Doubly Dark and Gritty Book Reviews: Those Girls and Made in the U.S.A.

Title: Those Girls 
Author: Chevy Stevens
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Chevy Stevens is back with her most powerful, emotional thriller yet— a story of survival…and revenge. 

Life has never been easy for the three Campbell sisters. Jess, Courtney, and Dani live on a remote ranch in Western Canada where they work hard and try to stay out of the way of their father’s fists. One night, a fight gets out of hand and the sisters are forced to go on the run, only to get caught in an even worse nightmare when their truck breaks down in a small town. Events spiral out of control and a chance encounter with the wrong people leaves them in a horrific and desperate situation. They are left with no choice but to change their names and create new lives. 

Eighteen years later, they are still trying to forget what happened that summer when one of the sisters goes missing and they are pulled back into their past. 

This time there’s nowhere left to run. 

As much of a thriller as it is a deep exploration of the bonds among sisters, THOSE GIRLS is an unforgettable portrait of desperation, loyalty, and evil.

My thoughts:

So the last book I read by Chevy Stevens, That Night, annoyed me. I didn't like it; I thought the main character was a moron. However, this book was Stevens' redemption. It is about three sisters who survive some pretty dark and horrendous stuff - I was horrified, sad, and scared while reading. I couldn't put it down. I have a baby at home, and sleep is currently a valuable commodity to me - but I gave up some of that precious, precious slumber to read this book until the wee hours. I thought this book was well written, riveting, and although the end felt a little hurried, I really really enjoyed it. I was worn out emotionally from reading it! 

Title: Made in the U.S.A.
Author: Billie Letts
Source: my stepmom

Goodreads Summary:

The bestselling author of WHERE THE HEART IS returns with a heartrending tale of two children in search of a place to call home. Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind. 
MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.

My Thoughts:

Another book that exhausted me just reading it. I loved it; I couldn't put it down. But dang if it wasn't just as sad and heartbreaking as Those Girls, just in a different way. This one got me on another level too - I am an older sister, with a little brother. I felt for poor, broken Lutie. She did what she felt she had to do, to keep them away from foster homes and separation. What she had to do at times is what kills the reader. However, despite being put through the ringer, the end of this book is a good one, making the turmoil worth it. 

Book Review: That Night by Chevy Stevens

Title: That Night
Author: Chevy Stevens
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

As a teenager, Toni Murphy had a life full of typical adolescent
complications: a boyfriend she adored, a younger sister she couldn't relate to, a strained relationship with her parents, and classmates who seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable. Things weren't easy, but Toni could never have predicted how horrific they would become until her younger sister was brutally murdered one summer night.

Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were convicted of the murder and sent to prison.

Now thirty-four, Toni is out on parole and back in her hometown, struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Prison changed her, hardened her, and she’s doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back. This means having absolutely no contact with Ryan, avoiding fellow parolees looking to pick fights, and steering clear of trouble in all its forms. But nothing is making that easy—not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who doubts Toni's innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni's life hell in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. No matter how hard she tries, ignoring her old life to start a new one is impossible. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out what really happened that night.

But the truth might be the most terrifying thing of all

My Thoughts:

Ok, so this wasn't fabulous but it wasn't terrible. Not my favorite Stevens book by far, but it wasn't the worst either. That distinction I reserve for Always Watching, which I couldn't even get through.

As a teen, Toni was your typical rebellious wayward daughter. Tough bad boy boyfriend from a crap home, smoking, drinking, drugs, sex - these were all just another fact of Toni's life back then. But unlike most other kids, Toni had the worst luck in the world.

Toni's sister Nicole is her total opposite, the good girl, the one who does what she should and is the apple of her mother's eye, where Toni is just a pain in her ass. Toni is also being bullied by the mean girls at her school, whose main goal in life is to mess up Toni's existence and set her up disasters. Unfortunately for Toni, no one ever believes her. 

This is a pattern that dogs her steps the entire book. When tragedy strikes, and Nicole is found murdered by Toni and her boyfriend Ryan, it goes badly for the duo. Tried and convicted, they are sent to prison for 17 years. When they are finally released, where do they go? Straight back to the town that hated them then, and hates them even more now.  I am not sure why - that would be the last place I went!

So of course things are terrible for Toni. To make things worse, Ryan is back in town, the great love of her life, and if they even talk to each other, it is violation of their parole and they will be sent straight back to prison. Pretty soon, the old bullying starts again, setting Toni up for falls for situations that she was not a part of - just like when she was a kid. This time she is bound and determined to get to the bottom of it.

This all culminates in a surprise ending, that is riveting and I didn't want to stop reading until I found out what happened.

Overall, this book was not bad. All of Toni's bad luck situations started to annoy me - like, just how much can she take and it eventually became annoying! And why would she go back to the place where she was convicted, by public opinion first, for her sister's death? I was able to get past these points and enjoy the book, although it got a little out of hand. Read this book when you are in the mood for a mysterious thriller, all snuggled down.