Reviews

Girl A by Abigail Dean

anambook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

chickenlil64's review against another edition

2.0

if We Were Liars and The Silent Patient had a less developed, less exciting child, it would be this book.

verahughes's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

alexa_mcternan's review against another edition

Story wasn’t pulling me in

bookreader225's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

So I bought this book in Ireland, which means I definitely have a UK/European version of this book. I suppose I will attribute that to how utterly CONFUSING the punctuation and general sentence structure was. I didn’t have any issue with the timeline jumping, but I was often so confused by who was narrating and what they were trying to say. Others seem to have the same issue, so maybe it’s not me. Giving it 3 stars for the benefit of the doubt.

I’m still so confused by

the Noah chapter, but again, maybe that was my fault. I could have sworn that the Noah chapter was the Daniel chapter. I feel like they’re treated as if they’re the same baby? We only hear of one pregnancy for the two of them? But then again I’ve seen it speculated that Lex is the mother of one of them so who knows.

Overall, I have mixed feeling about the ambiguity of this book. While I can appreciate the vague, but still nauseating and depressing, descriptions of what went on in the house, I felt unsure of what I was supposed to take from it to the modern day. I didn’t see the twist coming, but I think it’s because I was so busy trying to keep all of the characters straight that I wasn’t focused on anticipating a twist.

Also after reading about the Turpin case, it feels icky that she VERY clearly used so many of the details of their case (matching tshirts, escape through a window, etc).

I feel like I would need to read it a second time with a pen and a paper to take notes to actually get the timeline straight. I hate feeling like that at the end of the book, but I suppose that was the author’s point. 3 stars because I don’t know what she intended to do, but if it was confuse the heck out of the reader, she did it.

Just really left with a lot of unresolved questions about this book, and the ending felt like a cop-out.

sarah_86's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

heather_boo's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 rounded up. This is the story of the survival of childhood abuse so traumatic that the mind creates its own protection. Lex Gracie unravels her sordid history as her present and future unfold. The details are shrouded in good story telling such that much is inferred or alluded to which actually increases the angst and tension. I did not give a higher rating because the timeline jumps back and forth which can be disruptive and confusing, but I think this could be reflecting what the protagonist feels in her own life with snippets of the past resurfacing from time to time.

jaimie_lynn's review against another edition

3.0

3-3.5⭐

I feel like this book had great potential but fell short. I love the subject matter but a good chunk of this was so boring to read. I liked reading about the past but was pretty bored when it came to present. I started skimming that stuff.

And don't even get me started on the long chapters. Like one chapter was almost 70 pages.

No. Thank. You.

scknitter's review against another edition

4.0

Girl A is a beautifully written story that tells of horrible atrocities. It is a story about the slow slide into mental illness/paranoia by Charles Gracie (Girl A’s father) and how this led to the unimaginable existence that became reality for Lex (Girl A) and her 6 siblings. Dean does an amazing job telling the story from Lex’s viewpoint but at the same time showing us how each child (treated by different psychologists and adopted by different parents) lived after escaping the House of Horrors, as their home came to be known. The ultimate psychological drama, it is an in depth look at how a family can deteriorate into the depths of unimaginable horror with no one doing anything to stop it and how each one fares in the aftermath.

samgreenall123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25