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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Six children and teenagers are held captive in darkened rooms by their parents. Chained and half-starved, they struggle to survive, until one of the girls manages to loosen her binds, and jumps out of the window in a desperate bid for freedom. She is found severely injured, and the other children are immediately rescued.
The press refers to her as "Girl A."
Many years later, the mother dies in prison, and the siblings are forced to confront their grim legacy in more ways than one.
This is not about the crime itself, but rather how the victims go on with their lives, after the sensational headlines have died down. How do you reinvent yourself when the whole world only knows you as Girl A or Boy D? How do you carve out a path that only you control? Abigail Dean portrays this psychological drama with sensitivity, in haunting words that quietly sink their claws into you.
Narrator Lex, aka "Girl A," reminds me of Gillian Flynn's broken, flawed protagonists. She never asked to be the savior, and her siblings evoke ambivalent feelings in her, as sheer survival instinct turned two of them into accomplices or at least sycophants of their parents.
The author slowly pieces together the fragmented mosaic of this family, giving us a deeper understanding of the siblings' personalities. She handles the issue of guilt with a delicate touch, avoiding the trap of victim blaming.
This is not a plot-driven novel. It's the characters, with all of their emotional baggage, that set the pace and rhythm, following neither a chronological nor a thematic order. The tension is a slow, unrelenting burn. An unexpected revelation at the end paints many scenes in quite a different light, in retrospect. Thus, it would certainly be interesting to read the book again with this knowledge.
The press refers to her as "Girl A."
Many years later, the mother dies in prison, and the siblings are forced to confront their grim legacy in more ways than one.
This is not about the crime itself, but rather how the victims go on with their lives, after the sensational headlines have died down. How do you reinvent yourself when the whole world only knows you as Girl A or Boy D? How do you carve out a path that only you control? Abigail Dean portrays this psychological drama with sensitivity, in haunting words that quietly sink their claws into you.
Narrator Lex, aka "Girl A," reminds me of Gillian Flynn's broken, flawed protagonists. She never asked to be the savior, and her siblings evoke ambivalent feelings in her, as sheer survival instinct turned two of them into accomplices or at least sycophants of their parents.
The author slowly pieces together the fragmented mosaic of this family, giving us a deeper understanding of the siblings' personalities. She handles the issue of guilt with a delicate touch, avoiding the trap of victim blaming.
This is not a plot-driven novel. It's the characters, with all of their emotional baggage, that set the pace and rhythm, following neither a chronological nor a thematic order. The tension is a slow, unrelenting burn. An unexpected revelation at the end paints many scenes in quite a different light, in retrospect. Thus, it would certainly be interesting to read the book again with this knowledge.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I honestly have to say this is probably one of the worst books I've ever read.
- First issue is that this isn't a thriller. It's a character study of survivors of childhood abuse. The entire book is mislabelled and you won't get what you're expecting if you want a thriller.
- Secondly, this is so boring. The scenes from the present feel so irrelevant. I had to read about some chromosome testing business for way too long and it wasn't relevant to the story at all. But even so many of the scenes between the siblings in the present and even of the trauma story are so boring. There's no coherent plot linking these scenes. It's like a weird biography of a fictional character. The thing most like a plot is Lex trying to get her siblings to sign the contract to transform the house and that is such a boring plotline.
- Thirdly, this reads as if a true crime fangirl heard about the Turpin case and thought "hey, this is a cashcow I can milk to finally publish the book I always wanted". I find most of this books very distasteful to actual trauma survivors and many of the past scenes about the abuse and trauma the kids suffered seems a lot like trauma porn. It's very voyeuristic and as if Dean tried to come up with the worst things imaginable just so readers could go "oh no, this is so horrible" and then breathe a sigh of relief that their lives are different and can pat themselves on the back for that and then read on with a salacious appetite for more true crime horror. Maybe I sound bitter but I think there's stories that an only-child who didn't go through anything akin to this can't write in a respectful manner
- Also the entire Lex and Evie thing is so unrealistic.
You're really telling me that Dr K released Lex from therapy and acted as if she was healed when she knew Lex was convinced Evie was alive? Also I'm supposed to believe that Lex hallucinated Evie for 15 years or so and despite having extensive therapy and people telling her constantly that Evie is dead that stuck? That's not how trauma and repressed memories work, especially not in the context of therapy like that. Also why is Lex treated as if she has no free will or choice in whether she wants to do more therapy with Dr K in the end as if she isn't a grown adult? That was weird as hell. Also this twist came out of nowhere with zero foreshadowing and that is just bad writing, imo. - Also somehow everyone is glorifying Lex as if she's the most special ever because she was the one to escape and get help as if that makes her somehow more predestined to heal and everyone else was a bad survivor and it was a) again very disrespectful and b) got old very fast
- The whole religion bit was so drastically underdeveloped that as a survivor of that kind of religious trauma it made me want to rip my hairs out. It seemed shoehorned in because of course this fictional case needed the parents to be religious nutjobs but the author had no idea how these groups actually operate, so it all stays surface level and that leads to more boring scenes and also inconsistencies like to what degree the kids actually believed and the author creating the impression that all the "smart" Gracie kids disbelieved from an early age and just went along with it because of their abusive father. Which isn't how this kind of situation works when you grow up in a restrictive religious environment like that.
- What I'll give the book is that the roles of the mother and father seemed pretty realistic as did some of the sibling dynamics. But again, most of this seemed either underdeveloped or very cliche and making Lex seem like the "good survivor" and it all left a sour taste in my mouth
Overall, my recommendation is: don't waste time on this book and try to get through it like I did. It's just going to make you irrationally mad.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Lots of trigger warnings for this book. I cannot begin to imagine how the author got into the kindest to write this book. I appreciated that the book focused more on the later psychological implications rather than the physical and mental child abuse, however the timeline in the book jumped around and I was confused what time period we were in mid chapter. I was also frustrated by the oldest sibling and the younger siblings inability to stand up to him. I also grappled with the end not quite know long fir sure if Lex left the wedding or not.
I did, however, appreciate the focus on post traumatic stress and dealing with childhood trauma as an adult. It’s something not addressed often enough.
I did, however, appreciate the focus on post traumatic stress and dealing with childhood trauma as an adult. It’s something not addressed often enough.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry
Minor: Child death
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes