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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
When you have flashbacks within flashbacks all while trying to keep a present tense and multiple point of views— it gets pretty messy for me. And aside from that, I was really hoping for a more “darker” story line. I wanted to know more of what happened in that house but the story itself seemed light and fluff for me.
Review to come.
Review to come.
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Girl A by Abigail Dean was good, but I wish it focused more on the actual events than the legal aftermath. I am absolutely fascinated by cult behavior, and found the aspects of this novel that explained her parents unraveling into religious cult mentality fascinating. I think this novel fell short, however, since the scenes where she is interacting with her siblings as an adult are drawn out and overflowing with what feels like filler information. I think the transitions are a bit hard to follow, but overall I did enjoy the story and the information it pulls from the Turpin family case brings this work of fiction so much closer to reality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief
BIG SPOILERS AHEAD
Let me start by saying I loved this book. I like the characters, I liked way it flipped from past to present, and I liked the exploration of what happens to kids who grow up in traumatic circumstances.
What I didn't like was cascade of big twists. The ending would have been stronger if the big reveal had been just about the oldest brother being complicit in the torture. The shocker about the dead baby felt a little like an extra horror thrown in for good measure. It didn't add or detract from the plot. The twist about Evie, however, was just annoying. The "She was dead the whole time!" twist has been done in too many other books to feel fresh or original. I saw it coming from the earliest chapters and didn't find it satisfying or surprising.
A story about straightforward grief would have been just as good. In fact, it might have been better.
Let me start by saying I loved this book. I like the characters, I liked way it flipped from past to present, and I liked the exploration of what happens to kids who grow up in traumatic circumstances.
What I didn't like was cascade of big twists. The ending would have been stronger if the big reveal had been just about the oldest brother being complicit in the torture. The shocker about the dead baby felt a little like an extra horror thrown in for good measure. It didn't add or detract from the plot. The twist about Evie, however, was just annoying. The "She was dead the whole time!" twist has been done in too many other books to feel fresh or original. I saw it coming from the earliest chapters and didn't find it satisfying or surprising.
A story about straightforward grief would have been just as good. In fact, it might have been better.
emotional
medium-paced
A great, gripping first half. The twist was spelled out too early on to be a surprise so the second half dragged a bit.
Great establishment of Ethan and Gabriel’s relationship, and they never meet in the book as adults so the ambiguity remains.
Great establishment of Ethan and Gabriel’s relationship, and they never meet in the book as adults so the ambiguity remains.
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to revisit her past of living in her parents’ House of Horrors, and she wants to forget about her identity as Girl A: the child who escaped and freed her siblings. Her dad never made it out alive, and her mom spent the rest of her life behind bars. After her mother’s death, Lex and her siblings are left their family home. Making decisions about what to do with the house dredges up her childhood history and the relationships with her siblings.
Choosing Girl A as my February Book of the Month pick was a no-brainer. The synopsis drew me right in! I appreciated how the author told the story without going into extreme details about the horrors that the children faced. With that being said, it is still a hard subject to read, especially since there have unfortunately been some similar stories in the real-world. I enjoyed that the book was broken into different parts— one for each child— and that it alternated between past and present. Girl A shows how people cope with trauma in different ways. Abigail Dean brought this story to life with such realistic characters that were beautifully developed. I think I went into this one with expectations a little too high, and that is ultimately why it was a 4 star read for me. Go into this one knowing that it’s not a thriller— it’s a suspenseful novel. Overall, this was a good read!
Choosing Girl A as my February Book of the Month pick was a no-brainer. The synopsis drew me right in! I appreciated how the author told the story without going into extreme details about the horrors that the children faced. With that being said, it is still a hard subject to read, especially since there have unfortunately been some similar stories in the real-world. I enjoyed that the book was broken into different parts— one for each child— and that it alternated between past and present. Girl A shows how people cope with trauma in different ways. Abigail Dean brought this story to life with such realistic characters that were beautifully developed. I think I went into this one with expectations a little too high, and that is ultimately why it was a 4 star read for me. Go into this one knowing that it’s not a thriller— it’s a suspenseful novel. Overall, this was a good read!
Took me three months to be free of this book. Forced my way through it. Didn’t grab my attention at any point and just overall hard to read.
Horrific subject but a good story. I had mixed feelings about the children in this situation- finding myself cheering for some and disliking others.
4/5
I feel like this book is marketed as more of a thriller/mystery book, but it is not that. It is more of a story about survival, grief, and working through trauma. However, I still really enjoyed it.
The writing style was a bit hard to follow at times because every paragraph jumped to a different point in time, so you really had to pay attention to know where you were. I also was a little annoyed by the twist toward the end as I feel that it is used a lot in mystery/thriller books, but I still felt that it worked in this story.
I found this hard to put down as I wanted to keep reading. I was mostly interested in the past timeline, but I found the present to still keep my attention. I think the progression of the story worked well and that most of the questions were answered.
Overall I found this to be a great read even though it was not what I was expecting it to be.
I feel like this book is marketed as more of a thriller/mystery book, but it is not that. It is more of a story about survival, grief, and working through trauma. However, I still really enjoyed it.
The writing style was a bit hard to follow at times because every paragraph jumped to a different point in time, so you really had to pay attention to know where you were. I also was a little annoyed by the twist toward the end as I feel that it is used a lot in mystery/thriller books, but I still felt that it worked in this story.
I found this hard to put down as I wanted to keep reading. I was mostly interested in the past timeline, but I found the present to still keep my attention. I think the progression of the story worked well and that most of the questions were answered.
Overall I found this to be a great read even though it was not what I was expecting it to be.