Sawkill Girls was yet another pick for the Ladies of Horror Fiction 2 year anniversary readathon. This book hit the prompt ‘Been on Your TBR Forever.’
I bought this book something like a year ago, and it had been just sitting on (okay…was buried in) my TBR cart ever since.
Edition:
Paperback
Synopsis:
Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.
He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.
Who are the Sawkill Girls?
Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.
Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.
Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.
Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.
Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.
Awards and Nominations:
- 2018 Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Young Adult Novel
- 2019 Lambda Literary Award Nominee for LGBTQ Children’s Young Adult
- 2019 Dragon Award Nominee for Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel
My Thoughts:
I took a whole host of completely bizarre when taken out of context notes (actually, they might be bizarre in context as well) as I was reading this story.
This is the kind of crap I have to deal with every time I write reviews. I write notes inconsistent in format, type of handwriting, and almost always lacking in context.
Oh, and that body horror bit? That shit picks up ALL OVER my notes. Instead of listing them in one spot like a person with a functioning brain, they’re scattered all over the damned place with “BH” sometimes written next to them, and sometimes no indicator at all. I suck at notes. Always have.
Anyhoozers…
This book has all those earmarks of stories that I really love.
- female empowerment
- human sacrifices
- earth connection
- folk horror
- body horror
- friendship
- Death, death, death, death, death.
I saw more than one review out there who rated this book low for “man-hating,” but I don’t get that at all. I got “patriarchal society-hating” for sure, but not men. Just the systems in place that consistently value men above all others. And I. AM. FUCKING. HERE. FOR. THAT.
“Girls hunger. And we’re taught, from the moment our brains can take it, that there isn’t enough food for us all.”
I want you to read this book. And I want you to love it. I want you to acknowledge that sometimes people recognize that what they have always done without thought is bad shit, and that they can begin (with very much consistent effort on their part) to come back from that. People can change, and often they will – but at the same time, the people they have hurt owe them NOTHING in return. They do not owe them forgiveness, or even understanding. All actions have consequences, and we must learn to deal with them.
I think that is actually a running theme throughout this story – just because bad things have been done in the past, and we were taught to continue to do them, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t or can’t decide to be and do better going forward. Change is hard, but it is possible.
About the Author:
Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. Now she is a librarian and New York Times bestselling author living in central New Jersey.
Her first novel is THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2012. She is also the author of THE YEAR OF SHADOWS, a ghost story for middle grade readers; and WINTERSPELL, a young adult re-telling of The Nutcracker. SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS, her middle grade novel about mental illness, family secrets, and the power of storytelling, is a 2017 Edgar Award Nominee. Claire’s latest middle grade novel, FOXHEART, is a classic fantasy-adventure and a 2016 Junior Library Guild selection. She is one of the four authors behind THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, an anthology of dark middle grade short fiction that was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Bank Street Best Book, and among the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2014.
Her fantasy novel FURYBORN debuted at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list, and is the first book in the Empirium Trilogy, a young adult epic fantasy series. The next book in the series, KINGSBANE, was also an instant New York Times bestseller. The third and final book in the trilogy, LIGHTBRINGER, releases October 13, 2020.
Her latest standalone book, SAWKILL GIRLS, is a queer young adult horror novel that received five starred reviews. It is also a 2018 Bram Stoker Award finalist and a 2019 Lambda Literary Award finalist.
Rating:
I loved it! In fact, I plan to replace my used paperback with a new Hardcover ASAP!
Sawkill Girls By Claire Legrand Katherine Tegen Books ISBN: 0062696610 Published: May 7, 2019 Hardcover, Paperback, E-book, Audiobook 447 Pages
