Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Girls With Sharp Sticks

Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks, #1)

Girls With Sharp Sticks is the first book I've read by Suzanne Young, and what a place to start! Wow. I was captivated (and horrified) by this from page one. And I see it appears to be a duology, so I'm so glad this is not the end of the story. It's a perfectly good ending, mind you, wraps things up while leaving the door open for more- but that epilogue, y'all. Woah. 

Philomena is a student at Innovations academy, your typical boarding school with a dark secret. In this case Mena and the other students may be the secret! The girls are raised to be china doll women for the benefit of men- I mean, they must exercise good manners, defer to men, be attractive, etc. Sounds like an updated Handmaid's Tale. And it's almost as grim. Every once in a while if a girl gets uppity she must submit to "impulse control therapy", whereupon she disappears for a while and comes back all nice and compliant. The problem is one of the girls is acting out, and when a sequence of events leads Mena to forgo her nightly "vitamins" she realizes that her memories may not be entirely reliable. 

If this sounds creepy it is- and I loved it! But it is dark. Young doesn't pull any punches here, and if there's one thing I didn't like it was that the men running the place seemed almost cartoonishly evil. I mean, a little nuance would have made it more realistic? But on the other hand this is timely. In an era of MAGA, one wonders who we're making America great again for? I hate to get political in a review, but it's unavoidable because this book tackles that question head on. 

I wondered a few times if they were really going to go there- I mean the clues are there, and yet there are other possibilities. But nope, Young went there. And I applaud the choice. The ending may shock a bit, although again the breadcrumbs are there, so it wasn't so much the how of what was happening, but the why. This book may make you mad but at the same time I laughed a few times- not because it's funny, although the girls' interactions are awesome, but because the devious activities going on are so out there I was like- really? But like I said- I loved it. 

Speaking of the girls, the most prominent classmates are Sydney, Lennon Rose, Annalise, Brynn and Marcella. Probably a few others I'm forgetting. And of course a major supporting character who plays a huge role. Oh, and a love interest. I kind of liked everyone here? I wanted everyone to make it out alive, and there were some truly horrifying moments where I was like nooo. The girls love each other and have each others' backs, and seeing what they were up against- I wanted to cheer a few times. Horrifying and inspiring at the same time. 

This is a story that might stick with me for a while. I felt for these girls, and yet they stood up and said no more, there are themes here of acceptance, what it means to have a soul, and I loved the friendships- this was a phenomenal read, dark and thrilling and thought- provoking 

Oh, and that epilogue!

SPOILERS

I wanted a little more of Mena and Jackson together- especially at the end. When it was all going down. Jackson getting injured and therefore being less than helpful seemed a bit convenient. At the same time I didn't want Jackson to just save the day- this is Mena's story and her role to play- so maybe it's okay. 

Speaking of, I wanted more mayhem. There was a lot of build up and I wanted Mena and the girls to burn it all down- literally clean house- and I didn't quite get the revenge kick I wanted! Although what I did get was good!

I was really sad about Valentine. 

I thought it was gutsy that they were essentially AI's. I thought they might end up being clones, or robots, or both! Or that it might turn out they were just girls being altered, but no- Young went there.  

42 comments:

  1. I can't decide whether I want to read this book or not, on one hand I've loved every other book by the author on the other I'm more of wanting to read fantasies and other books right now.

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    1. I've only read this by the author but I will probably read more of her stuff based on this. :)

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  2. Creepy boarding school stories are SO my thing. I was not surprised by the twist, but it was still a fun read!

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    1. It was fun, and I kind of saw it coming too based on the early stuff, but I was glad she went there and didn't explain it away through other reasons. :)

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  3. Yay! So glad you loved this too, it really was so...I don't even know. Darker like all her reads (truly read her Program series and the spin-off, sooo good!) and unique but also, like you said, comical at times. I loved it though even though I knew where it was going very early on, it was still so fascinating. I'm hoping in book two, we will get to see it "all burn down". :P

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    1. I loved the dark and also the humorous parts, which lightened the mood just enough! And yes I definitely want to read everything else by her now!

