"Sometimes the line between love and desperation is damn thin." You know, when I was around eleven to fourteen I had this friendship with a girl called Lizzy, and it may still be the most complex relationship I've ever had. I didn't have many friends at that age. I was shy, strange, unpopular... so Lizzy was an unusual case. We were not good friends; we each enjoyed having something the other didn't and I think we were both a little jealous of one another. Her of me because I went through puberty early, and me of her because of her dazzling confidence and ability to talk (and flirt) with anyone.But our relationship was intense. We spent those few years living and breathing each others lives, sleeping at either my house or hers nearly every night. She knew when I would get my period, the nights and times when my favourite TV shows were on (even if they weren't hers). We would practice kissing on one another and talk about all the things that scared us about growing up and sex. Then we got older, became different people and went to different schools. I haven't thought about her in a long time.The Girls of No Return hit something deep inside me. I can't promise it will be for everyone - the below average ratings clearly indicate that it is not. But there was something about the intense girl friendships, jealousies and complexities in this novel that made me wonder where Lizzy is now. “Don't be afraid to explore the shadows. You might find some hope within the hurt.” This book is a detailed character study about a bunch of girls who have all been sent to a school for troubled teens. They are up in the mountains and away from civilization; their entire lives are tangled up in teen girl politics and their love/hatred/obsessions with one another. The story is full of secrets, pain and sadness. Each of these girls has her "Thing" that they are trying to hide and protect from the world but, as you can imagine, in such a tiny and intense community, it's hard for anything to stay hidden for long.It amazes me how well-drawn each character is. There are no stereotypes and it's easy to go through stages where you hate one character, only to pity them in the next chapter. Lida is the MC and she's running from her past; Boone is a standoffish girl who no one messes with; Jules is a beacon of positivity who it's hard to imagine has a dark past; and then there's the beautiful, otherworldly Gia, who comes into their lives and stirs up more trouble than anyone ever imagined.The narrative alternated between the past story of these girls and the "Epilogue" in which we discover that something bad has happened but we're not sure what. I really enjoy effective use of past tense to create a sense of inevitability about the tale. But it is the interesting dynamics between the very different characters that makes this book so special for me. They all feel so very REAL. Uniquely-crafted in their own way but, at the same time, very familiar to nearly everyone who has ever been a teenage girl. And there's something so inexplicably sad about it all... about growing up, changing, facing your demons and learning that someone might not be what you thought they were. I really loved it.Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube