jo_landspeger 's review for:

The Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Stuff you need to know about this book!!:
-VERY slow paced + long (but beautifully written) descriptions
- like more than half of the book is about a pedophelic relationship but

after years the victim (maeve) finally gets away from the groomer (stuart) and starts to heal and reflect, wich happens in the very end

- not as mysterious and plot focused as i thought it would be but i still almost cried when i found out what had happened in 1973
- lesbian storyline wich was veryvery sad and heartbreaking but cute

not a happy end

- characters are so well written and seem almost like real people because of their flaws, you need to have read the whole book to actually be able to decide wich caracters you like
- kind of a happy end for the Main characters
-but kinda boring and in my opinion too much of that weird pedophelic relationship 
-not an expert on this but i think it was a good depiction of the difference of girlhood/womanhood (the ophelia girls taking pictures at the river only for themselves without having to fear about being sexualised) and the male gaze (Stuart taking those disgusting pictures of maeve and her having no control whatsoever about how hes portraying her and how other people see her)

I really loved this book (especially the flashbacks) it was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time 
BUT i HATED the stuart sroryline and as a minor it made me very uncomfortable even though i know that thats probably what it was supposed to do

!! I ONLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK IF YOU DONT NEED A LOT OF PLOT IN A BOOK, ENJOY LONG DESCRIPTIONS AND REALLY CARE ABOUT THE AESTHETICS OF A BOOK !!

Sorry if i made mistakes english is my 2nd language