This book seemed right up my alley. The subject matter, the plot as described, seems like something I would devour. Yet, I couldn't really get into it. There were times I would start to get invested in the characters and then it would meander again and my mind would wander. I even went back and forth between the audiobook and reading and I would realize I had read or listened to pages without internalizing anything and have to go back. I think it was to do mostly with a lack of connection to the characters. They were all over the place and not very likable. I liked the idea. I liked parts of the action. The book overall was OK.

I almost didn't choose to finish reading this novel by Sara Flannery Murphy. It's a slow build, and it's not my usual subject matter. But Josephine - the Girl One of the title - kept a hold on me and holy mackerel, what a book!

"Girl One" is Josephine's position at the Homestead of her birth - the first of nine "Miracle Babies" born through parthenogenesis, without a father's DNA. She idolizes the doctor who started the program (or so she thinks), Joseph Ballenger, who died in the fire that burned The Homestead, and intends to resurrect and further his research into parthenogenesis. Then Margaret Morrow, Mother One, goes missing as the book opens. Josephine is driven to follow a weak trail to find her, a trail that takes her back to her Miracle sisters. With the help of Cate and Isabelle, Josephine is on a quest to figure out where her mother has gone and get her back. But many unexpected secrets and discoveries are found along the way.

Murphy throws some great plot twists into the story, such as what powers each of the Miracle girls possess, and the true identity of the journalist who endeavors to help Josephine on her quest (no spoilers, I promise). About midway through the pacing picks up and makes the book very hard to put down. It's well worth the wade through the first part of the book, the setup of what The Homestead was and who each of the main players were, to get to the amazing ending that I admit I did NOT see coming.

A great supernatural thriller!

Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy is a suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, never knowing what will happen next. A twisty supernatural thriller that is a mix of Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood.

Girl One is an adult thriller with elements of science fiction, paranormal and feminist fiction.

Josie is the first child in recorded history to be born by “parthenogenesis” also known historically as a “virgin birth” or without any father provided DNA. The doctor responsible for her creation replicates it eight more times before his untimely death in 1977. Now seventeen years later a 23 year old Josie is forced to reach back into the past when her mother goes missing. Josie will travel across the U.S. following her mother’s footsteps and clues provided by the other women and their daughters from the experiment. With the help of an intrepid reporter named Tom and several of her non-biological “sisters” she is able to put together a better idea of what really happened at the commune where they were born. But a mysterious car is following their every move and many people want the “fatherless girls” erased from history so Josie finds it more and more difficult to follow the clues without risking her newly reunited “family”.

Girl One dives into the historical, cultural, scientific and societal implications of creating daughters without any contribution from a father. There is a lot of action and tragedy during Josie’s journey to find her mother but she also discovers a lot about herself and slowly tears away at some of the personal myths she held on to that further estranged her from her mother. For readers that enjoy a dash of the supernatural all of the surviving daughters are left with unexplainable powers that further separate them from more typically birthed children.

I enjoyed Girl One and it brought up issues around “virgin births” that I had never considered. I particularly liked the parts where she was re-introduced to each mother daughter pair but the road trip part did get a little weary for me. I also think I would have enjoyed the book just the same without any added supernatural elements within the girls.

I recommend Girl One to thriller and mystery readers that want something a little different that the typical suspense novel marketed today. With both a feminist and scientific narrative it creates a more unique and thought provoking story.

3.75 rounded to 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Throughout history, there have been tales of human parthenogenesis: an asexual form of reproduction where, most commonly, women have gotten pregnant and given birth without the biological contribution of a man. Most such instances have been relegated to myth, partly because public opinion spanning millennia has viewed almost all such births as monstrous, an affront to the status quo. So when Dr Joseph Bellanger announces that he’s facilitated not one but nine virgin births in the secluded Vermont compound of the Homestead, the reaction is both instantaneous and unsurprisingly heated.

