will recommend it so anyone it could benifit!

amazing

love it it's awsome and loveable for people like me! check this book out plz

please don't leave us.

it was a fantastic and inspiring book. but the authors note at the end killed me. I was crying.

made me sob

I finished it in a day and I was aching for more. as a closeted trans person it was so horribly beautiful

The feelings…

The central character is very different from me. Her life is wildly different from mine. But her emotions, and many of her experiences still spoke to me because I’ve shared so many of them.

I cried. Several times. I loved this book.

Moving and Significant

My partner (cis female) and I (trans female) listened to this audiobook while driving up to NYC from florida, where we moved following the attack on trans rights in 2023.

This book has been never been more important to read and share. We loved that the author explained in the author’s note why Amanda’s journey had to be more simple than most trans experiences to be effective for cis-readers to understand the trans experience. As a trans woman who transitioned in her early 20’s, I felt seen and validated through this story. Excited to share this with the folks in my life who are craving to understand my / the trans experience on a deeper level.

Thank you Meredith for this story <3

Good story + notes (spoilers)

Trans reviewer here. Also, spoilers below.

I appreciated the author’s note at the end that acknowledged the liberties taken to move the story along in a certain way and that Amanda’s story is that of a very privileged one that does not reflect every, or even most, trans people’s experiences.

It was a good story and the performance was fantastic. It was a bit too unrealistic at the end for my taste, but I’m glad stories like this exist. I was frustrated about Amanda’s willingness to give Grant a second chance but also recognize I’m not the second chances giving type.

I genuinely appreciated that the author showed how even people from within the LGBTQ community can hurt other LGBTQ people, such as when B outs fellow queer students (and Amanda) at school, or when Amanda subtly indicates that she does not want her friends to see her hanging out with a trans woman who is more clockable than her (Virginia) because it might out her too. I thought this was a really important point that the author made without beating the reader over the head with it. All in all, a good book.