Nineteen year-old Emily's acute dissociative disorder causes her to be institutionalised - again - at Greyfriar's Reformatory For Girls. Caught in the crossfire between brutal Principal Quick and cruel bully Saffron Chassay, Emily befriends fellow outcast Victoria. When the terrifying apparition of the mysterious 'Grey Girl' begins scaring the inmates to death, Emily's disorder may be the one thing that can save her.
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I'm on the prisoner transport bus again and the sky outside the window looks almost as grey as I feel. CHAPTER 1, THE GREY GIRLS
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(@flametreepress, 20 October 2020, 240 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 24 October via @RandomTTours)
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I'd never heard of the author before but the blurb sounded like something I'd really enjoy and I've been impressed by other work from the publisher. Their horror fiction tends to really stand out. I expected good things from this and I got them. This is an excellent example of creepy Gothic fiction; the reformatory is a creepy building in the middle of nowhere, the girls are plagued by suitably creepy events such as seeing a ghostly figure dubbed 'Grey Girl'. The main character is an unreliable narrator and tells us this in the first few pages which adds to the sense of unease - just what is the truth? I liked the fact there are only eight characters in the book, making it easy to keep track of everyone. A big cast of characters can spoilt a book if not handled correctly. This is my idea of a great horror novel; scary moments, bloody scenes and the 'Grey Girl' reminds me a lot of ghostly characters in Japanese books and horror films, think The Ring movie starring Naomi Watts. I thought this was a great book.