      Also yes- burn it down. :)

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  4. This book was a lot of fun. I did feel like the final twist put a damper on the message (and I admit I kinda saw it coming), but I did like how it was the girls who banded together and saved themselves!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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    1. I do feel like the twist was a little too easy to spot, but nevertheless I enjoyed it! And great point- that may have diluted the message a bit, I hadn't thought of that!

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  5. Ohhh it sounds creepy, I do like that!

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  6. Love your thoughts about this book. I just started it and I really am enjoying the creepy factor!

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    1. Haha yay! Glad you're liking it, I LOVED this book especially as it progressed.

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  7. Skipping the spoilers because I might be reading this! Glad you loved it!

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  8. Okay, so I really didn't have any plans on picking this one up. I mean, I know there's hype but it didn't really seem like my kind of thing. Your review has me totally rethinking that. I am so intrigued now.Off to check my library for this one...

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  9. Okay Greg, you've sold me. And I didn't even plan on picking this up. And can I say, I'd be killed or kicked out of that "academy" on day 1. I a definitely not a china doll woman who would defer to man. Sounds like a fun read though.

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    1. Yay! And it's a fine line- like WHY would the girls even put up with that? But the author does a pretty good job of making it plausible?

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  10. I keep hearing great things about this series, but you sold me. Going to see if I can still snag a copy. This sounds intense and riveting.

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  11. This sounds nice and dark! My favorite :)

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  12. An updated Handmaid's Tale sounds exciting and horrifying at the same time! Great review! It sounds like a really interesting book with an awesome cover to match :)

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  13. Oh it looks good and you made me quite curious now!

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  14. I just bought this one last week!! I kept seeing so many great reviews and I had to. Glad you enjoyed it too!!

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  15. YEP I fully I agree, and I think you nailed it with the cartoonish villains- I think it's the only thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars. And YESSSS so agreed about Jackson- I loved that he wasn't some dude saving the damsels or anything. And yeah, you're right about the breadcrumbs- I didn't guess the twist at all, but in hindsight I can see the clues. I shouldn't say "at all" because obviously I knew some stuff was up but I didn't know exactly. Which is good! Great review, I am so glad you enjoyed it too!

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  16. Great review! I'm really looking forward to this one. :)

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  17. I love a dark read and just the title of this one has got me intrigued. I hadn't heard about it before so thank you for sharing your thoughts. Great review!

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  18. I just posted my review and I forgot to mention about Jackson. He was a dud. Very underdeveloped and convenient for certain plot points but it wasn't the focus so I gave it a pass.

    I guess I didn't like the "she went there" as much as you did. If we're talking about the same thing lol I think it's more horrifying basing it on a reality that we're sort of living right now. Maybe not to that extent but it could go there.

    But the impulse control therapy was horrifying.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  19. That premise does sound pretty creepy! Makes me want to know more.

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  20. This sounds so dark and creepy, and I do love a good boarding school story, so I think I'll be checking this one out. Great review!

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  21. Damn, I knew this book was meant to be good but your review has me wanting to read it so much more. It sounds so interesting and it looks like it looks at some important issues as well.

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  22. What a great review. You have me totally wanting to read this one. I will have to pick it up.

    Mary

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  23. Nice review! I'm seeing this book on a few blogs!

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  24. This story is totally different from what I thought! Thanks for sharing your review. 👍✨

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  25. WHEW. This cover has intrigued me and creeped me out, but I am impressed with what the the author did with this.

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  26. Nothing wrong with getting political in a review ;)

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  27. I definitely need to check this out!

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  28. I have been reading reviews for this book today and it sounds so good! I am glad you were able to enjoy the fact that Suzanne is brutual and doesn't shy away from all the plot hints she drops. It takes a lot for an author to take the plunge sometimes!

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