katechilds's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5
From the description of this book - "an astonishing new crime thriller" - I expected Girl A to be everything I usually enjoy when reading; a book which I end up having to finish in one sitting, just so I can find out what happens. However, the reality didn't really live up to what I expected at all.
I felt like the concept of the book was great and I enjoyed the structure and the way each chapter focused on a different sibling, but the excecution wasn't quite there for me. I don't think the writing style was compatible with the genre the book is advertised as - a thriller needs to be a quick page turner, but there was so much complexity and ambiguity in the language used that I felt every page took a long time to read and absorb, and that meant I ended up skipping whole passages regularly and having to catch myself and go back to read them. The way the time period kept jumping around was often confusing too - it doesn't take long to work out whether you're in Lex's past or present, but it was another thing that interrupted the flow of reading and on the whole, stopped me from getting into the book until around 70% of the way through. It was at this point that I was finally gripped and struggled to put my Kindle down - until that point I was having the opposite problem and kept having to force myself to pick it up.
It wasn't all bad though - I really enjoyed the twists and turns and didn't see most of them coming, and although the writing style was often a bit much to get through, the use of metaphor and description was really well done. However, the main thing that has made me give Girl A 3 stars instead of 2 is the characters: they were beautifully written and complex and a few of them - especially Lex's siblings - will stick with me long after reading.
From the description of this book - "an astonishing new crime thriller" - I expected Girl A to be everything I usually enjoy when reading; a book which I end up having to finish in one sitting, just so I can find out what happens. However, the reality didn't really live up to what I expected at all.
I felt like the concept of the book was great and I enjoyed the structure and the way each chapter focused on a different sibling, but the excecution wasn't quite there for me. I don't think the writing style was compatible with the genre the book is advertised as - a thriller needs to be a quick page turner, but there was so much complexity and ambiguity in the language used that I felt every page took a long time to read and absorb, and that meant I ended up skipping whole passages regularly and having to catch myself and go back to read them. The way the time period kept jumping around was often confusing too - it doesn't take long to work out whether you're in Lex's past or present, but it was another thing that interrupted the flow of reading and on the whole, stopped me from getting into the book until around 70% of the way through. It was at this point that I was finally gripped and struggled to put my Kindle down - until that point I was having the opposite problem and kept having to force myself to pick it up.
It wasn't all bad though - I really enjoyed the twists and turns and didn't see most of them coming, and although the writing style was often a bit much to get through, the use of metaphor and description was really well done. However, the main thing that has made me give Girl A 3 stars instead of 2 is the characters: they were beautifully written and complex and a few of them - especially Lex's siblings - will stick with me long after reading.
gyspybibliophile's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
jennamalena's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
annija_koffein's review against another edition
1.0
Curse the day I learned how to read.
This godawful book frustrates me so much I don't even know what to say. It's like stale sandwich but more disappointing. Fuck this to infinity.
This godawful book frustrates me so much I don't even know what to say. It's like stale sandwich but more disappointing. Fuck this to infinity.
rrickman33's review against another edition
4.0
Girl A is not a thriller, it's not even really a suspenseful psychological novel. It's a story about survival, family, sibling connection, child abuse, and not repeating the past. Do not go in expecting twists and turns and thriller-esque story lines you will be disappointed like the many reviews I read on this. People were upset it wasn't more scary... like did you want to read even more about child abuse than what was in here?? Are you ok?
CW: child abuse, justifying abuse using religion
With that said I did really enjoy this book. We follow Lex (Girl A- the one who escaped) after her mother dies in prison (serving time for child abuse). She has to go to each of her surviving siblings and get their approval for what to do with their family house. The "House of Horrors" where they grew up is tough to read about, they were found chained to their beds, starved, and filthy. Their father thought it was all God's will. This is not a light read but a powerful read.
One this I didn't enjoy about this book was how confused I was the entire time reading it. Each paragraph would skip timelines with no warning and it got old real quick. We moved between present day, right after the escape, and during the abuse piecing Lex's childhood and story of survival together. Things were also incredibly vague and I personally get frustrated when things aren't explained that should be.
Each chapter is about one of the siblings, kind of where they are now but it was still centered around Lex. I liked learning more about each sibling and seeing their journey through survival. I will warn you, there were a lot of info dumps in this- random characters got pages of stories and then they leave the book for good and I was left wondering why I read that.
While the story-telling and writing style may not be for everyone I still think this was a really good story that should be told. Maybe just a little more organized and less vague next time!
CW: child abuse, justifying abuse using religion
With that said I did really enjoy this book. We follow Lex (Girl A- the one who escaped) after her mother dies in prison (serving time for child abuse). She has to go to each of her surviving siblings and get their approval for what to do with their family house. The "House of Horrors" where they grew up is tough to read about, they were found chained to their beds, starved, and filthy. Their father thought it was all God's will. This is not a light read but a powerful read.
One this I didn't enjoy about this book was how confused I was the entire time reading it. Each paragraph would skip timelines with no warning and it got old real quick. We moved between present day, right after the escape, and during the abuse piecing Lex's childhood and story of survival together. Things were also incredibly vague and I personally get frustrated when things aren't explained that should be.
Each chapter is about one of the siblings, kind of where they are now but it was still centered around Lex. I liked learning more about each sibling and seeing their journey through survival. I will warn you, there were a lot of info dumps in this- random characters got pages of stories and then they leave the book for good and I was left wondering why I read that.
While the story-telling and writing style may not be for everyone I still think this was a really good story that should be told. Maybe just a little more organized and less vague next time!
jerzgrl626's review against another edition
3.0
I had higher expectations for this book based on the reviews I read. While it did have similarities to books like Room (which I loved despite the subject material), this book fell short a bit. The storylines for each of the characters felt a bit stilted and the flashbacks from the present felt a bit disjointed.
alexandraloyd's review against another edition
2.0
honestly, this book was really boring. I didn’t want to finish it, but forced myself, so I got stuck in a reading slump. the characters and plot were both really dull, and while it’s advertised as a thriller, it definitely is not. I picked up this book because it sounded like it would be a glimpse into the house of horrors: 7 children were held captive in their house, chained in their rooms, starving to death. but really, it was one of the children, now an adult, several years later, recounting memories and figuring out what to do with the house now that their parents have passed. the plot jumps around in time a lot with no warning, making it hard to follow along. overall, i wouldn’t recommend this book.
katymat18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
olsonsophia8's review against another edition
4.0
In the most respectful way…. What the actual F*%k?
snwdngo's review against another edition
3.0
I keep rotating between 2/3 stars. I had such high hopes for this this book but it just fell so short.