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emmat21's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tanja_reads_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a dark and depressing read, but it was still something that kept me hooked. You can see how it was influenced by the story of the Turpin Family. Instead of focusing on the cause of the suffering we are given the chance to read about how abuse, the spotlight and trauma impact the lives of the Gracie children after they are rescued. I do wish that each chapter that was named after each child did have more of their POV so we can understand how or why they ended up the way they did. Overall it was good - if a little lacking in some depth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child abuse
rblack205's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
Honestly the most boring crime book I have ever read. With the timeline jumps too, I just struggled to enjoy it.
Honestly the most boring crime book I have ever read. With the timeline jumps too, I just struggled to enjoy it.
saraf7990's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jentomo's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
litwithleigh's review against another edition
4.0
Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 4/5 | Ending: 3/5
THE PLOT
Girl A, aka Lex, escaped her troubled family home (her religious zealot father namely) and now is a successful lawyer. After her mom dies in prison, she must return to the literal scene of the crime to sort shit out. Told in a series of flashbacks and current events, Lex recounts the events that led to being a prisoner in her own home, and what life looks like after the spectacle slides away. Based loosely on the Turpin family (Cali couple that locked up their 12 kids, until the elder girl escaped).
MY OPINION
Girl A is a bad bitch. Periodt. She plans and executes a daring escape from the literal House of Horrors created by her failure father.
Abigail Dean did a great job showing her father's descent into religious mania and I loved how Lex's therapist drew parallels between her father's failures and how it triggered his cruel actions at homes. Not to be too serious but... This happens all too often IRL, and kids are left to deal with the consequences of their parent's bad days. Anyways...
This is a juicy j read for those who were fascinated/horrified/curious about the Turpin case that left us all wondering: "WHY!????" This novel is a great explanation as to WHY.
The reveal at the end was kinda sad tbh and it made me wonder why her adoptive parents didn't intervene earlier, considering they knew what was transpiring. Also, she seemed way too chill with going back to the House of Horrors... I would've shit myself 40 times. Not necessarily a huge con of the book, but she kinda just breezed back in after literally experiencing the worst moments of her life there.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Juicy storyline, great character development of the father, well-paced
Cons: I wish there had been more character development of Girl A. Yes, she's a baddie who went from imprisoned child to tough as nails lawyer. Other than her weird on-and-off relationship with some rando, there really wasn't much explanation for how she got where she is. I would've liked to know how she got her education after being so far behind and what were her motivations behind being a lawyer after dealing with such a horrendous childhood. I also didn't understand the point of her relationship with the cheater, but I digress.
THE PLOT
Girl A, aka Lex, escaped her troubled family home (her religious zealot father namely) and now is a successful lawyer. After her mom dies in prison, she must return to the literal scene of the crime to sort shit out. Told in a series of flashbacks and current events, Lex recounts the events that led to being a prisoner in her own home, and what life looks like after the spectacle slides away. Based loosely on the Turpin family (Cali couple that locked up their 12 kids, until the elder girl escaped).
MY OPINION
Girl A is a bad bitch. Periodt. She plans and executes a daring escape from the literal House of Horrors created by her failure father.
Abigail Dean did a great job showing her father's descent into religious mania and I loved how Lex's therapist drew parallels between her father's failures and how it triggered his cruel actions at homes. Not to be too serious but... This happens all too often IRL, and kids are left to deal with the consequences of their parent's bad days. Anyways...
This is a juicy j read for those who were fascinated/horrified/curious about the Turpin case that left us all wondering: "WHY!????" This novel is a great explanation as to WHY.
The reveal at the end was kinda sad tbh and it made me wonder why her adoptive parents didn't intervene earlier, considering they knew what was transpiring. Also, she seemed way too chill with going back to the House of Horrors... I would've shit myself 40 times. Not necessarily a huge con of the book, but she kinda just breezed back in after literally experiencing the worst moments of her life there.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: Juicy storyline, great character development of the father, well-paced
Cons: I wish there had been more character development of Girl A. Yes, she's a baddie who went from imprisoned child to tough as nails lawyer. Other than her weird on-and-off relationship with some rando, there really wasn't much explanation for how she got where she is. I would've liked to know how she got her education after being so far behind and what were her motivations behind being a lawyer after dealing with such a horrendous childhood. I also didn't understand the point of her relationship with the cheater, but I digress.
karlyo83's review against another edition
5.0
My Rating: 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ sad and depressing, extremely well written!!
Lex Gracie does not want to think about family. She especially does not want to think of the House of Horrors she grew up in. And she definitely does not want to think of herself as Girl A: the girl who escaped.
Girl A escaped the house of horrors, freed her older brother and four younger siblings and life as they knew it changed forever. Her father never made it out alive and her mother has been rotting in prison ever since.
But when her mother dies and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from the last any longer. Lex will need to come to terms with some really tough realities when she returns “home” for the first time since she escaped.
Big thank you shout out to GirlWithThePinkSkiMask for putting me onto this author. I recently read Day One which was excellent as well, pretty much equally depressing but a very different topic.
[a:Abigail Dean|19656858|Abigail Dean|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1587122974p2/19656858.jpg] takes real life events and fictionalises them, how much I am unsure as I haven’t read much about the Turpin case, but she does an excellent job of handling very tough subject matter. Girl A won’t be for everyone, if you are going for the eventually happy everything will be fine vibe… probably best to stay away from this one.
This is not a thriller as such although the horror of the events really put my teeth on edge. The thing this author does well is her descriptions are based in what is the worst thing you can imagine. She takes you far enough for you to imagine the filth, smell and sadness the characters are feeling without describing every single thing you should be feeling. There is a lot unsaid in this book that for me was better because I was able to fill it in with my own interpretation. I realise that some people do not like that, so again be warned when you pick this one up it’s not going to spell it all out for you.
