Review: GIRLHOOD by Cat Clarke

Girlhood by Cat Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been in a reading slump lately, and GIRLHOOD by Cat Clarke is the book that brought me out of it.

This book is amazing. It’s poignant, raw, and dark. And so, so emotional.

Harper, the MC, is at boarding school and is dealing with her grief and guilt over her twin sister’s death. Jenna died from anorexia, and Harper blames herself as she was the one who suggested they both went on a diet. The portrayal of anorexia is sensitively done and focuses largely on the impact that Jenna’s death has had on her twin and parents. Harper’s coping mechanisms seem realistic and authentic.

Female friendship is a huge part of this book, and Clarke tackles this in such a good way. She shows how groups of girls can turn on each other, how fragile a once-string friendship can become—and how quickly too—and really captures what teen friendships can be like: both the intensity of them and the importance of them in regards to building identity.

GIRLHOOD starts with four friends—Harper, Ama, Lily, and Rowen—when they meet newcomer Kirsty. Lily is headgirl and organises an almost initiation test for Kirsty—one that is unpleasant and somewhat dangerous. This book doesn’t shy away from how mean girls can be.

As the book progresses, Kirsty slithers further into the friendship group, and it becomes evident that she’s trying to cause trouble. She isolates certain girls, playing both the tormentor and rescuer—something that Lily is also referred to.

There are secrets and lies, jealousy and betrayal wrapped up in this complex story of friendship. But what I really liked was how all five girls pulled together and supported one another. Explanations for Kirsty’s behaviour are given—and these explanations perfectly explained her motivation for her ghastly actions and why she wouldn’t to hurt the girls. And the other girls forgive her, just as they forgive each other for other things they’ve done. Forgiveness is a huge theme in this book, and it ends with Harper trying to forgive herself for Jenna’s death.

I was really glad that this book didn’t have a love story, as so many YA books do. It would’ve detracted from the important messages this book gives.

It’s also worth noting that the cast of this book is diverse. This is the first book I’ve read where the MC is bisexual and this representation was really well done. Rowen also tells readers early on she’s a lesbian, and at least one other character appears to either be bi or lesbian too. There are also characters of colour too.

My only negative about this book is some of the characterisation. When you have a book with so many teenage girls as main characters—it’s set at a boarding school—keeping them separate in your head as you read is always going to be a challenge. And a few times, I found it hard to distinguish between Ama, Lily, and Rowen. But Harper and Kirsty’s characterisation was expertly done.

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Review: VOX by Christina Dalcher

Vox by Christina Dalcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. 


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Vox by Christina Dalcher gives us a snapshot into a terrifyingly real world.

Girls and women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words a day. If they do, they face extreme punishment. They’ve been stripped of their jobs and any authority they once had is long gone. This is a terrifying look at female oppression and Dalcher explores just how far society will go—and what, if anything, can be done to stop it.

Jean is a great protagonist. She’s relatable and strong-minded, yet she’s careful and cautious too. Seeing the world directly through her own experiences in it was, quite frankly, uncomfortable to read in many places. The injection of flashbacks throughout the MS that showed how the world had come to be like this was also very interesting, as not only did it provide backstory in small amounts, but it also gives the reader a chance to see how Jean’s character has changed and grown, to see how she’s adapted to the new rules of society.

Jean’s relationships with her children were also really interesting. In particular, her eldest son and her daughter. These characters also felt well though-out and well written.

The writing itself is concise and appealing. It invites the reader to “just read another chapter” at every point. It’s a compelling book and it has some fantastic images that border on being almost lyrical in their writing.

The affair in this book was a bit of a surprise for me—but a good one. Seeing the contrast between Patrick and Lorenzo, and how each interacted with Jean was really interesting.

The one thing I didn’t like was the ending. It felt really rushed, and when Jean and Lorenzo so easily realise that they can trust another person so quickly, it just seemed very convenient. I didn’t quite believe they could trust this third character (trying not to give spoilers here) and I was waiting for it to backfire... only it didn’t.

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Review: THE TRUTH WAITS by Susanna Beard

I'm so excited to be taking part in the publisher's blog tour for The Truth Waits by Susanna Beard!

About The Truth Waits: 

Anna has everything worked out – a successful company, all the comforts she needs and no ties. But when she stumbles across the body of a young girl on a deserted beach in Lithuania, everything changes.

Anna is compelled to uncover the story behind the tragedy, despite concern from her partner, Will. Everything points towards sex trafficking, but as she searches, her own deepest secrets start to surface.

When Will disappears without a trace, Anna is pulled further into the murky world of organised crime. Time is running out for them all, and there’s a killer out there who will stop at nothing.

Beard enthralls the reader in this fast-paced psychological crime thriller. Anna serves as the perfect power-house protagonist, her daring escapades leaving the reader questioning: how far should one go to solve a murder?

Review: 

The Truth Waits is the first book by Susanna Beard that I’ve read, and I was not disappointed. This is a fast-paced crime thriller about sex trafficking. 

When I started reading and found this book is written in third-person present tense, I wasn’t sure how easily I’d become caught up in the narrative. I love present tense, but third-person present tense has always been a hard read for me, and I’m not sure why. Yet I had no problems getting into this book. There’s something compelling and almost lyrical about the writing, and I just felt like I needed to read more and more every time I sat down to read “just a couple of chapters.” 

What really makes this book is the characterisation. Anna is a great main character. She’s a work-obsessed business woman and it’s hinted early on that she has a dark secret. On the surface, she seems rather cold, but as you read, you discover hidden depths to her character. When her dark secret is revealed, it’s done so in a way that is still sensitive to the character and heart-wrenching for readers. Though the secret had the capability to paint her as a villain, Anna still doesn’t seem like a villain in the reader’s eyes, despite her secret, and I think the execution of it was beautifully done. She’s definitely the villain from another (off page) character, and it just proves that the protagonist and antagonist of a story very much depends on the point of view and narrator. 

Our other main character is Will, a travel journalist. We start off not knowing much about him, and Beard cleverly builds the suspense as she has us questioning whether Will really is everything that he says he is, as Anna finds evidence to support both her theories (that he’s a sex trafficker and/or that he’s investigating the sex trafficking). This back-and-forth structure as Anna tries to make up her mind, made it a compelling read, and right from the start, I found Will to be an intriguing character. 

The book begins with Anna finding the body of a sixteen-year-old girl on the beach not far from her hotel in Lithuania. What follows is a dark journey into the gritty world of sex trafficking as Anna tries to work out who murdered the girl, and struggles to trust those around her. 

For me, the only negative point about this book was the ending. Although all the plot points are wrapped up in a satisfying way, it felt a little rushed in places. Anna almost seems to find out the answer too quickly, after spending so much of the book deliberating, and there are no huge twists in the final section—due to the large amount of back-and-forth worrying that Anna has as she suspects other characters, the ending confirms that the bad guy is one of the people she suspected. I was expecting there to be a reveal after this that someone else close to Anna was also involved, and I feel that would’ve just made this book have the edge. 

Overall, this is an engaging crime thriller and well worth the read. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book and for the publisher for inviting me to be part of the blog tour with this review. 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars