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A review by violentte
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
For starters these kids are bad af, however this book does do a great job at depicting how fast kids are in the UK.
As readers we are baited into thinking something more sinister has happened but,no a death didn’t happen. I thought this maybe a murder mystery but it wasn’t - so you can imagine how disappointed I was. Below are some spoilers.
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Taylor is the classic UK mean girl. She becomes territorial over the men in her life (Leo and Dylan), and lashes out on the girls around her. Because her own mother is just like her (and encourages this bad/dangerous behavior) there’s no one to fix how she is. The fact that she didn’t get caught annoyed me the most
The only good character in this is Pip, she acts her age and is one of the most harmless kids in this story. I read this for her and I loved the innocence she brought into the book.
Grace is rude, too rude at that, but to give her a fair chance in this review, she is peer pressured into growing up too fast by the group of kids she hangs around. The fact that she covered for the girls that attacked her was insane, but like Pip said, it allows them to continue to do this to others.
Claire is a bad mother, and not a well developed character. I think all of these parents are neglectful in a way, and have a very hands off approach to raising their kids once they are pass the age of 9. She keeps their father away from them which makes sense as to why BUT this isn’t developed enough. There is a lot of things (for all characters) that happens off the pages and we are readers are just supposed to be fine with that. It weakens the characters and the plot. The only smart thing she did was move her family out of that area because all those girls were a danger to her children.
Now that I’m at the end of the book I don’t think Leo is as much as of a threat that Pip makes him to be. I think he is a bit touchy feeling (in the way of someone that hugs almost everyone) but I do not think he’s after any of the girls. That being said, Pip is just really well aware of how fast all those other children are which is why she’s so on edge.
Dylan seems like a nice kid, he cut of Taylor and I think it’s partly because he knows she is CRAZY. But the closer of him and Grace still being together really wasn’t enough.
Overall, I wish the characters were more developed. The parents allowing their children to get away with putting another child in A COMA is crazy. Adele allowing Taylor to move in after all that is stomach turning.
As readers we are baited into thinking something more sinister has happened but,
-
Taylor is the classic UK mean girl. She becomes territorial over the men in her life (Leo and Dylan), and lashes out on the girls around her. Because her own mother is just like her (and encourages this bad/dangerous behavior) there’s no one to fix how she is. The fact that she didn’t get caught annoyed me the most
The only good character in this is Pip, she acts her age and is one of the most harmless kids in this story. I read this for her and I loved the innocence she brought into the book.
Grace is rude, too rude at that, but to give her a fair chance in this review, she is peer pressured into growing up too fast by the group of kids she hangs around. The fact that she covered for the girls that attacked her was insane, but like Pip said, it allows them to continue to do this to others.
Claire is a bad mother, and not a well developed character. I think all of these parents are neglectful in a way, and have a very hands off approach to raising their kids once they are pass the age of 9. She keeps their father away from them which makes sense as to why BUT this isn’t developed enough. There is a lot of things (for all characters) that happens off the pages and we are readers are just supposed to be fine with that. It weakens the characters and the plot. The only smart thing she did was move her family out of that area because all those girls were a danger to her children.
Now that I’m at the end of the book I don’t think Leo is as much as of a threat that Pip makes him to be. I think he is a bit touchy feeling (in the way of someone that hugs almost everyone) but I do not think he’s after any of the girls. That being said, Pip is just really well aware of how fast all those other children are which is why she’s so on edge.
Dylan seems like a nice kid, he cut of Taylor and I think it’s partly because he knows she is CRAZY. But the closer of him and Grace still being together really wasn’t enough.
Overall, I wish the characters were more developed. The parents allowing their children to get away with putting another child in A COMA is crazy. Adele allowing Taylor to move in after all that is stomach turning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment