Review: Girls With Sharp Sticks

Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Published on March 19, 2019 by Simon Pulse

ARC provided by Simon Pulse for review consideration

Synopsis: The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Absent is the difficult math coursework, or the unnecessary sciences or current events. They are obedient young ladies, free from arrogance or defiance. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears. As Mena and her friends begin to uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations will find out what they are truly capable of. Because some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.

Review of Girls With Sharp Sticks

I read and enjoyed The Program way back in the day, but I don’t think I’ve read any of Suzanne Young’s other books. When I got this in a box of ARCs I was excited to try it – the name and the description sounded interesting.

To me Girls With Sharp Sticks felt a bit like old school dystopian YA — in the best possible way. It felt a little bit Delirium and a little bit Wither, and ended up having a slight science fiction spin.

Philomena (Mena) is a student at Innovations Academy, an exclusive boarding school where daughters of wealth and privilege are taught the social graces. The rules are strict, but only because the school expects the best of its students.

Then slowly, Mena begins to wonder if there’s something strange going on at Innovations. A student disappears, an employee is acting strangely. Can she get to the bottom of the weirdness before it gets to her?

When I was an actual teen, there was nothing I loved more than stories about girls stuck at creepy boarding schools, and I still love those stories. While this did follow the standard dystopian plot line and there weren’t a lot of surprises (the one big twist seemed pretty telegraphed) I really liked the sisterhood between all the girls in the story, and the sense of suspense was good.

I also liked that this seems like a series of companion books – unlike old school dystopian, there was NO horrible cliffhanger ending and it looks like one of the other characters is getting a spin-off book!

If you’re jonesing for some retro-YA or, like me, you just can’t get enough of creepy boarding school stories, definitely check this one out. If you’re already a Suzanne Young fan, you probably have already read this!

Have you read this one? Want to? Let me know in comments.