A review by wishfulfillment
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

5.0

2022 review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of my favorite books of all-time. Legit, I enjoyed it even more the second time than I did the first. This is the child of novel teenagers should have in their syllabi.

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2019 review, edited in 2022 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
❖ ❖ ❖ DO I RECOMMEND IT? ❖ ❖ ❖
Yes.

❖ ❖ ❖ CONTENT WARNINGS ❖ ❖ ❖
I am bound to forget a couple but off the top of my head: rape, slut-shaming, transphobia, dead-naming, religion, misogyny, racism, child abuse, deportation, fat phobia, homophobia, vomiting, and many more.

❖ ❖ ❖ VISIBILITY ❖ ❖ ❖
Grace is a cis girl described as "chubby" and "fat" interchangeably or depending on the third person limited point of view. She is white and was raised Baptist (?) in Kentucky. Erin is a het Autistic cis girl and a survivor of rape. Rosina is a gay Oaxacan cis girl. The author attempts to include other identities through minor characters or less than minor characters.

The fat rep felt like an afterthought and the interchangeable use of "fat" and "chubby" was confusing, as it made the character exist in a huge spectrum that did not feel relatable to me, a fat person who is definitely not just chubby.

I did enjoy the way the author emphasized how Autistic folks are just as unique as neurotypicals, with different triggers or symptoms or behaviors or traits. The writing of Erin's mother was absolutely perfect, as professionally I deal with a lot of parents who believe their child's diagnosis is all about them.

The behavior of the principal was terrifying.

I thought about the transgirl a lot throughout the story even though I believe she was only mentioned 3 or 4 times?

❖ ❖ ❖ READER HEALTH ❖ ❖ ❖
This was definitely the goal of the author. The focuses are about rape culture, misogyny, the different ways of being a girl or woman, gender, along with some other topics like race, sexual orientation, prejudice in religions, etc. There were a lot of healthy things being said and I was impressed by how the author was able to include various belief systems. I found it intellectually stimulating to find myself defending men and then challenging myself as to why I felt I needed to defend them, etc. It felt to me like it went beyond basic, which I appreciated.

❖ ❖ ❖ EDUCATION ❖ ❖ ❖
I thought a lot about the above-mentioned topics while reading it. I didn't learn much, but it did feel like my intellectual itch was scratched.

❖ ❖ ❖ WRITING AND STORY-TELLING ❖ ❖ ❖
The author pulled me in with their use of third person and the way they crafted this particular section of the world. I loved the beginning so much I read it twice before continuing on.

❖ ❖ ❖ CHARACTERS ❖ ❖ ❖
I was heavily invested in the protagonists and appreciated the depth of the mother-daughter dynamics, specifically how each mother believes she is doing what is best for her child, and each mother is neglecting or mistreating her child in some way.

❖ ❖ ❖ PLOT ❖ ❖ ❖
It was engaging with enough minor conflicts to keep it from being boring.

❖ ❖ ❖ ENTERTAINMENT & PLEASURE ❖ ❖ ❖
I was completely engaged and read it in one sitting on a weekend.