A book that manages to be both a gripping thriler and a moving contemplation of trauma and grief, from the subtle and gradual building of the story, through its well-constructed characters, to the heart-wrenching twist at the finale.

This was a deviation from my normal read and I am so pleased to have read it. Absolute belter of a read.

Lex arrives at a prison where her mother has died to find she has been made executor of her will. Her and her siblings have been left the family home, known as ‘The House of Horrors’ on Moor Woods Road. Lex has spent a long time putting the past behind her but this makes her contact her siblings to agree on what to do with the house which has been empty since Lex known as Girl A, escaped.

One of the best features was the way the story alternated between present day and the gruesome flashbacks which I found compelling reading. The way the family gradually deteriorated was cleverly portrayed.

This was a gripping read, dark and, at times, horrifying. The ending was clever and well thought out.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, and Abigail Dean for the ARC of ‘Girl A’ in return for my honest review.

Excellent read and highly recommended.

This a beautiful, difficult and intense read of girl A or Lex as she will later be known who survives living with her fanatical parents in what is to be know as “ the house of horrors” with her six siblings and it’s a read that is totally shocking.
It’s narrated by Lex who is now a New York lawyer and flits from past to present as we gradually learn what life was like living in such horrific circumstances where cruelty and starvation was the norm. This is a read that really gripped me and I did struggle at times as the description were so real it was painful and my heart ached for these children who through no fault of their own had been shown no sympathy, love or mercy. But the book also had hope and all praise to the wonderful writing of Abigail Dean because although as I said it was a difficult read it also was full of some intense emotions that just made me gasp , it really is one of the most powerful books I have read and one I shall not forget, many,many thanks to Abigail Dean for that.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Girl A
Where to start. I've heard the hype and didn't know what to think. I've also never read Room, Flowers in the Attic or any other book in that ilk - I'm far too much of a coward for that.
But this I think is different. Not written to scare more to explain, through the eyes of various family members what can happen and the far reaching shock waves that follow.
I read in a couple of sittings. Amazed that this is a debut. Very well crafted indeed. An easy 5 stars.

Lex Gracie has a good reason as to why she hasn’t any desire to think about her family. Not the parents who have supported her, but the House of Horrors in which she grew up with her siblings. Lex is Girl A, the eldest daughter of parents who did untold damage to her and her brothers and sisters in their home. Later split up, Lex went on to have a life that you’d expect a young woman to experience… until her biological mother dies in prison and leaves the home to her children. Lex, understandably, wants to turn this time of her life into something positive for others, but will her siblings agree? Does everyone share the same feelings and experiences with Lex? How have their lives been since that fateful day? It’s a dark, dense read and one that you cannot tear your eyes away from. At times terrifying, at times desperately sad, you hang on every word until the end.

Girl A, Lex, is one of several siblings brought up in increasingly distressing circumstances, by their religious fanatic father and mother.

The story jumps about from the present day to Lex's childhood. Each chapter focuses on the experiences of a different sibling, told from Lex's point of view, as she catches up with them in the present and recalls their childhood together.

The descriptions of violence and abuse in this book are harrowing and at times, graphic, but this is cleverly delivered in small chunks, so that it doesn't become too overwhelming. Returning to and from the present day reminds you that there were survivors of this horrific treatment.

I thought this was a fascinating book and I will keep an eye out for the author's future work.

With strong and specific parallels to a notorious true-life case, this is the story of several siblings who lived with their neglectful mother and abusive and religiously zealous father until one of the sisters managed to escape..
The novel poses two main questions: how did the family descend into such squalor; and how has each sibling come to terms with their traumatic past?
There are flashbacks within flashbacks, and backstories within backstories so this book is suitable for readers who like to concentrate on detail.
Some nice literary turns of phrase.
It will do well.

Girl A is a truly extraordinary novel, and one I enjoyed immensely, despite its subject matter. It's the story of Lex Gracie, the Girl A of the title, who suffered horrendous abuse as a child in a notorious House of Horrors. Recounting her life, years later as a successful adult, the reader is taken back on a journey into the past that is both harrowing but also redemptive, and above all very moving. The novel raises all sorts of questions about trauma, and memories, abuse, our toxic media, and some people's insatiable, bloodthirsty lust to witness other's sufferings. This novel will stay with me for a very long time.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me.. I found most of it confusing and struggled to follow the many characters and changing timeline. I enjoyed the past story but the future one was a bit harder to follow and felt rushed in parts.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Bring on 21st Jan when people can get their hands on this book!! Because wow, I have a feeling it will do VERY well!!

At quite a long read, not a word of this book is wasted, and every word has meaning and is needed. The characters are created in a beautiful complex way, allowing you to read and see them as real, and I felt myself pulled in within the beginning of the book that I just needed to know what the ending for these characters would be.

All in all, this book isa beautiful yet harrowing coming of age story tinged with dark and haunting themes. I would highly recommend and I'm excited to see this one plastered allover bookstagram and rightly so!

Massive thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC!!

