The Girl in Between

by Sarah Carroll

I know the mill has a story cos there’s something strange going on. I heard something. I’ve decided that I’m going to find out what it is later today when Ma leaves. Cos even if it is scary, we live here and we’re never leaving. So if there’s something going on, I need to know. 

In an old, abandoned mill, a girl and her ma take shelter from their memories of life on the streets. To the girl it’s home, her safe place, the Castle. But as her ma spins out of control and the Authorities move ever closer, the girl finds herself trapped – stuck in the crumbling mill with only the ghosts of the past for company.
 
Can she move on before it’s too late? 
 

• ISBN10: 1471160637
• ISBN13: 9781471160639
• Publish Date: 4 May 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

The Girl in Between is a deep and thought provoking tale about a young girl and her mother. Amazon suggests it as a good read for teens, which is probably accurate. I can see my old high school book club picking this as their monthly read. I also think an older audience would possibly find it enjoyable as well.
The story explores the concepts of loneliness and the permanence of memories. I found myself being inexplicably drawn to this book – even though this is normally not the sort of thing I read. I just couldn't put it down.



The Girl in Between revolves around a little girl and her mother. They are squatting in an old run down mill, which the little girl considers her castle. Despite everything she has gone through and seen, she's still so innocent and naive, it's quite endearing to see.
It didn't occur to me until I was writing this review, but the author never actually names the girl or her mother. It's extra food for thought considering the implications at the end. The lack of names does add to the plot, without taking anything away.
About halfway through I started getting a bad feeling that there was something wrong, something that either wasn't being shown or something I was missing. It adds a subtle but very real extra layer of intensity that I really enjoyed. My gut was correct, but not in the way I was even remotely expecting or prepared for. (I'm not going to say how, for the sake of those that want to read it).
There is quite a bit of repetition throughout the novel, and while it isn't necessarily annoying, I'm not sure it adds anything to the plot either. There's also some time hopping back and forth, where we'll go from the present to the past for a chapter, and then back again. These events are clearly delineated, though at a couple times they left me anxious to see what happens next (in either continuity). Despite these complaints, I found it hard to put the book down, and ended up finishing it over the weekend.
On the whole I'm giving this a three and a half star rating, because while there were some flaws, the overall concept was well thought out and oddly spellbinding.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks