Sara Flannery MurphyRezensionen

This is the second book today that I have finished that I am glad I read but I couldn’t connect with so, therefore, did not love it, I think as much as I want to give high marks for the books that I receive from NetGalley this might be my first two-star reads. I’m sorry. The tale is spun around Girl One who was born in 1971 without any kind of male DNA. She would be the first of nine daughters. She was being raised in an experimental commune called “The Homestead” with her creator, Dr. Joseph Bellanger, and the other mothers and daughters until a suspicious fire takes two lives, and those remaining scattered across the USA, choosing to distance themselves from the experiment and each other. Then we fast-forward to 1994 where Jose 1994, Josephine is studying in Chicago with the hope of following in her “father’s” footsteps until she learns of her mother Margaret’s disappearance on the news. She returns to her mother’s home and finds that again there has been a fire, and her mother’s car and purse are there even though she is not.
An interesting concept so far, right? Girl One returns to find her mother with not much to go on. The only clue to her whereabouts-a phone # for a reporter from the Kansas City Telegraph-named Thomas Abbott. This sparks a road trip where more mother-daughter pairs are discovered that rather stay hidden. At this point, you might be thinking why did I request this book if I am being so harsh? Every so often I am intrigued by a plot that changes or challenges the status quo of society so this caught my attention. But despite my interest, I found the pace slow and the chapters very long! That being said it does pick up in the second half and you do get a sense of resolution at the end. If this is your genre of choice then you will love it. For me personally, I was glad I stepped out of my comfort zone but I didn’t connect with it. I will be out on the lookout for more from this author just out of curiosity.

Really great concept. This was an original idea telling the story of a scientist, the women he helped become mothers and the creation of their daughters. Great read for lovers of strong female characters. The character development had me gripped, and the end was satisfying. I'm excited to read this author's future novels

Fans of the X-Men and The Umbrella Academy will love this tale of superwomen “conceived” on a rural Vermont commune and slowly realizing their full capabilities while trying to fully understand their origins. The ultimate story of girl power, finding inner strength, learning the truth and achieving full potential. With numerous twists and a delicious slow burn, this story will keep you riveted from beginning to end.

An advanced copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. The opinions are my own.

This was a great dystopian read. I really enjoyed so many things about it - the plot was intriguing, the pacing was good and the characters were likeable. The book was described as Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood and I couldn't pass that up. Glad I didn't - it lived up to my expectations.

This was an intriguing story that started out strong and then petered out to a weird conclusion. I liked the premise and was interested in the murder mystery story arc, but Edie's story was pretty misogynistic with almost all of the female characters involved written as liars, betrayers, and thieves. I never understood her shame, even after we find out her Big Secret, and felt her crazy stalker actions were unjustified.

Josie, Girl One, was the first of nine babies conceived through a virgin birth. When she was 6, the Homestead burned, the experiment ended, and the mothers and children scattered. As an adult, Josie is away at medical school when her mother disappears. Determined to find her, Josie begins tracking down the other babies and mothers.

This was a quick read that kept me turning pages long into the night. However, I wanted to know more about the homestead and the virgin birth process. I wish the girls had been pre-teens or teenagers when the fire happened and everyone scattered. Josie, and the other characters seemed a bit flat. They were not very dynamic or well developed. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

3.5 stars that I considered bumping up to 4 because the first half of the book was actually really good. I love a good clone story and this one had virgin births and superpowers. The second half of the book got a bit ridiculous with confusing pacing and an unnecessary romance subplot. It reads like a debut novel even though it's the authors second book. Overall didn't regret reading it but not very memorable.

This book's premise definitely piqued my interest. The execution was the problem. The book, while only a could hundred pages, felt incredibly long. The first half of the book didn't have much to keep me interested. If they would have wound some of Sylvia's story or memories of Edie's past throughout the book, it would have been an easier read. The characters were fine, but nothing was particularly special about them. The Elysian Society was incredibly interesting, especially the head Madam, but you didn't get much of that story. This book overall had a lot of missed opportunities.

Josephine Morrow, Girl One, was the first of nine "Miracle Babies" conceived without male DNA and are exact replicas of their mothers. When a suspicious fire destroyed the commune, the Homestead, where girls were raised at and claimed the lives of two members. The remaining girls and their mothers scatter across the United States and lose touch.

Seventeen years later, Margaret Morrow goes missing under what she believes are weird circumstances. This sets Josie off on a desperate road trip, tracking down her "sisters" and trying to find the key(s) to her mother's disappearance. But there are those who still find the girls' existences threatening and are out to cause their extinction. While running and searching, secrets are uncovered about their origins and unlocking abilities they never knew they had.

I'm glad I ignored most of the online reviews of this book that stated it dragged a bit, I never felt like it did when I was reading... I don't read a lot of thriller/mystery books so maybe it is slow compared to the usual pacing? I've read a couple of plague books where all the men died and women were left wondering how to procreate - thought it would be interesting to see how this book planned that out.

The main character, Josephine, is a strong, intelligent narrator and due to this, you can understand why she is the way that she is. This also helps explain why sometimes it feels like sections might be a bit longer - it's just Josephine thinking through her confusion. As a reader, you learn alongside Josephine and understand her motives and actions.

It did take me a bit to get into the book - mostly trying to keep track of the history that leads up to where we the reader come in at, but once I was a few pages in (honestly, like 30 pages), I was hooked and reading as much as I could.

There were a few plot points I didn't see coming and others where I figured it would go one or two ways like I figured either Fiona didn't die in the fire, or the 10th baby didn't actually die . Overall, I enjoyed the suspense/thriller aspects of the book. I do wish we had more to the ending. It left a few things left to wonder but still wrapped things up quite well.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to those who like thrillers and suspense novels. It's got just enough twists for mystery lovers and just enough science fiction for Sci-Fi lovers.

3- review here½

Girl One is Josephine Morrow, born in 1974 without male DNA. She is the first of nine baby girls born to women living in a commune called The Homestead in Vermont and working with Dr Joseph Bellanger. Of course this work is controversial. Some people greet this scientific development with open arms. Men are threatened by the idea. The women of the early feminist movement are delighted. Others, especially religious groups think it is blasphemous. When Josie is 6 two people, including Dr Bellanger, die in a suspicious fire at The Homestead and the girls and their mothers are scattered across the country. Some, like Josie's mother, want nothing to do with the fame or infamy their story has brought. Other profit from it, giving interviews and being on TV. Seventeen years later Josie is in medical school determined to carry on the legacy of her "father" Dr Bellanger when she learns that there has been a fire at her home and her mother, from whom she has recently been estranged, is missing. She leaves medical school to find her and from here follows a trip across the country to see if the other girls have heard from her. The story gets very twisty from here and I was completely drawn in. The characters as we meet them are well developed. Some are likeable, some are not, but all felt real to me. The men we meet are all mostly "bad guys", somewhat stereotypical of what we might expect when their manhood is threatened. The book has lots of twists that I found unpredictable. The ending was very climactic.I enjoyed the science of the book. Could it really happen? An article on December 18, 2013 in Popular Science says it is highly unlikely but still theoretically possible. The cult-like attitude of Dr Bellanger's followers made it seem more possible. The reactions especially of the religious groups make it far more dangerous with today's "religious right". This book left me pondering for days. I wish to thank the publishers for allowing me to receive a copy of the book through NetGalley. This review in no way reflects that. I loved the book.

Girl One
by Sara Flannery Murphy
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this extraordinary book! This book is going in my favorite folder! I just can't explain how much I love this book!

This book is about nine girls that were conceived without male DNA. A scientific breakthrough lead by a doctor that the lead character, Josie or Girl One, always had loved like a father. These girls were not well received in the public. They were threatened by religious groups, bullied, and had to live in hiding most of their lives.

The doctor and the youngest girl was killed. Before that, the mothers and daughters lived together on a property away from the public. Now they were scattered.
The story starts with Josie going to find her mom. There was a fire at her mom's house and her mom is missing. A reporter says he will help her. She is reluctant but agrees. Someone is trying to kill them as they travel.

What they find as they try to find her mom, by tracking down the other girls, opens up a new world. Her life has been a lie. Her mother has lied to her. The doctor lied to her. But things will change now.

The girls have powers now. They are no longer helpless!

