“An Anonymous Girl” caught in disturbing experiment! by Greer Hendricks; Sarah Pekkanen

‘An Anonymous Girl’ was twisted, intriguing, and thought-provoking – all in one. Such a page-turner that I couldn’t put this book down for anything.

Disclaimer: I’ve received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Personal Experience:

Quote: 

“A secret is only safe if one person holds it, I think. But when two share a confidence, and both have self-preservation as their main motive, one of them is going to give.”

Who should read it? Lovers of unreliable narrators who enjoy unveiling mysterious characters.

Would I recommend it? Yes.

The Plot

Meet Jessica Farris, makeup artist struggling to make a living in New York, while supporting her family and her self-perception of a karmic debt. She doesn’t think much of signing up for a psychology study, just a bit of extra cash. But we readers know best. Something is wrong with that experiment… but what, exactly? As soon as Jessica Farris (or Jess) turns into “Subject 52” it starts getting difficult to put this book down because you can’t wait to find more!

The great thing about the plot is that very little is unveiled right away. It comes to a point that it even feels a bit “inconsistent” with all the lack of reliability of the narrator in Dr Shields PoV. You want to trust all of these characters, you really do. The fact that one of them is a narrator doesn’t help you reach out to any conclusions either. It is that intriguing.

The Characters

What an impressive cast of untrustworthy characters. It’s difficult to sympathize with them, even with Jess sometimes. But that doesn’t mean feeling less connected to them, their emotions, and their stories. No matter how disturbed or illogical their actions and thoughts, they feel something, and they’ll ensure you’ll feel something too.

The less you know about them the better, so you can draw your own conclusions. One thing I can say though is that they’ll make you reflect a lot. Not only about who they are, and what they could possibly hide but also people’s hidden motivations – and humanity, overall.

The Writing Style

The narrative is told from two PoVs – The doctor and her subject. The writing styles are quite distinct which helps a lot to differentiate the characters and get into their skin. I especially enjoyed Dr Shields’ second-person stalkerish narrative which inspires an interesting duality – on the one hand, you feel closer to Dr Shields, but on the other hand, she’s talking to you “Jess” which automatically transforms you, the reader, into her subject.

The pace is great with all the appropriate moments of tension and uncertainty as the plot develops.

Overall, ‘An Anonymous Girl’ is a suspenseful and addictive read, one that could easily lead you to ignore everything and everyone around you while you finish this gem.