A review by gcot
Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

I struggled to get through this book.
It was extremely slow and repetitive, but then rushed through the action. I mean, a woman was shot in the forehead and then resurrected in less than two pages!
The characters are all deeply stereotypical, from the bra burning gay hippie, to the ditzy blond child star to the homeschooled basement weirdo and finally our MC, the over achieving eldest child.
I found the main character deeply unlikable. She is classic first year med student cliche, acting like she was completing groundbreaking research with only 1.5 semesters under her belt. I also find it immensely unrealistic that a curious and analytically minded woman who hyper analyzed how she came into the world, would never think the learn more about the woman who created her. And yes Josie herself admits to never thinking of her mothers life prior to her entry into it.

The biggest issue for me with this book is the plot holes and unrealistic dialogue. The expectation that a four year old child would have such robust memories, and so many at that, is frankly silly. People do not speak to eachother the way they do in this book half the time.

This book could have done with a better editor and some more critical beta readers, because the idea itself is quite interesting.

And an unfair complaint (unfair because the author reasonably might not know this) is one descriptor of their road trip. When driving into Vermont Josie mentions the billboards she passes. This book is set in the 90s. Billboards were banned in Vermont in the 60s.
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