Pros:

- Strong female friendships. Hillie has lots of girl friends and they're all so close and always have each other's backs.

- It's a decent coming of age story. The characters make mistakes, get tangled in false starts, and finally find their way in the end.


Cons:

- Terrible writing. It's amateurish and awkward, and with an overuse of exclamation marks.

- The dialogue is horrific. It's full of info-dumps and is generally just cringy and unrealistic.

- I wanted more of the candle factory and the girls' jobs. Instead, the story focuses on their love lives.

- The characters are so stereotypical and cliche. Hillie is a special snowflake who can do no wrong, who's the prettiest of all the girls, and who's loved by everyone. Jimmy, the hero, is also annoying, and he's the stereotypical bad boy who's smitten with Hillie because she's the only girl to refuse his advances and because she's the smartest and most beautiful of all the other girls.

- The romance between Jimmy and Hillie is extremely inconsistent. One minute Hillie's set on their future and busy kissing Jimmy, and the next she's trying to decide if she loves him. UGH.

- Jimmy and Hillie's marriage is so problematic. She's hesitant about having sex for the first time and is clearly uncomfortable when Jimmy makes a move, but she makes herself to endure it because it's what "a proper wife must do." More than once, she's uncomfortable with sleeping with her husband and with him undressing her, but she stays silent and lets him to what he wants with her. That's not healthy! You need to talk to your partner, you need to talk....Hillie and Jimmy never do that. Marriage is not a one-sided show - and nor is sex - that's ruled by one person's desires and needs. It goes both ways.

- The book's ending is so predictable and convenient.


How many of you have watched the TV series Land Girls? If you're a fan of that, I think you'll love this book. Otherwise it's not worth reading.

The story of a young woman's struggles in a poverty-stricken life, battling with an abusive father, a mother with secrets, and the difficulties of romance.

I personally didn't enjoy this book. I found Hilly Hardwick to be a little frustrating in her perfection throughout. She seemed a little flat, a tad one-dimensional for me. I'm someone who enjoys a character one can sink their teeth into; she was not that. I also found some of the dialogue a little bit clunky and unrealistic.

That being said, there were some wonderful examples of prose and description in this book. Perhaps it simply wasn't for me.

Set in a time where women and girls did not have much say in their lives. It was acceptable to leave school at 14 and go to work. And that is what Hillie did. Much to her own dismay. She works and must turn her paycheck over to her father, who in turn physically and verbally abuses her on a daily basis as well as her mum.

Hillie doesn't understand why her father does this. Why he hates her so much. She just wants out. And in her desperation she makes a choice she may later come to regret.

This story of families, secrets, hardship and life in the 30's was a little sad, but ultimately seeing Hillie free herself allows other girls to stand up to their overbearing parents and grab the life and love that they want.

Good, Solid story!
NetGalley/Aria  March 01,2018