While this is a work of fiction there are some similarities to real life crimes. Girl A is the eldest daughter rescued from a home dubbed 'the house of horrors'. Her and her siblings were subjected to terribly cruelty as children at the hands of their parents before being rescued when Girl A was 15. Some children were young enough to be unaffected by the abuse but Girl A is deeply affected. This book is set when her mother dies and the children have an inheritance split between them. I found parts of this really interesting but the novel loses its way a little and it isn't gripping throughout. Overall its quite an enjoyable read.

Girl A is an interesting book - complexly and compellingly written, it tells its story without falling into the many 'horror' tropes it so easily could have done to try to offer a more nuanced and complex study of long-term trauma and abuse. Sadly (for me), it leans heavily upon many of the other fictional props around the psychological impact of such abuse and it was this that let the novel down a little. (The twist, for example, is so by now so overused I almost hoped it was going to be a double-bluff when it presented itself.) Even so, Dean's writing and overall storytelling is strong enough to pull all this off and I can see why this has come showered with early praise. A really interesting new voice in fiction.

On the surface, the story is a simple one: it follows Lex Gracie, the eldest sibling of the Gracie family, as she goes through the probate of her mother's estate. The thing is, Lex' and her sibling's childhood and relationship with their mother is anything but simple. Lex is not only known as Lex, Lexi or Alexandra, she is also: Girl A, the one who got away.

Girl A is a compelling read. The book has an interesting structure, working through two time periods using, flashbacks which are progressively blurred with reality. Abigail Dean's writing is clear, yet vivid in it's description, which sometimes with such subject matter is quite gruelling to read. Truth be told, whilst there is a lot too like about the writing, I am not sure that the subject matter is for me. I kept hoping that there was going to be a turning point with redemption or hope and although the characters of the children were fictional, I found the scenes from the past hard to read at points.

Despite these personal reservations about the story, I thought the novel was really well written. I think it is set to be a success and is certainly provocative enough to start a lot of conversations in book groups far and wide,

A really interesting read that could be a biography. The only issue I had was the jump from year to year, it was sometimes hard to follow.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

Girl A is the type of book that leaves its mark, the story is so harrowing that it will stay with you for a very long time.
Girl A details the story of a group of siblings who grow up with a deeply religious father - slowly he begins to control every aspect of their life - schooling, food, relationships.
Abigail weaves the story with excerpts of the past, how each of the children - now adults (given pseudonyms) are dealing with their lives after their horrendous childhood experiences.

Without divulging too much of the plot, the ending is so harrowing, certain truths come to light and I found myself having to put the book down, to give myself time to compose myself.

An excellent book - I look forward to reading more of Abigail's work.

I bumped this book up my to be read list as I’d read so many 5 star reviews, and I have to say I totally agree with them all.. This book is a really accomplished debut novel. It left me quite speechless after finishing it and it will definitely stay with me for sometime, whilst I reflect on the characters and how they were all effected by the same events. This story is highly emotive but manages perfectly to portray the difficult storyline sympathetically whilst being accessible and relatable at the same time.

Lex is Girl A, the girl that managed to escape the House of Horrors. Lex has managed to move on but she is forced to face her family history after her mum dies and leaves the family home to her and her siblings. She intends to turn the house into a community resource to help others but first she must face her past and siblings.

#GurlA #NetGalley.
After a long time I read auch an excellent book. Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped.
When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer.
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

#GirlA #NetGalley
Addictive and Twisty. Most compelling read of 2021. Highly recommended.
You don't know me. I'm Girl A. I was gripped by this line and finished this book in one sitting. It's twisty, addictive and emotional at the same time. Love, betrayal are at the heart of this book. Abigail Dean's writing is such a perfection that this book is going to be a TV show. I see why. I loved it so much. I loved the character of Lex. She portray the character of a girl who's strong from heart.
Go for it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advance copy of this awesome book.

Six sibling survive "The House of Horrors", but do they really? The Gracie siblings grew up in a cult with abusive parents and now they are adults have very little contact with each other. But when their mother dies her will forces Girl A (Lex), the girl who escaped to get back in touch with her siblings. The book explores the different ways the siblings have found to cope with or deny the realities of what happened to them and how their shiny new lives can look superficially fine but underneath their childhood experiences still exact a toll. I was fascinated by the psychological characterization of long term trauma and how it affects people in different and subtle ways.

