Take Three Girls – Fiona Wood, Simmone Howell & Cath Crowley

Take Three Girls is bold, feminist and a lot of fun. Three girls from three different cliques are thrown together because of the length of their thumbs. What they also have in common is that they are all targeted by an online platform spreading gossip and nastiness. What follows is the girls taking things into their own hands when their Year 10 Wellness program doesn’t cut it forging an unlikely friendship as they go.

This is one of those delicious novels that proves the YA is not just for teens. That being said this is a must read for young teen girls. High school is hard and armour is required and Take Three Girls lays out the tools for young women to fashion the armour for themselves. On top of that is a great, kick-ass nostalgic read for adult women, not to mention online bullying certainly isn’t limited to teens, as adults we also can face bullying across social media.

This novel tackles the serious issues that affect our teens of today. Not only the bullying and traps of social media but pressure from parents, from friends and sadly, for young women, there is still misogyny to tackle. The characters in this novel are perfection. Unique, relatable and endearing. I love Ady and Kate in particular.

I have to admit I grinned like an idiot reading much of this and absolutely loved the ending. The pacing was impeccable and I raced through it. The three authors are to be applauded. This is an important and memorable addition to Aussie YA lit and is certainly worth the time. I urge you all as women to read it and not be constrained by the genre, we all have much to take from it.