faysieh's review
5.0
What a read! Frightening, thrilling, chilling and shocking, The Girls Inside is about survivors. Brought up in a cult, cut off from the world, deprived of love and subjected to appalling abuse, Black House survivors Lisa, Natasha, Brodie and Blue go their separate ways, once rescued, and try and live their lives, away from the dark and menacing shadows of the Welsh community, founded by Joseph Carillo.
Not everyone survived and we do get to meet some of those adults and children. The past when it is referred to is compelling to read but horrific in its detail. Necessary to understand what follows and to highlight how surviving isn't just about being rescued, but the chances we have of adjusting to society in as balanced and functional a way as possible.
Blue Sillitoe is our main narrator and she has the support of Planet Pop record store owner and former addict Isaac, as well as Social Care's Dee and DI Angie Grafton when Blue is left an unusual 'gift' out of nowhere, decades later, in the form of Natasha's daughter Pen. Natasha was older than Blue and with Amy and Lisa, the four girls shared a dormitory and the daily humiliations and degradations of living under Carillo's regime. Natasha always took care of everyone so Blue cannot understand why Natasha has suddenly committed suicide.
Blue has deliberately not been in touch with anyone from the Black House days, but when forced to care for Pen, Blue is thrown into a puzzling, terrifying spiral of memories and a desperate attempt to uncover the truth. Can anyone truly survive such a controlling start to life, or is it a foegone conclusion the demons will drive you mad?
Read The Girls Inside to find out where the danger truly lies and whether it is ever possible to escape.
Not everyone survived and we do get to meet some of those adults and children. The past when it is referred to is compelling to read but horrific in its detail. Necessary to understand what follows and to highlight how surviving isn't just about being rescued, but the chances we have of adjusting to society in as balanced and functional a way as possible.
Blue Sillitoe is our main narrator and she has the support of Planet Pop record store owner and former addict Isaac, as well as Social Care's Dee and DI Angie Grafton when Blue is left an unusual 'gift' out of nowhere, decades later, in the form of Natasha's daughter Pen. Natasha was older than Blue and with Amy and Lisa, the four girls shared a dormitory and the daily humiliations and degradations of living under Carillo's regime. Natasha always took care of everyone so Blue cannot understand why Natasha has suddenly committed suicide.
Blue has deliberately not been in touch with anyone from the Black House days, but when forced to care for Pen, Blue is thrown into a puzzling, terrifying spiral of memories and a desperate attempt to uncover the truth. Can anyone truly survive such a controlling start to life, or is it a foegone conclusion the demons will drive you mad?
Read The Girls Inside to find out where the danger truly lies and whether it is ever possible to escape.
flamesparrow's review
4.0
Cults and their aftermath, plus the mystery of the survivors.
The ending felt rushed, but other than that, I was gripped. What parents are, what they should be, and how do they become that?
The ending felt rushed, but other than that, I was gripped. What parents are, what they should be, and how do they become that?
books_from_the_shed's review
3.0
Solid 3.5 stars.
*Thank you to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review*
I had only read short stories by N Mackay so was excited to read my first full novel by her.
Blue spent her early childhood in a cult after her mother was lured to join by the charismatic leader. She forms close bonds with her dorm mates as they witness the abuse the adults inflict on anyone who doesn’t follow the rules. An unexpected fire at the main house, gives some of the cult members the chance to escape to freedom. Blue deliberately distances herself from the fellow survivors and tries to forge a new life. 20 years later she receives a phone call informing her that one of her old dorm mates has died in an apparent suicide. This forces Blue to drag up her past and then start to question the circumstances around the suicide.
The book alternates between Blue remembering her past in the cult and the present day with some chapters narrated by other characters.
This was an interesting read but a slow burner. There isn’t much action in the present day at first and I found I preferred the chapters about the past. This is the second novel I have read recently that has involved cults and Its not something I had particularly thought about before. The author does a great job at describing the events but also the people. There are some really likable characters in this book and I was genuinely rooting for Blue.
I didnt see some of the twists coming and on the whole i did enjoy it. I will definitely look at reading more of Nikis books.
*Thank you to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review*
I had only read short stories by N Mackay so was excited to read my first full novel by her.
Blue spent her early childhood in a cult after her mother was lured to join by the charismatic leader. She forms close bonds with her dorm mates as they witness the abuse the adults inflict on anyone who doesn’t follow the rules. An unexpected fire at the main house, gives some of the cult members the chance to escape to freedom. Blue deliberately distances herself from the fellow survivors and tries to forge a new life. 20 years later she receives a phone call informing her that one of her old dorm mates has died in an apparent suicide. This forces Blue to drag up her past and then start to question the circumstances around the suicide.
The book alternates between Blue remembering her past in the cult and the present day with some chapters narrated by other characters.
