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mondyboy 's review for:
Give Me Your Hand
by Megan Abbott
Give Me Your Hand is not my favourite Megan Abbott. It took me longer than I expected to warm to the story and I never really warmed to the characters. It’s not shit by any stretch, Abbott is far too accomplished to knock out a dud.*
As with her previous novels, the book is female-centric, in this instance centring on a love / hate / despise / co-dependent relationship between Kit (our first-person point of view protagonist) and the possible sociopathic Diane. At school, the two of them competing for a scholarship for women in sciences, Diane tells Kit a secret, one so shocking, so awful, that their friendship comes to an abrupt end. Jump more than a decade and Kit is working for a famed scientist, researching a treatment/cure to premenstrual dysphoric disorder when, lo and behold, the famed scientist invites (or headhunts) Diane to join the Lab. The novel jumps chronologically between what happened when they were at school - and that dreaded confession - and their less than happy reunion a decade later.
Even if I didn’t particularly engage with Kit - she’s far too easily manipulated - once the plot kicks into gear it's very hard to put the book down, I zipped through the second half. But the real strength of the novel is Abbott’s peek into the world of science, and particularly how women are required to work harder and longer to get a modicum of the respect men take for granted. As Abbott points out, PMDD wasn’t taken seriously by science or medicine for many years, just filed away under “women’s issues”.
My reservations about the character-work shouldn’t stop you from reading “Give Me Your Hand”. It’s still an intelligent psychological thriller.
*I’ve given all three books I’ve read by Abbott four stars - which is a high mark, and I stand by them... but this book was the closest I got to giving a Megan Abbott book a three. Also, Goodreads stars are annoying, but that’s a whole different (and dull) discussion.
As with her previous novels, the book is female-centric, in this instance centring on a love / hate / despise / co-dependent relationship between Kit (our first-person point of view protagonist) and the possible sociopathic Diane. At school, the two of them competing for a scholarship for women in sciences, Diane tells Kit a secret, one so shocking, so awful, that their friendship comes to an abrupt end. Jump more than a decade and Kit is working for a famed scientist, researching a treatment/cure to premenstrual dysphoric disorder when, lo and behold, the famed scientist invites (or headhunts) Diane to join the Lab. The novel jumps chronologically between what happened when they were at school - and that dreaded confession - and their less than happy reunion a decade later.
Even if I didn’t particularly engage with Kit - she’s far too easily manipulated - once the plot kicks into gear it's very hard to put the book down, I zipped through the second half. But the real strength of the novel is Abbott’s peek into the world of science, and particularly how women are required to work harder and longer to get a modicum of the respect men take for granted. As Abbott points out, PMDD wasn’t taken seriously by science or medicine for many years, just filed away under “women’s issues”.
My reservations about the character-work shouldn’t stop you from reading “Give Me Your Hand”. It’s still an intelligent psychological thriller.
*I’ve given all three books I’ve read by Abbott four stars - which is a high mark, and I stand by them... but this book was the closest I got to giving a Megan Abbott book a three. Also, Goodreads stars are annoying, but that’s a whole different (and dull) discussion.