Girls On The Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller

Girls On The Verge was an impulse Foyles purchase for me about a year ago now. I remember being on my own in Foyles for the first time and i realised i didn’t have to worry about how many books i bought, because no-one would care (this is a stupid realisation but it made me so happy). When organising my books a while ago, i noticed i had it (definitely hadn’t forgot…) and thought i’d give it a go.

Girls On The Verge focuses on a week long road trip taken by three best friends. Camille is pregnant and doesn’t want to be, she also doesn’t want her parents to know, so in a state that’s incredibly difficult to get an abortion, she’s forced to travel across the country and over the boarder to make that happen.

I’d heard a lot about this book in the last few months, and honestly i didn’t expect much from it. I figured it would be a good sisterhood, friendship book, but i didn’t think i’d enjoy it as much as i did.

It’s one of those books where nothing really happens. Camille and her two best friends start the roadtrip to help her to find an abortion clinic. Of course there are obsticles in the way on the way there, but nothing truly happens. It’s mostly about how these teenagers react to spending so much time together and how their views on religion and abortion change in that time. There’s also information thrown in about abortion laws in Texas, which honestly, blew my mind.

The writing of this book was absolutely lovely. It was incredibly easy to follow, flowed really nicely between all the chapters and the characters were written outstandingly. It’s my first time reading from this author, and it does make me want to pick up everything else that she’s written. If this is an example of her contemporary work then i’d read anything else she’s written.

Talking about the characters, i usually struggle with a book based only on teenagers, and mixing their personalities. However Girls on The Verge really highlighted the different personalities of each teenager on the journey and seperated them from each other. I adored learning about how different they all were, with similar hopes and dreams. It felt like a true friendship group, and that’s something i always want to read about. I’ve really missed reading books that weren’t about the most perfect teenager ever, and this was one of them. All three girls are theatre students, whereas they are all incredible, it’s nice to hear them talk about theatre, and things that are important to them and not football players.

As you can imagine, this book isn’t full of happy topics. It covers some triggering moments such as abortion and some heavy religious conversations. It’s an eye opener to a world that isn’t like mine, and i feel like if your world is similar to the characters, you will appreciate it and feel recognised in them. To balance that out, there are some lovely moments in this book of friendship, and learning how to stand on your own two feet.

The entire story felt incredibly true and heavy of real life. I adore it, and sped through it’s sort 220 pages. Admittedly, it’s not going to be a book for everyone. The topics are heavy, some scenes are difficult. But if you enjoy heavier YA reads, then this is definitely one to pick up.