Review with Spoilers for A Girl Like Us

Mysteries in the book:

• What happened to Arianna in Mexico?
• Who was Maya meeting in Mexico and why?
• What’s the deal with the mysterious fire in the Seychelles?
• Does Maya’s sketchy father have anything to do with any of this?

I read a LOT of mysteries, and my first rule is that if there isn’t a body, that “dead” person might not be. So I was immediately suspicious of this “Arianna’s body is being sent over eventually” thing…

And I was sort of on the right track…

Let’s do a quick plot recap:

• Maya is a former influencer now married to Colin Sterling, one of the rich Sterling family
• On their way back from a vacation, Colin and Maya are summoned to Silver House for a Protocol 202: a murder
• Maya has only met Colin’s sister Gigi at their wedding
• Arianna, Colin’s cousin, is the murder victim. She is the daughter of Harry, who owns a controlling portion of the company
• Arianna’s body was found in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, the same place Colin and Maya were vacationing.
• Harry has been a recluse since a fire almost killed him in the 1980s. Harry’s close friend Mikey Blackburne was killed in the fire.
• Also, Harry transferred much of his wealth, including half his shares in SterlingCo, to Arianna.
• The family learns that Arianna named as her heiress

After that, we get alternate POV chapters from the journals of a patient in a psychiatric ward. It seems like this is Arianna’s POV, as she was known as a journaler.

Arianna seems to have an imaginary friend named Jessica.

• Back to the main narrative, we learn that Maya had some kind of “incident” in Miami that had something to do with Marcus, Colin’s cousin.
• Maya tells Marcus that she met with a journalist in Puerto Vallarta, a woman who said she had an incriminating photo. The woman told Maya she needed her to get some kind of evidence that would help them both.
• It’s clear that Maya and Marcus were previously involved.
• But it was when Colin and Maya were “on a break” after Colin got transferred to the West Coast. By Marcus.

In another journal chapter, we learn that the writer is a fan of Maya’s show, The Springs (a town in the Hamptons). And that Harry kept tape recordings in the same way the writer (Arianna?) keeps journals. Interesting.

• The FBI has a picture of Maya meeting with the journalist, who said her name was …. Jessie
• But the FBI agents tell Maya the woman she met with was Arianna
• Maya searches Harry’s room for clues and finds his cassette tapes and Mikey Blackburne’s watch
• Julian tells Maya that Mikey’s daughter Jessica also died in the fire
• Julian also drops an even bigger bombshell: Arianna was at the same psychiatric hospital that Maya had been treated at.

Back to the journals, where our journal writer (who we now know must be Arianna) reveals that C-List celeb Maya Miller has just arrived at her psych hospital, Portas Brancas. And she hears Maya on the phone suggesting that the Sterlings put her there….

• In a flashback to two years prior, Maya is having a secret affair with the married Marcus. They are in Miami together.
• In the present, a shocked Maya calls Sarah Jane, her favorite nurse at Portas Brancas, who tells Maya that the same “lawyer guy” parked both Maya and Arianna there.
• She also mentions that a clinic therapist named Dr. Caro had a scarred face and disappeared from Portas Brancas on the same day as Arianna.
• Finally, Sarah Jane says that Arianna kept insisting her family were murderers.

In her journal, Arianna describes learning that Maya is marrying her cousin Colin. This inspires her to change her will.

• Back in Maya’s narrative, Maya follows Gigi through the mansion tunnels. They end up in a garage, where Maya stows away in Gigi’s car and ends up in a club, dancing and doing shots with Gigi
• A dark haired woman with scars on her face accosts Maya in the bathroom.
• Gigi and Maya are extracted by Sterling security
• The next day, Maya searches Arianna’s room and finds letters to Jessica
• Marcus shows up and Maya sleeps with him
• After that, Maya steals Marcus’s Blackberry and finds an email that proves he was the one who put Arianna at Portas Brancas.
• The press took pictures of Maya and Gigi partying, and Harry sees them and announces he’s coming to Silver House.
• Harry shows up and he and Maya trade Shakespeare quotes

• At a Sterling House open house, Maya confronts Marcus, who admits that he knew Arianna was at Portas Brancas. He claims that he didn’t know Maya was there too.
• He also reveals that Eva knew about his affair with Maya and used that to renegotiate her prenup. But she losses everything if she tells anyone about the affair. Marcus tells her they could rule the family together.
• A strange woman comes up to Maya and tells her that Harry isn’t really Harry.
• Realizing that Arianna wanted Maya to find a tape, she rushes to Harry’s room. Someone has removed all the tapes. Maya takes Harry’s knife and watch.
• Maya realizes that Harry is actually Mikey Blackburn. She starts to search the room beneath the wallpaper.
• Julian shows up with a drink for Maya and demands to know the identity of the strange woman Maya was talking to.
• Maya realizes Julian has drugged her drink and she accuses him of doing the same thing to her in Miami.
• Julian finds Harry’s cassette player and he and Maya tussle over it.
• The mysterious woman arrives and Julian is bleeding on the floor.
• The woman tells Maya her name is Caro and that they need to leave.

We learn that (not surprisingly) Caro helped Arianna escape from Portas Brancas. Arianna discovered an old tape of Harry’s. He and Helen are discussing the fire. Caro calls Arianna Jessie.

Caro tells “Arianna” that she is Jessie and Caro is Arianna.

A Girl Like Us: The Ending Explained

• Maya wakes up with Caro in a secret cottage in Sterling Park, trying to absorb it all: Arianna was really Jessica Blackburne, and Caro is the real Arianna Sterling.
• Jessica Blackburne was also the daughter of Helen and fake Harry (Mikey)
• Arianna’s nanny, Caroline Everett, saved her from the fire and kept her hidden for her own safety. After Caroline died, Arianna started going by the name Caro.
• After the fire, “Harry” brought Jessica to Sterling Park and tried to convince her that she was Arianna and her father Mikey was Harry.
• Arianna (now Caro) tracked Jessica down in Portas Bravos and broke her out.

Maya realizes she needs to keep herself and her daughter safe. She takes the casette that Caro removed from Harry’s room and goes outside to find a search party, which she directs away from the cottage so that Caro can escape.

At Julian’s funeral, Maya reflects that the FBI decided that a mysterious intruder must have killed Julian and abducted Maya.

Colin tells Helen that if she doesn’t leave them alone, he will expose what she and Mikey did. Helen is shocked that Maya told Colin everything.

Maya installs new portraits of Arianna, Julian, Maya and Becca at Sterling Park. Each one has a copy of the tape of Mikey and Helen discussing their crime hidden beneath it.