This had an interesting (and deeply unsettling) premise, but I felt like that wasn't quite enough to sustain a book of this length -- it needed something MORE to merit the page count. It's sci-fi, but the speculative elements don't enter until a LONG way into the book, which means the early part feels quite confusing: you don't know exactly when it's set, or where, and while that echoes the isolation of the girls, it makes for a confusing experience. Then, once the tech does enter, it feels a little displaced, since nothing up until that point suggested it was speculative.

The voice was effective, especially seeing how the characters gradually break free of their conditioning, but it was a little TOO gradual in some respects and too sudden in others: it's a substantial book, but shifts of opinion and character happen very suddenly. I really enjoyed the theme of friendship and how the alliance between the girls was crucial to their identity, but I never felt I fully got a handle on who most of the characters were, barring a couple of central figures; a lot of them felt vaguely interchangeable, though my poor memory for names might be part of the problem.

Although the whole book deals with the same theme -- girls being manipulated and controlled by men who then break free, supported by their friendship and love for each other -- it still felt like the second half of the book wasn't the same book as the first one, partly as a result of it taking what felt like a sudden swerve to the speculative. If the sci-fi elements had been more evident from the beginning, it would have felt more unified. And while I enjoy SF, I actually feel maybe I would have found the theme more effective if it had just been a more realistic dystopian setup, without all the tech, even if it made the story more believable within the rules of the world. (Until the later part of the book, it was still difficult to understand why a "school" like this was being allowed to exist -- but a dystopia could be created to easily explain that, and perhaps a more human approach would have given the theme more weight.)

The book also lacked subtlety, I guess. It had a very binary gender divide: girls good, men bad, at least within the 'school' itself. This felt reductive and, to be honest, probably undermined the book for me. Throughout it, the emotions depicted kind of existed on a binary: you're either all love or all cruelty, all submissive or all rage. I think that contributed to some of the character development feeling incredibly sudden and underdeveloped: they flipped from one extreme to the other, at least as far as the narrative could show. Only Mena's point of view showed anything resembling nuance and I still felt it was limited.

It was clear that the author was trying to make a specific point. I think she succeeded at making it. She then continued to make it for, like, 400 pages, in a manner that suggested she didn't really expect her readers to join any dots for themselves. I felt the premise could have been explored with more subtlety and depth and I would have enjoyed it more.

That isn't to say I hated the book -- SOMETHING made me finish it -- but. eh. It wasn't for me.

A dystopian tale about the erosion of women's rights and the enduring power of friendship. I enjoyed the concept and characterisation. It's Stepford Wives meets the Handmaid's Tale. I found it frightening, uplifting and inspirational.

This is a dystopian style novel, telling the story of Mena and her friends, who all attend an all-girls boarding school. Except it’s not your typical school, more like a Stepford Wives finishing school.

The characters are great in this, especially the girls. I really enjoyed getting to know them, although this made it more horrifying when things took a dark turn.

The book does start off a little slow, but picks up pace when we start to uncover what is really going on.

A great read and I look forward to reading more in the series to find out what happens next.

Girls with Sharp Sticks is a massive slap to the face. It is harsh, heart-breaking and scary. And one of the best books I’ve read this year.

This book deals with society’s constant want to shape us, girls, to be perfect and silent and obedient. Indeed, it follows Mena and her friends as they go through their year at the Academy where they are taught to be obedient and the perfect little girls. But nothing there is at it seems, not even the girls themselves. And we follow them as they discover the true purpose of this Academy and as they discover themselves.

This story, god. I have no words. It made me angry and broke my heart so many times. The way Young writes it all is heart wrenching and will make it seems as if you’re there yourself with Mena, Valentine and the others. Moreover, Girls with Sharp Sticks is quite scary because of how close to our society it is - Alabama new law on abortion is just an example of it. This book will hit you where it hurts, I can promise you that.

I do have to admit that some elements left me a bit unsatisfied like the pace at times and the fact that this is not a stand-alone - I’m quite sceptical of the idea of a sequel to be honest although I’m very curious about what Young has in store for us.

