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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
An unusual twist on the aftereffects of being raised in one of those House of Horrors. Lex, aka "Girl A", is the one who escaped, the one who brought the police to her family's door and rescued her siblings. Years later, she's been asked to be the executrix of her mother's will, and any decisions must be agreed upon by all the siblings. Of course this causes flashbacks to how the family went from a little "different" to absolutely tragic. Lex's interactions with her siblings, each of whom experienced the House through a different lens, bring up so many unresolved problems that she has to visit the psychologist assigned after the escape, Dr. K. At the same time, she's a high-powered lawyer working on a deal featuring a DNA testing company that somehow predicts your future (don't ask). While much of the book was unsurprising, there were twists that really surprised me.
eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
Priča mi se baš svidela. Nije previše teška i brzo se čita. Iako neke delove nisam razumela, nemam neke zamerke.
dark
medium-paced
I think it should be known that I am usually incapable of predicting twists in books. It very rarely happens that I figure out what’s going to happen before it does. Maybe that’s my stupid showing through but it’s true. This book, however, I actually saw the twist coming (even if it took me more than half of the book to make my prediction...but who’s keeping track?). Me seeing it coming however, didn’t diminish the book for me.
I love an unreliable narrator and from the beginning, you know that there is something beneath the surface. The main character has gone through some serious trauma and this book does a really good job at exploring that. Parts of it felt like a true crime podcast almost and I really liked (?) learning about the House of Horrors and the family’s dynamic bit by bit. This book really makes you feel for the characters and think about real children who are in situations similar to this one.
There were some things that bothered me about this book. I didn’t like the actual structure of a lot of her sentences which is weird because I very rarely ever notice things like that. I didn’t like how the dialogue was broken up and I couldn’t stop noticing it. I also wish that it had ended a little differently. I wanted more.
Overall, I would definitely read more books from Abigail Dean. I thought it was a good debut novel!
I love an unreliable narrator and from the beginning, you know that there is something beneath the surface. The main character has gone through some serious trauma and this book does a really good job at exploring that. Parts of it felt like a true crime podcast almost and I really liked (?) learning about the House of Horrors and the family’s dynamic bit by bit. This book really makes you feel for the characters and think about real children who are in situations similar to this one.
There were some things that bothered me about this book. I didn’t like the actual structure of a lot of her sentences which is weird because I very rarely ever notice things like that. I didn’t like how the dialogue was broken up and I couldn’t stop noticing it. I also wish that it had ended a little differently. I wanted more.
Overall, I would definitely read more books from Abigail Dean. I thought it was a good debut novel!
dark
emotional
2.5 stars
I was super exited to read this book. From the description on the cover it seemed to be a perfect read for me. Well, it was not.
It's not that this book isn't good. It probably is. I just couldn't get myself into this story. Didn't feel connected to the main character, Girl A. Lex was to me a distant cousin of which I hear something from time to time but it never really interests me. And with all the pain and horrors involved in this story I should feel much much more for her then I actually did.
One thing I found particularly interesting in this book was how different were the siblings despite going through the same trauma as kids. Even taking into consideration that they were at different age when got out of the House of Horrors, so had different memories and suffered more or less than the others. It is fascinating to see how human brain is working, how it is adjusting to such a tough upbringing. And of course it was not only the physical pain, but also psychological.
For me "Girl A" was definitely interesting book to read about trauma and how different people are getting better (or not) after suffering so much. But that would be about it in terms of what I found to be good in this book. Would definitely like to hear more stories from other kids rather than have only one point of view. Plus there is so much wasted potential to the Girl A as a character herself that I almost would like her to be 'remade' in a way so I could connect with her on some deeper level.
I was super exited to read this book. From the description on the cover it seemed to be a perfect read for me. Well, it was not.
It's not that this book isn't good. It probably is. I just couldn't get myself into this story. Didn't feel connected to the main character, Girl A. Lex was to me a distant cousin of which I hear something from time to time but it never really interests me. And with all the pain and horrors involved in this story I should feel much much more for her then I actually did.
One thing I found particularly interesting in this book was how different were the siblings despite going through the same trauma as kids. Even taking into consideration that they were at different age when got out of the House of Horrors, so had different memories and suffered more or less than the others. It is fascinating to see how human brain is working, how it is adjusting to such a tough upbringing. And of course it was not only the physical pain, but also psychological.
For me "Girl A" was definitely interesting book to read about trauma and how different people are getting better (or not) after suffering so much. But that would be about it in terms of what I found to be good in this book. Would definitely like to hear more stories from other kids rather than have only one point of view. Plus there is so much wasted potential to the Girl A as a character herself that I almost would like her to be 'remade' in a way so I could connect with her on some deeper level.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
I thought this was a great book focusing on the psychological healing from an abusive, traumatic childhood. I loved the way it examines the different wounds that emerged from each of the siblings from their experiences, and how they struggled to reconcile those as they grew to adulthood. Above all of the difficulties and painful experiences there was a sense of hope and I felt that the writer handled this beautifully - not watering down their hurt, but equally allowing the sense that they are all striving to rise above their past and live new lives in the future. I found this was an intelligently written book and a real page-turner.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
📖⭐️ BOOK REVIEW ⭐️📖
Book: Girl A
Author: Abigail Dean
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Child Death, Physical, Emotional and Domestic Abuse, Confinement, Torture
After reading Girl A I found it hard to rate it! I was leaning more towards the four stars mark at first because the book definitely had me wanting to keep turning pages but the more thought I put into it, the more I leaned towards 3.5 stars. I wanted a lot more and thought we were left with too many loose ends that weren’t tied up at the end.
This is a difficult story about a terrible family tragedy but to me it was too jumpy and too randomly depicted that I found myself losing that pace and interest that I had developed in the beginning. The story is told from the perspective of Girl A, Alexandra Gracie, and follows the now grown-up Gracie siblings as they try to get through adulthood after a childhood filled with absolute horror and abuse.
The book definitely had a lot of potential as I thought the story was extremely interesting but unfortunately it fell short as I thought it was just too jumpy and the chapters were way too long which didn’t help keeping you sucked in!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse