The girl in question by Tess Sharpe

The Girl in Question is the sequel set one year after Sharpe’s The Girls I’ve Been and although it is possible to read as a standalone, readers will then have to infer much of the important backstory.

Having finished high school, Nora is heading into the Californian forest for several weeks of a summer backpacking/camping trip with her girlfriend Iris, ex-boyfriend Wes and his girlfriend Amanda. Within moments they are testing their survival skills in more ways than one, as her criminal step-father Raymond sends henchmen to track her down and take a hostage to extract retribution for her violent acts that were the basis of The Girls I’ve Been.

Nora has led a series of double lives ever since her con-artist mother recruited her into a life of conning and deceit as a young child, and the extent of the deceptions become apparent as she opens up to her friends in her found family. Told from the friends’ three points of view, The Girl in Question also contains flashbacks from weeks and years earlier that add to the multilayered story-line. Relationships and aliases become quite complex as more of Nora’s previous life and connections come to light.

Although the main characters have good intentions and display courage and team-work in an effort to right past wrongs, their moral compass is often questionable. They routinely keep secrets from each other and the motive of a carrying out a revenge killing drives the plot as Nora in particular seeks vengeance on her abusers. This is a fast-paced YA thriller, with ongoing violence and assault described in some detail, and additional reference to emotional and physical abuse. While this is integral to the plot, given the characters’ personalities and motivations, it makes the book more suitable for a mature reader.

Themes: Abduction, Adventure, Found family, Revenge, Thriller.

Margaret Crohn