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Girl One, Josephine Morrow, finds herself stepping away from her medical studies to search for her missing mother, Margaret. The discovery of her mother’s notebook puts Josie on the trail of the other girls from the Homestead, a place she and eight other girls, along with their mothers, once called home. It was there that Doctor Joseph Bellanger supposedly created the “Miracle Babies,” each a product of parthenogenesis.

Following the clues left by her mother, Josie sets out to track down the other Girls, hoping they will have information that will lead her to her mother. But all is not as Josie believes and it will take the discovery of her own special abilities and the revealing of a long-held secret to unlock the truth.

Told from Josie’s point of view, the unfolding narrative grabs readers from the outset and pulls them into the orbit of the Girls with their unique abilities and their Mothers. An undercurrent of tension permeates the telling of the tale and the sense of impending disaster keeps the suspense building.

The strength of the story lies in the relationship between the Girls. Like their powers, as they come together they discover they are stronger collectively than they were on their own. Emotional and empowered, the Girls learn to believe in themselves as unexpected twists take the story in surprising directions. Conflicts arise, both within each of the Girls and in their dealings with the others who are determined to short-circuit their search. The story is engaging and perceptive; readers are sure to find much to appreciate here.

Sadly, the unnecessary use of a particularly offensive word mars the telling of the tale and lowers the rating for this book.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley
#GirlOne #NetGalley

I wanted this book to be better than it was. I was totally ambivalent about Edie, and the crime/mystery aspect turned out to be less climactic than I anticipated. It holds a lot of promise, and I thought the premise was really interesting, but I just don't feel like it pushed hard enough.

With a pace as slow as molasses, and somewhat bland characters, this novel was difficult to get into. The narrator Erin Moon tried to make the audiobook sound more interesting, especially when one of the characters who was a "body" sounded way too much like Paris from the Gilmore Girls, but it didn't help very much. I was anywhere from slightly to rather bored for a good two-thirds of this novel, until some slightly more interesting things started happening in it.
The author of this novel had a wonderful idea for it, but I don't think he was able to use this idea to the fullest. I had difficulty connecting to any of the characters at all, not even when the Big Reveal came along near the end of the novel. By then I was just glad this audiobook was almost over.
The storyline as to whether Sylvia was murdered, or had killed herself had gotten more play at about 2/3 of the way into the novel, but it was more lurid than fascinating. I was more spellbound by a desire for everyone involved to get out of one stupid situation after another, than because the novel's storyline was holding me there. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think the characters in the novel were too immature to be depicted as adults. At least I wouldn't want to know any adults like this, ever.
So this book is not really recommended, unless you think you will like it better than I did. I'm giving it a solid three stars, because i still think that using yourself as a vehicle for a dead loved one's ghost to come back and visit you SHOULD have been the basis of an amazing novel.

Better luck next time, Murphy....?

Pretty strong until the last fifty pages or so.

With a hint of the supernatural and an intriguing mystery, The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy is a fascinating novel where the grieving have the opportunity to channel their loved ones during visits to the Elysian Society. The bereaved are able to interact with their wives, husbands, children, friends, etc during their sessions with workers known as "bodies" who ingest a mysterious pill called a "lotus" to aid the process. The body is completely unaware of what transpires between the client and their loved one and despite the personal nature of their interactions, the body remains emotionally detached from the people using the Society's services.

Eurydice "Edie" has been a body for much longer than most of the Elysian Society employees and like her co-workers, her life is shrouded in mystery. Many of the bodies supply a false name and few discuss anything personal about themselves. Edie has no trouble keeping an emotional distance from her clients but when she begins channeling Patrick Braddock's wife, Sylvia, she is drawn to both him and his deceased wife. Discovering some of fellow employees work with some of their clients outside of the Society, Edie offers to channel Sylvia at Patrick's home. Edie then begins taking risky chances in an effort to get as much information as she can to satisfy her curiosity about Patrick's marriage and the circumstances of Sylvia's death.

Edie is initially an emotionless and passionless narrator with very little in her life outside of her work. She has no outside interests nor she does she have any friends. She barely recognizes her co-workers and her interactions with them both on the job and in her time off are quite limited. Edie does not reflect on the circumstances that brought her to the Society so she appears to be nothing but a blank slate as she somewhat dispassionately channels the dead. However, seemingly incongruous details about Sylvia spark her curiosity and she is unexpectedly attracted to Patrick. As she becomes more deeply entrenched in Patrick's life, the easier it is for Edie to channel Sylvia.