To conclude, I can say that I really, really enjoyed and loved Girls with Sharp Sticks and would recommend it to anyone because of how important it is, especially now more than ever.

https://lynns-books.com/2019/05/14/girls-with-sharp-sticks-girls-with-sharp-sticks-1-by-suzanne-young/
I had a thoroughly good time with Girls with Sharp Sticks. It’s a suspenseful book that kept me racing through the pages with desperation to find out just exactly what was going on. It was so tense and the anticipation had me in it’s grips.

Let’s start at the beginning. We make the introduction of Mena and some of her friends when they’re out on a school trip. It’s immediately obvious that something is a little bit ‘off’ with the girls. They’re so very well behaved, never putting a foot out of place and barely saying a word. Unfortunately rain puts a stop to their outing and they’re all bundled back onto the school bus to return. Along the way, stopping at a petrol station to allow some of the girls a bathroom break, Mena sneaks off to buy candy – something that is strictly forbidden, and she bumps into a young man and stays to chat – something that is even more forbidden! Things quickly go a little bit pear shaped and the school guardian handles Mena very roughly when forcing her to return to the bus. Now, rather than giving the guardian some attitude – which you can more than imagine happening, Mena is devastated by her own bad behaviour and overcome with remorse, not to mention an element of fear that she may be sent for ‘correction’.

The Innovations Academy is a finishing school with a very different agenda. Here the focus is not on achieving brilliant minds but rather on making the girls attractive to look at, well behaved, well mannered and with the right balance of conversation to be an asset to any future partner they may be lucky enough to meet! Doesn’t that just sound swell. The girls have their makeup and hairstyles dictated, they undergo regular fitness regimes to keep them in shape and their food is carefully monitored – well, I say carefully monitored but basically all they’re given to eat is a gloopy green drink (supposedly packed with all the important nutrients) and incredibly bland salads. They’re given ‘vitamin’ pills each night and if their behaviour is anything out of the ordinary, if they question the teachers or appear to act in any way different than the ways dictated by the school they are either given more ‘vitamins’ or sent, as a last resort to be corrected. None of the girls know what happens if they’re sent to the doctor but there seems to be an undercurrent of fear about the whole thing and it’s generally perceived to be something to avoid at all costs.

Now imagine that some of these perfectly behaved girls start to be curious, about boys and other things, their curiosity is usually shut down immediately by the tutors but this really only seems to intensify their curiosity and the school responds accordingly.

Girls with Sharp Sticks is a difficult book to review in too much detail because the potential to spoil the whole read is very real so I’m not going to go further into the plot.

What I particularly liked about this story was the element of suspense. And, in fact not just the suspense but also the girl’s, or at least Mena’s fears which became quite infectious.

So you may be wondering what the girl’s parents were thinking leaving them at such a place – I was certainly wondering why – they’re basically ambitious, they have plans for their girls and this is an elite school with very few places so being granted a slot is so rare that the parents practically bend over backwards to accommodate anything the school wants, turning a blind eye to anything untoward In fact the girls rarely see their parents, just at a number of scheduled school events where patrons of the Academy are also in attendance.

That leads me to the creep factor. The tutors, doctor, head, guardian – well, all the staff at the school, are male – and let’s just say there’s this rather horrifying element of them overstepping the line. It’s just downright cringeworthy in places and incredibly tense and threatening in others. In fact, now is probably a good time to point out that there are a few disturbing scenes so be aware of. Don’t be surprised to find yourself feeling downright angry and uncomfortable at a number of the events as the story progresses.

On top of the suspense and the slowly mounting horror which the author manages to achieve brilliantly is the friendships portrayed here. I can hardly recall reading about a girls school where the students were so nice to each other and it was a really refreshing change to be honest, the feeling of camaraderie and the lack of cliques and bitchiness. It was just refreshing – in fact at every turn I was waiting for somebody to take on the ‘mean girl’ role but it just didn’t happen.

In terms of the world building. To be honest it is slim, there are a few flashbacks but the majority of the story takes place in the school so there isn’t a wider feel for either the time or place. I would say this is set at a point in the near(ish) future. I don’t know whether I’d call it dystopian because I have no real idea at this point about how unique the school really is or whether this manipulation is much more widespread. For now I’ll go for a futuristic thriller and wait to see how things develop.

