Girl A - Andreia Santos

The past was one of the few foreign countries which neither of us wished to visit.”― Abigail Dean, Girl A

This is the poignant, dark story of the girl who survived and managed to escape from her own House of Horrors. Lex Gracie and, her sister, Evie are trying to get their siblings together after their mother passed away in prison. She left them the family house, that no one wants to go back to, and twenty thousand pounds. Together, they must figure out what to do with the place where they have lived the worst time of their lives.

This is not a mystery book, but the survival story of 6 people who have had a traumatic upbringing, and struggle to live in the present, after everything they’ve lived. The author delivers, through flashbacks, an intriguing and soul wrecking story that will make you believe that evil does wear a pretty mask, and might walk among us.

This book is partly based on Rosemary & Fred West’s case and the House of Horrors, where the children were chained and heavily neglected by their mentally unstable parents. I have always had an interest in true crime stories and this story didn’t disappoint. Before, and while, reading it, I researched the real cases on Wikipedia. It made the book so much more intense because I could easily see how close the narrative was to the cases. This story really stays with you and, if you, like me, enjoy a good twist and find the psychology behind serial killers fascinating, I highly recommend it.

and - though books cannot save you from everything - I hope that you are still reading.”