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lizanneyoung's review
4.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Only Girl in Town follows July, a teen cross country runner, who discovers she’s completely and utterly alone in her town. Everything goes from the usual hustle and bustle to silence with the snap of a finger, and July doesn’t understand why. Over the course of the next several days, July tries to understand her new reality and how to change it.
The Only Girl in Town follows July, a teen cross country runner, who discovers she’s completely and utterly alone in her town. Everything goes from the usual hustle and bustle to silence with the snap of a finger, and July doesn’t understand why. Over the course of the next several days, July tries to understand her new reality and how to change it.
I went into this with the impression that there was going to be a paranormal or thriller subplot, simply because of the setup. Everyone in town disappears and there are messages telling her to “get them back.” However, what I found was that the elements audiences may commonly associate with the thriller genre were utilized to tell a moving coming-of-age story that focuses on a teen girl’s journey with her emotions and what they’re ultimately rooted in.
This book is an incredibly poignant way to show someone’s experience with grief and loneliness. It is an excellent representation of how powerful emotions can be and how long they can sit with you, even if you are seemingly moving through your normal routine. I took much of this story to be reflective of July’s journey with depression over the events that happened the previous summer, and there’s a descriptive phrase Condie used that I think encompasses it well: hearing the cold lonely sound. That’s a phrase that will stick with me long after I’ve put this book on the shelf.
What stood out to me about the storytelling was the formatting of the chapters. Most are labeled with the category of “now” or “once,” though there are some that are given no label, leaving you to assume when they take place in the timeline. Further, many of the chapters felt like stanzas to a poem, rather than a traditional paragraph-based story. This really helped drive home the theming of the story and the emotional turmoil we see July experience, both in the “nows” and “onces.”
There’s also the small notion that July is an unreliable narrator, as possibly revealed by herself. It gives an important distinction that while what we are reading is July’s experience and version of events, that doesn’t mean it’s what happened for everyone in the story, and that the way July interpreted things does not mean that’s how the other characters felt. I think it could also lend itself to the destructive natures our minds can take when we fall into these emotional situations, and how our minds will tell or show us something that doesn't line up with reality.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
ivylee's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A really gorgeous exploration of being a teen on the verge of being an adult, dealing with grief and depression and love and friendship and change and growth and nostalgia and healing.
Bonus points for setting it (or “setting it”) in my hometown. Anyone who grew up in the area will read the descriptions of not-Indian Creek Farm and not-Taughannock and feel all their childhood memories flooding back. There’s something really magical about Ithaca and Condie for sure captured it.
Bonus points for setting it (or “setting it”) in my hometown. Anyone who grew up in the area will read the descriptions of not-Indian Creek Farm and not-Taughannock and feel all their childhood memories flooding back. There’s something really magical about Ithaca and Condie for sure captured it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Grief
Moderate: Death
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