Review: Pretty Girl-13

PRETTY GIRL-13
Liz Coley
Contemporary Young Adult
344 pages
Katherine Tegen Books
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)

Pretty girl
13 when she
went missing

lost
to her family
to her friends
to the world

found
but still missing
her self

In Liz Coley's alarming and fascinating psychological mystery, sixteen-year-old Angie Chapman must piece together the story of her kidnapping and abuse. Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing—and ultimately empowering—page-turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.

MY THOUGHTS
Pretty Girl-13 is an immensely challenging story, not due to poor writing, unsatisfactory plot, or uninspiring characters, but simply because we read it as we might watch a horror film – fingers covering our eyes as though we can physically block out what’s happening on the pages and spare ourselves the haunting pain that comes with the knowledge of exactly what's happened to Angie. Our time with her is spent with what feels like a lead ball in the pit of our stomachs, and we're absolutely positive we can’t read another page and discover yet more abuse she’s endured, but at the same time we're driven to finish to provide Angie with companionship and another set of shoulders on which to unload her burden. This is a story we tackle with ice cold prickles teasing their way across our skin and shivers running down our backs, portents of gut-wrenching and soul-scarring things to come.

The setup of this book is truly brilliant, a chilling prologue written in second person setting us instantly on edge as we relive the moment of Angie’s disappearance at age thirteen, and then our unease only intensifies as we’re shifted into third person and arrive home with her three years later. Except three years haven’t passed for Angie, and it’s only yesterday to her that she wandered away from camp. What follows is a terrifyingly fascinating exploration of a mind both infinitely strong and yet broken at the same time, with Angie gamely trying to figure out how to fill in the enormous blanks and catch up mentally to where her body is physically. She’s understandably unsettled, having to deal not only with her amnesia and the subsequent revelations as to how and why she checked out for so long, but also with her changed family, the guilt and hurt her grieving parents don’t hide well causing new damage to an already wounded girl.

What’s so admirable about Angie is the way she copes with everything she learns as more and more about her time away is brought to light, taking each upsetting piece of information and accepting it for what it is: a part of her that can’t be changed. Though she doesn’t reveal everything to her parents (something we can’t even begin to hold against her), she is always open and honest with her therapist, seeking help at every opportunity without putting up a token struggle, and we can’t help but want to wrap our arms around her and praise her for the strength it takes to not only accept assistance, but also to face what memories that assistance unleashes.

While the occasional switch to second person after the prologue takes a little getting used to and the final reveal at the end happens with a series of jumbled thoughts and a time lapse that temporarily disorients, the story overall is stunningly tragic and beautifully hopeful at the same time, Angie’s brutal life one that will be nearly impossible to forget.

Rating: 4.5/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher  free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.