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whatyoutolkienabout's review
5.0
Introduction
I was given an advanced reader copy to review for by Titan Books and NetGalley. My reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. #GirlsofLittleHope #SamBeckbessinger #DaleHalvorsen #TitanBooks #Horror #SciFi #90sNostalgia #BookReview #gifted #ad #NetGalley
Review
Girls of Little Hope is an eerie tale that merges monsters, teen angst and small-town America with elements of 1990s and cult sci fi and horror. We focus on Donna, Rae and Kat who live in the small town Little Hope, California (population 8,302) in 1996. These girls have kept each other sane in the boring town with teenage girl friendships, zine-making and amateur sleuthing into the town’s mysteries; the lost gold mine and why Ronnie Gaskins burned his parents alive a decade ago.
Unfortunately their hunt leads them to a hidden cave where only two of them return alive. Donna, the trouble maker of the group can’t remember anything. Rae seems to be trying to ignore and escape her memories of just what happened, much to the charging of her close-minded religious family. And Kat? Well sweet Kat who dreamed of being writer and rebelled against her mother’s beauty pageant dreams by getting fat? She’s missing. Dead. Or terribly traumatised out there in the woods, alone.
As the police circle and Kat’s frantic mother Marybeth starts doing some investigations of her own, Rae and Donna will have to return to the woods and the cave where they discover a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same again.
Well this was certainly an epic read and one I couldn’t put down! Growing up in the 90s with a love all things horror and scifi this book was everything I could have wanted. I also adored the fact that one of the protagonists was plus size! The writing is really engaging and easy to follow. I adored that we got alternative points of view from characters as well as the time and date these entries happened. I particularly enjoyed the elements of Kat’s Diary that helped us slowly piece together everything that happened. A tad spoiler as well was the inclusion of a blog post by a ‘dark tourist’ at the end in ‘present day’ which helped cement the story as really happening. It’s little touches like this that really make me loved reading! It was so simple but really affective in my opinion at least.
On top of this the characters are all fleshed out and well balanced. My favourite was probably Donna and Kat but Rae was believable too and you couldn’t help but feel for her with how her family is. The multiple narratives and povs also helped give you an idea of the characters from each others perspective.
The story and plot is brilliantly executed as well with brilliant pop culture references throughout that brought back good memories. The is everything you could want from a young adult horror novel. The only bits that made me a bit uncomfortable was sections with the animals. Without too much of a spoiler thankfully the issues with animals are somewhat fixed but it still made me a bit uncomfortable. It probably says more about me as a person that the animals made me uncomfortable but I loved the gory parts involving humans….perhaps its best we don’t dwell on that bit too much!
As you all know I hate spoilers if you enjoy things like The Thing, Stranger Things, Invasion of the Body Snatches or The Faculty this is one you are sure to enjoy!
Hashtags
#GirlsofLittleHope #SamBeckbessinger #DaleHalvorsen #TitanBooks #Horror #SciFi #90sNostalgia #BookReview #gifted #ad #NetGalley #BookReviewer #BookBlogger #BookHoader #BookDragon #BookShark #BookReader #Bookstagram #BookNerd #BookReader #BookLover #BooksBooksBooks #BookAddict #Book
I was given an advanced reader copy to review for by Titan Books and NetGalley. My reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. #GirlsofLittleHope #SamBeckbessinger #DaleHalvorsen #TitanBooks #Horror #SciFi #90sNostalgia #BookReview #gifted #ad #NetGalley
Review
Girls of Little Hope is an eerie tale that merges monsters, teen angst and small-town America with elements of 1990s and cult sci fi and horror. We focus on Donna, Rae and Kat who live in the small town Little Hope, California (population 8,302) in 1996. These girls have kept each other sane in the boring town with teenage girl friendships, zine-making and amateur sleuthing into the town’s mysteries; the lost gold mine and why Ronnie Gaskins burned his parents alive a decade ago.
Unfortunately their hunt leads them to a hidden cave where only two of them return alive. Donna, the trouble maker of the group can’t remember anything. Rae seems to be trying to ignore and escape her memories of just what happened, much to the charging of her close-minded religious family. And Kat? Well sweet Kat who dreamed of being writer and rebelled against her mother’s beauty pageant dreams by getting fat? She’s missing. Dead. Or terribly traumatised out there in the woods, alone.
As the police circle and Kat’s frantic mother Marybeth starts doing some investigations of her own, Rae and Donna will have to return to the woods and the cave where they discover a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same again.
Well this was certainly an epic read and one I couldn’t put down! Growing up in the 90s with a love all things horror and scifi this book was everything I could have wanted. I also adored the fact that one of the protagonists was plus size! The writing is really engaging and easy to follow. I adored that we got alternative points of view from characters as well as the time and date these entries happened. I particularly enjoyed the elements of Kat’s Diary that helped us slowly piece together everything that happened. A tad spoiler as well was the inclusion of a blog post by a ‘dark tourist’ at the end in ‘present day’ which helped cement the story as really happening. It’s little touches like this that really make me loved reading! It was so simple but really affective in my opinion at least.
On top of this the characters are all fleshed out and well balanced. My favourite was probably Donna and Kat but Rae was believable too and you couldn’t help but feel for her with how her family is. The multiple narratives and povs also helped give you an idea of the characters from each others perspective.
The story and plot is brilliantly executed as well with brilliant pop culture references throughout that brought back good memories. The is everything you could want from a young adult horror novel. The only bits that made me a bit uncomfortable was sections with the animals. Without too much of a spoiler thankfully the issues with animals are somewhat fixed but it still made me a bit uncomfortable. It probably says more about me as a person that the animals made me uncomfortable but I loved the gory parts involving humans….perhaps its best we don’t dwell on that bit too much!
As you all know I hate spoilers if you enjoy things like The Thing, Stranger Things, Invasion of the Body Snatches or The Faculty this is one you are sure to enjoy!
Hashtags
#GirlsofLittleHope #SamBeckbessinger #DaleHalvorsen #TitanBooks #Horror #SciFi #90sNostalgia #BookReview #gifted #ad #NetGalley #BookReviewer #BookBlogger #BookHoader #BookDragon #BookShark #BookReader #Bookstagram #BookNerd #BookReader #BookLover #BooksBooksBooks #BookAddict #Book
books_nooks_spooks's review
5.0
Totally forgot that I am 45 reading this - I was a teenager in the 90s again. So much nostalgia of being the weird outcast back in the day, all nestled in a crazy, intriguing mystery which is littered with awesome little touches such as newsletter/magazine clippings. We have got multiple POVS mixed media, satanic panic, coming of age - It’s angsty, it’s relatable, it’s mind blowing, it’s gross, it’s cosmic, it’s a brilliant wee horror novel!
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
sareadings's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cristinareading's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Body shaming
Moderate: Blood and Homophobia
paintedbypicasso's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
frankie89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
w0rms_for_brainz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual harassment
mollyctoone's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5