Friday, August 23, 2019

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley


She'd left for camp as a normal kid, someone who belonged in a sitcom or family drama. Now she was the unwilling star of her own special crimes unit episode.... more than a thousand days had been stolen from her. And no matter what the calendar in her head said, the flow of time and cruel experience were written all over her.

The last thing Angie Chapman remembers is being with her friends at summer camp. To her it was just a few days ago. To everyone else, she's been gone for three years. She's sixteen on the outside; but inside she feels thirteen. What happened to her? How did she survive? Her psychologist thinks she had help: multiple personalities who stepped in to keep her safe. But now, Angie is ready to reclaim her life.

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley is such a compelling read. I loved the whole psychological aspect of Angie's dissociative states, and I thought Coley did a masterful job of weaving all those fragments and pieces together into one suspenseful puzzle. I also appreciated how raw and real it felt at times between Angie and her parents, and her friends, and the trauma of those three missing years. It's an emotional and engrossing page-turner that I really got sucked into. 

Happy Reading!


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28 comments:

  1. An intriguing variation on the camp, multiple personalities, and missing years tropes!

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    1. And I thought it was very well done, too. :)

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  2. Oooh, this does sound intriguing! I hadn't heard of it before, but now I'm definitely going to check it out.

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  3. Ok, well now I need to read this so I can find out what happened. I need to know! I would be scared to send my girls to summer camp. Bad things happen! You had me hooked at "suspenseful puzzle."

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    1. I really liked how the author pieces this mystery together.

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  4. This sounds intriguing! I'm not familiar with this author so I'll have to check out her books.

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    1. I wasn't familiar with her either, but after liking this book so much I wouldn't mind reading some of her other books.

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  5. Interesting! The only book I've ever read about multiple personalities was Sibyl which was non-fiction and has since been challenged as to its veracity.

    On a different note: Did you know there is a mystery series about a bird watching detective written by a birder author? the author is Steve Burrows and the first book is called A Siege of Bitterns. Looks like there are five or so books in the series so far. I heard about it and thought of you immediately!

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    1. I didn't know about the Steve Burrows series. A Siege of Bitterns sounds awesome. I'll have to check it out. Thanks! :D

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  6. This does sounds like a good read. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  7. Okay, this has me totally intrigued. I'll have to see if my library has a copy.

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  8. Ooh I like the sound of this. Missing time like that and the apparent disassociative states- and sounds like it's kinda suspenseful too at times- I might have to get this!

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  9. Sounds interesting, but what strikes me when I see another book with the word "girl" in the title is how many of them have been written in the last couple of years. I never much noticed that until Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train both went crazy in sales, but now they appear to be everywhere at the same time. I just finished the one called Pretty Girls (K. Slaughter) and then you read this one called Pretty Girl-13. I wonder when the "girl" titles will finally run dry.

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    1. Ha. I've noticed that whole run on recent titles with "girl" in them, too. And there have been a lot!

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  10. You certainly seemed to have a good time with this one! With my imagination and the books I read, I'd never set foot in a summer camp!

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    1. It's that whole being out in the woods thing! It's easy to let your imagination run wild out there. :)

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  11. Oh wow, this sounds amazing -- and intense too. I like the juxtaposition of her age on the outside and on the inside.

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    1. I liked that, too. I thought the author did a good job with that.

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  12. Of course now we want to know what happened to her! This sounds good!

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  13. Wow, I want to know what happened in those three years! Great review, Lark! I'm really curious! :)

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    1. I'd love to know what you think of this one if you get a chance to read it.

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  14. This sounds so intriguing! I wonder what happened during that lost time. I am adding this to my wish list.

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