Book Review: These Girls

Cate is the features editor at Gloss, but some of the responsibilities of her job are more than what she bargained for.

Her roommmate, Renee, wants to be the beauty editor of Gloss, but when people make rude comments about her weight, she resorts to drastic measures to look the part.

Abby has fled from her nanny job in Maryland to New York, harboring a painful secret and hoping to make a fresh start with her life. When a connection brings her to Cate and Renee's door, the women form bonds in ways they never thought possible.


Melissa Amster:
Whomever coined the phrase "third time's a charm" has not met Sarah Pekkanen. That is because her other books are so amazing, that "These Girls" follows in their footsteps of incredible writing quality. I loved this novel and couldn't put it down. I normally multitask books, but while reading "These Girls," I had to put the other book aside for the time being, as I didn't want to wait any longer than I had to between chapters! When it was over, I was sad that it had ended. It was like visiting with three best friends and then having to leave them behind. (Although I have been introducing them to my friends in real life!) Renee's storyline reminded me of something that happened to Jessie from "Saved by the Bell," which I didn't mind because I loved the episode I'm referring to. (Ironically, I also found a "Saved by the Bell" reference in "Skipping a Beat," involving another favorite episode of mine.)

While it was an incredible story overall, I still found some things that I wanted to bring to Ms. Pekkanen's attention. First of all, I found it confusing to have Abby and Annabelle's names sound so similar. (Annabelle was the baby that Abby was taking care of while she was a nanny). I kept mixing them up, as a result. Also, I was hoping that Cate would have more drama in her storyline. I could have seen it going a lot of different ways, given the secret she was harboring and her boss being the type to sexually harass his employees. The drama potential for Cate was there and just fizzled out. However, Renee and Abby had enough drama to balance out Cate's storyline and make for a well-rounded novel.

"These Girls" was a beautiful and heartbreaking story, and if Ms. Pekkanen continues in this tradition of fabulous writing, I can only imagine what her next novel will have in store!

Amy Bromberg:
Would I expect anything else than an amazing and “cannot put down” type of book? One that sucks you in right from the first page? Of course not, come on now, it’s by Sarah Pekkanen! Perhaps I’m just a bit biased because I loved her first two books, "The Opposite of Me" and "Skipping a Beat."

With Sarah’s choice and use of words and imagery, it felt as if I was able to smell, touch, feel and be in the scenes of the book, whether it was with Cate on one of her morning runs, with Renee during the times when she was frustrated that the scale said she only lost a pound, or with Abby when she was showering her love for Annabelle, the child for whom she was a nanny.

I loved how Sarah was able to write the book as if it was three totally separate stories, but weaving them together as if they were one. I also appreciated how it did not have a typical neat and happy ending...it's very refreshing for an ending to be like real life, as opposed to one of a fairy tale nature.

I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to get my hands on this book and I'm sure a lot of others feel the same way. Take it from me it's been worth the wait.

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