While Edie is crossing into dangerous territory with Patrick, she becomes unwittingly involved in a murder investigation. A young woman, dubbed by the press as "Hopeful Doe", has recently been found murdered and someone connected to the case tries to use the Elysian Society to uncover her identity. Edie refuses to break the Society's rules to help this person, but not everyone she works with understands the ramifications of channeling the spirit of a murder victim. Could this woman and her death have anything to do with the Elysian Society? The police certainly think so but Edie is not as convinced they are on the right track. Will an unexpected discovery change her mind? Will she do anything with information she unearths?

The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy has an imaginative storyline that is quite compelling. There are quite a few twists and turns as Edie's obsession with Sylvia leads to a surprising relationship with Patrick. Poised to enter a new phase in her life, Edie is blindsided when someone uncovers the truth about her past. The revelations about Edie's past are a bit underwhelming but overall, the novel is a refreshingly unique and captivating read. A very impressive debut that I immensely enjoyed and highly recommend.

The first thing I have to say about this novel is that I really loved the core concept of it, the idea of people working as "bodies" to channel the dead for money. It reminded me a bit of the TV show Dollhouse, with the one disappointment being that we don't get the enjoyment of watching our main character turn into all these different characters and live out all these different experiences; she has no memory of what happens to her while channeling.

Another thing that I would like to praise about this book is the writing style. It was very well written, in my opinion, with only one noticeably clunky sentence in the whole book.

My biggest complaint about the story is simply the blandness of the reveals. All of the characters' backstories are hinted at, not revealed completely until we near the end. I usually love when books hold surprises in store, but the problem with this book for me was that the truths I was given at the end of the story were less exciting than the possibilities I had imagined. We spend most of the book suspecting that Patrick murdered Sylvia, but in the end, it turns out she killed herself. The possibility that Henry murdered her instead is briefly mentioned, a passing idea, but it's not investigated and unlikely to be true. Similarly, the entire book hints briefly at some dark events in Edie's past. From these hints, I pieced together a hypothesis that, in some act of violence, she had murdered her child and maybe also done something to her lover. In reality, she simply attempted to kill herself while pregnant and her fetus died soon after from a problem she may not even have caused. Though I understand that someone who underwent such actions would suffer from a lot of guilt, there was nothing particularly vile about this to me. Edie's past was sad, but not despicable. The only backstory that really surprised me was Hopeful Doe's, and even so, the Hopeful Doe subplot wasn't really given enough weight for this to feel significant.

Another thing that bothered me a little about the story was the significance that the female characters seemed to place on having children. I understand that this is a very important thing to some people, male and female, but in a way, it almost defined them. Pregnancy was at the root of Edie's secret discomfort with her own identity. The inability to get pregnant also seemed to ruin Sylvia's life. She killed herself over it and her husband leaving her; there was no evidence that anything else held much meaning in her life. In fact, if you gave this book a critical, feminist reading, you could probably make a case that Edie's job at the Elysian Society might be a metaphor intended to depict career-focused women as throwing their life away, becoming zombies that are out-of-touch with "the more important things in life" (read: love, children). While I don't think that's how Murphy intended her book be read, I'd still have liked to see more fleshed-out women.

One last thing that bothered me a little was the character of Ana. She seemed oddly hostile toward Edie throughout the whole book, and I couldn't quite place a logical motive for the attitude. Maybe that's just how she acts all the time, but it wore on me quickly and made me dislike her character.

The Possessions, Sara Flannery Murphy’s debut novel, examines the concept of self-identity in a world rooted heavily in science fiction. Edie, short for Eurydice, works at the Elysian Society as a “body,” where she gets paid to temporarily relinquish herself to deceased souls in order to give closure to the loved ones left behind. When Patrick Braddock, a young widower, uses her services to speak with Sylvia, his recently deceased wife, the comfortable world Edie has created for herself comes to a crashing halt.

