The Girl I Was by Jeneva Rose

Review of The Girl I Was by Jeneva Rose

The Girl I Was by Jeneva Rose was more than just a book to me, it was a balm. Though it’s clear the author wrote it as part of her own healing journey, I found pieces of my own heart tucked into its pages. It made me laugh, cry, and reflect in ways I wasn’t expecting.

The premise, meeting your younger self, hit me harder than I thought it would. It was funny at times, sure, but deeply emotional too. As I read, I caught myself kicking my feet, smiling, wondering: What would I say to the younger me? That question stayed with me long after I closed the book. Because the truth is, at some point, we all have to face the person we once were. We all carry our younger selves inside us, their fears, their wounds, their dreams, and we have to decide what to do with them. Forgive them. Comfort them. Maybe even thank them.

There were so many moments that struck a personal chord. I found myself frustrated with younger Lexi, she could be impulsive, emotional, a little immature. But then it clicked: she was a child. Of course she was still figuring things out. And isn’t that what we all were once? Kids trying to navigate a world that often taught us to shrink ourselves. That realization shattered something in me. I cried, for the little girls who didn’t know they were enough. For the years we spent trying to love ourselves in a world that didn’t always love us back.

One part of the book that truly gutted me was the theme of loss, especially the longing for one more moment with someone we love. I lost my mother five years ago. There isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t give for one last conversation with her. Reading this, my heart cracked open. It broke, and then it mended, and then it broke again. Because I know—I know—she would be proud of the woman I’ve become. I wish she could see her grandchildren. I wish she could see me, now. This book made me feel that loss again, but it also helped me sit with it in a gentler way.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve cried reading a book by Jeneva Rose, but it may be the one that left me changed. If you're looking for a book that will make you feel seen, that will gently peel back your layers and ask you to look inward, this is the one. It’s not just a story, it’s a mirror. And the question it leaves you with is this: If you had to face yourself, raw and bleeding, in order to heal… would you?