GIRLS ON FIRE – The Book Diva's Reads

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman
ISBN: 9780062415486 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780062417169 (ebook)
ASIN: B013PKGT2O (Kindle version)
Publication Date: May 17, 2016
Publisher: Harper

Girls on Fire tells the story of Hannah and Lacey and their obsessive teenage female friendship so passionately violent it bloodies the very sunset its protagonists insist on riding into, together, at any cost. Opening with a suicide whose aftermath brings good girl Hannah together with the town’s bad girl, Lacey, the two bring their combined wills to bear on the community in which they live; unconcerned by the mounting discomfort that their lust for chaos and rebellion causes the inhabitants of their parochial small town, they think they are invulnerable.

But Lacey has a secret, about life before her better half, and it’s a secret that will change everything…

Hannah Dexter was considered a normal, albeit quiet and somewhat isolated, teenager. She went to school, studied, and avoided any attention or trouble. All that changed when she was befriended by the “new” girl, Lacey Champlain. The story of their friendship and devotion are revealed in Girls On Fire by Robin Wasserman.

Hannah Dexter quickly goes from being the invisible kid in school to Lacey’s mini-me sidekick Dex, wearing Doc Martens and flannel shirts, listening to grunge rock, and taking on the resident mean-girl and queen bee, Nikki Drummond. Dex and Lacey want to escape small town life and go about it in all the wrong ways (think of an evil and darkly twisted younger version of Thelma and Louise). Their friendship spirals from being supportive to a level of devotion that is unsettling. Although the main characters of Girls on Fire are teenagers and the story does contain a certain amount of teenage angst and drama, this is anything but a young adult novel. Ms. Wasserman introduces a host of dark and evil behaviors such as Satanism and rape. The language is coarse and filled with profanity. The action takes place in a small town in Pennsylvania during the earlier 1990s. Girls on Fire is not an easy read (or at least it wasn’t for this reader), primarily because of the dark nature of the two primary characters as well as the profanity and violence. (Yes, my inner prude raised its head several times and I had to set the book aside just to regain my equilibrium.) I think that this is going to be a book that people either love or hate (not hate the writing but hate the dark side that is revealed in the book). I didn’t like the characters or even where the story went, but I appreciate the talent of Ms. Wasserman to pull me into a story that I constantly wanted to turn away from. Girls on Fire is not for the faint of heart but it is a read that you won’t soon forget.

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher via Edelweiss. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Read an excerpt from Girls On Fire here.

Meet the author:

Robin Wasserman is a graduate of Harvard University and the author of several successful novels for young adults. A recent recipient of a MacDowell fellowship, she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Girls on Fire is her first novel for adults.

Find out more about Robin at her website and connect with her on Twitter.