The Eighth Girl: A Novel
The Eighth Girl: A Novel book cover

The Eighth Girl: A Novel

Hardcover – March 17, 2020

Price
$20.93
Format
Hardcover
Pages
480
Publisher
William Morrow
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0062931122
Dimensions
6 x 1.21 x 9 inches
Weight
1.4 pounds

Description

“Chung does an excellent job balancing the ensuing dramatic tension with a sharp portrayal of [dissociative identity] disorder, which also plays a crucial role in building suspense.” — Los Angeles Times “An authentic and heart-rending page-turner. An exceptional debut from a talented author. I can't wait to see what she writes next.”xa0 — Clare Macintosh, New York Tim es bestselling author of I Let You Go “[S]tunning and disturbing…Chung’s compelling debut plumbs the depths of trauma and its long-lasting effects on the human psyche.” — Library Journal "[D]ark and disturbing, this psychological thriller, told in the voice of multiple unreliable narrators, is filled with surprises until the end, and is a fresh take on the suspense genre." — Booklist “[A] fascinating debut.” — Kirkus Reviews "Fans of psychological thrillers will be curious to see what Mei-Fung Chung comes up with next." — Publishers Weekly “I am so impressed. I love Chung’s writing: The sheer joy she takes in the tones of the separate personalities, and the skill of her negotiation of what is actually a very complicated plot. It’s a brave and ambitious book.” — Sabine Durrant, author of Remember Me This Way “Intricately plotted and sensitively written, The Eighth Girl draws the reader into the dark heart of London’s underworld with relentless tension until the shock of the final reveal.”xa0 — Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange “Deftly written by an author whose professional expertise shines through, I was captivated by The Eighth Girl . A dark and disturbing tale set in London’s gritty underbelly, The Eighth Girl asks big questions about identity, truth and society.” — Adam Hamdy, author of Black 13 “A multilayered and compelling exploration of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The author’s expertise of the subject is clear. Intelligent, sensitive and totally engrossing.” — Will Dean, author of the Tuva Moodyson Series "In The Eighth Girl , Maxine Chung has created a searing portrait of a young woman with multiple personalities who is drawn into London's underbelly. An electrifying, thought-provoking and unflinchingxa0novel." — Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee “The second I finished this impressive debut, I went back to the beginning and read it again: I defy anyone else to do otherwise.”xa0 — The Observer Maxine Mei-Fung Chun >xa0is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and clinical supervisor. Trained in the arts, she worked as a Creative Director for ten years at Condé Nast, The Sunday Times and The Times . She lives in London with her son. The Eighth Girl is her first novel.

Features & Highlights

  • Optioned by Netflix and a most anticipated book from Bustle, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and LitHub!
  • An unsettling, seductive psychological thriller about a young woman with multiple personalities, perfect for fans of Caroline Kepnes and Clare Mackintosh
  • "An electrifying, thought-provoking, and unflinching novel."
  • Jean Kwok,
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author of
  • Searching for Sylvie Lee
  • “An exceptional debut from a talented author.” —Clare Mackintosh,
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author of
  • I Let You Go
  • Beautiful. Damaged. Destructive. Meet Alexa Wú, a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman whose chaotic life is controlled by a series of alternate personalities.
  • When Alexa’s friend Ella gets a job at a high-end gentlemen’s club, she catches the attention of its shark-like owner and is gradually drawn into his inner circle. As Alexa’s world becomes intimately entangled with Ella’s, she soon finds herself the unwitting keeper of a nightmarish secret as she follows Ella into London’s cruel underbelly. Threatened and vulnerable, Alexa will discover whether her multiple personalities are her greatest asset, or her most dangerous obstacle.
  • Electrifying and breathlessly compulsive,
  • The Eighth Girl
  • is an omnivorous examination of life with mental illness and the acute trauma of living in a misogynist world. With bingeable prose and a clinician’s expertise, Chung’s psychological debut deftly explores identity, innocence, and the fracturing weight that young women are forced to carry, causing us to ask: Does the truth lead to self-discovery, or to self-destruction?