It’s hard to believe Girl A is a first novel, the beautifully constructed plot flows like the writing of a much more experienced author. Lexie is Girl A, the notorious one that got away. The one who forced her hands through the chains her father used to tie his children to their beds, jumped from a first floor window and ran into the path of a car to save both herself and her brothers and sisters before they starved to death. The story of Lexie and her siblings is told in flashbacks as she tracks down each one after the death of their mother in prison to put their inheritance to good use. It should be the kind of story you want to read with your hands over your eyes but somehow in Lexie’s compelling, slightly distant narration, it never feels as if this is something you shouldn’t be reading. Instead I savoured every word. The only thing I didn’t like about it was Lexie’ asking her boyfriends to hurt her, which seems to be becoming a common theme in both fiction and the law courts and needs to be handled carefully to help save the lives of young women.

This book will stay with me for a long time and one that I will be gifting to a lot of people. Thank you HarperCollins and Netgalley for giving me access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Harper Fiction for the arc of Girl A by Abigail Dean.

5 star read for me- This is a great read, a quick one for me, I loved this so much, very gripping read, recommend to all, such a great read for me, i enjoyed it very much you won't be disappointed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was so excited when I read this book and boy it live up to everything I wanted and more and will be checking out the authors other work.

Girl A started well and I couldn't put it down but nearly half way through I started to lose interest and found myself skipping past paragraphs. The story is a good character study and the abuse is hard to read about. I just didn't seem to absorb it like many other reviewers!

TRIGGER WARNING abuse, neglect, captivity

Wow. I had this book for a few weeks before I jumped into it, and finished it in 4 sittings. It was not what I was expecting, I knew it was going to be hard to read, but it was a very deeply sad story. It ends completely different to what I expected. It moves between now, which is quite a while since their childhood, and the past.

The whole story is told from Lex’s point of view, and each chapter focuses on her speaking to or visiting one of her siblings. There is a big difference between all the siblings and how they are living their lives. They are all grown up now and have moved on, living with different families, separated from each other in different ways. But I liked getting to see where they all were, what and how they were doing.

The past was hard at times to read, sad and dark a lot of the time. But there were times where it shows you love, and protection, which gives you hope. The end had me in tears and I thought about it for a long time after. I finished this book about 4 days ago now and it’s still in my head.

It’s out January 21st 2021 and it’s definitely one to watch!

Tissues are a must with this read, I literally felt heartbroken to discover what these poor children had gone through. I like how the book is written, before and now, it gives a really good background in what happened before and how Lex is now. It is a very powerful read of love and horror that I will never be able to forget, you never know if a child right now is suffering like these children had to. You can never imagine what they went through, and you probably wouldn't want to but seeing the woman Lex is today makes me proud of her and what she has gone through. The fact that this book is a debut is incredible, I cannot wait for Abigail the author's next book. A book has never hot me so hard and it will stay with me for a long time.

Oh dear, I so wanted to love this book! I really enjoyed the sample chapters and was so excited but it kind of fell flat. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty good! It just didn't live up to the hype or my expectations. I felt like it tried to cram too much in and would have been better focussing on one or two elements in detail. The areas it covered that I wanted expanded were the details of how the abuse began and what happened, what happened immediately after their escape and how they coped, the siblings relationships with each other, the familys (and particularly the father and mother) religious beliefs.These were all covered but I felt it merely skimmed the surface.

I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of Girl A by Abigail Dean and I'm so glad I did! Honestly, I worried when I first started it that it would be a bit too grim for me but that just wasn't the case.

The premise of the book is a hard hitting one; children's neglect at the hands of their parents, and their subsequent escape from the "House of Horrors". The protagonist of the story is Lex (named Girl A by the press), the one who escapes and is able to find help for herself and her six brothers and sisters. Through Lex we go back and forth in time to find out what happened within the four walls of the family home and how each of the children has adjusted to their lives outside it.

The characters are complicated but relatable and the story is so gripping I found it difficult to put down. There are plenty of secrets and lies uncovered and a good few twists along the way that helped keep me hooked. I would have given it 5 stars but I just felt that the ending was a little flat compared to the rest of the book. That being said its still a cracking read and I highly recommend it.
Thanks so much to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Abigail Dean for the ARC.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me.. I found most of it confusing and hard to get into. I enjoyed the past story but the future one was disappointing in my opinion. I was really looking forward to reading this book but it was not what I expected.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

I've heard so much about this book and it is still a few months from publication - that always bodes well; especially as it is a debut novel.

The story is not an easy one to read; Lex is Girl A, the survivor of years of abuse at the hands of her parents.

The structure of the novel means that this tale, which is sadly not a new one, is told in an interesting way. We start with Lex going to prison to deal with her mother's belongings and Will. In the Will she is left twenty thousand pounds and the home that she was essentially imprisoned in.

The rest of the novel is told by following the stories of each of the other 6 siblings (but still through Lex's narrative) and it explores the dynamic between each of the siblings. They were all adopted into different homes and their lives have followed very different trajectories.

Throughout the book, we flash back to their childhoods and find out how their home environment descended into the horror that it became.

The characters are incredibly well developed and I couldn't stop thinking about them when I put the book down.

This is a character driven exploration of family and abuse and it is incredibly well written; if hard to read in parts.

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the eARC of this debut.