What an interesting ride, honestly. A lush coming-of-age story that explores obsession, power, gender, sexuality, and the intensity of girlhood and then maybe involves a coverup lmao??? Set in Victorian-era Montreal, it follows Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, two girls from opposite social classes whose bond is magnetic, yet destructive, and yet impossible to contain. As they grow older, their lives diverge, but their connection continues to shape their identities and choices.

O’Neill’s writing is the standout element, it's lyrical, strange, and often dreamlike (think whimsy), with a fairytale quality that contrasts sharply with the brutality of the story. She has a way of filtering disturbing events through a childlike lens, which makes everything feel even more unsettling and poignant. The narrative itself can be chaotic and nonlinear, but that lack of neatness reflects the emotional volatility of the characters. Characters, by the way, that are hard to root for, but so so interesting to read about. Definitely one of those books that will be a love it or hate it.

it’s difficult to put into words how inspired I feel by this book. I’m in awe of Tara Westover’s bravery, determination, and perseverance both as an author and as a person. I think reading this book has not only given me a greater perspective on extreme family dynamics but also on how difficult it can be to share your truth and believe in it yourself. I went into reading this with little understanding of the premise, thinking that as an educator, reading a book I assumed was about homeschooling, would be beneficial for my own knowledge. But after finishing, I can only share how astonished I am by how much more this book taught me that I thought it would.

I felt all the feelings while reading this book. And by the end, I feel both empowered by this story but also angry at the systems and individuals who kept Tara (and so many other women) down. And despite those conflicting feelings, I would still recommend this book to anyone and everyone (with also giving trigger warnings of abuse, violence, and discussion of extreme mental illness). I think this book brings up so many different perspectives, and anyone who enjoys a contemplative read should consider adding this book to their TBR.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was enjoyable on a character level and I really appreciated the complex picture of grief. So often, we get one picture of grief which is either palatable or unpalatable, but we got both in this book, which made it feel realistic. The plot was very meandering in the way that this genre tends to be (positive for some readers and negative for others but neutral for me) and I enjoyed getting to delve into the psyches of the various characters. I enjoyed the way that Florence haunts the narrative in all of the little ways that she does.

However, the ending was not my favorite. There were several loose ends that could have been tied up but definitively were not. That was certainly intentional, but it left me wondering what the point was, after all. Additionally, the whole concept of keeping a tragic secret from a woman because her pregnancy is more important than anything else rubbed me the wrong way. She is more valuable as a pregnant person than as a person and I did not feel that the narrative sufficiently dealt with that. The story is primarily about keeping the secret and did not deal with the consequences thereof, which made the story feel incomplete and with the additional context of what is, in my opinion, the misogyny that made the secret necessary to keep, I simply wasn't impressed.

This book had a lot going for it and around the halfway mark I was hopeful that this would be a new favorite in the quiet literature genre, but the incompletion and insufficient handling of consequences and misogyny meant that this did not reach the heights I hoped for. Shoutout to Anna and Stuart, though, they were the greatest bright spot in this narrative for me.