Accusations range from scientific quackery to sheer moral outrage, even as the world seems enraptured by these nine mothers, their nine daughters and the one man who made it all happen. But life on the Homestead goes from communal bliss to suffocating dread as protestors show up on their doorstep, terrorizing the inhabitants despite Dr Bellanger’s best efforts:

QUOTE
The lingering fascination that surrounded us could turn dark too easily. We were Bellanger’s great unfinished works. He’d guarded his secrets, the nine of us, so carefully[,] wary of the death threats--people who wanted to vanquish us like vampires, cut off our heads, burn us at the stake. Then there were the calmer and no less chilling threats from people who wanted to rehome us with <i>normal families.</i> All of us had been born under the shadow of those threats, but they loomed darkest over Bellanger himself. He was the one who’d started it, after all. If he were shot, stabbed, poisoned, burned, then his unholy work would go with him.
END QUOTE

Unwilling to present such a centralized target, mothers begin fleeing the Homestead with their daughters even before a conflagration breaks out that takes the lives of Dr Bellanger and the youngest of the children. A prominent protestor is jailed for arson and murder, and the surviving women scatter around the country, each pair grappling with the aftermath of their collective notoriety.

Fast forward nearly two decades later to 1994, and the pair known as Mother and Girl One -- the first in the birthing order but also, seemingly, in Dr Bellanger’s favor -- are living more or less in privacy in small town Illinois. Margaret Morrow prefers a life of seclusion, but her daughter (and our narrator) Josephine dreams of continuing her “brainfather’s” work, and is enrolled in her first year of medical school at the University of Chicago. A coolness has grown between mother and daughter over this:

QUOTE
“I saw you in the paper,” Emily said. “You’re becoming a doctor too?”

“Oh, I’m not like those men,” I said quickly. I was used to explaining my ambitions to professors, to colleagues, to reporters. I’d cataloged the whole range of reactions. The people who congratulated me, both sincere and fake, who lectured me or condescended to me, who doubted me or laughed at me. Those last were my favorites, the ones I could defy. But Emily French just looked at me like she was disappointed in me. There’d only been one other person to react like that so far. My mother.
END QUOTE

When a fire eerily similar to the one that destroyed the Homestead breaks out at Margaret’s suburban home, and Margaret herself goes missing, Josie has to track her down with the help of the other Mothers and Girls, who display various shades of reluctance in aiding her. They all have complicated relationships with Margaret, Dr Bellanger and the Homestead. As Josie travels cross-country to meet with them, she discovers that they’re also keeping secrets that could shatter the very foundation of everything she’s believed about herself. And that’s even before she realizes that perhaps the myths of monstrosity have an even deeper meaning, and that she and the other Girls are capable of far more than she ever believed.

This twisty, fast-paced thriller raises some really terrific questions regarding ethics in science and media, especially as they relate to feminism and female agency. Sara Flannery Murphy examines how even unwitting complicity with patriarchal power structures can restrict and damage us all regardless of gender. I was impressed, too, by the way she considered the many complicated relationships possible between mothers and daughters. The novel’s supernatural elements are also handled well, never overwhelming the medical thriller aspects, and the discussions of sexuality ground the whole in an everyday realism that seems extraordinarily relevant even in this third decade of the 21st century.

Girl One had a strange premise that at times felt detached from the rest of the story. It was a slow burn, and as the story progressed and more details were revealed, the tie between the parthenogenic beginnings of the character(s) and their current quest becomes more clear, and the story gains momentum. I found some of the writing to be intentionally high brow, for example, the author LOVED throwing the word “ersatz” into every possible sentence, to the point where it was noticeably repetitive enough for me to remember it and mention it here. Eye roll. Felt pretentious. I never felt emotionally connected to the main character, and thought that most of the characters could’ve been better fleshed out (Cate was my favorite), but overall I was intrigued and enjoyed the book.

3.5 stars, but rounded down to 3 - I just didn’t feel strongly enough to give it a 4.