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(77)
★★★★
20%
(51)
★★★
15%
(38)
★★
7%
(18)
28%
(71)

Most Helpful Reviews

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The Eighth Girl

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung’s The Eighth Girl features Alexa Wú, a woman struggling with multiple personalities (stemming from years of childhood abuse). As the drama and stress in her life heighten, she begins losing control over herself—which, of course, makes her life all the more complicated.

This book had so much potential to be great, yet it failed to be the psychological thriller I expected. The plot holds little thrill or surprise, unfortunately. The focus, instead, proves to be simply the psychology of Alexa’s character, which while quite interesting, did not give enough to the story for me to be intrigued. The Eighth Girl just was not a book for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.
13 people found this helpful
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Brilliant! A deep and dark novel that will stay with you

How far will you go for your best friend? Alexa Wu is about to find out.
Alexa Wu has a secret…or, you could say, several. Only three people know the truth about Alexa’s personalities and her life with them – her step-mother, her shrink and her best friend, Ella.When Ella takes a position at a gentleman’s club, Alexa finds herself being drawn into this dark world in London’s underbelly. Confronted with the harsh realities of this world, Alexa has to confront past traumas that birthed the personalities, even as she slowly loses control. As Ella gets deeper and deeper, Alexa has to ask herself how far she will (and can) go to help her best friend.
Wow! As someone who has always been fascinated by Dissociative Identity Disorder, The Eighth Girl was a natural book pick for me. Ms. Chung’s knowledge of this disorder is evident throughout the novel, and her skill at combing that with fictional characters is nothing short of a work of art by a master story-teller. Her deftness at giving each personality depth and creating the relationships between them and Alexa Wu is phenomenal; it almost makes the reader want to experience it. It has also made me want to research/read more about DID, both scientific and personal accounts. Long after I finished The Eighth Girl, I was thinking about Alexa Wu and the world she inhabits. And, I think that is one of the greatest compliments an author can receive.
The Eighth Girl is an exceptional book. It delves into the psyche and looks at a subject that is not widely written about. While the subject matter is a little heavier, this is more suited for an uninterrupted read, whether at home or at your favorite library curled up in your favorite chair. Anyone can appreciate this novel, no matter their personality 😉
9 people found this helpful
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A Super Abundance...

Super abundance of adjectives does not mean "Literary"
4 people found this helpful
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It could have been so great ...

Alexa Wu is a young, beautiful, fledgling photographer. She is also the host to a “flock” of alternate personalities that help protect her from the truth of her past and the danger of her present when she gets ensnared in the filthy underbelly of London’s sex work industry.

This book examines the sometimes terrible truth behind one woman’s psyche and what our traumas create to help us cope.

Did I love this book? Sadly not. And I’ll tell you why:

The first half of the book was seriously difficult to follow. I wasn’t sure what I was reading, who was speaking and could not keep track of all of the characters.

The characters in this story felt like they only existed in a therapeutic setting or at the strip club. We didn’t learn about about them or their lives for them to truly feel real. Simply put, they did not come to life on the page.

That said, I really got into the psychological aspect of this book. I wanted more of it! I was fascinated by the exploration of Dissociative Identity Disorder in tandem with the very real and very scary sex work industry.

It was at times terrifying and exhilarating while also being full of sorrow.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an advance copy of this book to read and review.

#TheEighthGirl #NetGalley
2 people found this helpful
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Excellent, Chilling and Suspenseful!

This is an intense novel that will have you guessing at every stage as your heart goes out to the heroine who is trying master herself as well as help to expose a crime.
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engagine thriller

I enjoyed this book. It was engaging from start to finish. I loved the characters. I found the alternate personalities to be very entertaining and a unique story.

The big reveal at the end was excellent. The story was a little confusing. If you contemplated it for too long you might find some to be unexplainable. But overall it was a good thriller.

I received this galley from NetGalley.