I don’t have any criticisms. I found this a gripping and fast read. I didn’t second guess the ending although others might have done so, in fact I wasn’t really trying to, I just became so absorbed with what was going on that I never really took the time to consider the what ifs. I was too busy gobbling up the pages desperately trying to find out what would happen next.

So, unusual school, sense of fear – are the girls being brainwashed somehow – what’s it all about? Well, obviously I can’t tell you, if you want to know then you’ll have to grab a copy.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and the Publishers, Simon Schuster UK Children's, for providing me with a copy of Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

"You'll find that out there... People won't appreciate your opinions. Hold your tongue and listen. It's a good lesson for all young women."


Firstly, I would like to put a Trigger/Content Warning: misogyny, various types of assault, body shaming, murder, victim shaming, rape culture, talk of infertility.

This book is about a group of girls at a private boarding school where they receive a "well-rounded education that promises to make them better. Obedient girls, free from arrogance or defiance. Free from troublesome opinions or individual interests." This book is scary - it's set in the near future with a slight dystopian element, but some of the themes that this book deals with has been happening for years. It feels so realistic and plausible at times, so it did scare me about how close it hit home. The plot itself is definitely a breath of fresh air for the YA genre.

This book will have you feeling like a feminist at the end because the men in this book are cruel and perverse monsters, you will spend parts of this book angry at the men and the situations they have created but it's a good rage, you will feel so powerful by the end of this book and like you could accomplish anything. However, when you aren't angry at the men of the book, you will fall in love with the girls in this book. We have female friendships that are so pure and there is no back stabbing. They are so supportive of each other that they are like sisters.

Mena was the perfect heroine for this book because she has an internal strength like no other, but she is also caring and wants what ever is best for her friends, even if it means putting herself at risk. The characters all develop their personalities over the course of the book and they really come into their own. Each girl has a different personality to the next.

I was reading through this book and was already loving it, when a plot twist came out of nowhere and shocked me, the twist was so good that this book became an instant favourite of mine because I just didn't see it coming and it made the book even more unique. But this book is full of twists that keep you on the edge of our seat.

I fully recommend this book for people who love the YA genre, this book will leave you feeling so empowered and not just women, but everyone who has felt suppressed by someone else.

I was intrigued by the Westworld meets The Handmaid's Tale comparison in the book blurb and I was not disappointed. It's difficult to say more than that without spoilers.

Mena is the narrator of the story and we meet her as a student of the Innovations Academy, a finishing school maybe with a difference, think Stepford Wives. She enjoys the school and most of all her friends the other students. Except one of them is behaving a little strangely.

Mena has a vice for candy and this leads her to break the rules on a field trip. Whilst purchasing some candy she meets a young man - only briefly, but they form a friendship. It seems he may know more about the Academy than Mena does. His questions make her start to question why she is at the Academy and why her parents are too busy to talk with her and answer her questions. Instead every time she rings home she gets Eva - their live in personal assistant.

I found this book intriguing and disturbing and a lot deeper than it first appears. This is a YA novel and I found it to be scary in places so probably for the upper end of the age range. As the story unfolded I began to want to understand more about what was happening at the Academy, but I also began to fear for Mena and her friends.....

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book with so many issues to discuss. I think it could be a great book club read. Women's role in society, misogyny, etc. So many messages are held very well. I found the writing very approachable, and smooth. Although it was talking about unsettling subjects, it wasn't a difficult read.

I'd recommend this book to dystopian or YA readers. It's a good one.


Thanks a lot to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest opinion

Great Read. Enjoyed it.
This book makes a great addition to any bookcase.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion and review.

Oh my gosh i absolutely loved this book. It was so unsettling and i got such Stepford Wives vibes. I've read many dystopian style books recently but this one stands out, i couldn't put it down i was desperate to see what happened next. If you enjoy Westworld you will love this book. I encourage everyone to read it.

A great thought provoking read with a strong message. A unique twist on the dystopian takes and something new for YA dystopian stories. It’s a great story that discusses important issues and raises questions around like misogyny, patriarchy and some females role in continuing patriarchy and male accepted toxic behaviours. Despite such tough issues it’s actually a really easy read, addictive and you don’t want to put it down.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I was attracted to this one because I loved the title and the cover was really striking. The story centres around a teenage girl at a posh girls boarding school where the lessons are decidedly chauvinistic and clearly aimed at producing submissive, beautiful young women with no independent thought or sense of self propriety. It reads like a dystopian novel of sorts and it is immediately clear that something is not quite right at this ‘school’ although it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is going on which just makes it all the more sinister.

