Girls of Little Hope is a horror novel about three teenage friends in small town America who find more than they bargained when they explored a hidden nearby cave. It is the 90s and Donna, Rae, and Kat are fed up of their hometown of Little Hope, California. When they explore a mysterious cave as part of a bid to have something cool to write about in the zine they're selling at school, however, only two of them come back: Donna can't remember anything and Rae wants to hide whatever it was that happened. What happened to them might make all the difference for Little Hope.

The book is told by following Donna, Rae, and Kat's mother Marybeth, as well as excerpts from Kat's diary and some "found" documents, but the layers of perspective don't make it confusing. The early part of the book is slower and you can't really tell where on earth it is going to go, but once it hits around the halfway mark, the real horror elements become much more apparent. There's a focus on the characters in the book: particularly the three main teenage girls, but also their relationships with their families and the ways in which they need each other and their differences.

There are some real issues delved into (it is worth being aware before reading that the book feature/talk about self harm quite a bit), particularly with Rae who has a strict Christian family and cannot rebel or know herself in the same ways that Donna and Kat do. Because it's a horror book, a lot of these elements don't really get to go anywhere by the end (with the except of Kat's story) because character has to turn to the plot, which is particularly a shame in the case of Rae who by the end really needs a bit more space for all of the stuff that has happened to her to be addressed.

Throughout the book, teenage friendships are shown as vital, and this all comes together with the conclusion, which is a neat way of making a horror story about friendships end by reiterating this. As the pun in the title suggests, the three main characters are the weird girls, who've come together and bonded through this, and a horror story is a fun way to explore this, seeing as lot of weird teenagers really get into horror books and films as well. Girls of Little Hope is a fun horror book set in the 90s that's perfect if you used to read 90s Point Horror books as a teenager and want something that feels a bit like that but with a much more complex and interesting plot.

3.5 stars

In 1990s small town America, three teenagers disappear in the woods and only two are found again. Donna and Rae are determined to find Kat and unravel what exactly happened to them while they were gone. With fun mixed media elements inserted between the chapters, this was a wildly creative story about friendship and growing up, and that there is more in the woods than you could ever imagine. Perfect for fans of The Twilight Zone.

I received this arc for free from netgalley in exchange for a review.