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terroreesa's review against another edition
3.0
ahhhhHHHHH i had to stay up very late to finish reading this book!!!!
expected ending but lots of twists and turns to get there and then the final reveal AHHHHH
expected ending but lots of twists and turns to get there and then the final reveal AHHHHH
gracebikes's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know why I've read so many dark books this year, must mean something. Anyhow, Megan Abbot's tale of Kit & Diane going through the hardships of the chemistry postdoc & Kit living with the disturbing, tragic reality of Diane. I really enjoyed this read, as dark as it was, it was very gripping.
gertrude314's review against another edition
2.0
The characters were not great. The psycho in the story kept insisting that the other girl was her best friend, which, maybe that's true, but they only studied together for a summer. Granted, she's psycho and maybe they have different standards for friendship, but still, I'm not buying this attachment. The story was really slow and I almost put it aside a couple times. The mystery was super blah in the end. I think she wrote this book to have a reason to talk about PMDD, but that's not the reason I read mysteries.
mcf's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5.
It takes maybe two pages of one of Megan Abbott books to start feeling that familiar creeping dread, by which point you're already hooked. This was very much the case with Give Me Your Hand, another story of a relationship between adolescent girls and its many, usually shattering, consequences. And my use of the word 'another' there isn't derisive -- it's what Abbott writes about, and she does it very, very well. The interesting thing about this particular effort is that the reader often knows what's going to happen before the characters do, and yet it doesn't matter at all. As is often the case with Abbott, the telling and means of discovery are far more important than the events that take place, so being able to anticipate those events offers the reader little protection. My only complaint is that one element of the postscript ties things up a little bit too neatly, but even with that flaw, the book is nearly impossible to put down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.
It takes maybe two pages of one of Megan Abbott books to start feeling that familiar creeping dread, by which point you're already hooked. This was very much the case with Give Me Your Hand, another story of a relationship between adolescent girls and its many, usually shattering, consequences. And my use of the word 'another' there isn't derisive -- it's what Abbott writes about, and she does it very, very well. The interesting thing about this particular effort is that the reader often knows what's going to happen before the characters do, and yet it doesn't matter at all. As is often the case with Abbott, the telling and means of discovery are far more important than the events that take place, so being able to anticipate those events offers the reader little protection. My only complaint is that one element of the postscript ties things up a little bit too neatly, but even with that flaw, the book is nearly impossible to put down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.
labarrec's review against another edition
4.0
Almost a 4. I would’ve liked more resolution in the end with a certain douche, but ehh. Like most everything I’ve read by this author, I liked it, but it was just beyond the reach of loving it.
rozlev's review against another edition
3.0
2 1/2 stars. I've decided, that basically, all of Meg Abbott's books are the same. Same flawed women/girl characters. Same plot. Even the same ending which is a let down. Her books are creepy and not a good creepy either. Not sure why I even read this one, but it got a good review in the NYT. This one's probably my last. If you want to read the author's best, read Dare Me.
krytygr's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a strange book. It goes back and forth between “then” when Kit was a teen and “now” that she is an adult. We see in depth the darkness that some friendships can go, what they grow from and what they teach us in life.
We also learn about PMDD, which is something I didn’t know anything about. It was very informative and eye opening to be honest.
Megan Abbot did a wonderful job weaving together the serious and true aspects of PMDD with the very real friendship that is created within these pages. I will definitely be adding her to my TBR author pile.
We also learn about PMDD, which is something I didn’t know anything about. It was very informative and eye opening to be honest.
Megan Abbot did a wonderful job weaving together the serious and true aspects of PMDD with the very real friendship that is created within these pages. I will definitely be adding her to my TBR author pile.
janedreader's review against another edition
5.0
Twists and twists and twists. Loved the characters. So all-consuming that I finished it in a day.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
Megan Abbott writes a lot about the dark heart of female friendship. Not the trite idea of two women fighting over a man, like another issue of Archie Comics, but that intense friendship that arises, often between teenagers, where the real love and respect live side by side with competition and betrayal. In Give Me Your Hand, Abbott returns to the subject, but this time moves back and forth through time, recounting both the friendship between two teenage girls focused on the same goal, and their relationship a decade later.
Kit is raised by a financially struggling single mother in an industrial town in California. Senior year, Diane transfers to her high school and they are drawn to each other. Both are highly motivated, competitive and intelligent girls and under Diane's influence, Kit's world opens up to the possibility of going to university. They both are interested in chemistry, with their eyes on a scholarship that would allow Kit to afford to go to the state university. But Diane comes with a secret and it's when she finally confides in Kit that their friendship changes overnight.
Years later, Kit is a graduate student working in the chemistry lab of a noted female scientist. She's working hard, scraping to make ends meet and hoping to be chosen to take part in the glamorous new study that just received funding, when Diane walks back into her life, setting in motion a tragic series of events.
Give Me Your Hand is dark and noir and wonderful. Abbott drags the reader through every uncomfortable moment and emotion as she digs into the competitive world of academia and of female friendship.
Kit is raised by a financially struggling single mother in an industrial town in California. Senior year, Diane transfers to her high school and they are drawn to each other. Both are highly motivated, competitive and intelligent girls and under Diane's influence, Kit's world opens up to the possibility of going to university. They both are interested in chemistry, with their eyes on a scholarship that would allow Kit to afford to go to the state university. But Diane comes with a secret and it's when she finally confides in Kit that their friendship changes overnight.
Years later, Kit is a graduate student working in the chemistry lab of a noted female scientist. She's working hard, scraping to make ends meet and hoping to be chosen to take part in the glamorous new study that just received funding, when Diane walks back into her life, setting in motion a tragic series of events.
Give Me Your Hand is dark and noir and wonderful. Abbott drags the reader through every uncomfortable moment and emotion as she digs into the competitive world of academia and of female friendship.