The story follows Philomena as she begins to gain some insight as to the secrets of the school she attends and starts to see with more clarity how ridiculous the things she is being taught are. I liked the way that Philomena’s awareness of her situation comes to her quite gradually and I also liked that the reader is as in the dark as she is. It was as if certain corners of her mind were starting to push through the brainwashing and fight the system she is part of bit by bit. It was a disconcerting read at times because, whilst the idea that women could be almost trained to be subservient wives and solely as property of their husband seems to me completely insane and unlikely to ever happen, there are certain places where this mindset doesn’t seem so alien. The attitude that men are in charge and that the way young women especially are expected to behave is totally different to the way young men are is perhaps not as unthinkable as I perceive it to be. Movements like ‘MeToo’ have shown that even in modern society there is still a long way to go concerning women’s rights and that we cannot afford to become complacent in any way.

What I really loved about Girls With Sharp Sticks is the focus it has on the power of female friendship and the message that supporting each other is the only way we can really change anything. The twist in this story was not a huge shock to me if I’m honest but that didn’t disappoint in any way because I thought the way the twist was brought about was so well done and the quality of the writing in general was really fantastic. There is also scope for a sequel which I will definitely be reading if Young does indeed write it. The ending gave enough closure to satisfy and also teases a few little tidbits to intrigue the reader! Highly recommended!

A chilling, slightly claustrophobic thriller with a strong feminist message, this is both a compelling page turner & a story that gives the reader much to think about. Final scenes seem unlikely but are heart-stopping nonetheless! Powerful stuff.

A modern, unique and cleverly original dystopian thriller to set the genre rolling again within YA.
The twists and turns will keep you guessing and the devastatingly palpable links to society today will make the story all the more enthralling.
The relationships between the girls is a lifeline in this dystopian setting - seeing them bloom, thorns and all.

There is something so mesmerizingly readable about this book.

Philomena is close to graduating from Innovations Academy – if only she can keep her impulses under control. Her and her classmates are focusing on their studies – learning how converse with men, how to make the people around them happy, how to keep a beautiful home and of course, how to make themselves beautiful. Everything they do is for their parents, the academy, and their prospective husbands. But when Mena doesn’t take her prescribed pills one night, she starts remembering all the terrible things that are happening to the girls at that school, and that their teachers don’t always have their best interests at heart. Convincing the other girls to join her in a secret rebellion, they soon learn all the secrets about Innovations Academy. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be better off now that they know.

My one gripe with Girls with Sharp Sticks is that sometimes Mena’s narration comes across as quite simple, a bit basic, and very naive. This grated on me at first, not massively, but once you delve into the story and her actions change, this totally makes sense. Whether this was intentional or not, I don’t know, but I’ll happily believe that it is, because Mena is a girl lied to. She’s a girl manipulated and babied, coddled and underdeveloped in her thoughts, so it makes complete sense for her language and thought process to be a bit naive. This doesn’t detract from the novel at all, but once I got used to the voice, I actually found it endearing and propelled the storyline forward.

Other than that issue at the very beginning, I absolutely adored this book. I was always desperate to get back to reading it – the pacing was quick, the characters were layered and relatable, and the issues were so current.

It definitely didn’t turn out the way I thought it would – but who wants to be able to guess a novel’s end? – but I should have known from the way it was pitched – Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale.

The thing is though, while parts of this felt extreme – it is a science fiction novel – huge sections were incredibly believable. Girls told to look pretty, girls taught how to interact with men, girls warned not to get above their stations – this was all too real. The secrecy and the lies only added to the action, but so much of this was born out of real life events and issues.

I absolutely adored it and I cannot wait for the series to continue! I can only guess in which direction it would go, but for this group of girls who no longer have anything to lose and a hell of a lot of revenge to get, their futures are going to be thrilling to read about! I’m also really looking forward to delving into the other books Suzanne Young has published!

4 out of 5 stars. Girls With Sharp Sticks is out now!

