MEREDITH ADAMO is a YA author based in North Carolina. Her debut novel is Not Like Other Girls which is a contemporary YA thriller packed with hot romance and twists.
We asked Meredith what her desert island reads are and how many books he can read at one time.
What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Trish Lundy’s The One that Got Away with Murder, a twisty YA thriller that reminded me why I love this genre so much, and next on my TBR is the middle grade mystery What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have five books – what would they be?
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki, Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury, and How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Sara Nickerson.
Where is your favourite place to read?
After owning mostly thrifted furniture my adult life, I finally treated myself to brand-new furniture last year, including this gorgeous velvet swivel chair that’s been the perfect spot to curl up and read.
Do you read one book at a time or multiple?
I usually have three going at once: one physical book, one ebook, and one audiobook. I try to keep the genres separate, though, so I’ll have a thriller I listen to while I clean my apartment and a romance I read on my tablet before bed.
Do you use a bookmark or fold the corners of pages?
I tend to pick a third option (which is the worst option) and flip the book upside down while it’s still open to the page. But I ended up investing in a cute new bookmark – completely with chickens on it! – to get in the habit of using that instead.
What inspired your debut novel, Not Like Other Girls?
I wanted to take my favourite parts of my favourite genres – amateur sleuths in twisty YA thrillers, fake dating romances, emotional coming-of-age arcs – and combine them into one book. I’d also been fascinated by the ‘not like other girls’ trope, and I wanted to subvert it through Jo, the main character, where she ultimately realises she’s just like other girls. That lens really helped me connect the dots and let me explore broader ideas about girlhood, female friendships, and consent wrapped up in a mystery about a missing ex-best friend.
What kind of challenges will Jo face in her pursuit of the truth about Maddie’s disappearance?
Jo is an outcast when the book begins because her closest guy friend – who also happens to be Maddie’s boyfriend – leaked her private photos four months earlier. But Jo needs to investigate Maddie’s inner circle, which means that Jo is forced to face both the boy who betrayed her, and the rest of her classmates who let her life fall apart . . . many of whom are keeping secrets of their own. And the deeper Jo digs into Maddie’s disappearance, the closer she gets to the truth about a night in her own past that she’s tried hard to forget.
Your book is a twisty and gripping mystery, but it also deals with more serious issues like consent and mental health – what do you hope readers will take away from this novel?
I love the idea that this book is not just a mystery about a missing girl, but a story about Jo trying to find herself again. I hope that readers will not only be engrossed in the investigation into what happened to Maddie, but that they feel seen by Jo’s own emotional journey of realising that she deserves better than what she’s been given.
What book character would you be, and why?
In Not Like Other Girls, I think I’m most like Tess, Jo’s often exasperated mentor in an extracurricular program. But more generally, I’ve always resonated with Bess Marvin, Nancy Drew’s best friend who gets to investigate along with Nancy but is usually much more stressed out about it and just wants to get home so she can eat something.
If you could meet one author (living or dead) – who would it be and why?
Gillian Flynn. My comfort book is Gone Girl, and I’d love a glimpse into the brain that wrote it – plus, she also seems like she’d be really funny.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meredith Adamo is a YA author based in hot, humid North Carolina, but she’s originally from Rochester, New York, which is her favourite place on the planet. She likes to write about girls who can make you laugh and break your heart – ideally on the same page. Her non-writing interests include collecting vintage bakeware, crocheting the ugliest blankets you’ve ever seen, and grocery shopping. Not Like Other Girls is her debut novel.
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