I like the premise of the book more than the book itself. Honestly? I felt the struggles of the main character (Josephine, the Girl One) kind of pointless. She goes on a saga to find her mother and does a lot of weird stuff along the way. But the story is actually interesting - in the 70s, a man developed a technique to create virgin births from which the mothers end up having girls that are their exact copies. But the first girl that was born out of this technique goes home one day and can't find her mother. She tries to find clues to see what happened and embarks on a journey to find her mother and learn more about her past. Cool premise, right? Too bad that at some points the story was kind of dragging though...

I have no words for this one. It was INCREDIBLE. I knew I'd enjoy it simply based on the description but I had no idea just how much I'd enjoy it. I couldn't put it down. The mystery was amazing, the details and connections in the story were so well done. I already pre-ordered a physical copy of it and can't wait to read it again. The characters that Murphy introduced were multi dimensional, dealt with real world issues while also dealing with the fact that they were virgin births. There were so many twists that I didn't see coming and I absolutely loved how the relationships between the sisters were written. Five stars, amazing, can't recommend it enough.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

This book was ok. Interesting concept and I liked the development of them slowly revealing each girl's powers.

However I was not a fan of the interaction after the reveal of Tom's identity. It felt like it was not charged enough and in the wrong place - it felt like more of a climax event rather than 50-ish percent.

3 Stars.

In the 1970's, nine women came together in a place called The Homestead where they decided to live together and conceive children on their own. Without male intervention of any kind, each child is a perfect DNA clone of her mother. Eventually each of the women (Woman One through Nine) had a daughter (Girl One through Nine) before the Homestead was destroyed by a fire which left two dead and the rest scattered.

This is their story, which begins as Josie, Girl One, is trying to find her missing mother, Maggie Morrow. In her attempts to find her mom, she tries to find the other mothers and daughters from The Homestead, not only to see what became of them, but also to enlist their help in her search for her mother.

The girls were touted as miracles by some and demons and witches by others. That was true on the day of each of their births and it is still true now. There has always been controversy surounding them as the world tried to absorb the reality of their existence and the far-reaching implications of their births. As two other daughters join with Josie on her quest, they find themselves recognized and in danger. They soon find the truth of the words "there is strength in numbers" and readers soon find themselves wondering who is really in danger here?

This novel, a blend of feminism and science fiction, is intriguing, well-written, and peopled with interesting characters throughout. Though slow in spots, for the most part it is quick-paced and hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed this unique read and definitely recommend it!

My thanks to NetGalley and MCD for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given. Publication is set for June 1, 2021.

This book takes you on a journey & I was glad to ride shotgun with Josie. This book has an intriguing concept that plays with everything you know about life & evolution. The twists were unpredictable & all I wanted to know was what was going to happen next.

<i>Girl One</i> is a surprising story that springs up where science clashes with society. The girls, having been conceived with no male DNA, are subjected to wide social acclaim and stigma. Jospehine's journey to find her missing mother turns into a story of discovery about their history before and during their time at the Homestead, and a discovery of her other sisters and mothers from that place. Dr. Ballanger may not be everything Jospehine thought he was, and Josephine and the other girls turn out to be more than Dr. Ballanger had strived for.

I would recommend this to fans of books like <i>Firestarter </i>, or shows like Stranger Things - minus the Upside Down. I was surprised at the time and setting, and was expecting a more modern or even slightly futuristic dystopian. Instead we got a cultish 70's story which was very good.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy.

As part of an experiment, 9 women have cloned themselves. These women are known as the mothers (Mother One through Mother Nine) who produced 9 girls (Girl One through Girl Nine). They all live in a home called The Homestead until a devastating fire destroys the building and leaves two people dead.

The mothers and girls scatter across the country. Until Girl One, Josie, discovers that her mother (Mother One) is missing. Josie searches for her mother and meets up with the other Mother/Girl combinations along the way.

Phenomenal and fast-paced, this book was extremely entertaining! Murphy is a master story-teller, and Girl One is one of those books that will become a classic. It was entirely unpredictable and kept me guessing until the very end. I am dying to read the next book in this series (not sure if there is a series planned but there should be).

Yes, yes, and yes! Girl One is a serious contender for Book of the Year.

