**Blog Tour** Bad Little Girl – Frances Vick

Welcome to my stop on the Bad Little Girl blog tour! I’d like to thank Bookouture and especially Kim Nash for giving the opportunity to read and review this brilliant thriller by Frances Vick.

Rating: 4/5

Read: 6^th February 2017 – 12^th February 2017

Review:

‘I’m not safe – you have to help me…’

Little Lorna Bell is from a notorious family on a rundown estate. Everyone thinks she’s a nasty piece of work. The schoolchildren call her a thief. But Lorna’s hair is matted, her shoes pinch her feet and school teacher Claire Penny can’t help herself; some kids just need a bit more support, a bit more love, than the rest.

As the bond between teacher and pupil grows stronger, Claire sees Lorna’s bruises, and digs to uncover the disturbing tale behind them. Heartbroken, Claire knows she has to act. She must make Lorna safe. Just when Claire thinks she has protected Lorna, a chance encounter brings enigmatic stranger Marianne Cairns into their lives. Marianne seems generous and kind but there is something about her story that doesn’t quite add up. Why does she feel so at home, and why is Lorna suddenly so unsettled?

Claire has risked everything to save Lorna. But what can save Claire from the shocking truth?

I thought this was a fantastic novel right from the very first chapter! I was intrigued straight away to see where the story would go. All the way through the first half of the book as Claire grew closer and more concerned about little Lorna, I thought ‘surely this can only end badly’!! Everybody knows it’s not okay to form such a close relationship with a student, don’t they? Even if the teacher believes the child is at such risk at home.

I found the first few chapters fairly slow as the writer described Claire and allowed the reader to build a relationship with her, giving us a full understanding of her work and personal life. However the pace soon quickened in the second half and by the time I was 60% through I couldn’t put it down!!

I’d describe this novel as creepy, terrifying yet thrilling, which keeps you guessing until the bitter end! I was absolutely clueless of how the story would unfold, which is something I love in a book!! I found it absolutely incredible how manipulative Lorna was and how she’d twisted Claire right round her little finger, the title of the book is certainly accurate! How could such a young girl behave the way Lorna did? I also began to feel extremely sorry for Claire, her attempt to protect and take this ‘neglected’ little girl under her wing, definitely backfired on her!

I love finishing a book which has such an incredible twist and thinking ‘wow that could actually happen in real life’!! Which is exactly what happened when I read the final paragraphs of Bad Little Girl, despite being such an unthinkable story, I actually realised that it was a very realistic novel. Young children can actually be so clever and manipulating, causing so much trouble for those around them!

This book was fantastically written with unforeseeable twists and turns, it involves some very dark and disturbing issues are dealt with exceptionally, which I give Frances Vick great credit for! I was also amazed at how the author had plotted such an original, breath-taking story! I would definitely read more by this author!

BAD LITTLE GIRL By Frances Vick

UK: http://amzn.to/2gElGCH

US: http://amzn.to/2fsr3zE

About the author

The only child of parents who worked at a top security psychiatric hospital, Frances grew up receiving disquieting notes
and presents from the patients. Expelled from school, she spent the next few years on the dole, augmenting her income by providing security and crewing for gigs, and being a guinea pig for medical trials. Later jobs included working in a theatre in Manhattan, teaching English in Japanese Junior High Schools, and being a life model in Italy, before coming back to London and working with homeless teenagers and refugees.

www.francesvick.com

https://www.facebook.com/FrancesVickAuthor/

https://twitter.com/franvicksays
Make sure you check out the next stop of the blog tour for this awesome psychological thriller!