The Kitty Committee: A Novel of Suspense by Kathryn Berla – Review by Francis O’Sullivan

The Kitty Committee: A Novel of SuspenseThe Kitty Committee: A Novel of Suspense by Kathryn Berla
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Kitty Committee by Kathryn Berla is a dark coming of age story. It tells the story of Grace, a naïve girl who gets caught up in a dangerous friendship group.
The narrative switches between different points in time, so we get Grace’s experiences as a teenager and the impact it has on her as an adult side-by-side. This is very effective – we know something bad will happen and have some clues as to what but have to wait to find out what.
It reminded me a lot of Mean Girls at times. Grace’s parents are missionaries and she has spent most of her life away from America. Initially, she has a hard time adjusting to high school until she is accepted by Carly and Maggie. It also reminded me a bit of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, particularly nearer the start. I was worried at times that it was going to be too much like Mean Girls (not that I have anything against Mean Girls!) but the structure allows for the girls’ choices and actions to have much deeper and more serious consequences.
There’s a lot going on in this story – sometimes it feels like a bit too much to follow everything at once but it’s also very enjoyable. Grace spends some time travelling around Europe which was particularly fun to read about!
For me, this is a four star book. I’d recommend it to fans of high school stories like Mean Girls who are after something a bit darker.

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