Girl A by Abigail Dean (very minor spoilers)

'Girl A,' she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’

Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.

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Phew. This is a difficult book to get through, but the twists and turns kept me glued to it.

Surprisingly, the fact that this bounces around in time without any warning didn't bother me. I usually need a flag of some kind so that I can keep track of when we are, but it didn't seem to matter this time, maybe because the narration was so clear and concise. The siblings each had their own way of talking, which helped as well.

The one thing that surprised me

SPOILER

was that after everything else we saw, and all the detail put into everything, we didn't see how her father justified the Bindings. They were just there, one day. It rang strange to me, but it's equally possible I missed something.

END OF SPOILER

This is a heartfelt look at the different ways abuse can affect someone, and continue to affect them for years afterwards. It's not an easy read, but it's definitely worth it. Give it a try.

Girl A publishes on the 21st January, 2021.