Rebecca’s Pick: Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Philomena and the rest of the girls of Innovations Academy are being taught how to enhance their beauty, practice obedience and be all-around perfect specimens of gentility and femininity. Mena understands that her tailored education is of the utmost importance and it’s her duty to maintain a positive attitude and follow the rules at all times as a good and highly respectable girl should.

However, when one of Mena’s best friends has a breakdown and seemingly vanishes, she starts to learn the reality of what exactly it means to be a girl of Innovations Academy.

When she and her friends start investigating the girl’s disappearance on their own they inadvertently uncover the true motivations of the school’s curriculum and what they discover is literally life altering.

I couldn’t put this one down. From the start, you knew something was weird about this so called “school.” A strong, Handmaid’s Tale vibe was happening and it was uncomfortable to have this knowledge when the protagonist clearly didn’t get it. There was a twist, though, that I didn’t see coming – and I loved it! Let’s just say the second book in the series, Girls with Razor Hearts, is sitting in my TBR pile.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Young’s previous series of books (The Program Novels) and for fans who enjoy girl empowerment stories and close-knit friendships.