Pages: 404
Published: 2nd July 2015
Genre: Mystery
You live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses.
You’ve known your neighbours for years and you trust them. Implicitly.
You think your children are safe. But are they really?
Midsummer night: a thirteen-year-old girl is found unconscious in a dark corner of the garden square. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
I really liked this, and the more I read of Lisa Jewell the higher she goes on my list of favourite authors. As a writer, she is so incredibly versatile with regards to plotting and creating an innovative concept for a book, but her biggest strength is her characters. She knows them inside and out, and they are superbly realised and very well-drawn.
The Girls contains a wide range of characters, but they are all memorable and realistic, all playing their part in the central mystery of the book – what happened to Grace? It is a fascinating and intriguing mystery, which certainly kept me guessing, but that is only one aspect of the story.
I feel that the most significant thing to take away from this book was not finding out how Grace came to be unconscious, but the issues it presents. There are so many underlying messages throughout the book, and the plot holds it together perfectly. To some, the lack of a dramatic ending might feel a little underwhelming, but I really appreciated it and found the thinking behind it very effective.
Most of the characters are likeable. The two main narrators are Pip and Adele, and I found them both to be very caring and engaging. It was kind of tragic to read about Tyler, while I never trusted Leo at all.
I have to mention the setting. Nearly the entire book is set within the communal garden where they all live. It comes across vividly on the page, and I loved that there was a map at the beginning of the book! It was very useful for me in trying to picture the scene.
Overall, an excellent read. It is wonderfully fast-paced and there is hardly a dull moment. The characterisation, the setting, and the storytelling are all spot on, with a mystery that acts as the perfect backdrop for exploring powerful, thought-provoking issues.
There are several issues portrayed in this book, including references to sexual assault, child neglect, and severe schizophrenia. If these are likely to cause a negative reaction, then you may choose to skip it.
A very good read, and one that I would recommend to anyone who likes fast-paced, character-driven mysteries. I certainly plan to read another Lisa Jewell novel very soon!
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 