This was an interesting read but a slow burner. There isn’t much action in the present day at first and I found I preferred the chapters about the past. This is the second novel I have read recently that has involved cults and Its not something I had particularly thought about before. The author does a great job at describing the events but also the people. There are some really likable characters in this book and I was genuinely rooting for Blue.
I didnt see some of the twists coming and on the whole i did enjoy it. I will definitely look at reading more of Nikis books.
laurahastoomanywips's review
4.0
This was a gripping read, difficult in places due to the activities of the cult leader and their members. Loved the characters of Blue, Pen and Isaac, was really invested in them.
This was a very dark tale, some twists which were well done. A few niggles over the police procedures/how a Met police officer would interact with Welsh police, especially in relation to fire arms officer's rules of engagement, which although they niggles they didn't really spoil the story. Highly recommended reading. With thanks to the author and the Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read.
This was a very dark tale, some twists which were well done. A few niggles over the police procedures/how a Met police officer would interact with Welsh police, especially in relation to fire arms officer's rules of engagement, which although they niggles they didn't really spoil the story. Highly recommended reading. With thanks to the author and the Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read.
meganpartington97's review
4.0
This book was so well written from start to finish. Throughout the book I had no idea what was going to happen and the twists were things I wouldn’t have guessed. My one down side to it is that i feel like it wasn’t finished, I had questions at the end. I’m hoping there will be another book that will follow up on this.
mercurialbooks's review
3.0
A solid, dark tale about how escaping a cult doesn't mean you really escape. Blue has been brought up in a cult, it was run by one powerful man who had control over her mother. Exploring the emotional toll and psychological strain this environment has on a person, even years later. There is also a little mystery thrown in to the mix, who started the fire that led to the small group being able to escape the cult in the first place.
My favourite trope is also here, found family that help the main character deal with her traumatic past.
My favourite trope is also here, found family that help the main character deal with her traumatic past.
leona_omahony's review
4.0
This was a very good read that kept my interest the whole way through. It was a bit of a slow burner at times but this actually suited the story. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
aminakara's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
liseyp's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Thank you to the author, publishers Orion Dash and online book club Pigeonhole for access to read this for free. This is an honest and voluntary review.
I loved some of these characters, but the final reveal and ‘bad guy’ let the whole thing down.
Blue Sillietoe grew up in a cult. Her mother fell under the influence of a charismatic leader in northern Wales and moved into Black House with her daughter when Blue was just five years old.
Sexual abuse, starvation and violence were common in the cult and Blue’s only comfort was in the company of the three girls she shared a dorm with, two of whom (Lisa and Natasha) she escaped with one night fleeing a terrible fire at Black House.
Years later Blue has built a life away from the trauma. Living in London, working in a record store with recovering addict and ageing ex-rock star Isaac, and keeping as far away as she can from her past. She hasn’t kept in touch with any of the other survivors, although she knows Lisa committed suicide a few years previously and she does visit Lisa’s grave regularly. So, she is shocked when she’s contacted by a solicitor to say Natasha had also now died and her will names Blue as the guardian of Natasha’s 10-year-old daughter, Penelope.
Natasha’s death and the questions of a reporter looking to write a book about the tragedies which followed the Black House survivors, prompt Blue to begin to ask the questions she has long suppressed about what really happened to her as a child. Will she have to go back to Black House to find the truth?
This book had a lot of early promise. The cult survivor and the sense if hidden secrets from childhood really pulled me in. Blue is a bit spiky, a bit vulnerable and really admirable. Her boss and father figure Isaac is fab, he gives a really good sense of someone who has seen it all, but cares deeply, giving a balance of tough love and selfless support. Penelope’s quiet determination and resilience are adorable and they have the world’s most practical and understanding social work in Dee. It’s great to see such a positive portrayal if a social worker who both cares and is effective rather than the usual overworked and uncaring trope that appears in fictional social workers.
The twists and turns are largely predictable, but still enjoyable. However, there are two big let downs. One is the lack of research. It doesn’t need to be a police procedural, but the single Met Police detective who ends up instructing a Welsh armed police officer to shoot to wound not kill comes across as patronising and ridiculous. The message is clearly that the Met Police can do whatever they like and one single detective is worth more than an entire police force. She’s not even painted as the talented rogue cop who subverts the rules to get the result she knows is morally if not procedurally right. The local force are just an insignificant plotting tool.
Likewise the geography of Wales shrinks to about the size of a large town, with journeys that (according to Welsh Pigeonhole readers) would take the large part of a day, being covered by a short Uber ride. In a part if the storyline where tension should have been building trying to figure out the logic if the geography was an unnecessary distraction.
The second let down is how the character development fails in the second half of the book. Blue goes from the suspicious and cynical survivor who finds it hard to trust, to the most naïve person who falls into bed with a man she hasn’t seen in years and shares every thought she has with another who she follows into the middle of nowhere despite his sudden detailed knowledge about parts of her past she has never shared.
It all just left me feeling disappointed, with the final reveal and ending like a betrayal of Blue’s character and the support networks she had. Such a shame.
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