Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent is a dark and suspenseful story about how abuse effects everyone directly and indirectly touched by it.
Sally is a neurodivergent character, whose “quirks” are thanks to an early childhood of extremely atypical socialization. Readers will root for Sally as she puts in the work to address her social and emotional issues (although, really, why can’t people just say what they mean, and mean what they say?!)
The more compelling story, though, was revealed in chapters that alternate with Sally’s, told from the POV of a character named Peter. This looks at what happens when a child witnesses horrible abuse presented as normal and acceptable. How does that affect a person’s development? How do they integrate into the world?
The subject matter in this book is very dark. I was mostly enjoying the story, but at the end, it seems like all progress gets set back to zero, which was kind of a letdown. But overall it kept me interested (and vaguely troubled!) all the way through.
CW: abduction, forced confinement, pedophilia, abuse (sexual, physical, emotional)
Jessica Crawford 