Reviews with content warning for Violence - La Ragazza A

The story is told from the perspective of Girl A - the eldest daughter who escaped the House of Horrors and freed her siblings. The New York lawyer (Girl A) has been made executor of her Mother’s will and must visit her siblings and return to her childhood to move forward with her life. I don’t want to give too much away as I believe it is more satisfying to just read and discover for yourself. Through the constant flashbacks which can at first be confusing, the childhood abuse and the aftermath of the psychological trauma are very carefully represented. It is an incredibly intense and disturbing book which I finished in just two sessions as I couldn’t peel myself away. There is well crafted and deeply layered characterisation which shows how complex each character is and the unusual sibling dynamics are made clearer as more secrets are revealed. The author intended this book to be more about hope rather than ‘did they get out or not?’ which it has an excellent representation of even more so after the last chapter which admittedly crushed my soul. I recommend checking the TW’s if you feel the content could be triggering. A very dark, twisted and emotional book that is not for the lighthearted readers.

Content Warnings

emmaaaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“In his efforts to convert the people of Hollowfield, I recognised that Father’s charm had faded. His old devotees - restless mothers, and bored girls hoping for an adventure in salvation - no longer glanced up when he passed by. His body was taut and restless, his veins closer to the skin. His sullenness, which had once been seductive, had become frightening… He didn’t look like somebody who could save you.” pg.323 digital e-book

Girl A follows Alexandra, a lawyer who has returned home to England, to deal with her mother’s estate after her death. This leads Alexandra down a path of unraveling her past trauma and memories of childhood abuse and neglect that she and her siblings endured from her father.

This is an exceptional debut which is a character study into the deep psychological wounds early childhood neglect and abuse can permeate every aspect of a persons life and how that shapes the person they become.

This was a harrowing read, the writing was excellent, Dean has a wonderful talent for transporting the reader to a time and place. A lot of the descriptions felt very cinematic and just enough detail to engage the imagination. The way that she dealt with and intertwined the past and present narratives were seamless. I felt a little let down and unsatisfied by the ending and felt that I had too many unanswered questions. On the whole an excellent read and I look forward to reading more from Dean in the future.

Content Warnings

mrsrjg's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was just ok but it felt a bit like there was something missing and I'm not sure I can quite put my finger on what.

It was a quick enough read but the chapters focused on one child each so it made them a bit too long which felt it drag sometimes. I also felt the paragraph time changes were a bit jarring, like there were times when you would just be on the cusp of finding out what was going and it jumped to a different timeline; I just wanted her to get to the point.

It was written quite well (although really grim, so if you're squeamish maybe not the book for you) and at times I had to remind myself that it wasn't real (although possibly inspired by some real life cases) as it came across very much like a memoir.

I felt the big reveal fell a bit flat which led up to the ending feeling a bit empty for me; the whole book felt a bit like a case of the chase being better than the actual reveal.

Content Warnings