This is an incredibly powerful book, full of intense honesty.

I think the author has done an amazing job of capturing the life long scars that people subject to abuse in childhood carry with them for all time, how these scars are different for everyone and the coping mechanisms are different.

The characters are superbly written and even though you don't like all of them you can understand them.

I have feed back the review
I did it the other day
It was good
I had an Arc
I have a previous review

This was a rough book for me to read, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be talked about in 2021.
After her mother dies in prison, she and her siblings are left an estate to split, and ghosts and traumas of their past to face. I really engaged with the protagonist but I found myself struggling to fully accept or suspend disbelief properly in places, which really caused an enjoyment gap - as weird as that sounds - and sympathising with the protagonist made things a bit harder because I had to put up walls.

I think some of the stuff that characters worked through was less believable, but that was purely from the perspective of having to keep some distance to not react as harshly to some of the stuff that was discussed.

A complex book, one I'll definitely revisit when I'm in a better headspace.

Honestly I didn’t like this to begin with but stick with it! This is an incredible story.

Girl A shocked me, there’s moments that will bring you to tears and moments where you wish you could turn your emotions off but my god this is a breathtaking story. Is it the best book I’ve ever read? No. I found parts extremely confusing and clunky but overall I’d give this a 3.5/5.

Every generation has one (or maybe even more) of those awful news stories that capture the nation's attention - a person or people held captive who manage to escape and reveal that they have been trapped and kept apart from the world for years, whether they were kidnapped or born and raised in the environment. There's not always a lot of thought given to what happens to them afterwards, though, and that's what makes Girl A an intriguing story. It opens with the adult Lex discovering that her mother has passed away in prison and has made Lex the executor of her will, in which Lex and her siblings have been left the house where they spent their adolescent years chained to their beds and at the mercy of their fanatically religious parents. Through flashback, we slowly learn the story of what happened to Lex, how she escaped, and how, in many ways, she has never really been able to leave.

This is an incredibly powerful book, full of intense honesty.

I think the author has done an amazing job of capturing the life long scars that people subject to abuse in childhood carry with them for all time, how these scars are different for everyone and the coping mechanisms are different.

I love how when difficult questions are asked, the answers aren't twee or wrapped in fluff.

The characters are superbly written and even though you don't like all of them you can understand them.

The ending is both perfect and a punch in the guts.

This wasn't an easy book to read and I imagine it wasn't an easy book to write. The research into getting the psychology of everyone involved right must have been heartbreaking.

It's prompted me to volunteer with Action For Kids and I really hope it inspires others to do something similar.

Sorry I didn’t get this book at all and also don’t understand the high reviews it’s received. It’s a desperately sad theme of an abused family who escaped their fate, and their lives afterwards. Described akin to Room etc so I had high hopes. But meandering, going nowhere, and at times unnecessary vile language. I’m no prude, but this made me feel ill at times. I just wasn’t interested in finding out what happened. It all killed it for me and I did not finish it. It was quite the worst book I have read for a while.

Thank you though to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. But sorry again!!

At first I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this book! But very quickly became engaged! Terrifying story! But also a tale of survival, sibling rivalry, and the strength of the human spirit! I couldn’t put it down and had to find out how it ended! A really wonderfully well written book! Loved it!!

This was absolutely gripping - one of the best thrillers I've read in years. The 'survivor of an abusive home/cult' genre is really packed, but this stands out! It felt very fresh and modern, with a contemporary and well-written voice. My only critique is that I would've liked it to be even longer and for a certain character to face up to their past actions...

Am not sure how I feel about this book. Am glad I read it, I had seen good review about it but it’s left me a tad disappointed.
Lex and her siblings living in the house of horrors, I read that bad things happened but when it was described as the house of horrors I expected it to be a bit more gruesome that it actually was and with some of the time mentioning Jolly a lot I thought that he may have played more of a part with the things that happened.
I thought from early on that Ethan may have played more of a part with things going on but I never guessed that Evie may have been dead.
A few times I got a bit lost with the book when it jumped back from one part to the other and with how it was set out.
I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into writing it but it wasn’t for me.