Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Girls

I really enjoyed this book however it was not as thrilling as I expected a thriller book to be.
The first half of the book was getting to know the characters and what life was like living in the garden. In the second half of the book was were the action began with Grace being found unconscious. I thought the book could have been shorter since both parts of the story dragged on for a bit to long.
I thought the Howees were a weird but nice family and I did initially have concerns about Leo, as did Pip, but it turns out he was an all right dude. I thought Pips family scenario was sad and rare with her dad having schizophrenia causing him to go mad but I was glad they were all reunited at the end. Dylan gave mixed signals but he was a good lad in the end. Tyler was quite a questionable character from the beginning with her aunt’s history and her mum neglecting her and her jealousy issues with Grace and Dylan.
Overall I thought the actual plot of Grace being unconscious and everyone trying to figure out what happened and who did it was quite anticlimactic since it was obvious Tyler had something against Grace and the investigation was pretty slow.

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shannonc8299's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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emory's review against another edition

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tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Felt more like a 250 page set up for the

'it was the poor neglected sociopathic child all along!'

plot twist than an actual story that someone wanted to tell or that anyone wanted to hear. The whole subplot about the husband also just annoyed the hell out of me for so many reasons. Weird ending and an even weirder takeaway.

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booksbytheglass's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this one was such a bingeable and quick read!! although the ending was a bit disappointing and flat to me, I still had a great time zooming through this one!

lisa jewell has such a capability of drawing the reader in from the first chapter and keeping them there throughout the twists and turns. her characterization in this one revolves around a group of teenagers in a communal park, and their mothers who are always ten steps behind - and boy was it captivating!!!

by starting out the first chapter with a big event, it allowed the reader to try and figure out what happened in the days leading up to it - however, the conclusion was a bit of a letdown for me. by allowing the reader to form their own conclusion about what really happened, it took away from the depth and justice of the entire book (which was kind of the point) …

for me, I’m a clean cut ending type of reader, so I hope that others will love how lisa jewell did this one! that being said, I felt there was no satisfaction or justice at the end - and gave me the feeling that the entire story was for nothing.

I will continue to read lisa jewell’s books until the day I die, but this one falls on the short list for me! 🥴

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: spanish albariño

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Atmosphere: 👌 This story couldn’t have taken place anywhere else. The park and surrounding homes were a vital character, and the scenes brought to life so well - both for the environment and how people let their guard down in such familiar, communal settings.

Main POVs: 👌
-a parent with a 12 and 13 year old who is kind but distracted and exhausted, dealing with the hospitalization of their spouse who has paranoid schizophrenia
-a parent with one preteen and two teens who is well-meaning in homeschooling and insulating their family from the world, but results in them letting their guard down and missing glaring red flags. They are lenient with the hopes of their children growing up to be unashamedly their true selves…but they have never considered if those true selves may be rotten ones
-a 12 year old younger sibling who is observant, intuitive, and unfailingly loyal to their family but suspicious of strangers

Reading Journey: 👌
Riding through the neighbourhood in a golf cart on a crisp, relaxing summer day.

Show’n’tell: 👌 Perfect show - I wasn’t just in the characters heads I briefly became them. Includes a little map of the park and houses.

Great match if you like:
-neighbourhood mysteries
-dark cozy mystery
-coming-of-age drama
-nostalgic summer energy
-people giving off creepy vibes behind closed doors
-teens behaving badly

Vibes: 🙂😲🤭

Format: Kindle Unlimited

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