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thrillofthepage's review
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Girl, 11 is a suspenseful, dark, and captivating story about a serial killer who captures and kills three girls over a period of seven days, each victim one year younger than the girl before. The premise alone had me hooked and I couldn’t wait to read this one.
Elle Castillo is our main character and the host of a popular true crime podcast. The current season is devoted to solving The Countdown Killer (TCK) case, which is a challenge because he hasn’t killed in 20 years. Elle always thinks outside the box and is constantly trying to tie everything back to TCK, sometimes to her detriment. She is a very strong female character, but as the story progresses we start to see cracks form in her theories, as well as herself. Even though Elle starts to go off the rails we never view her as weak or delusional. I appreciate that Clarke never portrayed Elle as hysterical or weak, even if she was a bit reckless and made some not so great decisions.
Throughout the book I kept waiting for the bottom to fall out and Clarke did a phenomenal job laying the foundation for the twists by developing Elle’s character, the secondary characters, and plot. I love the way Clarke included transcripts from the podcast, both aired and unaired, because it provided important insight into the inner workings of Elle’s mind. This seems to be a new way of thriller writing and I am here for it! It’s a great way to break up the book and add more to the overall story without being choppy.
The last thing I want to mention is that the author crafted a diverse cast of characters. She included POC and LGBTQA+ in the story and nothing about it felt superficial. I hope other authors take notes and we start to see more representation in this genre.
This was a brilliant debut novel and I am looking forward to reading whatever Clarke puts out next!
Thank you Netgalley and HMH Books for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Elle Castillo is our main character and the host of a popular true crime podcast. The current season is devoted to solving The Countdown Killer (TCK) case, which is a challenge because he hasn’t killed in 20 years. Elle always thinks outside the box and is constantly trying to tie everything back to TCK, sometimes to her detriment. She is a very strong female character, but as the story progresses we start to see cracks form in her theories, as well as herself. Even though Elle starts to go off the rails we never view her as weak or delusional. I appreciate that Clarke never portrayed Elle as hysterical or weak, even if she was a bit reckless and made some not so great decisions.
Throughout the book I kept waiting for the bottom to fall out and Clarke did a phenomenal job laying the foundation for the twists by developing Elle’s character, the secondary characters, and plot. I love the way Clarke included transcripts from the podcast, both aired and unaired, because it provided important insight into the inner workings of Elle’s mind. This seems to be a new way of thriller writing and I am here for it! It’s a great way to break up the book and add more to the overall story without being choppy.
The last thing I want to mention is that the author crafted a diverse cast of characters. She included POC and LGBTQA+ in the story and nothing about it felt superficial. I hope other authors take notes and we start to see more representation in this genre.
This was a brilliant debut novel and I am looking forward to reading whatever Clarke puts out next!
Thank you Netgalley and HMH Books for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, and Excrement
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