Reviews

American Girl by Wendy Walker

sarahmjenkins's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

lindsey_is_reading's review against another edition

3.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⚡️

nightowlreader46's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Abandonment, Classism, Dementia, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. There was a deep connection with small town politics, mindsets, and emotions. The need to get out and make a new life is an intense drive to make the impossible happen. There were so many complicated relationships and nuances, I did not see the end coming.

Charlie being able to compartmentalize the clues of Coop's murder, but also be clouded with typical teenage emotions was superbly laid out in this book. Her mind clouded by her mom's mistakes a jaded view of the world was one of the things that actually kept her safe; no matter how twisted and unfair it may seem to the reader.

I truly enjoyed this book. This was the first time I have read anything by this author and she has me hooked.

bookladykatie's review against another edition

3.0

Good Mystery and performance. loved the "movie" chapters where it was a scripted dialogue and the mystery wasn't super predictable.

rtaylor1's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bookedandwatched's review against another edition

4.0

This intrigued me with the main character being autistic and it’s always interesting to see how such characters are written and if it’s full of stereotypes or not.

Charlie is just a small town girl (anyone else singing Journey right now?) working in a sandwich shop. Everything is as normal and mundane as you’d expect. Until one night her boss dies.

There are a couple of sun plots alongside the main plot in this book but they are all tied up nicely by the end of this book. It is a nice easy read.

I actually listened to this as an audiobook and I think this was the first time I heard sound effects in an audiobook. Feels very original and yet added soo much to the feel and world building throughout. Every audiobook after this has been viewed as lesser than it would have before due to this.

Overall I really really enjoyed the book and especially in audiobook format.

If you’ve never done audiobooks before this could be a good one to start with.

What do you think about sound effects in audiobooks?

filledepapier's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.5

kt_apple's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 ⭐️

nawanda19's review against another edition

5.0

Entertaining, exciting and all sorts of suspenseful. The narrator of this story is unique and awesome to go on the adventure with.

exercise_read_repeat_ali's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

What I Liked:
-An Autistic MC with a story that isn't just about her Autism
-The twists at the end and the way the threads came together
-The full cast experience of the audiobook (sound effects and multiple voices were almost movie-like)

What Didn't Work for Me:
-Plot moved a bit slowly for most of the story