The Girl Who Wasn't There

The Girl Who Wasn't There

Jacqueline Wilson

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 4.0
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'And we're going to live here, happily ever after, just like a fairy tale.'When Dad tells Luna and her little sister Aurora that they're moving to live in a real tower, it's almost like they've stepped inside a fairytale.But everything is not as magical as it first seems. The tower needs patching up, Dad still doesn't have a job and they're not even allowed in the room up at the very top.When it's time to start at their new school, Luna quickly finds a friend, but six-year-old Aurora absolutely hates the children in her class. She prefers to spend her time with her imaginary friend Tansy. Aurora's make-belief life causes problems for them all - and it seems like Aurora really believes Tansy exists...Is there really a curse on the tower - and will Luna be able to break it?A spine-tingling tale from the bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.


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  • skylarkblue1
    Jan 10, 2025
    Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 4.0
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    Graphic: Child Endangerment Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Abandonment
    Representations: https://trello.com/c/pp3rZzFM/104-the-girl-who-wasnt-there-by-jacqueline-wilson "Traumatised by my sister jodie as a kid" gang, we're gonna have a lotta anxiety with this one xD I don't think this book knew if it wanted to be a mental health/parenting story, or a ghost story. The "girl who wasn't there" is only hinted at once until around the 60% mark, and even after that it seems pretty confused on what story it's trying to tell. But... I still liked it! I really loved the tension and danger of the tower, I really loved the relationships between the characters and the characters themselves. The sibling pair I think where a pretty unique show of siblings, dysfunctional but with love there still. The different relationships they have with the parents was really interesting and well done - especially in the amount of pages. There was so many complex emotions, backstory that doesn't need to be explicitly said because it's all there with the reactions and emotions and it really build up some quite wonderful characters. Honestly I didn't realise this was exactly the kinda book I've been waiting for from Wilson for years until I started reading this - I just wish it committed enough to one side or the other like mentioned before. I read my sister jodie as a kid around when it released and that shit fucked me up lmao, that history absolutely did up the tension and anxiety I got while reading this (in a... fun? way? lmao) but she's also really damn good at writing peril and danger like this. I think my main issue is just the ending wasn't as punchy as I would have liked it to be. The climax was excellent, really gripping and tense, but then the final bit was a bit of a let down honestly. Not sure what it is with books with fantastic stories but middling endings recently.

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