Review: The July Girls

The July Girls by Phoebe Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On Addie’s 10th Birthday, her sister Jessie is supposed to take her for pizza, but she’s late…..so not sleeping, Addie here’s her dad come home, he smells meaty! He has blood on his clothes too….

She later finds out there has been a terrorist attack on the tube…..is this where the blood came from….?

Each year on 7 July a woman goes missing, the police finally link these disappearances, but they have no leads…..yet!

Jessie and Addie find a missing woman’s purse in their father’s room …scared what will happen to them if he leaves, they decide to keep it a secret….so many secrets!

The tale is told from Addie’s perspective, with a few small asides by the Magpie and snippets of real events over the years, the various terror attacks in London which build the atmosphere.

As the story continues, we see Addie grow from a 10 year old to a young adult, with the Magpie in the background all the time….there is an ever present feeling of menace, like something seen in the corner of your eye, building until the marvellously twisty and surprising ending. Original and compelling, definitely one of my favourites this year.

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