A well written, sneak peak at a book I found fascinating. It starts off very mysterious and I didn’t want to put it down.
It flowed well and I was sorry to see it end. I really, really hope I get to read the full book. From what I read I highly recommend this book for those that love mystery/thrillers.

Thank you Harper Collins UK via Netgalley for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

Lex and her siblings grew up in her parents house of horrors, she managed to escape and was known as “Child A the girl who survived”

When Lex’s mother dies in prison, she is asked to be the executor of her mother’s will, as she has left her their childhood home and £20,000 to be shared between her siblings.

Along with her sister Evie’s help, she wants to turn the house into something good but will need to get her other siblings to agree. Lex has to face the childhood that she had left behind and meet up with her family, bringing all the bad memories back.

The book goes back to when they were children and how they were badly treated by their parents. I must admit to crying, as this felt so real and you do read about cases like this in the newspapers!!

This had me gripped from the start, you can’t help but be drawn in with this beautifully written story about survival against all odds.

This is going to be a must read book of 2021.

I’m quite cross at myself for not realising that this was a sampler and not the whole book I thought it was! However, what I read was really good and well written. I can’t wait to get my hands on the whole book!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for reading this sample in exchange for my honest review.

I began reading this book without realising it was only a sampler and was frustrated when it suddenly stopped as it is so good. However, I now have the full book to read and will post a full review later. The author has a unique writing style and the book is told from different points of view in flashbacks by characters who have escaped from a cult. It's fascinating, well written and I can't wait to continue reading.

I had the sampler. Whilst I was a bit annoyed with myself for not properly reading the request (I thought I'd got the whole book) I did really like what I read. I was utterly hooked and can't wait to read the full thing. It's certainly an interesting premise that has you gripped from the outset.

Girl A is a dark, disturbing story that follows Lex after she escapes a house of horror. This book is well written and a gripping read.

Wow what a great story, I started reading this and wasn't too sure of it as it flitted back in time with no warning or definition but once you get your head round that... Just Wow!

This sampler gave me a small snapshot of Girl A.

Lexi Grace goes to the prison after hearing about her mother's death. She's been chosen to be executor of her will and her abusive childhood comes tumbling back. She and her siblings are very successful in their chosen careers and she finds that they've been left a sum of money and the house they grew up in. Can they go back?

We learn of her daring escape all those years ago and a glimpse of their hellish home life at the hands of their parents and how she feels about it all.

This is one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished book! The writing is brilliant - harrowing, complex and human.

Thank you Netgalley for the sampler of this book. I was instantly gripped and couldn’t put it down.

I’ve now been approved the full copy so will post a review once I’ve finished!

I have only read a sample of this book so can only give a partial review, but I didn't like it enough to request the rest of it!

I don't think the book is badly written at all, and it is definitely interesting. But I just found it a bit too gruesome and depressing.

The main character, Alexandra, is dealing with her mother's death. Through this we find out about her horrific childhood where she appears to have been held captive by her parents along with various siblings. The descriptions of this are pretty blunt and disturbing - the children were left in squalor and didn't seem to be fed properly etc.

From the section I've read, one thing I found a little far fetched was how well the children appear to have done for themselves in adult life. They are presented as being pretty well off and having successful careers. Of course this can happen, but I found it a little unrealistic given their awful start in life.

I think this is well written and engaging, but because it focuses on a very disturbing subject matter, it just wasn't the kind of book I wanted to read at the moment!

You cannot leave me with such suspense?! The most exquisite writing allows the reader to absorb the words and become totally immersed in the story. I really need to know what happens.
Thank you for this sample to start my Girl A journey

After hearing a lot about this book on social media, I couldn't wait to read this book. The story begins with the protagonist, Lex Gracie, visiting a prison after the death of her mother. Known as Girl A, she is an adult survivor of parental abuse. In the early chapters, she tells of her escape from the house of horrors and her life in the present. Lex is now the executor of her mother's will, a difficult role considering her feelings towards her parents and her estrangement from the majority of her siblings.

I enjoyed the sample that I read and would have loved to read the full novel. From the excerpt I was sent, I can see that this is a gripping story that explores the legacy of childhood abuse in a sensitive, fresh way. Although Dean does not hold back from describing what the Gracie children endured, the scenes I read were uncomfortable but not gratuitous. I look forward to reading this in full, as I'm sure it will be a success.

Loved this free sampler and was so happy to be approved for the full book. I've since read the full book and will be sending my thoughts soon.

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.

This is a terrifying and haunting account of a family of abused children, their escape and subsequent relationships. I was enthralled by the characters and their attempts to come to terms with their incredible tragedy.

I expect this book will be an immediate bestseller based on this excerpt.

Despite my keenness to review this novel in its entirety, I can only go on the extended extract which I was sent. This is a shame as it promises a rich, considered exploration of abuse and its aftermath through the eyes of its protagonist.

Previously known only as Girl A in the subsequent court proceedings, we meet Lex Gracie as the now adult survivor of horrific historical abuse. Following the death of her mother in prison, Lex is named in a last and particularly cruel gesture as the executor of the family estate. The imposition of this requires her not only to return to the site of her former childhood abuse and torture, but to liaise with the siblings that endured this trauma with her in order to decide on a fitting disposal of assets. This in itself promises to prove problematic as Lex has apparently grown estranged from all but one of them, her sister Evie.

Lex presents in the early chapters as a competent albeit psychologically scarred adult. The halting, unemotional narrative belies a life of careful arrangement, designed to allow her to operate in the real world whilst keeping the demons of her past at bay. The mannered quality of this point of view powerfully suggests the defence mechanisms at work here, initially distancing the reader. As we delve deeper into her childhood flashbacks, however, it soon becomes clear why this has become a necessity for Lex, and Dean is not mean on details. Squalor, humiliation and fear seep off these pages, in which the possibility for love and connection is posited as a miracle of human endurance rather than an assumed entitlement.

Deans’ prose is assured and impressively confident for a debut author, and had I been allowed to view the novel in full I am sure that this early promise would have been sustained throughout the story. Sadly, it is too early for me to tell if it can yet prove itself to be in the league of its early comparison novels - specifically, “Room” - but it’s a very promising start indeed.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this extract in return for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for the sampler of this book.

The historical abuse that the children endured is a dark cloud that will, I imagine, remain at the heart of this disturbing story.

It is difficult to judge from a small sample but the way this is written indicates that the full novel will be well worth a read.

This is an incredibly well written and gripping start to what I'm sure will be one of the most hard hitting books I'll ever read. Typically, not everything is given away from the start, and as a reader you have to piece the puzzle together as you go, but from only this short extract I have a pretty full idea of the history of our protagonist, and the horrors she endured. I am so excited to read the full novel and cannot wait to get my hands on a copy - it definitely feels like it's going to be well worth the hype it's already getting!

So excited already for the book. If this sample is anything to go by thr book will be a hit! I can't wait to read it & thanks for the preview of this great book