Tasnia Shahrin
“It struck her then that the two of them were crouched between a church and a police station — two places of confession — and that, for whatever reason, they’d chosen each other instead.”
— Hello Girls, Cavallaro and Henry
The bond between two friends is considered one of the strongest relationships. It is because friendship does not emphasise blood, money, power, caste, etc. Rather, it is free of all biases and formed just out of mutual admiration, and the comfort of being around each other. You never know where you will find a friend.
As they do not take any rigid conditions into account, anyone can become one of your closest friends at any time. This was the case of Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, who met outside a police station — both deciding whether to turn their families in or not (talk about bizarre meetings).
Winona has this seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. However, no one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them. Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and a daily life that is hardly peaceful.
From the opening chapters, I knew that this book was going to have a deeper meaning than what was being told on the surface. And I was right — there were some great moments about first relationships, trust, toxic family relationships, and jealousy among friends. I thought the way Winona and Lucille were introduced was brilliant and captivating. Immediately, I felt for both of these girls and their horrible home lives. In spite of their terrible families, the bond they formed was truly inspiring. The deep friendship between the two was what kept the story grounded when some of the other elements went a bit wild.
Some of my favourite quotes from the book that set friendship goals for me were:
“Lucille couldn’t have wants. She couldn’t have needs. What she had was a hole that she shovelled her love into, a hole she couldn’t see the bottom of until she met Winona.” “Sometime since yesterday, it was like Winona had gone from being a book Lucille knew by heart to being the same book with its ending ripped out.”
In a phase where female friendships are mostly portrayed through gossiping, shopping, dreaming about boys, or just being a bunch of Mean Girls, this book portrays a strong sisterhood and shows the impact of girl-power. The best part was the ending, which was quite explosive, and honestly, a little heartbreaking. However, I really liked how the authors chose to end it the way they did.
Overall, I would give this book a 4 out of 5 and would highly recommend it as a friendship day read!
The writer is a part of the TDA Editorial Team.