Being new isn\u2019t easy, but when mysterious Jane joins Crossley College you can\u2019t blame the other kids for avoiding her.<\/p>\n
Dual authors SL Grey (Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg) have painted a particularly creepy picture of the school\u2019s new addition and you can\u2019t help but want to know what her deal is.<\/p>\n
Teacher Tara and handyman Ryan are also intrigued by the scruffy haired schoolgirl. The multi-perspective narrative is written from their points of view, as well as that of Jane\u2019s \u2018mother\u2019, Penter. This certainly ups the intrigue when just as one character\u2019s plot peaks, the POV switches. The problem, however, is the leads aren\u2019t hugely likeable or relatable. As you find yourself siding with one, a rather large flaw \u2013 particularly in the case of Ryan \u2013 is revealed and stops your sympathy dead.<\/p>\n
Penter\u2019s a whole other kettle of fish, and unfortunately a breed that\u2019s never fully revealed. Initially, her chapters are ambiguous enough that you can\u2019t wait to read on, but soon ambiguity becomes confusion, as we\u2019ve no idea who\/what she is and how she\u2019s connected to the others.<\/p>\n
The link\u2019s revealed in time, but these \u2018beings\u2019 and their purpose for being \u2018upside\u2019 is never fully explored. It seems the authors have dedicated more time to conceiving creepy characters than to fleshing out the plot.<\/p>\n
The overall feel is disturbing \u2013in that good, horror read sort of way. Even minor details, like the strange school that bans Harry Potter<\/em> books, bring on a fresh set of goose bumps. Jane\u2019s use of Americanisms, expletives and gangster slang can be quite comically sinister too, and the generally chilled and robotic personality of this \u2018family\u2019 makes them all the more eerie.<\/p>\n It\u2019s certainly unique, it\u2019s just a shame the plot isn\u2019t smoother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Creepy school tale The New Girl is a wholly unique, but rather bumpy read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":50225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[1624,8],"tags":[2247],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/s.l._grey.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}