One of the Girls – book review

28th May 2023 0 By Rachael Stray

I was kindly given an advanced electrotonic copy of One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke in exchange for an honest review*.

One of the Girls book blurb

The latest twisty psychological thriller from internationally-bestselling author Lucy Clarke, One of the Girls is the delicious story of a bachelorette trip on a stunning Greek island… that ends in murder.

It was supposed to be the perfect weekend away.

Six very different women travel to a sun-soaked Greek island for a bachelorette trip, to celebrate Lexi’s upcoming wedding.

From the glorious ocean views to the quaint tavernas and whitewashed streets, the vacation seems too good to be true.

But dangerous undercurrents run beneath the sunset swims and midnight cocktails – because each of the women is hiding a secret.

Someone is determined to make sure that Lexi’s marriage never happens – and that one of them doesn’t leave the island alive.

Gripping, twisty, and full of sun-soaked suspense, this timely thriller examines the joys of female friendship…as well as the deadly consequences when a relationship goes wrong.

My overall thoughts on One of the Girls

One of the Girls is the first book I’ve read by Lucy Clarke but it will certainly not be the last – what a great read this is!

I absolutely loved Clarke’s writing style, using the different women’s point of view in each chapter to slowly unpick the thread of the narrative that holds them altogether in this tangled web of deceit, set against the beautiful backdrop of an island in Greece.

Lexi Lowe is settling down and getting married so of course she needs to celebrate the end of being single with a bang, in the form of a hen do on the fictional Green island of Aegos organised by her best friend Bella.

I really felt that I’d been transported to this stunning island with clear water, white washed walls and delicious Greek food along with the six women thanks to Clark’s excellently descriptive writing – a perfect bit of escapism.

However, this hen party is far from Utopia. We know from the get go that someone is killed but who is it and why?

The story is told in alternating chapters with a point of view of each of the main characters Lexi (the bride to be), Bella (the best friend), Robyn (a close friend from school who was part of a trio of Lexi and Bella), Eleanor (the soon to be sister-in-law, Ana (a new friend from yoga), Fen (Bella’s girlfriend and it’s her aunt who owns the villa they are staying at), and an unknown narrator.

In each chapter we slowly learn each character’s background and the undercurrent that lies beneath the surface of their friendships and the lies start to be revealed.

This was a semi closed room mystery that leaned more toward a character study than thriller but nonetheless I found it very dramatic and tense especially the last few days of the hen party.

Clarke had me absolutely hooked.

I wanted to know who was hiding what and how it would all unravel, after all the truth always comes out in the end.

There’s definitely nods to Big Little Lies which I am a huge fan of, there were troubling undercurrents of each character and all were lying and hiding something.

As the six narratives progressed, I became more involved with each and didn’t want any of the characters to be the one who died or be the murderer, I was well and truly invested.

I think this could be adapted into a one-off series for TV really well!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Clark, and Penguin Group for my ARC in exchange for an honest review