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Two high school seniors became best friends when they saw each other outside their town’s police station. Each had been trying to decide if she should turn in a family member for something illegal.
Since then, Winona and Lucille have relied solely on each other for support in their very tough lives. Winona lives with her dad, a wealthy, high-profile man who controls every aspect of her life. Other-side-of-the-tracks Lucille lives with her single mom and older brother, working two jobs trying to keep the family afloat, while her brother does nothing but use and deal drugs out of the house and take her things.
One day, things come to a boiling point, and the two girls take off in Winona’s grandfather’s Alfa Romeo, with a few luxury items in hand but no cash. And thus begins a spree of illegal actions that snowball to a place they had never planned to go.
Hello Girls is a rough book. The protagonists have been subjected to abuse and plenty of life’s toughest knocks, particularly at the hands of men, and they are trying to take back control of their own lives from the men who would prefer not to cede it. It’s impossible not to compare the book to “Thelma and Louise,” with younger main characters.
By the end, without writing any spoilers, it’s hard to know for sure if the girls have truly accomplished their goals, but the reader hopes they can. At the same time, it’s a little hard on some level to root for them completely after all they’ve done.
As much as I love Emily Henry’s other books, like her debut (YA) The Love That Split the World, this is one I would be OK not having read; it doesn’t have the loveliness or redeeming qualities that were so uplifting in her stories. This left me feeling … blech.
Rated: High. There are about 3 dozen instances of strong language, plus plenty of uses of moderate profanity. There’s gambling, violence, drug use and dealing and abuse. Sexual content is actually not too high. This is a book I’d definitely not recommend for the intended young adult audience.
