Author: Sarah Pekkanen
ISBN: 978-07-318-1569-2
RRP: $29.99
Sarah Pekkanen introduces us to three young women living in New York in her new novel ‘These Girls’. These Girls seem to be very different but as we get to know them a little better, and peek into their lives through Pekkanen’s words, we realise that they aren’t so different after all. More to the point, they aren’t that different from any young woman trying to find their place in their world. They have their insecurities and past experiences they would be happier if no-one ever discovered.
These Girls are realistic and believable, and the novel tells a story that you have no problem believing – there is no point where you need to suspend disbelief to get you past it. Actually, maybe there is one because I’m not sure I can believe that last chapter would ever happen.
Centred around the high fashion world of glossy magazines in New York there is a lot of emphasis on appearances so it’s understandable that Renee feels she doesn’t fit as a size 12 in a size 4 world and this is something I can understand and empathise with. I can understand the draw of diet pills, I can feel the horror of having to put yourself out there only to be shot down and humiliated by nasty and inappropriate comments. There is no reason that a size 12 shouldn’t win the coveted position of Beauty Editor at Gloss magazine but if you’re insecure about your size to begin with it would feel like a major hurdle, and how do you talk about it when your friends are all, seemingly effortlessly, the size 4 you so covet?
Cate has just landed the position of Features Editor but there are times she can’t stop herself wondering why. She started at the bottom of the ladder as a receptionist and has worked her way up but there are things in her past that will always stop her truly believing that she deserves this.
Cate and Renee have been sharing an apartment for a while now and they have a pretty easy, casual relationship but it has never progressed to the real bond of friendship that both of these girls so desperately need.
Enter Abby, the sister of the GORGEOUS guy working at another magazine in their building. She arrives in the middle of a party looking less than together. Trey is worried about her and isn’t comfortable leaving her alone while he jets off for a story, enter Cate, Renee and their newly-spare room.
Preparing the room for Abby brings Cate and Renee together a little more and sets them on the path to friendship. Renee is outgoing and friendly but Cate isn’t one to open up easily so she appears aloof and unwilling to connect when really she just doesn’t know how to open up – yet.
These Girls follows three girls who have come to New York for very different reasons and from very different backgrounds. They grow together after the initial ice is broken and become more than room-mates and as they grow closer they begin to share more of their secrets, tell a little more of their backgrounds until we have the full picture and can see how they got to where they are. Better than that we get to watch this friendship form, grow and blossom until these three damaged women find that strength and support that a close friendship offers to face their issues and move on from them.
These Girls is the beautiful tale of a friendship that saves three young women from themselves and the mistakes of their pasts, three young women that could be any one of us. Pekkanen describes the beauty and importance of friendship in a way that is totally down-to-earth and easy to read. She’s definitely an author I will be keeping my eye out for, and it was nice to get a glimpse into the way the big glossy magazines work – something to aspire to.
40 of our Beauty Chick Chat members have been reading These Girls, find out what they thought below…
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I just couldn,t put down this fantastic story -an easy read but so full of realism and emotion. Actually had a few tears at the end -not because of sadness but because of the choice Cate made to honour her friendships. There were many aspects of this book to which I can personally relate and I feel that the story presents excellent role modelling for young women with body image, communication or family issues. I am definitely going to be on the lookout for more Sarah Pekkanen books and will lend my copy to my family and friends. With thanks for the opportunity to review this book . Would make a great film!
Carla
Well my review copy of ‘These Girls” arrived in perfect time – on the weekend I headed off to Kalgoorlie with a seven hour train journey both ways. The novel was perfect for the trip especially with my five year old interrupting me frequently. It was certainly not demanding, but engrossing enough to resent the interruptions. The characters were well contructed, believable and experienced a wide range of issues – most women would have encountered at least one of these throughout their lives from weight concerns, family issues, relationship problems to stressful work environments. the novel certainly put me off my dreams of becoming a writer for a magazine, but it was an enjoyable read and perfect for a short holiday.
I was really thrilled to receive my first book to review courtesy of Beauty and Lace and I couldn’t have asked for a better novel to begin with.
“These Girls” by Saral Pekkanen is a lovely book. It follows a short time span in the lives of three women, drawn together “through circumstance and chance.” Through real time and “looking back” chapters we come to know these lovely girls really well. They are completely different from each other but their compassion and empathy link them so that they become more like family. Each girl has had quite harrowing experiences to deal with and with the support of the other girls they come through their experiences as more complete beings.
I loved the layers of friendship – the three girls with their respective families and the way so much had been shaped by their earlier experiences, some known, some so deep in the background that they would not easily be recognised and with their respecrive work colleagues and with each other.
