ARC Review: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Genre: Horror | Paranormal | Young Adult
Length: 464 pages
Published on 4th October 2018 by HarperCollins
Purchase: Amazon | TBD
Claire Legrand: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Purchased for myself from Waterstones

Synopsis:
Fans of Victoria Schwab, Nova Ren Suma, and Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things will crave this frightening stand-alone contemporary teen horror novel about three girls who take on an insidious monster that preys upon young women.Who are the Sawkill Girls?Marion: The newbie. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: The pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.Val: The queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives; a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight…until now.

I remember when I first stumbled across this book on twitter thanks to Harper360 and instantly I tried to find out how to get a copy.

Finally a glimmer of hope when I saw it would be available at YALC and oh boy I am thrilled I was lucky enough to pick it up there.

Sawkill Girls is a YA horror book, before you ask me “how scary is it?” I need y’all to understand that I can’t think of a horror movie that left me feeling scared. Tense? sure. Scared? not really.

So when I say this book isn’t scary please don’t quote me and think you’re going to be okay with it if you’re not a fan of horrors.

This book will keep you up at night… because its so freaking good!

I ended up reading this book on my journey too and from work which was a big mistake as I kept missing my bus stops. Aswell as before bed which caused some very late nights.

I really can not recommend this book enough. I’ve been screaming about it on Twitter and to my book club (plus any other Discord servers I’m in that will tolerate me screaming about books) and people are actually listening to me and pre-ordering / adding to wishlist! How wild.

But Lauren, what even is this about? All you’ve told us is that its great?

Okay okay, I’m getting there.
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There are 4 narrators in Sawkill Girls.

Marion, who has just arrived. She’s the rock of her family; keeping them together and strong whilst still dealing with their fathers passing. Even though she’s the youngest. She’s hoping that her sister will fit in well to ease some of the weight she’s currently supporting.

From the moment she arrives on Sawkill she starts experiencing a “bone cry” and this is something that is developed throughout the story but how it was described really resonated with me and felt inspired by Chronic Pain. (I can’t confirm that it definitely is btw)

Zoey, the daughter of a cop and is also dealing with loss. Though hers is her best friend who went missing a while ago. She is determined to find out the truth of her besties disappearnce, if Val really does have any connection to it, and could the stories of The Collector be true.

Zoey was possibly my favourite P.O.V because from very early on its clear she’s ace. Her sexuality is explored and discussed thoroughly and it made my lil ace heart very happy. I cried a lot over this scene.

Val is the Queen Bee, the Mean Girl leader you don’t want to mess with. I loved reading her chapters as we got a really unique view of Sawkill Island and what the hell was going wrong with it.

I love her story because its so complex with all the boundaries placed upon her, with how she’s been manipulated and controlled.

Additionally she’s very queer, I love how its coded into her point of view from pretty early on and how she explores this.

I honestly want to protect these girls with my life. They go through so much pain and hurt and achieve such great things that no one thought possible.

Oh, I mentioned there were 4 perspectives didn’t I? The finale one we’re introduced only has a small part when it comes to their “chapters” but they play such a huge role in the story. Its also a perspective not often found but really fits this story.

This is the horror YA of the year, with magic and supernatural elements mixed in. Possibly even a woman hating cult thrown in for good measure.

So please give it a chance!
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