Being a Marylander this was an extra fun book for me because of all the references (Ravens, Berger cookies, etc). The book was very well written and I enjoyed the plot and how well we as readers got to know Emily and her life. I especially wasn't expecting the ending! I'm a twin too so the fact that Emily also had a twin brother was something I could relate to. I loved most of the characters and thought the story was well told.

I will caution others that this book included rape, alcoholism, and drug use.
There was mild formatting issues but as this is my first Netgalley book I'm unsure if it's a kindle issue or if this is normal. It kept repeating the title and author throughout the book randomly as well as the chapter headings were formatted weirdly. The timelines jumping between past and present were also very difficult to follow at times as I wasn't sure "where I was" so to speak.

Due to not being warned about the subject matter fully and the time skips being confusing and hard to follow at times, I give this 4 stars. I am interested in picking up other works by this author and hope they are also as gripping! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I was not able to finish the book and therefore do not feel that I can give an unbiased review about the book, its plot, characters, or the author's work. I might revisit this book at a later time and finish it then, but not right now.

The Girl on Trial had a good premise. However, I found the story a bit slow. I had higher hopes for this book. Some of the story line was difficult to take in and even heartbreaking.

The high school aged main character Emily is charged with the murder of a family of four. If that isn't a hook to a story what is? In this book it tells the story of a young girl who lives a less than ideal life in a trailer park with her twin brother and her alcoholic mother and all she wants is to be popular. So when the popular girl starts to give her attention it leads her down a path that ultimately changes her life. As a middle school educator, I see everyday the things kids are willing to do to fit in with their peers and so reading this book it was so believable to see the main character doing whatever she can to be friends with the popular kids, Books that have kids/teens in jail usually makes me uncomfortable and it turns me off from reading- but this book does it so well, and I couldnt wait to keep reading to see what was going to happen to Emily. Its clear throughout that what people think had happened to this family isnt quite what really happened. I think this book would be great for a higher middle grade student. If an 8th grader or higher asked me for a book recommendation I would tell them this is a great book to read. Some of the content in this book is more mature than I would give to anyone below 8th grade.
“Thank you NetGalley and CamCat Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.”

We all make mistakes as teenagers, sometimes even big ones. What happens when those mistakes lead to things we never intended for them to, maybe even death?

Emily has always been a 4.0 student. That is her ticket out of the trailer park, out of the town she grew up in. With an alcoholic mother and an absent father, all she wants is to be accepted by the popular crowd at school until she can escape from the life she has known and go to college. After a series of bad decisions, Emily finds herself on trial for manslaughter after the family she was babysitting for were all killed by carbon monoxide poisoning- even the dog.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book. I really enjoyed this look into the mistakes we make when we are young and looking for acceptance, and the unintended consequences of our decisions.

Don't judge this book by its cover. Even though it may seem pretty basic and nondescript, whatever happens between the pages is not.

I suppose I should mention a few trigger/content warnings here pertaining to r*pe, substance abuse, alcoholism, family dysfunction, cutting and underage sex/pregnancy. Wow, I know that seems bleak, and in a way it is, but these are all elements of the plot, and you should not be deterred, since they are presented as a reflection of the reality of society as it exists today.

<i>“Does one mistake make me a bad person even though I’ve lived my life being a good person? Can good people do bad things to good people?”</i>

'Girl On Trial' is the story of what happens when you make one bad decision. That can snowball and lead you down a path that destroys your life completely, and what happens when you make bad decisions repeatedly, only because of your own insecurities, and your desperate need to belong.
The story begins with Emily Keller, former addict, who has been clean for one year, and is sharing her story in the circle at Narcotics Anonymous.

Emily Keller is on trial at the age of sixteen. Her crime? Manslaughter of a family of four-husband, wife, and their two daughters, aged four and six. Everyone hates her, and the media has also coined a name for her - 'Keller the Killer'.

The story follows two timelines: one in the past that recounts the story as it actually unfolded, and one in the present, that covers the ongoing trial.

Emily lives in a trailer park with her brother Nate, and her alcoholic mother. They have no money, and sometimes they don't even have food in their pantry. Despite this, she is a good student, and knows that education is her ticket out of her trailer park life in Baltimore.

She's had a best friend, Steph, since childhood, but they drift apart, because she feels that Steph is childish, and she can't really relate to her anymore. She's looking to be part of the gang of cool kids.

She becomes friends with Hannah, and is so desperate to be accepted by her, that she goes along with whatever she says, even if she doesn't want to. Her friend drinks, lies to her parents, is promiscuous, and even though Emily is not comfortable with her friend's lifestyle, she goes along with whatever she suggests.

One day, takes her to the home of the Thompsons, for a babysitting gig. It is this seemingly harmless thing that sets the ball rolling and plunges Emily into a downward spiral that destroys her life and takes her from a clean-cut, straight-A student to becoming 'Keller the Killer'.

