Girls With Razor Hearts: Suzanne Young

We meet again!

When I read Girls With Sharp Sticks, I had talked about how I was trying not to panic because I didn’t know if my library had the second and third. Well, they didn’t… BUT I did send out for them through another library, and I finally got them. So, without further ado, let’s continue the story. Here we go :)

Brief Synopsis:

Philomena, Sydney and the rest of the girls have escaped Innovations Academy with the help of Jackson and Leandra, and they’re officially on the run. Some of them barely made it out, but they made it out together, and they’re not ready to back down now. They’re going to fight back and put a stop to these men.

They end up at the house of another former girl at the Academy who had “graduated” and was sold to a sleaze-bag man. Imogene is… different, but she said that she’s willing to let the girls stay with her for as long as they need to. Desperately needing some rest and time to think of what to do next, they accept, shower and hunker down for the night. However, they haven’t rested for long when something else goes wrong.

Imogene isn’t just wrong, she’s twisted, she’s unhinged and she’s saying that there is a voice in her head that is telling her what she needs to do, which is usually something violent. Leandra shows up after a call from Imogene and sets the girls up with enough money for them to have an apartment together and for Mena and Sydney to enroll in a local prep school.

Afraid for Jackson’s life, and afraid of what Jackson really thinks about her now that he knows the truth about what they did to the girls in the Academy, Mena lies to him and sends him away, even though it hurts her. The idea behind the prep school is to get close to one of the investor’s sons to try and find out enough dirt on the investor to get him to withdraw his money. This will inadvertently hurt the Academy, hopefully enough that they’ll eventually be ruined.

The problem is, they’re not sure which boy is the son of the investor. It takes Mena and Sydney very little time to realize that boys and some of the men in the real world are just as disgusting and cruel as the men that created them in the Academy. However, that’s not their only problem. After almost dying in the battle to escape, Annalise doesn’t seem quite right. She becomes friends with a hacker, Raven, against the other girls’ wishes, and allows her to start digging in her head.

Another hinderance comes in the form of yet another girl from the Academy that they thought was lost to them forever: Lennon Rose. But she’s… different. She’s awake like the rest of them, but she’s a lot crueler than she used to be and she’s put her trust in another one of the investors, Winston Weeks. To top it all off, the girls keep hearing a voice in their head, the one that Imogene heard? They’re not sure, but they’re scared.

One night, in a moment of weakness, Mena calls Jackson. Though no words are exchanged between the two of them, he knows that it was her (which is just so damn romantic, if you ask me) and he actually ends up finding her and flying out to where she is because he found more information about her and the other girls, crucial information.

Mena realizes in a happy way, even though she wouldn’t outright admit it, that she isn’t going to just get rid of Jackson as easily as she thought that she could. She and Sydney keep traversing their way through the prep school, though they’re disgusted more and more each day by the behavior of the most of the students. When the cruelty of one of the guys that has been antagonizing Mena comes to a head, both girls are called to the principal’s office and when they’re both suspended, they understand that the cruelty goes farther than men overpowering women. Sometimes the cruelty is also toward those with different colored skin. Poor Sydney.

As they’re leaving the school (for good, dammit) the one guy that has been nice to them the whole time, Lyle, invites them to a party. Knowing they’ve blown their chance to find the kid of the investor while at school they jump at this opportunity, thinking maybe it’s Lyle, or it’s Jonah, the cool kid everyone differs to.

Back at their apartment, Jackson learns that Raven wants to install a firewall in their brains. Interestingly enough, Raven seems to absolutely hate Jackson, and he secretly tells Mena that he doesn’t totally trust her either. While alone together, Mena makes a move on Jackson and actually ends up totally embarrassed, which I think helps to push her to let Raven inside her mind (Sydney went first) which… yikes. Following this, they leave for Lyle’s party while Marcella and Brynn decide to break into Jonah’s empty house and see what they can find.

The party is a total nightmare. Jonah turns out to be as bad as the rest of them and tries to hold Mena hostage when he finds out she’s recording their conversation for some proof about how nasty the males at the school are. With a little help from NOT Lyle, the bastard, but Sydney and one of the other guys that actually turns out decent, the girls escape with a bit of proof.

They then find out that the child of the investor is sooo not who they had been expecting. In a pretty big finale-type showdown, the girls are once again left pretty much adrift, though it also seems like one of the girls they thought they lost might not be lost forever?

My Rating:

8/10. I gave this five stars on my Goodreads because, as a continuance for the entire series, I feel like it’s solid. However, it dragged a bit and I felt like as the middle book it had really stagnant moments. I did love where things ended up though.

Favorite Quote(s):

“But it’s not easy, not easy to step into a world that would destroy us if it knew what we were.”

“His hug doesn’t dominate me; it’s desperate for me.”

Devastation Rating:

This is a fun, new thing I’m going to try out in terms of how badly this book devastated or destroyed me. You know, usually in the best way. For this one, I’m going to go with 4/10. Some crazy stuff happens, but not anything detrimental.

Check out my Goodreads (Traci Bishop) to see what I’m currently reading and to see a good chunk of the books I have already read. My Instagram can be found on the home page and I will share whenever a new post is up as well!

Until next time <3