📖 Overview
Take Three Girls follows three students at an elite Melbourne boarding school who form an unexpected alliance when they become targets of an anonymous cyberbullying website. Clem, Kate, and Ady come from different social circles but are brought together through their shared experiences of harassment and isolation.
The story alternates between the perspectives of the three main characters as they navigate academic pressure, family expectations, romantic relationships, and identity formation. Through their wellness classes at school, they begin to examine their own behaviors and assumptions about themselves and each other.
The novel explores themes of female friendship, social media's impact on teen life, and the challenge of staying authentic in a culture of constant performance and judgment. It presents a raw look at how young women support each other through adversity while questioning societal expectations about who they should be.
👀 Reviews
Readers highlight the book's authentic portrayal of teen friendship, cyberbullying, and personal growth. The rotating perspectives between three distinct characters help readers connect with different personalities and situations.
Readers appreciated:
- Strong female friendships without romantic drama overshadowing
- Realistic dialogue and teen voices
- The handling of serious topics with sensitivity
- Character development throughout the story
- The wellness class framework that ties the narratives together
Common criticisms:
- Slow start with three separate storylines to track
- Some found the private school setting unrelatable
- A few readers wanted more resolution to certain plot threads
Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.9/5 (1,200+ ratings)
Amazon AU: 4.5/5 (50+ ratings)
One reader noted: "The three distinct voices never blur together - each character remains unique and compelling." Another mentioned: "The cyberbullying subplot felt very true to what teens face today."
Multiple reviews mentioned the book resonates particularly well with Australian teen readers.
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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart A student infiltrates her prep school's all-male secret society to challenge gender norms and institutional power structures.
Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard Two best friends navigate their changing relationship when a new girl enters their lives and brings both excitement and complications.
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian A class president discovers the complexities of reputation and friendship when she spearheads a feminist movement at her high school.
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma Two dancers and an incarcerated girl's lives intersect in a story about privilege, justice, and the bonds between young women.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart A student infiltrates her prep school's all-male secret society to challenge gender norms and institutional power structures.
🤔 Interesting facts
🌟 "Take Three Girls" is a collaborative work, written not just by Fiona Wood but also by Cath Crowley and Simmone Howell, making it a unique blend of three distinct writing styles.
📚 The novel tackles cyberbullying through a fictional website called PSST, which was inspired by real-world anonymous gossip websites that have caused harm in schools.
🏫 The story is set in St. Hildegard's, a prestigious boarding school in Melbourne, Australia, and draws from the authors' experiences and observations of private school culture.
🎭 Each of the three main characters—Kate, Clem, and Ady—is written primarily by one of the three authors, allowing for authentic and distinct character voices throughout the narrative.
🏆 The book won the 2018 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers, highlighting its significant impact on young adult literature in Australia.