Jenny holds secrets about the last night she saw her best friend tightly, unsure whether to tell anyone. Chloe's last few months were torture for reasons mostly beyond her control. When another girl, Helen, who lives on a nearby reservation, is found murdered on a remote trail, it isn't long before Jenny starts wondering why this girl isn't getting anywhere near the attention from local police as Chloe's disappearance is. When Jenny realizes brooding Tom, a senior at school, is willing to help investigate and might have a romantic interest in her, it leads to a number of events, some dangerous, others painful, but the most important ones opening her eyes to the frailty of those around her.
A very good young adult thriller that covers tough subjects such as bullying, sexual assault, racism and suicide. I really enjoyed this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

The lives of desperate girls by MacKenzie Common.
Sixteen-year-old Helen Commanda is found dead just outside Thunder Creek, Ontario. Her murder goes unremarked, except for the fact that it may shed light on the earlier disappearance of Chloe Shaughnessy. Chloe is beautiful, rich and white. Helen is plain, and from the reservation. They had nothing in common except that they were teenage girls from an unforgiving small town. Only Chloe's best friend Jenny Parker knows exactly how unforgiving, but she's keeping some dangerous secrets of her own.
This was a goid read. Jenny was likeable. Slow but readable. 3*.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

2.5 stars and DNF at 50%

I tried, you guys, I really tried!
Been trying for over 6 months, to be exact.
But what started as an slow but beautiful and exciting read turned into something so boring I wasn't able to read more than 10 pages at once.

I did appreciate this book's topic and I am thankful for it teaching me about Native Americans' lives in Canada, but the story dragging on for so long without anything happening made me not care the slicest about unresolved murder or a girl disappearing.

Characters were okay. Writing too.
Unfortunately, they drowned in the unnecessary stalling the story.

Penguin Teen and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Lives of Desperate Girls. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Two teenage girls go missing from a small town outside of Ontario, Canada. One turns up dead, but her death does not gain much attention because she is from the reservation. The missing one, Chloe, from a wealthy and white family, has garnered the resources of the police department. Jenny Parker, Chloe's "bestie", decides to dig into the death, in an attempt to gain information to help find her friend.

The Lives of Desperate Girls highlights the issues of inequality, racism, and bullying. The fact that those with money are treated differently than those without is nothing new, but the author does a good job of discussing that fact without preaching. It is a sad reality that money and power go hand and hand, leaving those who are underprivileged without a voice. I wish that I liked the story itself more, and not just the message. The issues discussed are all smoke and mirrors, leaving a plot that is woefully inadequate. For this reason, I am hesitant to recommend The Lives of Desperate Girls to other readers.

Sorry I was unable to access this title so couldn’t review, I had kindle issues with this particular text. Apologies but thank you for the opportunity,

This is a really engaging dark mystery thriller. MacKenzie Common has a very clear, confident writing style and breathes a lot of life into her characters. I like that she gets to the mystery right away instead of wasting pages on setup. I also really appreciate that it's set in Canada! There are very few YA novels set in Canada, so to have a murder mystery like this one is really exciting!

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

“There was something so tragic about the acts of desperate girls. My helpless heart wished that I could write a different ending to the story, that I could have kept Chloe from disappearing and delivered Helen safely home. But trusting the wrong person wasn’t the only kind of desperate act. Wishing for the impossible could break you just as swiftly.Whether you wanted someone to love you or someone to protect you, it was hard to be a girl in need.” – Jenny Parker ‘The Lives of Desperate Girls’.


Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’ we’re going to review a Young Adult mystery book entitled ‘The Lives of Desperate Girls’ by Canadian author MacKenzie Common. ‘The Lives of Desperate Girls’ is MacKenzie Common’s debut book, and this copy was provided for review by Penguin Random House Canada. MacKenzie Common is an author who is originally from Newfoundland but grew up in Northern Ontario. I do need to add a trigger warning due the sexual assault that is present in this novel. There’s a lot we have to discuss about this book, but keep in mind that this will be a spoiler-free review so let’s get into it. Ready? Ok, let’s go!!!



‘The Lives of Desperate Girl’s centers around high school junior Jenny in the aftermath of the disappearance of her best friend Chloe. Jenny has always felt inferior to her friend due to Chloe’s wealth, popularity, and ease in social situations, in contrast to Jenny who is the exact opposite in all of these areas. Jenny has a hard time adjusting to life without Chloe, which is made more difficult when a local Indigenous girl named Helen is found murdered. Jenny soon begins to investigate Helen’s murder with a classmate named Tom, who has a reputation of being a loner in school. As Jenny finds out more about who Helen was as a person, she also learn more about her country’s history with racism, as well as the racism that still lingers to this day. Although Jenny is very dedicated to finding out who killed Helen and if this has anything to do with Chloe’s disappearance, she struggles with a big secret that she and Chloe have tried to keep buried for nearly a year.




Now we’ve arrived to the question of whether you should invest in this book or not. I will start this off by saying that I had to give this book 1 smiley face because it had a lot of problems. One aspect of the book that I didn’t enjoy was the romance between Jenny and Tom. I definitely felt that their romance escalated quickly and then towards the end of the book his character became less and less important to the story so the romance seemed pointless. The mystery aspect of the book also lacked that element of immersion that made you feel that you were never really invested in the story. One positive aspect was the representation of Indigenous people due to the various Indigenous characters we saw throughout the story. I will say that this book does contain sexual assault as well as very strong language that is not appropriate for all ages so if this is trigger or offensive to you I would skip this one. All in all this book felt like it tried to tackle so many topics at once and because of this was stretched too thin to accomplish what it set out to do.