Murphy’s take on life and death often comes across as too ambitious, especially as she weaves in and out of the lives of Edie’s clients and other co-workers. While Edie consumes herself with Patrick and his wants and needs, everyone else falls to the wayside. When the story diverts from Patrick, it seems unfocused and meandering. The addition of a potential murder not directly associated with the main plot also confuses, and Murphy devotes so much attention to it that it becomes enormously distracting.

While Edie possesses a hauntingly passive personality, perfect for her profession, the characters she interacts with make up for her lack of vigor and passion. Mysterious Patrick with his conflicted emotions dominates the action whenever he graces the page. His colleague, Henry Damson, and Henry’s wife, Viv, ooze insecurity and selfishness, which keeps the reader intrigued. Most importantly, despite being dead, Sylvia’s presence haunts Edie wherever she goes, giving the novel a distinct tone of fear and apprehension.

The most off-putting aspect of the novel is its moral posturing on the subject of suicide. One of the Elysian Society’s strictest rules states that its bodies cannot be possessed by anyone who killed themselves. While this rule is believable and understandable to an extent, Murphy takes the concept much further throughout the narrative, often beating it over the head to an unhealthy level. Not once, but twice, Edie is confronted by grieving family members who just want to speak to their deceased loved one, but she callously turns them down. Edie’s boss emphasizes more than once that suicidal people are unstable and unwelcome in her facility. The subject becomes so taboo that if it weren’t so awful, it would be laughable.

Despite channeling hundreds of souls over the five years she works as a body, Edie struggles most with Sylvia. Murphy effectively distinguishes Edie’s mundane life before Patrick and Sylvia with the confusion that envelops her after. As the end nears, the answer to the one question she keeps asking herself becomes more and more clear; does she really want to be with Patrick or is that just what Sylvia wants?

Sara Flannery Murphy’s The Possessions takes an intriguing idea and mostly delivers. While it sometimes feels like too much happens throughout the novel, most of the plot threads come together by the end. Descriptive language and deep analysis of heavy concepts make for a fascinating, albeit somber, reading experience. I’m excited to see what Murphy has in store for her next novel.

The prose in this book was mesmerizing, but the mystery was a little ordinary in the end. I enjoyed it overall as it kept me reading. The MC is a colorless person both physically and emotionally. She works at a company that hires out "bodies" for possession by the deceased. The MC slowly becomes obsessed with a client and how his beautiful wife really died. No big plot twist in the end but it was satisfying nonetheless.

Great read, unique and interesting until
The very end.

A different type of ghost story. Written so well, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. This will probably not be my last novel I read by this author.

What a different concept! Really enjoyed this book. Well written, several twists and turns, but the author kept track of them all - there were never any inconsistencies. Will be looking for more by this author.

I was so excited about this book when it came in my book of the month box. The idea of people sharing bodies and bringing back the dead was so intriguing and such a unique plot that I jumped right in to reading it. I really enjoyed the first half of the book but the second half fell flat for me. The ending seemed obvious so I felt like I could put the book down and take a break and not miss anything. I was wrong about the ending, which typically makes me happy but this seemed like the author was purposefully pointing you in the wrong direction (glaringly so) in order to feel like there is a twist when you find out your assumptions are wrong. There is no real twist or grand moment. The plot moves along in a few weird directions but none of them seem to matter. I know it sounds like I hated this book, but I did enjoy the first half and the idea behind the story is very intriguing. Really it was just the second half and the ending that dropped the rating for me.

I wanted to like this book I really did. But it never took a hold of me. It never possessed me.... for lack of a better word (see what I did there). The main character isn't easy to relate to or have empathy for, in fact I couldn't find myself caring about ANY of the characters in the novel (and there weren't many!). In this modern society people can speak to their loved ones who have died by going to certain clinics and having people channel their spirits. Edie has been a body (one who can channel the dead) for five years, longer than anyone else ever has. She doesn't mind that her body gets more use by others since she doesn't have any life to speak of. But that all changes when Patrick Braddock comes into her room to speak to his dead wife. For some reason she becomes obsessed with his wife and with Patrick and it's all she can focus on. One thing leads to another and boom. You have a boring novel. Honestly, save your time and pass on this. It was beautifully written by I couldn't care less for the plot or the characters.