Girl A : Book Review



 

Book Review

 

Title: Girl A

Author: Abigail Dean

Genre: Thriller/Psychological Fiction

 

Girl A explores the psychological consequences of trauma on children and how it effects their lives. 

 

Lex Gracie aka Girl A is the one who manages to escape the house of horrors. The same house where she and her siblings were chained, tortured and starved by their parents. Her father never made it out of that house and her mother was sentenced to prison. Years later, when her mother dies and leaves the family home for her children, Lex is forced to return to come to terms with her painful past. In the process, she must return to that house and also meet her siblings who are now placed in different foster homes.  

 

Written in first person from the point of view of Lex, this immersive psychological tale explores the several dynamics of the sibling relationships that includes shifting loyalties and betrayals. From the very first line, you are drawn into the interiority of the protagonist and her dark world. A world filled with atrocities and instances that make you cringe in horror. The gradual unfolding of the plot and revelation of the complex characters and gives you the heady feeling of having consumed a cocktail drink. The narrative shifts alternately between the past and the present which at first can seem confusing but eventually sets into a rhythm. 

 

It’s interesting to observe how the concept of horror isn’t necessarily restricted to the supernatural world. Its attributed more to the heinous acts committed by mere mortals that we call humans. The narrative also entails the inability of the mind to accept certain life events and compels one to remain in denial. 


Girl A is intense, disturbing and leaves a permanent scar on the readers. 

 

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