The Other Girl by Emily Barr - Review

As you may know, I have read a lot of Emily Barr's books previously and have enjoyed them all, so when I saw this on Netgalley I had to request it. Thank you so much to Penguin Random House Uk Children's for granting me access to this book. I was provided with an electronic copy of the book for review purposes, but was not otherwise compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

I can see that Penguin have categorised this as Young Adult, and while I don't disagree, I do think it's got a wider appeal too. I think a lot of adult fans of thrillers would like this too, so don't necessarily discount it just because you don't like Young Adult in particular. 

The beginning of the book sees Tabitha, aged seventeen, on a train across Europe. She is travelling to Switzerland to spend six weeks in an exclusive rehab clinic. She has been partying wildly, drinking and taking drugs, and then she has done something which cost someone his life. Her absent father has managed to keep her out of prison by paying for her to go to this rehab centre. She has cut all ties with her mother, and she no longer speaks to her older sister, Leonora, and her dad has been absent since she was three, so she really hasn't got many friends left. A woman called Jana has been paid to escort her to the rehab. Tabbi is determined to find a way out. 

Then Ruby arrives on the train. She's innocent, a bit ditzy, aged sixteen. She has run away from 'home' - her parents are absent, her grandparents are dead, and she's run away from her aunt and uncle's house. She tells Tabbi she is going to the mountains in Switzerland. Tabbi thinks she is being very clever by persuading Ruby to spend six weeks at a luxury spa, while she can go free on Ruby's Interrail pass. The two girls swap clothes in the toilets, make themselves look a bit more like each other, and split up in Zurich. They plan to meet under the clock at the station six weeks hence. 

Ruby tells Tabbi to not use her name, but Tabbi ignores this, which ends up being her downfall. She quickly runs out of money and gets a job in Cannes as a waitress. She does some soul searching and I would say Tabbi comes out of the book as a better person, by far. Ruby has less to make up for, in my opinion, but I liked how she grew throughout the book. 

The first part is all Tabbi's point of view. The second part is Ruby's. I wasn't sure what would happen after that, and I really did not know how I thought the book would end. I think Emily Barr is brilliant at crafting good plots; her brain works marvellously and I'm always left thinking 'wow'. I loved the ending of the book and cannot complain at all. I'm giving this five out of five because it's just so good. Compelling and interesting. Can't wait for her next one!