By: Emma Kanagaki, Librarian and OverDrive Collection Development Analyst.

Now that we’ve entered June, summer reading has officially begun! I’ve had a copy of The Girls by Emma Cline on my shelf for a while now, but just needed the long weekend and some sunshine to devour it. This is a truly mesmerizing novel.

Evie Boyd sounds like a normal 14-year-old girl; she recently had a falling out with her best friend and needs to find something to occupy her time during the long summer days in Northern California. By chance, she meets Suzanne and is instantly captivated by her presence. It’s through Suzanne that Evie is sucked into the world of Russell and “the group” that lives on a farm nearby. Eerily similar to Charles Manson’s movements in the 1960s, this story creates a world of its own that is unique and haunting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way the novel focuses on the relationships between the main characters. As a teenager, it’s common to think of yourself in terms of how other people see you rather than how you see yourself. The prose is gorgeously written and the setting is described to the point where I could very clearly see these places. This is the perfect summer read; it’s thrilling and gripping but builds slowly before all is finally revealed. Run, don’t walk to check out this book from your local library right now! The Girls is out on June 14, 2016!