I enjoyed the ambiguity though so for me this one was really hitting all the notes. Lex is a tough cookie, she escaped a literal hell, starved and broken, she managed to save her family and get away… but she will never really get away in her own head… some images and memories have a way of sticking with you.
I got the sense that there was much more to Lex than the author shared with us, I would have liked to know more about her… why she did certain things and why she was certain ways… I mean we do know the trauma she experienced but how did she end up like this or that… well that isn’t explored and I think that would have been good.
I really enjoyed learning about the family and the things that went on in the house the way we did… with sneak peaks through the family members current and past lives.
I don’t really have any qualms with this one, I just would have liked a bit more… and actually the one thing that was difficult was the “Chapters” were extremely long with not many natural stopping points they were like mini books within the book about Girl B or Boy D and so on… but I did not take stars off for that its just a preference thing.
There is such a sadness that leaves your heart heavy with this one… one of the descriptions that stayed with me was the way the author described Lex’s brother Gabriel’s addiction not only to his lover but inevitably the drugs…
He could support Oliver as Oliver had once supported him.
And Gabriel could admit it: Oliver needed a lot of support. Oliver, it transpired, was addicted to alcohol and cocaine, and Gabriel was addicted primarily to Oliver; then, as an inevitable accompaniment, to Oliver’s own additions, at first for Oliver’s approval, and later - as tended to be the case - because he couldn’t stop doing them.
To me that was just laden with sadness and desperation… the author most certainly can write. The whole book is written like this in such a way that you can feel things without it being explicitly written OLIVER IS A DRUG ADDICT WITH COKE ALL OVER HIS FACE ISN’T THIS SAD…
The ending got me… I was shocked but when the twist was revealed I could absolutely see how it was foreshadowed. I felt so incredibly sad for Lex and all she had gone through and continued to go through… No spoilers from me though.
Overall: while its a 5 from me I don’t think this will be for everyone. If you love a popcorn thriller this will be toooo heavy for you and perhaps too real life. If you like to know exactly what is happening at all times then again not for you. If you like something deep, depressy and where the author doesn’t hand feed you the story with exceptional writing then give this one a try.
I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this author in the future.
Lex Gracie does not want to think about family. She especially does not want to think of the House of Horrors she grew up in. And she definitely does not want to think of herself as Girl A: the girl who escaped.
Girl A escaped the house of horrors, freed her older brother and four younger siblings and life as they knew it changed forever. Her father never made it out alive and her mother has been rotting in prison ever since.
But when her mother dies and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from the last any longer. Lex will need to come to terms with some really tough realities when she returns “home” for the first time since she escaped.
Big thank you shout out to GirlWithThePinkSkiMask for putting me onto this author. I recently read Day One which was excellent as well, pretty much equally depressing but a very different topic.
[a:Abigail Dean|19656858|Abigail Dean|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1587122974p2/19656858.jpg] takes real life events and fictionalises them, how much I am unsure as I haven’t read much about the Turpin case, but she does an excellent job of handling very tough subject matter. Girl A won’t be for everyone, if you are going for the eventually happy everything will be fine vibe… probably best to stay away from this one.
This is not a thriller as such although the horror of the events really put my teeth on edge. The thing this author does well is her descriptions are based in what is the worst thing you can imagine. She takes you far enough for you to imagine the filth, smell and sadness the characters are feeling without describing every single thing you should be feeling. There is a lot unsaid in this book that for me was better because I was able to fill it in with my own interpretation. I realise that some people do not like that, so again be warned when you pick this one up it’s not going to spell it all out for you.
I enjoyed the ambiguity though so for me this one was really hitting all the notes. Lex is a tough cookie, she escaped a literal hell, starved and broken, she managed to save her family and get away… but she will never really get away in her own head… some images and memories have a way of sticking with you.
I got the sense that there was much more to Lex than the author shared with us, I would have liked to know more about her… why she did certain things and why she was certain ways… I mean we do know the trauma she experienced but how did she end up like this or that… well that isn’t explored and I think that would have been good.
I really enjoyed learning about the family and the things that went on in the house the way we did… with sneak peaks through the family members current and past lives.
I don’t really have any qualms with this one, I just would have liked a bit more… and actually the one thing that was difficult was the “Chapters” were extremely long with not many natural stopping points they were like mini books within the book about Girl B or Boy D and so on… but I did not take stars off for that its just a preference thing.
There is such a sadness that leaves your heart heavy with this one… one of the descriptions that stayed with me was the way the author described Lex’s brother Gabriel’s addiction not only to his lover but inevitably the drugs…
He could support Oliver as Oliver had once supported him.
And Gabriel could admit it: Oliver needed a lot of support. Oliver, it transpired, was addicted to alcohol and cocaine, and Gabriel was addicted primarily to Oliver; then, as an inevitable accompaniment, to Oliver’s own additions, at first for Oliver’s approval, and later - as tended to be the case - because he couldn’t stop doing them.
To me that was just laden with sadness and desperation… the author most certainly can write. The whole book is written like this in such a way that you can feel things without it being explicitly written OLIVER IS A DRUG ADDICT WITH COKE ALL OVER HIS FACE ISN’T THIS SAD…
The ending got me… I was shocked but when the twist was revealed I could absolutely see how it was foreshadowed. I felt so incredibly sad for Lex and all she had gone through and continued to go through… No spoilers from me though.
Overall: while its a 5 from me I don’t think this will be for everyone. If you love a popcorn thriller this will be toooo heavy for you and perhaps too real life. If you like to know exactly what is happening at all times then again not for you. If you like something deep, depressy and where the author doesn’t hand feed you the story with exceptional writing then give this one a try.
I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this author in the future.