A review by captainolyareads
Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
[Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group for an finished reading copy of Hurricane Girl, available everywhere on June 14th].
Let me preface this review by saying this novel is the first book to make my 'best books of 2022' and the first this year to receive five stars from me.
After breaking things off with her boyfriend, Allison drives down to North Carolina, eager to spend time on the small beachfront property she recently purchased. She's only there for a week and a half when a Category 3 hurricane wipes it off the map. Not eager to spend another night in her hotel room, she goes home with a local cameraman. It's the wrong decision, she knows. In the morning light, when he smashes a glass vase over her head, the decision looks even worse. Her head wound still fresh, she drives to her mother's house in New Jersey. Her mother is as horrified as the rest of us and takes Allison to the hospital. The bad decisions accumulate. She ends up moving in with her brain surgeon because he has a rooftop swimming pool. Side note: a swimming pool doesn't make up for the fact that he lives in NEW JERSEY, ALLISON. Equal parts intoxicating and horrifying, the author does a fantastic job of making the reader care about a character who doesn't always care about herself.
Let me preface this review by saying this novel is the first book to make my 'best books of 2022' and the first this year to receive five stars from me.
After breaking things off with her boyfriend, Allison drives down to North Carolina, eager to spend time on the small beachfront property she recently purchased. She's only there for a week and a half when a Category 3 hurricane wipes it off the map. Not eager to spend another night in her hotel room, she goes home with a local cameraman. It's the wrong decision, she knows. In the morning light, when he smashes a glass vase over her head, the decision looks even worse. Her head wound still fresh, she drives to her mother's house in New Jersey. Her mother is as horrified as the rest of us and takes Allison to the hospital. The bad decisions accumulate. She ends up moving in with her brain surgeon because he has a rooftop swimming pool. Side note: a swimming pool doesn't make up for the fact that he lives in NEW JERSEY, ALLISON. Equal parts intoxicating and horrifying, the author does a fantastic job of making the reader care about a character who doesn't always care about herself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual content