A review by liseyp
One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to the author, publishers Harper Collins and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.
 
To be honest I was a little bit worried before I started this book. There’s a trope of secrets from the past leading to death and drama during a weekend reunion of old friends (normally women) in an isolated location, that I’ve read a lot of versions of, most of them disappointing. This book certainly leans heavily on that premise. Old friends and new, plus her future sister-in-law join bride-to-be Lexi on a hen weekend in a cliff top villa on a beautiful Greek island.
 
There’s the charismatic, but acerbic best friend, the one with the drinking problem, the new mother feeling guilty for leaving her baby for the first time, the incomer who may have more of a history with the group than they think, the one who doesn’t feel they fit in and the one who can’t let go of how they were as teens. All of these characters are ones I’ve seen before in very similar circumstances.
 
But, Lucy Clarke manages to takes this very familiar premise and create an engaging thriller that manages to surprise and hit home emotionally. One of the things which really sets it apart from the pack is the well-roundedness of the characters. Yes, there’s the hurt feelings and snippy comments that are often a feature of people whose lives have grown apart trying to pretend they’re still the same friends they were as teens, but if a character lashes out we understand why. That’s much better than many of the books of this type I’ve read where the popular and charismatic yet uncaringly cruel character remains so fundamentally unlikeable throughout that it seems impossible any of the others would ever want to spend time on her company let alone go on a weekend break together.
 
A really enjoyable, fast-paced thriller.
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