Book Review: Amandine by Adele Griffin (4/5)

Ordinary, overweight and lonely Delia meets Amandine on the last day of her first week at her new high school. Amandine is an artist, actress and ballerina — She’s exciting, extraordinary and bold. She’s nothing like anyone in their small town. But this innocent-seeming girl is also dark, controlling and dangerous. And she tells lies. Terrified of loneliness, 14-year-old Delia clings to Amandine. Before she knows it, Amandine has sucked her into a toxic friendship. 

Adele Griffin is most definitely a great storyteller. She’s captured the inner workings of the adolescent mind, as well as the ineffectual communication between Delia and her parents. I sympathized with Delia from the start. There’s many layers to her insecurities, her character and her good heart.

More than anything, I understand her loneliness. Better a less-than-friendly friend than no friends. I was like Delia, terrified of loneliness. And unfortunately, toxic friendships are very common among adolescent girls. In middle school, I myself might have befriended an Amandine or two of my own — though not quite this extreme. 

Amandine was a nice read. The ending is a bit rushed — I feel like there could have been more exploration of Delia’s inner demons. Nonetheless, the novel ends on a positive note (though it’s too much “telling” rather than “showing” for my tastes) and I feel sure that Delia will be just fine. She will grow into her own person. She’ll brave the wobbly years of adolescence… After all, fourteen doesn’t last forever. 

***ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review

Read more of my book reviews here on my blog: https://rememberingwonderland.wordpress.com

 

 

Book Review: The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood (4/5)

The Wicked Girls is the story of two 11-year-old English girls who made a mistake one summer day. Annabel Oldacre and Jade Walker met that one day and killed a four-year-old girl. For the next 25 years, they lose contact and face the consequences of that mistake.

This thriller builds on a very gripping premise — it’s bold, fresh and shattering. Rehabilitated, hated and tortured, Annabel and Jade grow up into different lives. One becomes Amber, a cleaning manager who is something of a pushover with her employees and her boyfriend, Vic. The other becomes Kristy, a successful journalist with a caring husband and two kids. When Kristy the journalist comes to Amber’s town to investigate a string of murders, the two women’s lives collide.

And they know then how fragile these new identities they’ve created are. How the media could shatter and break everything they’ve tried to rebuild. How they can never run from their past.

To say the least, The Wicked Girls is gripping and emotional. Readers feel a great deal of sympathy for these two women. At the same time, I wish there had been more exploration of their emotions — it would have made the book even more deeper and heart-wrenching. I feel like a couple serious issues may have slipped away in the pacing of the thriller/mystery. The mystery, for me, was not really a mystery. I guessed/hunched right away at the twist.

This novel is something new and ventures thoughts onto a road not taken… It raises questions about children who commit crimes. Obviously Amber and Kristy are searching for redemption; in the end, I think they receive it, albeit in a different and bittersweet form. Life is never as sweet as fairy tales.

***ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my review

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