shannonmiz's Review of Girls with Razor Hearts (Girls with Sharp Sticks, #2)

by Suzanne Young

It’s time to fight back in this second novel in a thrilling, subversive near future series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be.

Make me a girl with a razor heart…

It’s been weeks since Mena and the other girls of Innovations Academy escaped their elite boarding school. Although traumatized by the violence and experimentations that occurred there, Mena quickly discovers that the outside world can be just as unwelcoming and cruel. With no one else to turn to, the girls only have each other—and the revenge-fueled desire to shut down the corporation that imprisoned them.

The girls enroll in Ridgeview Prep, a private school with suspect connections to Innovations, to identify the son of an investor and take down the corporation from the inside. But with pressure from Leandra, who revealed herself to be a double-agent, and Winston Weeks, an academy investor gone rogue, Mena wonders if she and her friends are simply trading one form of control for another. Not to mention the woman who is quite literally invading Mena’s thoughts—a woman with extreme ideas that both frighten and intrigue Mena.

And as the girls fight for freedom from their past—and freedom for the girls still at Innovations—they must also face new questions about their existence…and what it means to be girls with razor hearts.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I really loved Girls With Sharp Sticks, and was super excited to dive into the sequel. And while it did feel like a sequel in some ways, it was still definitely good, and provided a very clear and firm message. It is extremely feminist, and absolutely calls out the patriarchy over and over again. The thing is, it didn't paint all men with the same brush, which I was glad about. It wasn't man-bashing, it was bad-man-bashing. Which I am 100% here for.

In this book, the girls had to flee town and Mena ends up at a crappy private school with a bunch of privileged asshats. And I am certain that these places exist. Athletes get privileges that no one else gets, jerks with rich dads get to basically run amok. And the author addresses how as bad as it is for women in general, women of color deal with even more awfulness.

While the good portion of this book is devoted to stopping some awful men (both those who created them and those in charge at the school), there is still time for a lot of great interaction among the girls. And yes, Jackson is a thing, but I won't tell you in what capacity.

There are some good twists and plot movement, but it did seem a bit less intense than the first. It's not an altogether bad thing, just a thing worth mentioning. Still, a solid book, and I absolutely can't wait to find out what's next for Mena and the rest of the girls!

Bottom Line: A solid sequel that will infuriate you with its authentic take on the excessive privilege of rich white men.

Girls with Razor Hearts (Girls with Sharp Sticks, #2)

by Suzanne Young

Reviewed by shannonmiz on Feb 29, 2020

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