*Thank you, NetGalley, for provided me a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

I love the idea and concept behind this book but I couldn’t get into it. I wasn’t invested in the mystery and found myself not wanting to pick it up.

I expected this to be an engaging, fast-paced thriller, based on the blurb. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

The pace was way too slow, and the chapters were too long for this genre. The pace improved a bit as the story went on, but not enough to get my full attention. I never connected with any of the characters, and as a result, I didn't really care about the outcome, either.

This book was…crazy to say the least. It was fast paced and kept my attention from beginning to end, even though it’s not my typical genre. I recommend this to anyone.

(I was kindly sent this in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley)

This book is yet again proof that I don’t read the entire synopsis before I start reading, just the first one or two lines. It said: “Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood” and I was like, fair enough. I enjoyed this book, but it dragged on longer than it should have. I thought it would be more Sci-Fi, and it is more fantasy based than anything else, but this might be again me not reading the synopsis properly.

The characters were likable enough, especially the girls, but I never fully trusted Tom and for the longest time I didn’t know where to stand with him, because he felt too much of an outsider to be as invested in the girls’ stories.
If there is a trope I don’t like is ‘here’s a present for your birthday’ followed by ‘oh it’s my birthday today? Omg I totally forgot’, and I don’t know where this hate comes from. I liked the found family trope for the girls it was really cute, and how *spoilers* they enhanced each other’s powers, and also liked Cate and Josie’s relationship.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but I wish it would have been a bit shorter. 3.5 but i am rounding down!

It sounds mean, but I did not go into "Girl One" with high expectations. The tagline is "Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood"-- it sounded interesting, but as a rule, I don't compare anything to Margaret Atwood ;).

"Girl One" was a really good read, no comparison needed.

Josie is "Girl One," the first girl in the 70s to be created without male DNA. She is the first, but 8 other girls have been born after her. They all live together on the Homestead, a commune with the girls, mothers, and the male scientist named Dr. Bellanger who has helped these virgin births to occur.

I do have a few issues with this book- The author does not specifically get into the science of how Dr. Bellanger made these babies. I think it detracts from the believability of the story to not go into any details- even a few details would help make the world building more realistic.

While the ending is complete in the sense that the original problem is resolved, there were a few loose ends that bothered me. I can't stand dropped characters!! Without giving a spoiler, there were characters that I think deserved a mention in an epilogue, just to give the story a more polished and finished feel.
Four stars, rounded up from 3.5. There is a lot going on in this story, more that I can talk about in a short review. "Girl One" is very readable and would make an excellent group read. Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrar Straus and Giroux, and Sara Flannery Murphy for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book centers around female power in its most raw, unadulterated form, and explores supernatural channels for that power in a world dominated by the male gaze. Girl One, first in a line of lady babies conceived without male DNA, undergoes an intense personal journey in pursuing her mother, who has gone missing. Along the way, she discovers more about her mother, the male scientist who claimed discovery of methods for human parthenogenesis, the commune of women who birthed her "sisters", and the powers each of these women contain within. There are twists. There are turns. There is hot lesbian sexual tension. And then, there is just that wonderful feeling of being submerged in another world, one that is very much like this one but full of WHAT IF.

This is speculative fiction at its finest, and was so utterly enjoyable to read. Gripping from page one until the end, and left my head churning with possibilities. Read it!

A controversial scientific break-through called "parthenogenesis" (women becoming pregnant without men) is the backdrop for this fascinating whodunit. As an adult Josephine, aka Girl One, is driven to continue her "father" Bellanger's research despite her mother’s misgivings. Yet when her mother goes missing and her childhood home is burned. She's left with little choice but to return home and unravel the truth of what happened.

Sara Flannery Murphy's prose is easy to follow and immediately sucks you into the mystery. Josephine is a sympathetic character that I could identify with. All that adds up to a hit, best-seller for me. I enjoyed every word of this book.

Thank you so much FSG books and Netgalley for allowing me to review this advance copy. It releases June 1st. I will be publishing my book review on my Bookstagram @AprilsBookishLife all year long, in multiple places, on Twitter, Goodreads and after release on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.