Li'l Owl's Reviews > Those Girls

Terrifyingly real! The brilliant performance of the narrators made the brutality and horror nearly unbearable!
Narrators Jorjeana Marie & Emily Woo Zeller each earn 5★'s!

In the years following the death of their mother, Dani, Courtney, and Jess have become victims of thier father's abuse. During the times when he is gone to work for weeks at a time, they are left to fend for themselves on what little money is left from his last job. Whatever is left after he drinks most of it on his way home, that is.
One night, long after the girls have gone to bed, thier father returns home from his last job, very drunk and very angry, again. What happens that same night will change their lives forever. But the nightmare isn't over.
Not by a long shot.

"Tell you what. I'll let you stay if you'll smoke a joint with me."

I didn't want to smoke anything with him but he had this angry energy about him, like if I said no he'd freak out. I imagined his big hands hitting me in the face, all over my body, his own face twisted in rage. .....

I looked around, nobody could see me and no one knew I was there. I'd thought that meant I was safe.
I was an idiot.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens pulled me into the story in way that made me feel as if I were part of it. Narrators Jorjeana Marie & Emily Woo Zeller's brilliant performance pulled me into the story even further, ratcheting the intensity of the horrific brutality all that more real.

I felt as if I was the fourth sister to Dani, Courtney, and Jess. I loved the three sister's endless resourcefulness and bravery, the way they stuck together, never once abandoning each other. One sister always sacrificing themselves to save the other two from further suffering, no matter what harm and pain it would bring on to themselves.

The terror begins early with the return of thier father. He glares at the girls with so much furiosity and madness, blazing so hot that I could feel the heat on my bare skin like a sunburn. Thinking, oh god, how much more terrified Dani, Courtney, and Jess must be. Frozen with terror of what he would do next,
my body was ridged with fear, always feeling like a coiled spring, adrenaline infusing in my veins, ready for fight or flight if he moved so much as a muscle!

I nearly jumped out of my skin when one of my cats knocked something off the dresser!

After escaping from their father they find themselves facing an even greater evil. I could sense the evil of these men, danger rolling off them like cold water, making me shiver. I could feel their cold eyes, see the cruel curl of their smiles. My heart, hammering against my ribs so hard it felt like it was trying to escape. And I did want to escape, to stop listening. But I couldn't turn it off. How could I abandon them? I felt like I was one of them and I had to see this through to the bitter end, hoping all three would come out alive.
Hope was fading fast.