Stalker Girl Review

Stalker Girl by Rosemary Graham

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Release date: August 5, 2010

Source: Publisher

How do you know when you’ve crossed the line between curiosity and obsession?

Carly never meant to become a stalker. She just wanted to find out who Brian started dating after he dumped her. But a little harmless online research turns into a quick glance, and that turns into an afternoon of watching. Soon Carly is putting all of her energy into following Brian’s new girlfriend — all of the sadness she feels about her mom’s recent breakup, all of the anger she feels over being pushed aside by her dad while he prepares for his new wife’s new baby. When Carly’s stalking is discovered in the worst possible way by the worst possible person, she is forced to acknowledge her problem and the underlying issues that led to it.

Review:

Stalker Girl was a fantastic novel that I devoured from first page to last. Stalking is something I'm not that familiar with, and this novel had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know how things were going to turn out for Carly and the rest of the characters.

To start off, the novel was divided into three sections. I liked being able to see so many different parts of Carly and to understand the person she was before things went too far. I've never had much of an idea about the different kinds of stalking there is. To me it just seemed like a person creeping around, looking in windows, etc, not a teenage girl with her whole life ahead of her and who normally has a solid head on her shoulders.

Carly was a likable and well developed main character. I liked being able to see the person she was before the break up and to see how she wasn't always like she was towards the middle of the novel. Carly meets Brian at camp and their relationship is perfect, at first. They spend time together and are really happy. But then Carly starts to become a little too clingy...and Brian breaks things off.

Now I could understand Carly's actions at first. She was curious about Brian's new girlfriend, Taylor, so looked up her Facebook page. Okay that's enough right? You see what she looks like and her hobbies and that's it. Wrong. Carly begins to follow Taylor around and soon it's an obsession. She just can't stop trying to find out more about Taylor and her relationship with Brian.

Unfortunately Carly is also dealing with a lot at home. Her mother just broke up with her long time boyfriend and moved Carly and her half sister away from the home both of them had known for twelve years. Carly's father is spending most of his time preparing for his new baby and has to cancel his summer plans with Carly. Even Carly's best friend is busy with her own boyfriend...so Carly really doesn't have many people to turn to and has endless amounts of free time.

Stalker Girl was an original and well executed novel that had me glued to the pages from the start. I liked being able to watch Carly change and by the end of the novel I couldn't believe how far things had gone. I couldn't exactly relate to Carly, but I sympathized with her and only wanted her obsession to end.

Overall, Stalker Girl is an interesting and unique look at how one person can change so much and become so obsessed with another person that they lose sight of who they really are. I definitely recommend picking this up, it will draw you in and hold you until the final page. I can't wait to read more by Rosemary Graham!

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars