The Lives of Desperate Girls

A coming of age story that is equal parts beautiful, grim, and insightful. Jenny holds secrets about the last night she saw her best friend tightly, unsure whether to tell anyone. Chloe's last few months were torture for reasons mostly beyond her control. When another girl, Helen, who lives on a nearby reservation, is found murdered on a remote trail, it isn't long before Jenny starts wondering why this girl isn't getting anywhere near the attention from local police as Chloe's disappearance is.
When Jenny realizes brooding Tom, a senior at school, is willing to help investigate and might have a romantic interest in her, it leads to a number of events, some dangerous, others painful, but the most important ones opening her eyes to the show more frailty of those around her. An excellent story and I hope to read more by the author in the future. show less

I really enjoyed this book. It tells the story of two missing girls in a Northern Ontario town: Chloe Shaughnessy, a blonde from the good side of town is missing; Helen Commanda, a Native from the Reservation, has been found murdered. The story features Jenny, Chloe's best friend who is keeping the secret of Chloe's social difficulties at school from the police. Chloe is struck by the way kids at school, and the authorities, place so much more importance on Chloe's case than Helen's. In this, the author is telling part of Canada's story, and the reason we have an ongoing national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.

The story is fast-paced and, for the most part, plausible. The characters are well developed and show more watching Jenny having to make adult choices and decisions....sometimes well and sometimes less so....brought a real depth to her as a character.

I would recommend this book for adults as well as young adults. And I'd read more by this author for sure. show less

"Real life wasn't like a mystery novel. Everything didn't get neatly tied up at the end."

The Lives of Desperate Girls is a story that brings up a lot of tough subjects that are sadly all too relevant in a teenage girl's life. The story follows a girl named Jenny, who's best friend Chole goes missing. But, Jenny knows more than she's telling the police. A local First Nations girl named Helen is found brutally murdered soon after. Jenny soon realizes that the local police are more concerned with Chole's disappearance than they are with Helen's murder. So, she takes it upon herself to investigate with the help of a newfound friend.

The story covers the triggering topics of racism, bullying, sexual assault, depression, grief, and suicide. show more But, the story gives the reader a look into the effects these things have on someone's life.

All in all, The Lives of Desperate Girls was a bit of a slow-paced story, but also very eye-opening on a lot of subjects. I enjoyed the book. Thank you to LibraryThing & Random House Canada for the copy. show less

This is one of the best written young adult books that I have ever read. Kudos to the author for this. It is wonderful to read a book written for this audience that does not "dumb down" the language used so that a book becomes "more user friendly to a wider audience." In this novel, Jenny Parker, an average teen from Northern Ontario in Canada, deals with coming from a single parent home where money is tight. Her best friend, Chloe, comes from a much more affluent background with two parents who obviously love her. However, something bad happened to Chloe, as she is missing. Soon after her disappearance, the body of Helen, a teen from the local Native reserve, is found dead in the snow. As Jenny becomes more and more fascinated by this show more murder with the aid of her new friends, she discovers just how badly the Natives are treated by those who control the area. This is a wonderfully insightful look at how lives are impacted by the actions of others - especially when issues of bullying, consent, race and crime are involved. It is a story of understanding and hope, one where things can change, if only incrementally. I recommend this book for both teens and adults because of the quality of the writing and timely insights. show less

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this novel because there are a few things that the author does that I like but an equal amount of things that I don't like. I really liked that the author highlighted the problems of the First Nations people of Canada. Not many people are aware of their struggles and the things they have endured - and continue to endure - are heartbreaking. And the author really does do justice to them: she tells it like it is. I only wish it had been told from the perspective of an actual Native and not just from that of a white teenage girl. While Jenny is definitely trying to understand and be aware of the oppression and racism that show more the Aboriginal people face, I don't think she is necessarily the best spokesperson for it since she really isn't a part of their community or culture. I wish there had been more emphasis on the way life is on the reserves and the traditions that the First Nations value, as that would have allowed the reader to see some of the wonderful aspects of their culture. However, the idea that a Native girl's death is not as important as a Caucasian girl's disappearance was an interesting one and I think the author did a really good job of bringing that to the forefront. I actually found the writing style compelling, even if it was confusing to follow at times what with the various jumps in time that Jenny took; it was hard to tell if something was happening in the present or if it was just a memory. I did not like the love angle that the author tried to force into the situation; it didn't add anything to the novel and it was not well planned or executed. It was literally just two teenagers hooking up and doing drugs and drinking, none of which screams romance or bonding. I didn't like the incompetence of the cops, and I'm not just referring to their dismissal over the case of Helen. I'm referring to the almost comical way they question and interrogate Jenny over Chloe's disappearance; you would think adults would know how to run an investigation and ask the right questions but clearly, that is not the case in this novel. The author also takes on another topic: slut-shaming. While I think this is an important topic to discuss, I don't really like Jenny's role in that aspect and I wish the author had made her more ... sensible or intelligent. I also didn't really like how things were resolved in the novel because, well, it didn't really feel resolved. I understand that not everything can have a happy ending but this just felt messy and unfinished. Overall, I think the author chose 2 very important topics to center her novel around. While the writing was compelling, the main character's decisions as well as the actual ending of the novel left me disappointed. For those reasons, I'm giving this novel a 2/5 stars. show less

I think this book should not have been marketed as a thriller. Even though the plot revolves around the mysterious disappearance of two girls, the book’s strength is really in its exploration of social issues. In particular, how two missing girls are treated very differently based on their respective races. There are also other issues including slut shaming, bullying, depression, loneliness – all things many teens have to deal with. The story is slow moving and feels tedious at times and the central character, Chloe, is in many ways too passive given the circumstances. But it does thoughtfully and sensitively examine the impact of systemic racism.

To be honest, it took me awhile to get into this book, but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. Common has a way with words that make all of her descriptions so vivid and easy to visualize. I could picture Thunder Creek and it seemed as though I was there with Jenny on her quest for justice. While I could have done without the attempt at a love story tangent, I was completely drawn into the mystery of the girls of Thunder Creek. It was a perfect description of how nasty high school can be when you are different that what people want you to be.

A great first work by Common and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

*I received this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.*