Book Review / Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley

A gripping, suspenseful debut that will haunt you long after you have turned the final page…

Angie Chapman is only 13 when she gets lost in the woods in the middle of the night.

The next thing she knows she’s returned home, scars around her wrists and ankles, physically exhausted. Her parents collapse into tears when they see her, but Angie doesn’t understand – until they tell her she has been missing, presumed dead, for three years.

Angie doesn’t remember anything from her missing years. But there are people who do – people who could tell Angie every terrifying detail, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind.

With help, Angie begins to unravel the darkest secrets of her own past.

But does she really want to know the truth?

Published:    28th February 2013

Publisher:  Harper

Goodreads :  Click here

Series:  N/A

Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

Review:   10000000000000000 out of 10

What I loved about this book…

As I have probably mentioned before, once in every few books you read one that completely blows you away.  A book that has that edge to it that makes you want to read and never stop until it is done.  This is one of those books for me.  It has a very intriguing start, where you see Angie returning home from her camping trip thinking that she was still thirteen but despite the fact that the family is very happy to see her back, they have trouble telling her that she has been away for more than three years.

I liked how there were flashbacks, not really giving a lot of information but a glimpse into a memory of some kind and as the story went on the flashbacks revealed more and more.

The best parts of this book was when Angie starts to see a psychologist who tries to help her open her mind and try to discover what happened and why she forgot.  Slowly she begins to remember but the interesting twist was how she remembered.  What is revealed, which I will not spoil here, is a very interesting spin on ‘amnesia’ and reveals more about Angie that anyone would have predicted. 

What I was not fond of about this book…

There was nothing that I did not like about this book.

In summary…

An amazingly eye opening read.  Absolutely loved this one from start to finish.

I would point out that there is content in this story that is very explicit and deals with some very adult issues that some younger readers may not want to read.

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Best wishes

Debs J