You may be tempted to think that with a background and family like hers, it's only inevitable and a matter of time that she would end up where she is. And would you really want to read about a FMC that has killed an entire family? Yes, she's on trial, and she's innocent until proven guilty, so you might want to give her a chance.

As an adult, it seems inconceivable to me that someone would endanger their whole life and future, just for acceptance from their fellow-students (who never accept her anyway). But this is a sixteen-year-old girl that we're talking about.

Her mother is an alcoholic who is working most of the time, and passed out drunk the rest of the time, she has no father figure (he skipped out on her mom when she got pregnant), they have no money, and very little food, and yet she has managed to remain on the straight-and-narrow and keep her nose clean, and be a good student to boot. She just longs for ONE GOOD FRIEND, and unfortunately for her, she picks the wrong one.

There were two characters that I really disliked in this story (well, more than two) but apart from Mr. Thomas (who was a complete and utter a**hole), and Topper and Chuck, the lawyer who did a bad job of defending her client, it was the mom and the character of Hannah that I really disliked.

Debbie is the very definition of white trailer trash, even if it's not PC to say that, but since this is a fictional character, we're talking about, I'll go with it. Right from the clothes, make-up, the alcoholism, substance abuse, promiscuity, and complete disregard for the safety of her kids, the complete and utter failure as a mom, she embodies it all. If her kids have turned out okay (till this incident occurs) she can take none of the credit for it, because they have mostly raised themselves. I mean, mess up your life as much as you want, but do good by your kids; don't turn them into an addict like yourself. Such a mess of a woman, that her daughter doesn't even have enough faith in her to tell her about the absolutely horrible thing that happened to her.

Emily herself is pretty annoying at times, that you just want to catch her and shake her. But again, she's sixteen. Imagine wanting to fit in so badly that you will do ANYTHING to win brownie points with your friend. Or not being able to say 'No' or put your foot down, even when it means putting yourself in harm's way. Imagine going back to a place and within close proximity of a person who assaulted you just because you gave into peer/parental pressure??!!

And Hannah…wow! She's a piece of work. You might think he has an excuse for her behaviour, but no. She's from a family that's doing well, she lives with both her parents, seems to have a normal family life, a car, no money problems, but yet, she's an alcoholic, lies to her parents, is promiscuous, shoplifts, lies, and is all-round a bad apple. But again, she's sixteen.

But what is unforgiveable about Hannah is that she brings her friend into a situation and into the periphery of a person who she knows by personal experience will most likely hurt her, She leaves Emily alone with this person, without any warning or concern for her safety. And despite this, Emily never questions her about why she would knowingly lead her into a situation like that. They behave like everything is hunky-dory in the end. Excuse me, what???

I can’t really say that anyone is likeable in this book, except for the two kids and also Nate. It's just a story of a girl and the underlying question of 'What if you had to make a different decision/speak up/ say 'No', etc. I think what it means to say is that even though you're what you consider a 'GOOD' person, you can still make bad decisions, or be punished for things that are not your fault. It can happen to anyone.

The reveal, or the 'new evidence' that comes to light was just a little bit lame and unbelievable. Why would a camera be placed in that location? He disregards all other necessary security measures yet installs a camera THERE? For what purpose?

Also, her lawyer couldn't come up with the argument by herself that someone else could have done what Emily was accused of doing? I mean, if other people were in the house, it seems like a logical assumption, right? It just seems scary to think that someone can just be arrested, vilified, and thrown in jail for something that they may not have done despite lack of concrete evidence.
Overall, an interesting book that I did enjoy reading and would recommend to other readers as well.

I wish to thank Netgalley and CamCat Books for a digital ARC of this title in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Kathleen Fine, CamCats Books and NetGalley for this E-ARC. These are my own opinions.

Girl on Trial follows Emily Keller during her trial for manslaughter of the Thomas family. The dualing timelines helped to understand why the deaths of the Thomas' happened. The two timelines (past: about two months before the accident and the present: the trial) come together at the end to a nice conclusion. This story broke my heart. It proves the saying "You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes." Everyone had their own demons and I enjoyed how everyone got the help that they were needing. The characters were very well developed. Mrs Jelly was my favorite character.

**Trigger warmings**
Alcoholism
Underage Drinking
Drug Use
Sexual Assault
Rape
Death
Self Harm

A great read and a real page turner.
The author kept me on the edge of my seat whilst simultaneously jumping back and forth in time.
Loved it.

4 ⭐️

I thought this was a really well done story and I enjoyed reading it. Dual timelines + single POV are always a really fun way to unravel a story like this, and I think Kathleen organized and paced it well.

The characters were all incredibly believable, lovable but flawed, and overall came off the page as very human. I cared deeply about each character and how their lives would be affected by the outcome of this story. While the plot was interesting, I think the characters were the shining star of this novel.

