I thought based on the blurb this book was something different. Unfortunately it was not for me, and I had to dnf. The characters fell a little flat and there wasn’t enough plot to keep me interested.

Could not get into it and it had problematic content right from the start, and if this is how a book is going to begin then I can only imagine what the rest of the story would hold (profanity, references to female bodies and sexual matters, etc).

I made it through about 20% of this book before I gave up. I couldn’t get into the plot or characters and the writing style wasn’t for me.

I absolutely devoured this novel, which to me felt as a combination of crime and espionage elements, with some family drama thrown in. A deep and insightful read.

This wasn’t for me, the plot got lost too many times in prose that was so forced. The cover is stunning and the blurb hooked me in, but this wasn’t for me.

Lila and Jane are twins which is fortunate since growing up they had a strange existence. Their mother, Anabel would come and go, often for long periods of time. They were told she was visiting relatives, yet the girls had never met any of them. When Anabel is home, she lets the girls take care of themselves. Their Dad, Harry is a College Professor, but he is always distressed and drinks a lot. He does not look after his children. The girls rely on each other and often play Spy Games, pretending to be one and making up lots along the way. They decide that their Mom must be a spy, that would explain her moods and long absences. This is a family which exists based on Secrets and Lies.

Then a tragedy happens and the girls don’t have anyone to turn to. This starts their life on the run and learning survival tactics. The only relative they know about is Aunt Ruth, but she will only offer them a week of help. Eventually, Jane decides to return home and face any consequences she has to. Lila stays away. The sisters don’t speak for almost two decades.

Jane has started her life over and is married to Chance and they have a beautiful daughter, Chloe. Her life has become routine and stable. Then she hears from Lila, who says she believes their Mother is Alive. Will Jane come and See Her and help find their mother? Lila knows Jane will.

So, this is a book really about the psychological make-up of Jane and Lila. It explores how the secrets and lies they lived distorted them. It involves getting to the button of all the lies and chaos and finally finding answers.

This was a book that was good enough, and I thought it had the potential to be great. It starts off well, but drags for long periods with nothing really happening. A Mystery Book should not be slow. Yet, finding the ultimate truth and the dynamics of the sisters together was actually pretty fascinating.

I would say this is a book that is for Readers who enjoy getting into the heads of characters. It is not a fast paced thriller, yet that does not make it uninteresting. We know what the women are going to do and you come to understand each well. I did enjoy many aspects of this book. I see it is going to be a Series and I would read a Second Book since I found Lila and Jane compelling.

Thank you NetGalley, J. Robert Lennon, and Mulholland Books for a copy of this book. I always leave reviews for books I read.

This book was so unique, I really love the sisterhood between the two characters and their mission to find their mom was a gripping story in it of itself. Thank you for the opportunity to review and read!

Two sisters from a dysfunctional family--Dad is not present for the children, mom disappeared, and so did one of the sisters. Jane opted for a normal live, with a husband and children, Her twin sister, Lila, was a rebel and left home, but when she found a clue that possibly could lead them to their mother, Lisa persuades Jane to drop everything and embark upon an adventure to find mom. I found the characters to be not very interesting, and the plot around mom to be hard to accept. Choose another book. There are lots of good ones. I was given an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

I liked the cover of this book much more than the story. To think, you’re navigating through your life with a mother in law you’d rather not have, and along comes your long lost sister. Your twin sister calls, the one you haven’t heard from in quite some time, and says you need to come with her to find your long lost mother, the one that abandoned you and your dad. Speaking of dad, he’s got some secrets he’s holding onto as well. Now, back to the call from your sister, she wants you to leave your family and help find the mother you’ve not heard from, and you and your husband are already having issues.
This story is told in the here and now as well as the past. This isn’t a bad book, it just shouldn’t have ended up on my shelf. It became a struggle for me to finish, but I labored through.
Thank you NetGalley for access to this book for my honest review.
Happy Reading /everyoe!

Great story of two girls on the run after dispensing justice…but also about family dynamics, secrets, and finding answers. Lots of back and forth from past to present in a good way. ReaLly enjoyed it.

Hard Girls is a hard book to become enmeshed in. I never did quite achieve that.
I found the flipping back and forth narrative a distraction and not to my liking.
The more I read about Lila and Jane the less I liked either of them
I finished the book but it wasn’t to my liking.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

HARD GIRLS by J. Robert Lennon has an opening paragraph that gripped me by the throat and never let up! This one is a page turner!

In Nester, NY, Jane lives a very hum, ho, life. She gets up and goes to work each day, comes home to her husband Chance and 12-year-old daughter Chloe. She looks in on her father, who is a professor at the local university and has a very controlling mother-in-law. We learn that her mother, Annabel left home 20 years ago, and never returned. Jane and her twin sister Lila were then raised by their father.

After 10 years of silence from her sister, Jane is contacted by Lila, who reports that she knows where her mother is, and they need to go find her and find out why she left them all those years ago. Jane decides to follow Lila into the abyss and find strange and secretive clues that their mother may or may not have been sending to others all these years. The girls end up traveling too far off places in their search. but Jane and Lila are harboring secrets of their own, which may come back to haunt them. Is Jane’s leaving home a remake of Annabelle 20 years ago? Will she risk her dreary life to find her mother?

I really enjoyed Mr. Lennon‘s writing style. It led to a smooth and enjoyable few hours. I liked the way he led me down one road only to show me that I should have gone the other way. I also enjoyed the way he left clues throughout that I had to revisit. This is my first J. Robert Lennon thriller but I do not believe it will be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

Hard Girls was a decent read, but not a great read. I can't quite put my finger on what was lacking, but I barely remember it as I have read one book in between, so it just wasn't that memorable to me.

This was a fascinating read with interesting characters and a fast-paced plot. I appreciated the twists and turns in this book and how it kept me guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for access to this title

The cover of the book caught my attention, and I was intrigued by the story of two sisters, Jane and Lila, who were searching for their mother after she left them with their father, Harry, who had his secrets. The novel included flashbacks of their childhood and the secret that led to their estrangement.

However, I must admit that I struggled with this book. I tried to appreciate the dark side of the characters, but I felt impatient to reach the point. I don't think it was a bad book, but I would tell my students that it simply wasn't the right book for me.






Publication Date 20/02/24
Goodreads Review 17/03/24

#HardGirls #NetGalley.

Thank you Novel Suspects for the physical ARC and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions expressed bellow are mine alone.

This cat-and-mouse espionage thriller was definitely not for me. It started off strong, and I was truly invested in the story of the twins' life growing up. Once I hit the halfway point of this book, I found it a struggle to read. I became uninvested in the story altogether. The trope of "keeping a secret from the reader" started to really bother me and, generally speaking, caused me to become very confused as to what was going on.

Let's not forget to mention the reasoning for these twins finding their mother. I honestly have no clue why they would want to. They ruin their personal lives in search of their neglectful and absent mother, who left them at a young age.

Would I personally recommend this book? Not at all.

I had a hard time getting into this book. It follows two sisters, Jane and Lila who have grown estranged over the years. When they reunite to figure out what happened to their mother who went missing years prior, their journey takes them to unexpected places in both the past and the present. I just didn’t find their story to be particularly engaging, unfortunately.

At first appearances, 35-year-old Jane Pool is a person with a seemingly staid respectable life, but it’s a life that doesn’t fit–she’s married, has a daughter and has a close relationship with her father, Professor Pool. But scraping away these details, her marriage is in trouble, she’s an ex-con, her twin sister, Lila is incommunicado and her mother, Annabel disappeared 20 years earlier.

The story kicks off when Jane receives what appears to be a spam email, but Jane recognises it as a message from her sister. Years earlier Jane and Lila established a code using E. Nesbit’s book, The Railway Children. The sisters have not seen each other for over 10 years but now Lila has contacted Jane because she has a lead on Annabel’s whereabouts. Jane, already on probation as far as her husband and mother-in-law are concerned, packs lightly, knowing that she’s ditching her marriage and motherhood:

This was the thing they’d gone to therapy for, his patronizing, sexist fear that her distant past would rise and overwhelm her, leave her drugged and drunk in some alley, send her back to prison. The therapy hadn’t worked, because Chance hadn’t wanted to believe she could be trusted.

Following convoluted instructions, Jane finally meets her sister, and together they go searching for their mother. The story goes back and forth between the past and the present. While Jane and Lila follow their mother’s trail, Professor Pool removes his gun from this safe. …

It probably was not to my advantage as a reader that I read (and loved) Familiar, Happyland and Castle. (Ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd favs), and due to those reading experiences, I had certain content expectations–which to be honest is not fair at all to the author. Hard Girls is a crime novel which explores family loyalties, identity and the memories that form our histories. While Lila has taken the unconventional path, Jane has chosen safety, but those unanswered questions nag at the periphery of her existence. On another note, IMO Chance had a point about Jane being sucked back into her dark past. One minute she’s respectable and the next she’s nicking a car from a woman at an airport. Tsk Tsk.

Review copy.

I really enjoyed this dual timeline mystery. I found the pacing perfect for progressing the plot and also revealing parts of the story. The writing was really enjoyable and the characters were likable.