Girls with Sharp Sticks

Publisher's Summary

Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this start to a thrilling, subversive near-future series from New York Times best-selling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be.

Some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.

The girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved - it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their guardian, they receive a well-rounded education that promises to make them better. Obedient girls, free from arrogance or defiance. Free from troublesome opinions or individual interests. 

But the girls’ carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears. As Mena and her friends uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there - and who they really are - the girls of Innovations Academy will learn to fight back. 

Bringing the trademark plot twists and high-octane drama that made Program a best-selling and award-winning series, Suzanne Young launches a new series that confronts some of today's most pressing ethical questions.

©2019 Suzanne Young (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Already Sharpening My Stick!

I had this book on pre-order the minute it was announced because I really love Suzanne Young's writing. Girls with Sharp Sticks starts a new series with a very scary premise: young girls are being trained to be "better girls"--obedient, charming, beautiful and vapid...that is until one girl sets off a chain of events that changes everything. At its core, GwSS is a good dystopian story and I got into it immediately. If you are really paying attention, you will discover many parallels to the world of today and the here and now. Hearing one of the characters tell the girls to "be best" gave me an uncomfortable little giggle. BTW, the book is the beginning of a new series and made me want to find out what happens next.

I won't compare this book to other works because of spoilers. Let me just say that I am "waving my hands in a jazzy hooray" (one of my favorite lines) and feeling like a powerful woman this night. My favorite Suzanne Young book to date.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Derivative but entertaining

Young generally delivers a readable and fairly entertaining book. This one starts a bit slow, but hang in there. You can pretty much guess most of the twists, but it was a good read nonetheless. In particular, the relationship between the girls at the boarding school. Nice to read something where the female characters aren’t enemies, but rather, the best of friends.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Best new YA series so far this year

At times very very realistic. Time flies. Get excited to meet these brave special girls.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

loved the book!!!

loved the book, it had me on edge at all times wondering whats going to happen next! was sick too my at first but i realized why later!

Scary but very fun!

So I always have a hard time finding fiction I enjoy because the way most writers write is a bit to plain for my taste. Its hard for a book to hook me, and when I find an author's whose voice I like, I usually read all they have to offer.

I didn't know Suzanne Young, but I really liked the title of the book and decided to give it a shot, even if dystopian stories aren't usually my thing.

This book will make you angry, I was angry for most of it, but the story is very captivating. The way the author used fiction to highlight the different injustices and pressures of womanhood and how patriarchy subjugates women through ridiculous expectations, its really extreme at times, but quite relatable.
I also like the bubbling revolution that goes on in the characters psyches, the character development doesn't feel rushed, which hard to find. I found the pace quite good.

Anyways, cool book! Im interested to see where this series goes!