Jenny Parker's best friend, Chloe, has gone missing. When the body of another teenage girl is discovered in the small town of Thunder Creek, Jenny seems to be the only person disturbed by the crime. She becomes consumed with learning about Helen's life, while also protecting Chloe's secrets. This story explores racism, injustice, sexism, and rape culture.

Common draws some intriguing parallel in this book between a girl rejected by her peers and one rejected by society on the whole, both based on circumstances beyond their control. This is an exploration that is likely to be uncomfortable for most, delving as it does into racism and rape culture and the damage they inflict on young lives. It would be fascinating to discuss this book with a book club, especially to list out all of the titular Desperate Girls.

An interesting book! I greatly enjoyed this one from beginning to end. Full review coming soon on my blog.

Tragedy befalls two girls in rural Northern Ontario but the reaction of the police and the public is different in each case. When pretty and wealthy Chloe Shaughnessy goes missing the police investigate in earnest and the townspeople hold vigils for her safe return. A few days after her disappearance, the body of Helen Commanda, a girl from the reservation, is found in the woods. There is no public outcry about this crime and when the police find no obvious clues, her case is placed on the backburner. Chloe’s best friend Jenny, now friendless and depressed, becomes obsessed with Helen’s murder and the entrenched racism against the Natives in their town. Jenny takes up with the high school bad boy and together they set out to discover what really happened on the night Helen died. But as the police continue to focus on Chloe’s disappearance, Jenny is equally determined to protect Chloe’s secrets. The novel broaches some serious issues including date rape, racism and substance abuse, but the character and plot development fall a little short. A secondary choice for older teens who appreciate realistic fiction with a hard edge.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a wonderfully written young adult book that was able to keep my interest until the end. Even tho I'm not from Canada I felt like the author explained everything in such a way that I didnt feel like I was missing out on anything.

Going into this book I thought that this was about a girl who is trying to solve what happened to her best friend along with the death of a girl from the town over. This book was so much deeper than that. You follow Jenny as she comes to terms with her best friends suicide. This book hit me really hard that I wasn't expecting. I honestly thought that Tom & Jenny were going to have insta-love but I did like their dynamic (in some aspects) . The Lives of Desperate Girls was really good to me and I related a lot to this book with the bullying and feeling like life wasn't worth living. I also liked that the author added in a real-life element in her book based off what she learned growing up.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I read books for the character driven stories and this just didn't have it for me. The story itself wouldn't have been bad if Jenny had more personality. Even Tom, whom I didn't particularly like, had more going for him because at least I felt something toward him. Jenny was just so bland and we see everything through her eyes which made the story in turn....bland.

This book sounded super interesting so I really apologize for not being able to get around to reading it! I do love a good mystery and I feel like I would have enjoyed this. Thank you for approving me to read this! I really appreciate it. I apologize again for not having the time to read it.

I have mixed feelings about this novel because there are a few things that the author does that I like but an equal amount of things that I don't like. I really liked that the author highlighted the problems of the First Nations people of Canada. Not many people are aware of their struggles and the things they have endured - and continue to endure - are heartbreaking. And the author really does do justice to them: she tells it like it is. I only wish it had been told from the perspective of an actual Native and not just from that of a white teenage girl. While Jenny is definitely trying to understand and be aware of the oppression and racism that the Aboriginal people face, I don't think she is necessarily the best spokesperson for it since she really isn't a part of their community or culture. I wish there had been more emphasis on the way life is on the reserves and the traditions that the First Nations value, as that would have allowed the reader to see some of the wonderful aspects of their culture. However, the idea that a Native girl's death is not as important as a Caucasian girl's disappearance was an interesting one and I think the author did a really good job of bringing that to the forefront. I actually found the writing style compelling, even if it was confusing to follow at times what with the various jumps in time that Jenny took; it was hard to tell if something was happening in the present or if it was just a memory. I did not like the love angle that the author tried to force into the situation; it didn't add anything to the novel and it was not well planned or executed. It was literally just two teenagers hooking up and doing drugs and drinking, none of which screams romance or bonding. I didn't like the incompetence of the cops, and I'm not just referring to their dismissal over the case of Helen. I'm referring to the almost comical way they question and interrogate Jenny over Chloe's disappearance; you would think adults would know how to run an investigation and ask the right questions but clearly, that is not the case in this novel. The author also takes on another topic: slut-shaming. While I think this is an important topic to discuss, I don't really like Jenny's role in that aspect and I wish the author had made her more ... sensible or intelligent. I also didn't really like how things were resolved in the novel because, well, it didn't really feel resolved. I understand that not everything can have a happy ending but this just felt messy and unfinished. Overall, I think the author chose 2 very important topics to center her novel around. While the writing was compelling, the main character's decisions as well as the actual ending of the novel left me disappointed. For those reasons, I'm giving this novel a 2/5 stars.

The Lives of Desperate Girls

by MacKenzie Common

Penguin Random House Canada

Penguin Teen
Teens & YA

Pub Date 19 Sep 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Lives Of Desperate Girls Through Penguin Teen and Netgalley:

Helen Commanda only sixteen is found dead outside of Thunder Creek Ontario. Her murder would have likely been forgotten accept for the fact that it may shed light on the earlier dissapearance of Chloe Shaughnessy. She was rich, beautiful and white, and had nothing in common with Helen who is plain and lived on the reservation. They had one other thing in common they were girls from an unforgiving small town. Only Chloe’s best friend knows exactly how unforgiving the town is.

The adults have failed so Jenny starts seeking answers about Helen’s life and death, trying to understand the town and her best friend but can she succeed where the adults have failed? Does Jenny have a role in this conspiracy of silence.

I give The Lives Of Desperate Girls five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!