Real, compulsive and intense: Cat Clarke is the queen of emotional suspense. For fans of Jandy Nelson, Paula Hawkins, and Megan Abbott.
‘Emotive, creepy AND funny. A quality page-turner’ SARAH CROSSAN
‘A new Cat Clarke novel is always something to celebrate and Girlhood could be her best yet’ JUNO DAWSON
Harper has tried to forget the past and fit in at expensive boarding school Duncraggan Academy. Her new group of friends are tight; the kind of girls who Harper knows have her back. But Harper can’t escape the guilt of her twin sister’s Jenna’s death, and her own part in it – and she knows noone else will ever really understand.
But new girl Kirsty seems to get Harper in ways she never expected. She has lost a sister too. Harper finally feels secure. She finally feels…loved. As if she can grow beyond the person she was when Jenna died.
Then Kirsty’s behaviour becomes more erratic. Why is her life a perfect mirror of Harper’s? And why is she so obsessed with Harper’s lost sister? Soon, Harper’s closeness with Kirsty begins to threaten her other relationships, and her own sense of identity.
How can Harper get back to the person she wants to be, and to the girls who mean the most to her?
A darkly compulsive story about love, death, and growing up under the shadow of grief.
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Reviews
the emotions were raw, the teenage girl friendships believable, and the ending was satisfying
I loved this book for it's complicated friendships, ominous relationships and the sense of being pulled further in to a web. It was compulsive reading and I sat up until the early hours of the morning unable to put it down. It's exactly the kind of book to disappear into on a gloomy, rainy day ... Thank all that is bookish and beautiful for Cat Clarke. Openly gay and bi characters, friendship struggles, snarky girls, secrets and lies. It's all here in Girlhood. What I would have given for this book when I was a teenager trying to find my place int he world - in a girl's school - feeling like the only gay in the village. I grew up reading boarding school stories and it's a joy to return to one now. Especially a contemporary one filled with beautifully diverse characters and lots of nods to modern politics. A fast-paced and fierce celebration of friendship not to be missed.
Cat Clarke is back with another dramatic thrill ride that knocks you a little sideways but leaves you wanting more by the time you've finished. Girlhood is an emotional rollercoaster set in a remote boarding school in Scotland. All the girls have their own little secrets but some are bigger than others and where there are secrets' there is a chance they could cause drama. Your only hope is that the drama can be contained and won't cause consequences. Brilliantly written and a real page-turner.
These characters are interesting and compelling to read and the story is like The Roommate meets well actually that sums it up pretty well but the ending was not at all what I was expecting to come out of it.
I couldn't put it down. If I had to describe this book in three words I would say: exciting, confusing and dramatic.
There was something eery and creepy to the story that kept me on tender hooks from the very beginning. I read this book in a couple of sittings and I didn't want it to end! Cat's writing style is effortless and so easy to read that I felt that I was in a castle in Scotland myself at times. Girlhood comes out this week (May 4th) and if you haven't preordered it yet I would highly recommend it!
I'm super excited because Cat Clarke has written one of my favourite books, Undone. This book has an interesting premise and I love the little tag line that come son the cover of the book: Sugar and spice and scars for life.
Clarke excels at genuine page-turners and I read this in one greedy sitting
AUTO-BUY AUTHOR
Hard-hitting storyline building up throughout which will have you intrigued from start to finish.
Clarke...succeeds brilliantly, thanks to the reality of the characters and the depth of the emotion
An emotionally charged, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Tension builds to a jaw-dropping crescendo as truths are revealed, loyalties are tested, and a whole lot of understanding is needed. Gripping and gratifyingly multi-layered, fans of thrillers with emotional depth will find much to love here
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting and talented YA writers in Britain
I did really like the thrilling atmosphere of it and I found that the storyline wasn't predictable. I was guessing what was going to happen or what the secrets were, to find out that I couldn't have been more wrong.
I wholly, unabashedly and completely recommend this book
A darkly compulsive story about love, death, and growing up under the shadow of grief.
A new Cat Clarke novel is always something to celebrate and Girlhood could be her best yet
When you're that age, you are often experiencing grief for the first time. That loss can affect everyone close to you, like your friends and family, and it can be really tough to find someone to talk to. For Harper, she feels like she can't go on and on about Jenna's death to her friends, like they will get sick of it. Her misguided paranoia and the development of her grief was exactly right, even though it was predictable. Sometimes you want a story to do exactly what you expect from it. I hope many people pick up Girlhood because it was an absolute page turner and an eye opener to the contrasting ways grief is experienced.
Well-written and insightful ... the story moves at a roaring pace until it reaches a thrilling and ultimately uplifting conclusion ... an easy book to get lost in
Incredible - pure and simple
Clarke doesn't spoon feed the reader all the answers; I felt like I was part of the group of the girls, trying to work through the problems and questions that were thrown up.