*I was given a free ARC of The Girls provided by Netgalley and Vintage Publishing in exchange for my honest review.*
If you haven't already heard about this book, well where the hell have you been? Although was only just published on 14th June, Emma Cline's debut novel 'The Girls' has already had huge praise and a lot of hype around it in the book community.
Set in 1960's California, fourteen year old Evie Boyd finds herself drifting away from her best friend and drawn to another group of girls. These girls are older, free-spirited and happen to be part of a cult.
Now, if you've heard of the Manson Family then you can probably figure out what this story is about, however if you haven't I strongly advise you NOT to look up anything about it until after finishing this book. I did know quite a bit about Charles Manson before hand and I can tell you this is still a fantastic read. Emma Cline has said that she has based her book on these events and a charismatic leader, Russell, is definitely included in this story. However the main focus is on the girls, the things that they go through whilst under Russell's spell and most importantly, how easy it is for an ordinary person to find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Now, if you've heard of the Manson Family then you can probably figure out what this story is about, however if you haven't I strongly advise you NOT to look up anything about it until after finishing this book. I did know quite a bit about Charles Manson before hand and I can tell you this is still a fantastic read. Emma Cline has said that she has based her book on these events and a charismatic leader, Russell, is definitely included in this story. However the main focus is on the girls, the things that they go through whilst under Russell's spell and most importantly, how easy it is for an ordinary person to find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Emma Cline's writing is beautiful and it really immerses you into the vibe of the 60s. She is able to make the reader feel empathetic to Evie (even when she's doing dangerous/cringy teenage things) and the situations she finds herself in.
The characters are complex and their relationships are very well written. Our main character Evie lives with her mother, who has recently separated from Evie's father and is keen to find herself a man to take care of her. The icy comments and unpredictable confrontations between the two are typical of any mother-daughter dynamic and Evie's relationships with other characters are also completely believable.
There are several scenes set in Evie's future when she is in her forties. Although I can see why these flashes forward were used, I felt they were jarring in the story and found myself to be bored and hoping it wouldn't be too long a chapter. That is my only complaint of this book and that's possibly because I am not a forty year old woman and so didnt feel a connection to an older character, but then again, I'm also not a fourteen year old girl either...
I gave the girls 4 out of 5 stars and I would highly recommend to the young adult audience and also anyone who is interested in either the Manson Family, Cults in general or anything to do with human behaviour.
Bicks x
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