Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Girls with Sharp Sticks

I liked this a lot! An inner child deep in my heart feels pretty powerful after the fact, definitely check content warnings to see if it’s a story for you. I’m intrigued to see where it could go from here

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space_bandit's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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frhwrdn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

4/5 Stars

Easiest 4 stars. I am even surprised by how enjoyable this is according to my standards. Both plot and character-wise. The whole premise of the book is about girls who enrolled in a prestigious academy known as Innovations Academy (which is run by men) where they learn all sorts of things about etiquette and life but not about science alike. Because according to the lecturers and their analyst, “Too much thinking ruins them.” The girls are trained to become an ‘important part of society’ where their investors invest a lot of money on them.

They lived in an awful world where they had to obey the men who run the place. Man, they had unsweetened oats for their breakfast while the vile men had bacon and eggs. It really was fucked up. The things the guardian said to them, belittling them all sent shivers down my spine. What hurts more was how such things have happened before in real life.

This book is a page turner, and kept me on the edge of my bed, had me curious about the next part, of things that will happen to the girls. It is a darker version of The Handmaid’s Tale (without the breeding and wanting kids part) with the misogyny and men desperately trying to control women for their own pleasure and gaslight them, which is well- again- sickening.

My favourite part of this book is the uprising and the realization that they are the pawns of the academy. Watching them slowly rise to fight against everyone in the academy is really satisfying and empowering. I gasped a lot towards the second half of the book, layers after layers of truth were revealed.

On a side note, a few typos have been found in the book and is a huge turn off for me, they are still unanswered plot holes which I hope Suzzane Young fills in the next book!

Overall, I am looking forward to buying the sequel soon!

Content Warnings

faefires's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

After reading The Treatment by Young, I had completely written her off. The premise of this book interested me though, so I gave her another chance. She’s definitely improved, but the book is honestly sort similar. An totalitarian government/business is controlling young minds to be happy and compliant…whatever. If she has a lane, that’s fine.
This book has good themes. Sisterhood, feminism, agency, all good. They’re not subtly delivered at all, but the setting doesn’t really allow for subtly when the whole concept is a school designed to breed female subservience. The romance plotline was barely present and unnecessary, you could replace Jackson with a house plant and the story would be the same. It also cheapens the message: it’s all about female empowerment but they need outside help from a man?
Overall this book was a fast read that didn’t require much thought, it was entertaining and I finished it in two sittings. Won’t be picking up the sequels, this could have easily been a stand-alone.
Overall, an okay book. Enjoyable, nothing revolutionary. The Handmaids Tale, but make it teen thriller! Read it if you want to, you’ll probably like it. But if you want nuance and feminism in a similar world, just pick up Margaret Atwood.

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