Robin Wasserman

Girls on Fire

On Halloween, 1991, a popular high school basketball star ventures into the woods near Battle Creek, Pennsylvania, and disappears. Three days later, he’s found with a bullet in his head and a gun in his hand—a discovery that sends tremors through this conservative community, already unnerved by growing rumors of Satanic worship in the region. In the wake of this incident, bright but lonely Hannah Dexter is befriended by Lacey Champlain, a dark-eyed, Cobain-worshiping bad influence in lip gloss and Doc Martens. The charismatic, seductive Lacey forges a fast, intimate bond with the impressionable Dex, making her over in her own image and unleashing a fierce defiance that neither girl expected. But as Lacey gradually lures Dex away from her safe life into a feverish spiral of obsession, rebellion, and ever greater risk, an unwelcome figure appears on the horizon—and Lacey’s secret history collides with Dex’s worst nightmare. By turns a shocking story of love and violence and an addictive portrait of the intoxication of female friendship, set against the unsettled backdrop of a town gripped by moral panic, Girls on Fire is an unflinching and unforgettable snapshot of girlhood: girls lost and found, girls strong and weak, girls who burn bright and brighter—and some who flicker away.

A Novel

Melissa Palmer

Book #87 Read in 2016
Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

This is not a nice book. This book is gritty, disturbing and edgy. Hannah is a nice girl but not popular in high school. The new girl, Lacey, takes an interest in her and turns her into "Dex" a more wild, rebellious girl, much like Lacey. But Lacey has a lot of issues in her world that bring a dark side to her. How far will she go? This book will hook readers will non-stop angst and action and readers will be on the edge of their seats seeing how far into the darkness these high school girls will go. I recommend it.

I loved the second part of the book so much, the start was not 

I’d heard that it was a really good read and was so excited when I started reading it. I expected drama and emotion but not THAT much! Once I started I could barely put it down.

Kymberley Carr

I loved the second part of the book so much, the start was not 

I’d heard that it was a really good read and was so excited when I started reading it. I expected drama and emotion but not THAT much! Once I started I could barely put it down.

Sarahi Flores

A toxic friendship that ties bond between them. If you would like to read more of my review check out my blog: www.readergalcom.wordpress.com

'Captivating' Sunday Times 'Will utterly terrify you - in the best way possible' Buzzfeed 'While it is a mystery, the true strength of the novel comes from the honesty of the girls' portrayal' Guardian 'A hypnotic debut' Elle 'We couldn't put this one down' Marie Claire This is not a story of bad things happening to bad girls. I say this because I know you, Dex, and I know how you think. I'm going to tell you a story, and this time, it will be the truth. Hannah Dexter is a nobody, ridiculed and isolated at school by golden girl Nikki Drummond. But in their junior year of high school, Nikki's boyfriend walks into the woods and shoots himself. In the wake of the suicide, Hannah befriends new girl Lacey and soon the pair are inseparable, bonded by their shared hatred of Nikki. Lacey transforms good girl Hannah into Dex who is up for any challenge Lacey throws at her. The two girls bring their combined wills to bear on the community in which they live and think they are invulnerable. But Lacey has a secret, about life before her better half, and it's a secret that will change everything . . .

Sheila

This book is very much in the same vein as Boring Girls, but somewhat less compelling for me. 

What was done best here was show the sometimes obsessive nature of teenage friendships that can morph into something seriously unhealthy and dangerous - a cookbook with the best recipe for girls gone wild~! I liked the POVs of Lacey and Dex/Hannah, with Dex's parts being told in the present & Lacey's told in past tense; I thought it was an interesting way to show the differing maturity levels between the two (with Lacey being the "strong mature one" able to look back on how she groomed Dex to be a kind of 'mini me').

What I didn't like was the ridiculously florid prose that felt too try-hard. I also felt the moments of the book where adults had their POVs highlighted (the chapters labelled as "Them") were unnecessary. They didn't serve any purpose other than as a vehicle for the author to scorn /those/ ignorant Middle America parents who think their children & lives are perfect despite evidence to the contrary; I'm not saying that the scorn isn't justified, it's just the kind of thing where in a book about dysfunctional teenage girls it should've been shown rather than told.

Overall, this book didn't do enough to make itself stand out, but it wasn't bad! Definitely recommended for people that had a huge Cobain/Nirvana phase as teens & want to second-hand cringe :D

DNF
Got to about 1/4 of the way through the book and had to stop.

I really tried to get into this book but it didn't happen for me.
Every time I thought it was going somewhere it just .......stopped.
Boring, not interesting, just plain Meh book.

Lauren Attaway

** spoiler alert **
           I struggled with the rating and the reading of this book, but I have to give it up for the second half. I couldn't finish this book fast enough. It was nothing like what I expected and I was so thrown by the ending I really should have seen coming. Girls are vicious, and this story is no exception.

Zoe Smolen

A bit of a slow burn at he beginning but worth it for the end.

Sarah Broome

Samantha Plakun

Sara Sunshine

Nancy Ryder

Leticia Leal

Mandy

Kate Lillie

sarah stevenson

Rebecca Shaffer

Anna Bold

An NPR Best Book of the Year • A Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year On Halloween, 1991, a popular high school basketball star ventures into the woods near Battle Creek, Pennsylvania, and disappears. Three days later, he’s found with a bullet in his head and a gun in his hand—a discovery that sends tremors through this conservative community, already unnerved by growing rumors of Satanic worship in the region. In the wake of this incident, bright but lonely Hannah Dexter is befriended by Lacey Champlain, a dark-eyed, Cobain-worshiping bad influence in lip gloss and Doc Martens. The charismatic, seductive Lacey forges a fast, intimate bond with the impressionable Dex, making her over in her own image and unleashing a fierce defiance that neither girl expected. But as Lacey gradually lures Dex away from her safe life into a feverish spiral of obsession, rebellion, and ever greater risk, an unwelcome figure appears on the horizon—and Lacey’s secret history collides with Dex’s worst nightmare. By turns a shocking story of love and violence and an addictive portrait of the intoxication of female friendship, set against the unsettled backdrop of a town gripped by moral panic, Girls on Fire is an unflinching and unforgettable snapshot of girlhood: girls lost and found, girls strong and weak, girls who burn bright and brighter—and some who flicker away.

Girls on Fire

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