I did feel like a little bit of the dialogue (spoken and internal) came off very “adult writing teenager speech” though I don’t think it took away from the story overall.

I appreciated the resources at the end of the book, as this story does cover quite a few heavy topics and would recommend triggers (rape - on page, other sexual assault, alcoholism, drug use/addiction) be plainly noted as some scenes were dark (though not graphic in my opinion).

All in all, I think this was an interesting plot line for a crime/court thriller type book and it kept me super engaged the whole time I was reading. I would definitely recommend this book and pick up something else from this author.

Thanks to Kathleen Fine, NetGalley, and CamCat Books for the ARC.

An absolutely captivating story. I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole way through, despite guessing the twist at the end I was still on tenterhooks wondering whether the main character would be convicted or not. I had been a bit perplexed that that avenue had not been explored but I can’t say more without giving a spoiler.
The characters are fully immersive, believable and three dimensional and I felt a lot of thought and detail had gone into their creation. The overall premise of the story is intensely clever and the detail just keeps on building so there is plenty to catch your interest and a lot of moral food for thought and questions raised.
A young girl is coerced into babysitting and later that night the family perish and the question is were her actions or omissions the reason for their deaths leaving her criminally responsible for them. Definitely an original storyline and compelling from start to finish. Highly recommend, I very rarely give five star ratings.

I enjoyed the read and was pleasantly surprised by the easy shift of timelines, which can sometimes cause confusion in novels. The story kept me interested and I think this would be a great introduction to thrillers for young adults, especially with the consistent focus of peer pressure. I do think that they’re could have been more attention paid in the editing stage, but overall a good novel!

What an incredible read!! This will go down as one of my absolute faves from this year. The entire story was a wild ride and kept me hook from the first page. This was written incredibly well, told in a fantastic manner. It left you feeling all types of crazy emotions and I truly just really love this read

Wow. Just...wow. I love everything about this book! I really love how it jumps back and forth between perspectives, before and after, and I just loved seeing this story unfold. It was impossible to put down and i was disappointed when it ended, although the ending was fabulous! I loved the plot twist!

This story has a lot of emotion throughout the entire story. Emily is a young girl just trying to fit in with the 'in crowd'. But the choices along the way puts her in big trouble in more ways than one. I really felt bad for Emily. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

Girl on Trial tells the story of a sixteen year old girl that's on trial for manslaughter of the family she's been babysitting. This story is told in two seperate timelines - one at the time leading up to the family's death, and one at the time of the trial a few months later. This aspect of the book was quite interesting and well paced out.
However, the author was very heavy handed when it came to the morale of the story. I thought the depiction of peer pressure and teenage idiocy, that can easily turn risky and life-threatening, was intriguing, but it became quite clear early on that the resolution was gonna fall flat, because from what I was able to deduct whilst reading, this book was not really a thriller - as in I wasn't really guessing or frightened that much - but more of an uplifting novel with mostly educational purpose.
But even though it was intended to be a young adult thriller, I was a little disappointed by the simple execution. I still thought it was an easy read though.

Emily Keller is on trial for the manslaughter of a family of four. The book is about the past leading up to the crime and the ongoing trial. I did enjoy the dual timelines, as it did help tell the story and slowly pieced the puzzle together.

This story was very surface level. The trial was more about Emily as a person and not the actual facts of the crime. Emily herself was not likeable nor did she us much depth. Her main goal was to be popular and that’s about it.

There were some parts of the book that felt very “book report” and lacked emotion and depth. I wanted to feel emotions during some scenes, but the words did not allow it.

I think the story at a high level goes to show there are consequences for our actions. The book also did keep me reading to really understand what happened the night the crime occurred.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn't what I was expecting, and I didn't finish it. Honestly, it was too much for me(too much drama, not very appropriate, and just not what I was expecting). Don't get me wrong, I liked the premise,l and the past and present idea, I just didn't like how uncomfortable it made me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Girl on Trial by Kathleen Fine.

First off, HUGE trigger warning for sexual assault. It was hard to read.

Emily Keller is a sixteen year old on trial for the murder of an entire family. She's always been a well behaved, and quiet girl, how did she get here? Back tracking over the last few years, we watch Emily as she searches for popularity and romance, and finds herself in multiple precarious situations that eventually lead to her trial.

It's a good story, but for me, way too gritty. I think the point could have been made without so much sexual violence. I'm not naive to what happens to women of all ages, but I'm a full grown adult and this messed with me, I don't know that I would want my teen daughter to have to carry this kind of weight.

A suprsingly layered story with a great balance of past and present day narration.
The dark complications of teenage girlhood were tackled head on in this novel, while also being weaved into Emily's experience as the typical compromises we make as we mature. What starts are a small compromise can lead to an avalanche you can't control.
There were also a couple twists I did not see coming!
Highly recommend and interested to see what this author does next.

This book was drama heavy and I loved every second of it. A really fun book to read that I enjoyed every second of. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.