My Favourite Manson Girl by Alison Umminger - review
Anna is 15, and she’s tired of her monotonous life. Her mum is solely focused on her baby brother, Birch, and her older sister Delia is a star-in-the-making at Hollywood. When things get bad at home, Anna takes her dad’s credit card and travels to Los Angeles, prepared for a life of glamour and stardom with her sister.
Los Angeles was not what Anna expected. Yes, there is glitter, yes, there is fame, but beneath it all, there are dark undertones, and someone out there is out to get Anna’s sister.
This is a brilliant novel which cannot really be categorised into one genre. It has elements of a thriller and romance but it is also wittily and cynically written, accurately portraying the thoughts and feelings of a 15-year-old girl.
In LA Anna finds herself helping her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Roger, write a screenplay. She researches the Manson girls and finds out about their shocking pasts. This is actually true – there really were girls who murdered people for Charles Manson and called themselves the Manson girls. Their stories are creepy and chilling, but the book is not entirely focused on them, but more on Anna’s story.
All the characters in this novel are really well developed and though it is not loaded with description, it still creates a vivid image in the reader’s head. It’s not the type of book I usually read, but I did enjoy it and will now look out for similar books in the future.
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