Written by Brooklyn Saliba
Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood, and Simmone Howell is honestly a book everyone needs to read! It’s so vital in terms of its messages and themes, which makes it relatable in many ways! It’s a book I wish I had read in high school, but nevertheless, I’m happy to have finally read it now! Take Three Girls focuses on three girls and it is told from their perspectives:
There’s Clem, once a swimming sensation, but now not at all feeling the longing for the pool that she once had – whilst being tangled up with Stu, one who she can never quite forget. Then there’s popular Adelaide, or Ady, feeling disconnected from her family and friends – her comfortable life falling apart before her own eyes. And last, but most certainly not least, Kate, torn between her music dreams and the career her parents have sacrificed lots for.
All three girls are faced with the brunt of PSST (think Gossip Girl, well that’s what it instantly reminded me of), which is a website that relentlessly shames its targets, namely women. It says absolutely loathsome and humiliating things about them, which are mostly inaccurate and often hurtful things too. No one really knows who is behind PSST, but let me say when I found out, I was pretty surprised! It definitely wasn’t who I would have expected that contributed to the website.
I love how the book was told from three different perspectives and I loved them all equally! It’s funny because of Ady’s popular demeanour, I initially didn’t like her, but I soon grew to love her as she started to realise every thing is not all it seems in her life. As the reader, we find out that her family is slowly unravelling, not only due to lack of finances, but also due to her father’s health. I must admit, I found that in itself to be a surprise, and of course, it definitely made me feel bad for her! Not only did she have to come to terms with that, but her sister constantly only gives her half attention, and as the story goes further, I really got a sense of how alone she really feels in the world. So when Max came into her life, I was incredibly happy for her! Their friendship and more was just utter deliciousness and made me so happy!
Clem, darling Clem, I just wanted to hug her as soon as I met her in this book. She is so disheartened by her weight, being so hung up on Stu (I have lots of not-so great feelings about that one), but also her toxic relationship with her twin sister, Iris. Now Clem, in my opinion, hadn’t done anything to Iris, but she was so horrible to Clem. It hurt to read about, as they were evidently once close but now all Iris seemingly has to say are horribly negative things about her sister. That being said, how Clem navigated her way through this story was just gorgeous, whether it was coping with fat shaming (which no one should have to go through), to dealing with a change in swimming mindset.
Kate is a friend of Iris’s and an aspiring cellist, along with initially being my favourite character at that! I could so easily feel her passion and love for music and tech and I loved how she would just be so creative in terms of mixing the two. Kate absolutely had inner angst about wanting to chase her music dream, while her parents have given her the opportunity to study medicine, but she was just so brave going for her dream. I loved her banter and chemistry with nerdy Oliver, they were easily some of my favourite scenes as how they bounced off one another and had that shared passion for music was such a pleasure to read about.
Whilst I loved reading about all three girls as separate characters, my favourite scenes were when they all came together. Initially, they weren’t even in the same friendship groups, but their individual character growth, collective friendship development, and self-love was stellar. Now, Kate, Ady, and Clem feel like friends and the book is definitely a new favourite of mine!
Lastly, I love that it was the school’s wellness course that brought them all together, that made them face what was going not so great with their lives. Facing and standing united together against the toxic people, and just being the best and happiest versions of themselves that they can be!
If you haven’t read this book, pick it up! I cannot recommend it enough!
Have you read Take Three Girls? Or will you be checking it out? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Ady – not the confident A-Lister she appears to be.
Kate – brainy boarder taking risks to pursue the music she loves.
Clem – disenchanted swim-star losing her heart to the wrong boy.
All are targeted by PSST, a toxic website that deals in gossip and lies. St Hilda’s antidote to the cyber-bullying? The Year 10 Wellness program. Nice try – but sometimes all it takes is three girls.