Philomena (Mena) is one of the Girls of Innovations Academy - an elite school where parents and guardians send their prettiest daughters to complete their education. This education doesn't include learning to think for themselves but prizes beauty and obedience. Some of the girls are about to find out that below the surface lurks a dark secret.

Wow, I read this in 24 hours - it's a real page turner. You'll be rooting for the girls to realise what's going on, and longing for the creepy staff (they are almost all male, apart from one woman - a former pupil) to get their comeuppance. I did think it took a bit too long for the penny to drop with Mena and I became a little impatient at times. Overall, it was a very good read and indictment of rape culture, I will definitely be reading the sequel.

TW: misogyny, sexual assault, inappropriate contact, mention of some sexual acts.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Simon & Schuster UK, Children's, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster UK Children’s and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite an interesting read. If my review seems brief it’s because this is the kind of book that’s easy to spoil so I’m only going to summarise the plot in the most general of senses.

Philomena is a seventeen year old girl who attends an elite girls school. The aim of the school is to turn girls into ‘perfect’ women for the benefit of their future husbands. I’ve heard this book compared to The Handmaid’s Tale but it’s really not aside from having that dystopian slant. If anything, this book is a commentary on rape culture. The schoolgirls are held responsible for how men react to them and must make themselves objects of desire whilst not being permitted any of their own agency.

“But men don’t have to follow the same rules of engagement that we do. Perhaps if I’d acted properly, he would have done the same”

The main theme of this book seems very relevant to current discourse around the Me Too movement, Toxic Masculinity and rape culture in general. It also touches upon the complicity of other women in sustaining sexism and misogyny.

“The poem talked about men keeping us captive. But… what about the women who work with them? Where were the mothers in that poem?”

The writing can be a little heavy handed sometimes, there’s not always a whole lot of subtlety in the message but, the book’s heart is in the right place.

I thought the love story was superfluous and there were some slightly bizarre things like a super modern, futuristic school using faxes. FAXES. I also saw the twist coming from a zillion miles away but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel.

Apparently this book is going to be the first in a series but I personally thought it would have worked perfectly well as a standalone. There is lots of food for thought here for young men and women alike. The setting was something a little different and the core messages of the book, if delivered somewhat clumsily at certain points, are important themes to explore.

This was a great YA futuristic read. Set in a world very similar to our own where things are not quite as they seem. With strong feminist themes this explores some serious topics and is another brilliant feminist dystopian read.

My review

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children’s for the E-ARC. All opinions are my own.

When I started this book, I didn’t exactly know what this was about. I had read the synopsis but only remembered that it was set in a boarding school. I don’t think the synopsis gave that much away.I’m glad that I didn’t know much else and had fun guessing what was going to happen. All I’m going to tell you the basic plot it;s about the girls in a boarding school finding out some secrets about it.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the way the story was told.It was told in first person and we found out things at the same time as the main character,Mena did. There was no unnecessary information given to confuse the reader. I liked this because it added to the mysteriousness of the book. This book made me very angry at most times, not because it was a bad book but because of how the girls were treated. I didn’t like how they were manipulated and controlled. It was a slow paced book but I really liked getting told the information bit by bit and theorising what could happen next. I had a lot of theories and some of them were correct. I guessed the big plot twist quite early on I’d say, but I was very invested in how we got there.

I liked Mena and I was really angry for her and the girls at the start of the book. I wanted to protect them at all costs.I really liked the friendships in this book. I liked that the girls told each other their problems and looked out for each other, There was no rivalries like there normally are and I found that to be a nice change. The girls tried to help each other. There was hardly any romance in this book and no insta-love. There was attraction, but not the cringey kind. I appreciated the slow pace romance between Mena and Jackson. It wasn’t the main focus of the story and I liked that. I liked that Jackson was looking out for her and her well being. I would like to see more of him and Quentin in the next book.

I really liked this book but at some points it was a bit predictable. It wasn’t a WOW book but I really enjoyed it.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a boarding school setting, a mystery, and little to no romance.

4/5

Even if you manage to miss all the spoilery comparison references in some reviews, there are still many not-so-subtle hints scattered throughout the story so many of the plot twists are predictable. While the characters weren't particularly interesting, the story does have enough suspense and thrills to keep you engaged and wanting to find out how it ends.