By the end of the book I felt that I knew the girls intimately, so much so that I would have liked a slightly different ending. However, I am a romantic and Sarah Pekkanen made the book “true to life.”
Absolutely everything relating to the story line was totally true to life and believable.
It is undoubtably a book where you really want to keep reading to see what will happen and one where you are a tiny bit sad to finish because you’ve enjoyed the relationships that you have become part of and would love it to continue.
Recommended reading, with thanks to Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster, publishers.
I really enjoyed reading and reviewing this book,
It went into so much details about the characters that you almost felts as if you knew them personally!
So much emotion, life experiences and ups and downs to keep you entertained throughout the whole book.
The issues confronted in this book by each of the characters are so true to life and something that most readers will be able to relate to in one way or another.
A great read, thankyou so much for the opportunity to review this book. It’s one I will be passing on to friends and family to read.
I absolutely adored this book. I did find that it took me a little while at the start to get my head around the switching of characters stories and to remember who was who and what they did but once I got into the book it was easy to follow along.
I wanted to read so quickly to find out why Abby left her boss and what was the secret surrounding her baby brother and I didn’t even connect it with the clues that are there but you don’t exactly realise it.
Cate’s past was told straight up from the start and that was then used as something that kept being referred to through out the book as her little secret come back to haunt her.
Renee, poor Renee. New job to apply for one must look they belong in that job or should they. Her struggle with trying to fit in how she thinks she needs to look is like many womens struggle with weight and confidence and was really wonderful to read.
Yes there’s even the token hot guy who is Abby’s brother and who Renee has been on dates with. Will Cate fall for him too at the risk of her friends.
The way the girls stories are interwoven is wonderful and its a wonderful book about friends and relationships with the people in our lives.
Cate,Renee and Abby have come to live in New York for many reasons.
It is these reasons and partly through chance these girls become both room mates and friends.
Cate is fighting her way to make it to the top in the magazine Gloss and will find she faces many complications. Renee will do absolutely anything to nab the job of beauty editor at gloss
including resorting to diet pills to lose weight to get the job of her dreams and fit in in this fast paced world of glamour, but will she find it’s too high a price to pay?
Then we have Abby who is running away from a past that started out of a life she once loved – a graduate student and live in nanny. Her past that soon catches up with her is revealed and we discover what it is that made Abby abbruptly flee her old life.
I read this book in 2 days I enjoyed the fast pace and lives of thes girls so much I was always reluctant to finish reading for the day. A definite must read.
I received the book to review on Monday and finished it Wednesday. It’s one of those books that you can’t put down, I was absolutely hooked from the first page.
It’s about 3 girls with insecurities and secrets and how they all help each other to get through their problems. I loved the way there was no sugar-coating the characters, it was warts and all, which made it more real and there were a lot of things I could relate to with all 3 girls.
Cate, Renee and Abby are so different in character, but they turn out to be great friends and by the end of the book there is a special bond that can’t be broken.
I really hope Sarah Pekkanen writes a sequel to These Girls as I”d love to see how the 3 girls lives turn out in 5 or 10 years time.
Thank you for letting me review this book. Whilst I can’t say I absoloutely loved it, I did always feel it always keep me interested and touched on some really great topics, ie. weight issues, grief and loss etc and the psychological impact they can have on people. Before reading the book and going by the summary, I was most captivated and intrigued about what the deal was with Abby running away but by the end of it, my favourite character became people pleaser Renee. I felt that Cate and Abby weren’t all that sweet and liked to play with fire in terms of their relationships with Timothy and Bob and I can’t say I really liked the ending of the book. The author painted a picture through Cate and what Cate believed would happen in the future ie. what would become of the girls, her relationship with Trey etc. hence I believe that the book could have gone on for a little longer and properly told readers what would have actually happened between the characters. All in all the book was a pretty good read.
Hi Everyone, I too was excited to be able to read and review “These Girls”by Sarah Pekkanen. I enjoyed the story, was an easy read and covered many issues that todays girls have to deal with in their own way (maybe not within the same professions though) in our modern and fast paced society. I can’t say I was moved to cry or laugh out loud but I could relate to the characters. I’m often a fan of everything being worked out at the end of a story, but I was not dissapointed with how “These Girls” was concluded. It left me with a happy feeling – that all in the world could be worked out – with a little love and support.
When I first received the book I thought to myself – oh dear I’m not sure I will quite like this. I started and could not put it down. Seriously! Yes it is predictable what had happened to Abby and why she was running away but I could not stop reading it. 3/4 of the way through in about 1.5 days. It is light hearted and in a way that you can relate to them. I don’t think it is very SATC, I feel it is written so you feel empathetic to all the main characters. It’s a light read and just a good holiday not too serious one.
Trying to picture their apartment in my head now!