"A Girl Named Anna"

“A Girl Named Anna”

Written by Lizzy Barber

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“A Girl Named Anna” is a psychological thriller told in two parallel perspectives. The first is told by English teen, Rosie, as she tries to reopen the search for her sister, Emily, who has been missing for fifteen years. The other story is told by Anna, an American living in the South, who starts to suspect that her religious and overprotective mother is hiding secrets from her, when she goes to a theme park that she has never been allowed to visit. We understand immediately that Anna was young Emily, possibly kidnapped years ago. How will the two find each other safely? Will they?

This is an absolute whirlwind of the book, with our characters risking everything to find their way to their family. Anna’s relationship to her mother is as Carrie’s relationship is to Margaret White from Stephen King’s “Carrie”, with author-confirmed allusions. As an ultimate fan of the book, film, and musical versions of “Carrie”, it was a welcome comparison. In addition, we also have really interesting plot elements, like a Reddit-like forum where Rosie searches for true crime conspiracy theorists. In addition, a terrifying religious cult is always a great addition to a story for me.

I genuinely loved every part of this book. Each aspect of this book fits seamlessly together, creating a simple and effective thriller, rather than one full of red herrings and twists. Every scene, chapter, sequence, and more were just brilliant. I felt that the actions each character took were very realistic. Their own personalities and plights were very sympathetic and naturally written. One fascinating parallel between the two girls were some vocabulary choices that the author used. In both Rosie’s and Anna’s storylines, there is a large usage of the shade peach. Both characters use the word “secreted” a few times. I found it to be an interesting literary choice to have two linked characters use similar words and enjoy the same types of fabric, color, food, and more.

Lastly, we do not have a large plot twist. However, we have a great number of heart pounding scenes, a great climax, and a very open-ended conclusion. A prevalent theme in “A Girl Named Anna” is sacrifice and familial love, and I enjoyed seeing how those themes prevailed. I personally think this is a fantastic thriller, and I cannot wait to read more by this author in the future. I highly recommend this book, and I’ll be talking of it for years to come. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars and believe this to be a new favorite.

I received an advance reader’s edition of this book from Mira Books in exchange for reading and reviewing purposes.