Sawkill Girls
Author: Claire Legrand
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication date: October 2018
First, there’s Marion, whose mother calls her “the grave little mountain”. With her father dead, her mother collapsing from grief, and her older sister longing for freedom, she is the one holding her family together. Marion’s only just arrived on Sawkill Island, and she doesn’t even have time for dreams.
Then comes Zoey, hair the orange color of fire and temper just as hot. Her father is Sawkill’s police chief, but she’s afraid he’s hiding something important. She just hasn’t figured out what that something is.
Last but certainly not least is Val Mortimer. Born into a family of survivors, women who deal with the Devil to save their lives, Val’s will has never been her own. Sawkill Island legend tells of the Collector. To most people, he’s the bogeyman. To Val, he’s her master.
Zoey is suspicious of Val. Sawkill girls go missing, and Val is best friends with each one. Marion, new to the island, doesn’t see a monster. She sees a golden-haired goddess who could never do anything wrong. That changes when her own sister is the next missing girl. The woods of Sawkill hide evil, and Zoey, Marion, and Val are the only ones who even have a chance to stop it.
Sawkill Girls is an intense story that hinges on the dynamic tensions of friendship, love, and courage. Unfortunately, this book also has its own tensions that can be difficult for a reader to reconcile. While the beginning gave a strong image and sense of the island and was crowded with impending emotion, it was slow. And when the plot did pick up, it became almost too rushed. The story was anchored by the three main characters. They touched me, because they aren’t perfect. They struggle to cope with their problems, they get into girl fights, and they are suspicious of one another. But they are beautiful because when they need to put aside all their differences and fight side by side, they do. The writing describing the girls and the story was sharp and clear, but at points was almost too detailed, leaving little room for the reader’s interpretation and interrupting engagement with the flow of events.
Sawkill Girls is a dense yet frantic story of the struggles and triumphs of three very different girls. It packs a powerful message to any woman or girl wrestling with sexism, confidence, and emotional turbulence - that we are strong, and though sometimes we need another hand to help lift our burdens, we can triumph. I definitely recommend this book to young adult readers rather than middle grade, not just because of the density of the story but also because of the frequent profanity and brief romantic scenes. Adults, especially women, will enjoy this story, and might take away deeper messages than kids will.
D. K. Nuray, age 13
