Review of "Pretty Girl-13"

"Don't fight me, pretty girl."

     In Liz Coley's Pretty Girl-13, we explore the world of someone who shares her mind with other people. Angie Chapman is a thirteen-year-old Girl Scout in the local troop, and she loves it. She and her best friend, Livvie, share a tent with Katie on their campouts to the nearby woods, and it's great fun--until Angie comes home to the realization that she's sixteen, has been missing for three years, and doesn't remember a thing about the interim. Now Angie must face the past her mind has tried so hard to protect her from, and the discoveries are terrifying.

     I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up Pretty Girl-13. The prologue, written in an italicized second-person point of view, was intimidating. Was the whole book like this? Thankfully, it wasn't. And I can honestly say that the trend of exceeding my expectations continued throughout the rest of the story.

     The characters in this book are incredibly realistic, primarily because they are flawed. Dad, Grandma, Angie's friends--everyone is marked by an undeniable imperfection that shapes who they are. Her father, for instance, is a distant and unaffectionate figure--not because he doesn't love her, but because of the shock of finding his dead-and-buried daughter on his doorstep, alive and cheerful. Angie herself is broken, her mind shattered into five separate and distinct personalities that work together to shield her, the Primary, from the traumatic events she's gone through. Each flaw is unique to the individual and works with their personalities to create rounded, realistic characters you can sympathize with whether you like them or not.

     A big thing to consider when recommending this book is the premise. It's full of potential triggers and some sickening plot twists, but if you can make it through the dark moments it's a great read. Angie has Dissociative Identity Disorder, and each of her personalities is designed to safeguard her core self from a certain part of her captivity. Each piece of herself, called an "alter", is unique and sympathetic, even if one or two are unlikable. It's easy to see how much they care about Angie and work hard to protect her.

     Although this is a YA book, it's a far cry from the action and adventure stories that crowd the shelves in that section. Pretty Girl-13 touches on some delicate subjects--physical and sexual abuse, kidnapping, and recovery--and while none of Angie's eventual recollections are too graphic, they leave no room for doubt about what happened. Readers should note that when Little Wife, one of the alters, gets the chance to tell her side of the story, it's with a great deal of cussing and crude remarks. Otherwise, there is little to no foul language. Angie's story isn't, however, all about her kidnapping. She must adjust to the reality that she is now sixteen, and face it on all fronts. School, friends, and family dynamics are all very real battlefields for her, which lends a sense of realism to the story.

     I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a YA book about Dissociative Identity Disorder, kidnapping and amnesia, and recovery in a world turned upside-down by a traumatic event. With her attention to detail and dynamic plot, Liz Coley clearly paints the picture of a girl quite literally torn apart by her past. The characters are all deeply flawed and fit perfectly into the story, like the pieces to a jigsaw. For all these reasons and more, I give Pretty Girl-13 five stars.