The Eighth Girl | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this unsettling, seductive psychological thriller, a young woman with multiple personalities is drawn into London’s hellish underworld when she becomes entangled with a man who has an abominable secret, for fans of Caroline Kepnes and Clare Mackintosh.

One woman, multiple personas. But which one is telling the truth?

Beautiful. Damaged. Destructive. Meet Alexa Wú, a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman whose chaotic life is manipulated and controlled by a series of alternate personalities. Only three people know about their existence: her shrink Daniel; her stepmother Anna; and her enigmatic best friend Ella. The perfect trio of trust.

When Ella gets a job at a high-end gentleman’s club, she catches the attention of its shark-like owner and is gradually drawn into his inner circle. As Alexa’s world becomes intimately entangled with Ella’s, she soon finds herself the unwitting keeper of a nightmarish secret. With no one to turn to and lives at stake, she follows Ella into London’s cruel underbelly on a daring rescue mission. Threatened and vulnerable, Alexa will discover whether her multiple personalities are her greatest asset, or her most dangerous obstacle.

Electrifying and breathlessly compulsive, The Eighth Girl is an omnivorous examination of life with mental illness and the acute trauma of life in a misogynist world. With bingeable prose and a clinician’s expertise, Chung’s psychological debut deftly navigates the swirling confluence of identity, innocence, and the impossible fracturing weights that young women are forced to carry, causing us to question: Does the truth lead to self-discovery, or self-destruction?

“The Eighth Girl is an exquisite exploration of childhood trauma and its impact on the psyche. Part thriller, part character study, I devoured this novel in one sitting, reflecting on each sentence, each passage, and each astute observation of humanity. A true gem!” — Wendy Walker, bestselling author of The Night Before

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: March 17, 2020

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | HarperCollins

MY REVIEW

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung’s The Eighth Girl features Alexa Wú, a woman struggling with multiple personalities (stemming from years of childhood abuse). As the drama and stress in her life heighten, she begins losing control over herself—which, of course, makes her life all the more complicated.

This book had so much potential to be great, yet it failed to be the psychological thriller I expected. The plot holds little thrill or surprise, unfortunately. The focus, instead, proves to be simply the psychology of Alexa’s character, which while quite interesting, did not give enough to the story for me to be intrigued. The Eighth Girl just was not a book for me.

★★

I received a complimentary copy of this book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and clinical supervisor. Trained in the arts, she worked as a Creative Director for ten years at Condé Nast, The Sunday Times and The Times. She lives in London with her son. The Eighth Girl is her first novel.

Website | Instagram | Twitter

TOUR SCHEDULE

TLC Book Tours