Review: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

This book was all kinds of amazing. Which I knew it would be, as I have yet to not love a book by Claire with all of my heart. I have read them all, and her books means the most to me. I am thrilled to say the same about Sawkill Girls. It was such a stunning read. Beautiful and fierce girls. The most horrible monster. And magic.

There was so much that I loved about this book. I do not know where to start. The writing was beautiful, of course. I love how Claire writes her books. She is the most awesome person and such an incredible author. I cannot wait to read more and more books by her. Eee. This newest one was so good. And so evil.

This book tells the story of Zoey and Marion and Val. It is set in the present time, and the world is a normal one. Or so they think. The island of Sawkill Rock is not like any other place. Girls have gone missing for so many years now, never to be found. And no one is doing anything about it. And oh, this story was all kinds of amazing. I'm not going to share all the details of it, but will share a little. It begins with Marion arriving on the island with her sister and mother, after their father just died. On her first day there, she manages to fall of a horse. Ever since that happens she starts having issues with her head. She does not know what is wrong, only that it hurts. And that is just the beginning of her story. So much happens to this poor girl. Ack. My heart hurts for her.

I pretty much adored getting to know Marion. She was such an amazing person. Not perfect, but so good. She has been taking care of her mother and sister for some time now, and she is pretty much exhausted. Her older sister, Charlotte, was pretty interesting to get to know. I loved their relationship. They were such awesome sisters. Well, most of the time. Some stuff happens with that, and it just broke my heart. I wish it had not happened. My poor heart. But gosh, how it was written well and how exciting it was to read it.

Then there was Zoey. I have to admit that this girl was my favorite of the three. Getting to know her was the very best thing. She was fierce and awesome and loving and I adored her tons. Her friendship with Grayson was my very favorite. Eee. Zoey is grieving the loss of her friend, a girl that went missing less than a year ago. She wants to know what happened to her. And I very much loved that about Zoey. She was a fierce friend. And just such an amazing girl. I could not help but love her point of views the most.

And then there was Val. I am still not sure what I feel about this girl. She did some completely awful and unforgivable things. Yet she was pretty much a victim for most of the book too. Hmm. Yet I am not sure I can forgive all the things that she did. But at the same time, I could not help but love her and feel sorry for her and want to know more about her. How rude. She was such a well written character, and I loved that. Getting to know her was pretty amazing, though. There is much to know. Some good, but most of it bad.

These three girls are not friends. Val and Zoey are pretty much enemies. And Marion just moved there, to clean for Val's family. But they end up spending more time together, all of them, because of the monster on this island. They must learn to become friends. And reading about these three girls together was pretty epic. They fight a bit. They care for each other a bit. And they were just the best to read about. And this story was so good and I shall not mention much of it, because it was surprising and awesome. I loved it.

Time to mention the romances a little. Zoey and Grayson were together for some time. Until they had sex and she broke up with him. Yet they are the best of friends, even so. And they love each other so fiercely. Their break up had a lot of reasons for happening, most of them silly, to be honest, haha. And I loved how Zoey still very much loved him. And how he adored her. It was so sweet to read about. I wanted them as more than friends so badly. They were the cutest couple. Ack. And I loved their friendship so very much.

Then there was Marion and Val. I shall not mention their romance that much, because it had so so many complications, but gosh, I very much liked them together. They just met, and it takes a little time, but they get closer and the romance happens so sudden. It was awesome. They were pretty cute together, and I did ship them. Despite my complicated feelings about Val. Ahh. So much happens with them in this book. Yet I think I still want them together. Probably. Maybe. The romance was sweet, though. Short, but good.

This book is filled with magic. Okay, maybe not that much magic, but a little bit. And it was all so lovely to read about. I'm not going to share what this magic is, or who has it, but it was so good to read about and pretty special too. And a bit dangerous. Then there was the monster. There is a creature in these woods that feeds on girls. And reading about it was all kinds of horrible. I loved every moment, haha. This book is about the girls learning about the monster, and trying their best to get rid of it, before they end up dead.

I am not going to say much more about this book. Just that I loved it beyond words. Adored the girls so much. And I loved reading about their life. The ending was good, yet so evil, and I wish there would be more books. More of Zoey and Grayson. As those two were so precious to me. Eee. But they all were. Reading about these girls and this island was pretty incredible. I'm so happy with how much I loved this story. I wish there had been a little bit more romance, haha, but there also did not need to be more of it.

This is a book that I think everyone is going to love. The girls are amazing and flawed and just completely perfect. There are two stunning romances. Boy and girl. Girl and girl. Both were written so well. There is a monster. And it was the most horrible one. There is some stunning magic, and I loved every moment of that. There is girl power. Girls slowly becoming friends. There are some arguments, though those were needed, and they were written so well. I just loved all of it so much. And these girls. They were the best.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Katherine Tegen Books, for the auto-approval on Edelweiss, so that I could download and read this book right away. Eee. I'm so happy that I had the chance to read this most precious book so early. Now just looking for the print ARC to complete my very huge collection of books by Claire. Sawkill Girls was everything I wanted it to be and more. Full of amazing girls fighting for their right to live and love. Beautiful friendships. And just such an incredible story too. You are going to love it.

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