The Book I Read in a Day AKA Pretty Girl-13

I have a lot of friends (ahem Debra, Jessica) who read REALLY fast. I don’t think I read slow but I don’t read particularly fast so for me reading a book in one day just never happens. Only it did a few weeks ago. It was Sunday. We went to church and then even out to lunch with some friends and with a full tummy I didn’t feel like don’t anything but relaxing so I crawled into bed to start Pretty Girl -13 by Liz Coley and I read and read and read. I tried to stop but I just couldn’t. It was one of those just one more chapter things.
 

Reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart case, Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological mystery about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity.

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she’s returned home…only to find that it’s three years later and she’s sixteen-or at least that’s what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn’t know.

But there are people who do — people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her “alters.” As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

Liz Coley’s alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing – and ultimately empowering page-turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love. (from Goodreads)

To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect I hadn’t read the description past the first two paragraphs. I didn’t think it was my type of book but luckily I was sent a review copy so I decided to check it out and I LOVED it! I was sucked in from the first sentence to the very end.

It was intense and dealt with some really heavy content, but through out the whole book there was hope. I’ve read so many books that just pull you down but this one even with such a sad disturbing topic was really uplifting.  It was an absolutely fascinating read.

Anyone who has found themselves saddened and riveted by news stories should check this out. It’s interesting in the same way but without the feeling of invading someone’s privacy that news stories often give (I can’t be the only one who finds herself drawn in and feeling like a voyeur at the same time). And unlike the news it’s a complete story and you get to watch things be put right not just the horrors.
 
I recommend Pretty Girl-13 to anyone who is up for something a little intense as well as for people who enjoyed Forgotten by Cat Patrick or the Mara Dyer books by Michelle Hodkin. It’s completely different in the story but definitely a psychological ride of the same sort.