The Ice Cream Girls

by Dorothy Koomson

[Leah]

After the murder of teacher Marcus Halnsley, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe find themselves suddenly in the glare of the worlds’ media. Poppy ends up convicted of the crime and gets life in prison whereas Serena gets to walk free. Years later Poppy gets released from prison and is determined to clear her name and get Serena to confess to killing Marcus. Serena, however, wants to keep the past firmly where it is: in the past as she never actually got around to telling her husband Evan about the entire debacle. Which girl will win out? Will Poppy finally be able to clear her name and prove her innocence or will Serena manage to keep everything buried back in the 80’s? The most important question of all though is who exactly did kill Marcus Halnsley?

Although I’ve only read one of her books (Marshmallows For Breakfast), Dorothy Koomson is still an author I look out for as I adored Marshmallows For Breakfast. I have all of her other books on my shelf just waiting to be read and when I first heard about her new release The Ice-Cream Girls I was desperate to read it as it sounded fantastic. A fellow book blogger sent a finished copy of the book to me and I eagerly started it.

Dorothy Koomson’s books seem to tackle some difficult issues. I’ve read the blurbs for My Best Friend’s Girl and Goodnight, Beautiful and they sound like serious reads which tackles issues most chick lit authors seem to steer away from. The Ice-Cream Girls is no different and although I haven’t read the two I’ve mentioned, I think The Ice-Cream Girls is probably the most serious issue to be tackled. Koomson does not shy away from the difficult scenes that help shape The Ice-Cream Girls and although I found them wince-worthy I also found them immensely readable because it all helped to create such a fantastic and atmospheric book. Without those scenes, the book wouldn’t have been what it was.

While the main plot of the book may well be Poppy’s bid to clear her name and Serena’s bid to keep everything under wraps, the main plot is also the relationships between Poppy, Serena and Marcus Halnsley. As I mentioned above, some of the scenes do make for hard reading – they’re not terribly graphic but you can still imagine everything that happens – it didn’t put me off at all and those flashback scenes really pull you into the story. The book alternates between Serena and Poppy as well as flashing back and forward from the present and the past but the book is clearly marked as the changes take place. Although Poppy and Serena’s narratives are very distinct so it’s not totally necessary to have the names at the top of the chapters – you know who’s speaking when. The alternating chapters give us a full view of the entire story and to read both girls’ views about the horrific tragedy made for absorbing reading.

You would think that having two potential criminals as main characters would make them unlikeable but I adored both Poppy and Serena. They were like rubber and glue yet one seemingly little thing bound them together in a way neither could imagine. Usually with two female leads, I like one better than the other but here I loved them both equally. Poppy is feisty and her desperation to clear her name radiates off the pages and I was desperate to find out if she could manage to clear her name. I liked Serena right from the off, also, and although I could see Poppy’s reasons for wanting it all to come out in the open, I could also see why Serena wanted to keep everything secret. Maybe it was wrong for Serena to keep everything that happened a secret from her devoted husband Evan but she had her reasons and I could sympathise with her. The respective families of both girls make regular appearances and were all good characters but the book really revolves around Poppy, Serena and Marcus.

It was interesting to see how the intervening years had changed both girls and their lives. Serena, after being cleared of murder, got the chance to live her life as full as she felt she possibly could and ended up married with kids although she did still have quirks and things relating to what happened. On the other hand, Poppy had to deal with 20 years in prison and the fact that everyone seemed to brand her a killer when she believed herself to be innocent. To see how strained Poppy’s relationship with her parents had become was so saddening and it goes to show that just because one person is convicted of something, it doesn’t actually mean they’re the only ones affected. It was an interesting dynamic, seeing the two girls blame each other for what happened and I for one was completely confused as to who actually was the murderer. That last chapter knocked me for six because I had had my ideas about who it actually was who killed Marcus and I found it surprising when we found out who actually had done it. I certainly didn’t expect it. Koomson really did well there with her ending, I must say!

The Ice-Cream Girls completely blew me away. Because I’ve only read one of Koomson’s books I didn’t know what to fully expect from the book and to have such an outstanding read was a pleasant surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the book and while the book may have a sensitive subject at its heart, I thought Koomson tackled it well and must have really done her research. I read – and enjoy – a lot of books but only the special books really stay with me and I think The Ice-Cream Girls is definitely one of those. I rarely say this but if there’s one book you must read this year then The Ice-Cream Girls is that book.