Amber Wilkinson's Reviews > Those Girls

*I received this book courtesy of Goodreads First Reads*

This review consists of two parts: part one will be spoiler free, as I'd like to convey a few things to potential readers that I think are important, and part two will have some spoilers, as I feel I need this outlet to allow my many thoughts on this book flow.

Part one - spoiler free:

The narrative consists of three sisters, who are largely dependent on themselves as a result of a deceased mother and an abusive father. One night, something terrible happens and they flee, only to find themselves in another horrifying situation. The novel focuses on these events, while also focusing on how the sisters cope in the aftermath of everything they've been through.

Rating this book is a struggle for me, because it was actually a very decent book. The writing was good, the main protagonists were well developed, and the story's progression was, while horrifying, well done. The drawback was the content and the content alone. This is a challenging read, and I don't recommend it to anyone who is easily triggered by sexual abuse - there is a lot of it in this book, and I think everyone deserves a fair warning on that point. I didn't have any idea that such things were included in this novel, and they therefore took me by surprise. Even though the book was an easy read, I had to step away from it for a few days to let my mind settle at one point. The difficult subject matter is primarily why rating this novel is so hard for me, but I'm ultimately rating it on merit alone and not my complicated feelings towards the content.

As I am largely unable to shut off my academic brain (especially in regard to sexual assault/gender issues, as I've written numerous essays on these topics), I was constantly scrutinizing how Stevens depicts sexual abuse, and the psychological after-effects. And, while I have some qualms, she did so in a respectable, educated, and informed way. This was one of the highlights for me, as many fictional portrayals of sexual abuse do not do justice to the personal experience of it. In short, I was impressed, and it was clear that Stevens consulted professionals on the matter. It doesn't specifically say so in her acknowledgments, but I'm willing to bet on it.

I also want to comment that this book traffics in the lane of extreme. Extreme situations and extreme violence on young women who are largely helpless in the moment. This is something I had a hard time reconciling, as fiction often utilizes female weakness as a narrative vehicle. But as the story progressed, it became clear to me that Stevens is not using these situations as entertainment vehicles; rather, it felt as though she wanted to convey the hardships of dealing with familial and sexual abuse. And while the situations in the novel are extreme, reality has proven that they do unfortunately occur, and are therefore valid in exploring. What matters is how they are explored, which, as I said earlier, was done well in this particular book. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to be challenged with subject matter, and to anyone that would like some insight on the after-effects of these particular instances of abuse. Again I'd like to stress that I don't recommend it to anyone easily triggered by sexual assault and/or abuse.

Part two - spoilers ahead:

I have read a few reviews that complain about the one dimensional male characters in the novel, which is something I want to refute. Gaven is especially one dimensional, yes, but I believe this is done for a purpose. There are evil people out there like this, and I don't think many of us are comfortable with that knowledge. Stevens chose to depict the villains in this way, I believe, not only for sake of page space, but also to have the reader's sympathy align even more so with the girls as they are berated and abused. If Gaven, or Brian (although I do think Stevens gave Brian some complexity, as he is married with kids, and occasionally demonstrates a friendly demeanor), had been too nuanced, that would have taken away from the girls' narratives and experiences. The young women who are captured, tortured, and raped by these men do not see nuances, so the reader doesn't either. I would see this critique as more valid if the events were conveyed by an omniscient narrator, but they're told in first person by particular girls, therefore it wouldn't make sense to take the focus away from how they feel about, or how they see, these men. It is also important to note that there are good men in the novel as well, and that all men are not painted with the same brush (specifically thinking of Allen, Owen, and Patrick).

As I said earlier, I was impressed with how Stevens depicted the psychological trauma that results from rape. I was also impressed that this trauma did not register in the same way for each sister, which is a heavy-handed reality. No one experiences these things in the same way, and this was conveyed well in the book, albeit in a bit of a severe way. One thing that did irk me was that not one of the sisters reached out for counseling after their captivity. I realize that they were all terrified of their true identities being discovered, but I would have liked to see it be at least discussed. That being said, I was very pleased that Skylar and her mom began therapy at the end.

Speaking of the ending, even though it was sad and one sister was lost, I was satisfied. It was a real ending, not one of those happy-go-lucky endings where everything is once again right in the world. There's an indication that healing is beginning to occur, but will never fully happen, as is the case most of the time in reality for such abuse. I think Stevens did a great job in portraying the long-lasting effects of such occurrences, and that is primarily why I'm giving this book a 4/5 star review.