I just personally had a hard time connecting with this book. I personally found it odd that the author chose not to name the main character or her family (but named everyone else). I also felt it just ended abruptly. But other than that, the story itself was interesting and has lots of potential. This is a coming of age story about a girl not only struggling to fit into the world but also with a demon. My heart broke for the main character many times throughout the story. I just feel there wasn't really a conclusion to the story and definitely left you hanging. ( )

My initial reaction to the book was positive. I love the cover and premise and all around it seemed like it was going to be a good time.

I'm struggling now. It's hard to get through truly, which is upsetting because I feel like it could actually be going somewhere. The timeline is all over the place jumping from who knows when in the girls childhood to presumably present day. Most of it so far is just backstory of when the girl was young but none of it seems to matter except to show what a horrible childhood she had.

It just gets tired after a while. ( )

To be honest, I'm kind of torn after finishing this book. I loved the idea, and the horror vibes were on point, but I think the storytelling was a little bit too all over the place for my taste. Throughout the book, you follow the girl, who remains nameless, and her tragic life, being abused by her family and peers while dealing with paranormal events all around her. While she tries so hard to be good, be a hero, and be loved, no one will give her the chance, and she slowly drifts towards the evil that people associated her with all this time. The biggest issue I faced here, was that the events were not in chronological order for the first half of the book. Not only that, but it jumped back and forth in time, which made it especially confusing when you're not told which year it is, or how old the girl is, things like that. And even though I loved the idea of naming every character except the family of the girl... Well I admit that it could get really confusing some times. That, added to the fact that they would sometimes have the most random evil action for no reason (the mother having an obsession with Hitler was uh... Weird? It didn't add anything to her character, except remind us that she was mean, which we knew already...), it was frustrating, because all these issues aside, I was really into the story. The whole demonic thing was really intriguing, just the right amount of horror and realism to keep the reader on their toes... That was fun. In the end, I'd say that it was a pretty okay read, though the first half is tough to get through. I think it's one of those books you have to read twice to really understand. ( )

Content Note: child abuse, sexualized violence

Plot:
Having moved from the Philippines to the USA, the girl grows up with her mother, father and brother, but she has always been an outsider in her own family. Her parents are cruel to her while doting on her brother, repeatedly telling the girl that she is evil and dangerous. In school, too, the girl often experiences being the odd one out and has difficulties to connect despite being an excellent student and athlete. And then there is this voice that whispers to her when she’s at her loneliest. Maybe there is something to her parents’ fear of her.

The Girl builds from an interesting idea, but I had my problems with the way it is structured and told. Most of my problems with the book can be attributed to growing pains of a new writer, but that doesn’t make it a better read, unfortunately.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2022/12/29/the-girl-victory-witherkeigh/ ( )

Its unfortunate but this is a DNF for me. The characters not having names goes to show the state of mine for the girl. Its very sad for me to see how hard she's working to get any type of affection.

As much as I would like to get to the end, to get the whole story on the girl, I can't do it. I can't continue to read about her treatment. ( )