Pretty Girl-13

by Liz Coley

[Angie]

That was one messed up story. Woah. Pretty Girl-13 does not sugar coat anything or hold back at all. It’s disturbing and completely unsettling. However, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened to Angie during the time she was held captive in that cabin in the woods. I was also fascinated by the recovery process for Dissociative Identity Disorder. Angie remembers absolutely nothing from the three years she was missing thanks to her “alters” who stepped in to handle various aspects of her captivity. Now she’s aware of them but she’s afraid of what they’ll have to say and what they’ll make her do.

Pretty Girl-13 is very much a story about recovery from abuse and taking your life back. Yes, there’s a mystery element as they try to figure out who took her and bring him to justice. But overall, the story is focused on Angie meeting her alters and coming to terms with them and what has been done to her. It’s truly terrible, but there is a slight detachment for Angie since she was never present. It was overwhelming when her alters’ memories came flooding into her, or when they left her notes to explain. What happened to her really made me sick. It’s revealed piece by piece, and waiting for the whole picture was agonizing. Angie does try to go on with life as normally as possible, and I liked how she didn’t let her parents dictate what was “right” for her. She’s behind in school and has no friends. Attempting her rekindle her relationships from before was an interest aspect, but I found myself not caring much at times, since I thought the dialogue was really awkward. It’s a minor thing given the overall intensity of the book.

The only thing that kept Pretty Girl-13 from being a perfect 5 stars was the subplot involving a previous abuse. I can’t really talk about it without spoiling, but how it was handled didn’t sit right with me and made me take away a half-star. I just couldn’t believe her parent’s reaction to Angie’s confession. They essentially brush her off as insane until her therapists convinces them otherwise. I can understand parents not wanting to believe it, but to dismiss her story completely? I don’t think so. I would have expected them to at least take a step back and consider the possibility. However that doesn’t happen, and Angie’s parents tell her that her doctor “was very persuasive.” Meaning they don’t believe her, but her doctor is just that good. What? The outcome is also skipped over. Her parents go from not believing at all to taking half-assed legal action, then brushing it under the rug. I just wish this plot had been ended better.

Pretty Girl-13 is a difficult book to read, but I think it’s well worth it if you can handle extremely dark stories. Of course, it’s full of triggers so it’s definitely not something I can recommend lightly. Angie’s situation at the end is awful, but it’s also hopeful. She came a long way since she first turned up on her parent’s doorstep after three years.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.