I felt that this book didn’t read as a fiction book.
This book goes to some very dark places and therefore won’t be for everyone.

The Gosling Girl is unlike anything I've read before. Very well paced and interesting novel. I particularly liked the way institutional racism and classism effects young people in the UK. Although the plot initially struck close to other typical thrillers I might have read, the story was a bit more mature and nuanced. Certainly not a thrilling read and anyone after a crime story or gripping thriller might be sorely disappointed. I enjoyed the perspective of the main narrative voice, Michelle.

The Gosling Girl is a powerful, hard hitting and original novel. It examines institutional racism, class and how society judges the marginalised. Michelle Cameron has spent time in a young offender's institution after murdering a 4 year old girl when she was 10. 14 years later she's released with a new identity but her friendship with Lucy, another young woman from the young offender's institution, leads to her being a suspect in a murder case and the involvement in her life of Detective Natalie Tyler.
Michelle is a complex character, not always likeable, but I had so much empathy for her, for her childhood and her treatment by the criminal justice system and society. The author sensitively portrays the fear Michelle continues to experience and how she feels, with ever changing new identities, that she'll never be able to live as her true and authentic self. I liked the character of Natalie and the relationship between her and Michelle.
This is a well written and well paced novel, not always an easy read but compelling and important.
Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Jacqueline Roy was already on my radar as the author of The Fat Lady Sings, and as a Black British author (trying to read more from Black British authors as opposed to Black Americans!), which I haven’t read yet but am fucking BUZZING to read now 😭 The Gosling Girl examines race and class within Britain, as a ten year Black girl is charged with the murder of a white three year old girl. We see the driving force behind the murder. It’s rare to see how the British justice system treats Black people, specifically Black women. It‘s even rarer to see how it treats Black children. We’ve read books such as The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, which is painfully excellent in how unflinchingly it looks at the exact same topic, yet I find it exquisite and beautiful how Roy looks at this subject from every angle. It’s really amazing how she covers so much within 400 pages. It’s usually “they ambitiously try to cover too much and end up glossing over important topics” but I can assure you that’s not the case here. I just really fucking adored this book and I think you should all buy it and hopefully adore it too.

When the book begins you find out that our main character Michelle murdered a 4-year-old girl when she was only a child herself. You then jump in time to when at 21 she is released with a new identity, and whilst coming to terms with this she is questioned by police after the murder of a friend only for her real identity to then be revealed.

The book was a slow burner, to begin with, however going into the second half you begin to realise the pace is exactly how it is supposed to be - keeping you wanting more, The story is very centred around how people can misconceive people because of their past, their background, their upbringing and their race.

I don't think that I've felt as many emotions reading a book since some of my favourite John Marrs thrillers, I felt angry, frustrated, heartbroken and disappointed. At times this was a hard read, and I can imagine more so for those who have been or are directly by the themes of the book. Reading this was a bit of a strange experience as I kept having to remind myself it was a work of fiction. However, I guess that is exactly what it is meant to do, highlight the issues and get you to connect to the characters. Would definitely recommend it to those true crime fans who are in need of a new book.

Michelle Cameron’s name is associated with the most abhorrent of crimes. A child who lured a younger child away from her parents and to her death, she is known as the black girl who murdered a little white girl; evil incarnate according to the media. As the book opens, she has done her time, and has been released as a young woman with a new identity to start her life again.

When another shocking death occurs, Michelle is the first in the frame. Brought into the police station to answer questions around a suspicious death, it is only a matter of time until the press find out who she is now and where she lives and set about destroying her all over again.

Natalie Tyler is the officer brought in to investigate the murder. A black detective constable, she has been ostracised from her family and often feels she is in the wrong job. But when she meets Michelle, she feels a complicated need to protect her, whatever she might have done.

The Gosling Girl is a moving, powerful account of systemic, institutional and internalised racism, and of how the marginalised fight back. It delves into the psychological after-effects of a crime committed in childhood, exploring intersections between race and class as Michelle's story is co-opted and controlled by those around her. Jacqueline writes with a cool restraint and The Gosling Girl is a raw and powerful novel that will stay with the reader long after they have turned the last page. Gripping fast paced read which I whipped through. Would absolutely recommend to fans of the genre, Can't wait to see what this author writes next.

This is the story of a child murderer later released from prison after serving her sentence. She is given a new identity and struggles to adapt.

I read this book as part of the @tandemcollectiveuk readalong. I was gripped from the first page with this darkly engaging novel. The characters were so well written that they leapt off the page. This wasn’t what I expected. I was expecting a plot driven thriller and instead got a well written character analysis.

The themes were well done and explored guilt and punishment, racism, nature v nurture and honesty. Nothing was hammered home but it was handled in a very thought provoking way.

This was a very good read and has definitely given me a lot to think about in terms of my own preconceptions. This book won’t be for everyone but I enjoyed it and will definitely seek out more by Jacqueline Roy.

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The author pulled me in from the first page on this book. I was so intrigued what the terrible crime was that had taken place. This book offers so much more than that. It tells the story of how our judgments can affect others and how people’s past actions, can set them up for life. The author did an absolute superb job with this book. It is a book that will stay with me. The book was a slow burner to begin with, but rather than jump all steam ahead with the storyline, it actually worked well and set the book up. I really struggled to connect with Lucy. There was something off about her, I thought, from the first time we are introduced to her. As much as I picked up this book, firstly wanting to know what had happened to Kerry, the book itself did not centre so much around that. The story is more about life after, how people can misconceive people because of their past, their background, their surroundings and their race. This book was such a rollercoaster of a read. I really struggled to put the book down. The ending blew me away. I am still thinking about it now and the logistics! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves crime or thriller.

Thanks to Random Things Tours for my hardback copy and spot on the blog tour.
This was quite a book, for so many different reasons.
I was excited to read this, and was right to be.
It tackles a serious subject matter, that of murder committed under 18, releasing them from a young offenders institute and providing them with a new identity. This will divide a lot of readers, and certainly gives us something to think about. It is a subject on which everyone will have an opinion, and this book handles it all extremely sensitively.
It centres around Michelle Cameron, the Gosling Girl, who killed a 4 year old child when she was ten. Michelle is a fascinating character, and the reader is shown the logistics of Michelle adapting to her new identity and her past simultaneuously. Much of what is talked about I hadn't even considered before. Can a person ever move on from their past, if they are not able to be the person who went through it?
A painful and thought-provoking read that will stay with me.

The concept of nature vs. nurture is one that I find endlessly interesting so I was instantly drawn to this book. The story follows Michelle Cameron, a young woman who, as a ten year old, killed a four year old girl. When we meet Michelle, she is technically free – though she is no longer able to use her real name and must attempt to come to terms with her new identity. However, after a friend of Michelle’s is murdered, she is brought into custody and questioned by the police, and her real identity is revealed. Police detective Natalie Tyler is given the job of managing the situation and soon begins to feel conflicted about the way she sees this notorious supposed ‘monster’.

The Gosling Girl is not an easy read. It is pretty bleak and often downright depressing at times but it is also surprisingly moving and incredibly thought provoking. Michelle is a complicated character. Her actions as a child make her an instant beacon for condemnation and hatred, however it is impossible (at least in my opinion ) not to feel a level of empathy for her as a human being. This is a woman who was written off as ‘evil’ before her eleventh birthday, some might argue for good reason, however there is so much else going on here. Michelle’s conviction and treatment by the so-called justice system lays bare the disturbing sway that race, class and perception holds. There is so much in this book that made me angry and broke my heart – not least because, whilst The Gosling Girl is fictional, there are plenty of real life examples of prejudice in the justice system both here in the UK and around the world. This is a sharp, incisively written and searingly powerful novel that, whilst not a cheerful read, is an eminently worthwhile one. Highly recommended.

I am not a big fan of books that are slow-burn, however, this one was an exception.
The book was very moving, very thought-provoking and presents very different life perspectives.
Will recommend this to anyone who wants to read books about important issues.
Loved it.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Slightly slow at times but that only tightened the suspense I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off I should say this was a very enjoyable read. I am saying that first off because the rest of my review may be a little bit muddled - that's how this book made me feel and not in a bad way.

Many people will be drawn to this novel as it deals with a child killing another child however despite the sensationalist nature of something like that, the book is not sensationalist.

Some may say it's a slow burner and I would agree with that. But the strength of the book lies in the slow drawing out of Michelle's character. Of course you are going to hate her, she killed a kid didn't she? How could you do anything but hate her? And what of her white friend who was with her on the day it happened? You're going to hate her too, right? Sorry? The white girl didn't even face prison and yet Michelle, a young black girl, was jailed for it? That can't be right can it? Surely not?

These are the questions and issues raised by the novel and it's clear the issue of race is so important to the writer and the story.

I would recommend this to everyone and will be keen to hear what you all think about Michelle aka The Gosling Girl....you're definitely going to hate her. Aren't you?

Thanks to Simon & Schuster UK and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book wasn’t as engaging as I would have liked it to be. It was slow most of the way through with a somewhat rushed ending. It was tough to read at parts and I can’t say that I enjoyed it much.

Michelle Cameron has a new name and is free for the first time since she was ten years old. A child murderer, she wants to put Michelle Cameron behind her and live a 'normal' life. However, when her friend is found dead, the police bring her straight in for questioning. Her new identity is leaked and her 'new life' starts to unravel.

This a fascinating, character-driven novel. The premise of the book itself is what drew me to it, and although it wasn't the fast plot-based novel I had anticipated, The Gosling Girl kept me gripped from the start. That constant questioning of whether or not I could believe the narrators - I love that in a novel. Through its characters, The Gosling Girl explores the important issues of race in the UK as well as the systemic racism in the police force.

It's a hard novel to say that you 'enjoyed'. It's dark, it's uncomfortable, it's heart breaking at times. However it's a memorable novel, I did find that the ending felt rushed though, given the pace of the rest of the novel,

This is more than the story of a child killer, it's a story of second chances, who to trust, and what it means to be Black and British today.

An enjoyable and raw novel that was moving and poignant the whole way through. I would recommend reading it.

The Gosling Girl - Jacqueline Roy

Fresh out of Young Offenders with a new name and identity Michelle Cameron will always be infamous as 'The Gosling Girl', who as a ten year old killed a four year old.

I'm always interested in stories involving protected identities and in those who kill as children, and this is a very good one. More of an in depth character story than a thriller, I found it really refreshing.

Black British identity is a key element, Michelle and DC Natalie Tyler (her liaison officer) are black, Zoe, (an author looking to write book on Michelle) is white, as was the victim. I really appreciated this element, which presents very different life perspectives.

Michelle is the focus, and the character writing is heartfelt and self aware. Michelle desperate for anonymity and a normal life, craving an adult life she is ill-equipped to cope with after spending most of her life locked up.

I found it very moving and insightful, with a rare depth of character. Highly recommended if you enjoy an original perspective on character driven stories.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster