Cover Image: Give Me Your Hand

Give Me Your Hand

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tl;dr: mind=blown. You=read. Then tell me: nature? Or nuture?

Give Me Your Hand is an outstanding psychological novel. It opens on Kit, who is a postdoctoral student working in a lab for Dr Severin, a brilliant scientist who has just received funding for a large study on PMDD, and who has two slots open to work with her.

Naturally, the competition is fierce. Kit is the only female postdoc, but all her competitors are, in her mind, just as, if not more so, qualified as she is. She's worried about it, desperately so, and the only person who helps with her fears is one of her fellow post docs, Alex, who Kit has feelings for, but can't bring herself to act on them.

Then the rumors start. One of the slots might already be taken because a new postdoc is joining the team. She's brilliant, poached from an ongoing and already prestigious study. Her name is Diane.

Kit knows her. They met in high school becane reacquainted during senior year, and Diane's focus and brilliance inspired Kit. They were also, briefly, friends.

Diane has a secret. Kit knows it. She's terrified of it. Is she terrified of Diane? Or fascinated by her?

Both.

The book moves between the past, mostly during their senior year in high school, and now.

The imagery Ms Abbott uses is vivid and copious, and fits the book perfectly.

The events of most of Give Me Your Hand are not unexpected but they are still both blood stirring and chilling, a great meditation on what shapes us. Is it who we are, or what we face and do in response?

I was completely and utterly blown away by the final two chapters of the book. I did not see that last twist coming at all I won't say more because of spoilers but damnnnnnnnnn.

Highly recommended.

I did receive an ARC but had already preordered the book and it's going on my keep forever shelves. It's also got a huge waitlist at the library, so I'm going to push for a discussion group, and will be handselling as many copies as I can in the store.

What did you think? Are we born who we are, or are we shaped by the things that happen to us and our responses? Is it both...or do we use that as a way to explain ourselves to ourselves?

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How fast a life can change simply by a friend deciding to share their secret. Once she knows she can't unknow, she's part of the secret. This is a truly creepy story. As the story goes on you can almost feel the evil grow and encompass. The only part that l wish there was less of is the amount of information on the research subject.

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"'Women have always been far less violent than men,' the author conceded. The facts speak for themselves. 'But why, then,' he asked, 'are women so much more ferocious in their violence?' It has always seemed to me that the answer lies in the question."

A compelling story in the Gillian Flynn-launched trend of 'female rage' novels, this time brilliantly set in the STEM world: female scientists surrounded by confident, dismissive men. I couldn't put it down.

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Friendship, secrets, chemistry, and competition sums up this novel for me. This is what I'd describe as a slow burn thriller. It isn't fast-paced or full of twists and turns but it's a solid exploration of friendship and competition. Megan Abbott is so good at this sort of novel - it keeps you on your toes yet it's slowly paced and things are unveiled in a very Megan Abbott way (if you've read her other work, you'll know what I mean). I heard a few interviews with her on various podcasts which really helped me dig deeper into the themes of the novel after hearing her perspective of what she was interested in exploring with this book so you may want to seek some of those out after finishing the book. There is an amazing sinister feel to this novel and Abbott creates that sense effortlessly. There are really multiple narratives happening here -the one on the surface and several others that are under the surface but really make the book come together comprehensively. This novel was quite well done but it's not for those of you who need a fast-paced thriller ... this one is a bit slower and thoughtful. It's definitely worth a read! I definitely recommend this for Abbott fans - this is one of her best, in my opinion. And I also think this is a good starting place for Abbott's work if you haven't experienced her yet.

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Give Me Your Hand was a really slow starter for me. It may have been the narration technique Ms. Abbott used, going back and forth from now to then. It took me quite awhile to connect to the characters, they are layered however the reveal of those layers was stretched over too many chapters. The twists and turns begin at just about the half way point and as the pace increased, so did my level of entertainment by the story. I appreciated that Ms Abbott didnt telegraph the twists. 3.5

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Was anxious to read my first novel by Megan Abbott; I've always heard good things. I was ambivalent about this novel and have decided I need to read another Megan Abbott book to be fair.

Diane and Kit become unlikely friends through their shared interests in science and running. Diane is odd and Kit is not really comfortable with her but they seem to be destined to be friends. Diane shares a secret with Kit that unravels everything and touches so many parts of their lives though they drift apart for many years.

As intelligent strong adults working in the field of science they are thrown together again and the past cannot stay in the past. A chain of events is set in motion that is intriguing and appalling at the same time.

This book did not wow me BUT I really like how it all came together at the end and perhaps Diane's secret was not what set everything in motion.

Worth a read and definitely a reason to read another Megan Abbott book for me.

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Kit and Diane became close friends as teenagers. One day they tell each other their deepest, darkest secret. Diane's is so shocking, Kit could no longer continue the relationship. After not seeing Diane for several years, the two ladies encounter each other at their place of work. Let the games begin.

Hot dog - this was good! Just as I was somewhat starting to give up on it, the story takes a twist and from there on it was a page turner. A tale of lies and deception, it really ended with a bang.


I received this from Little Brown & Company via Netgalley.

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A fun thriller that crosses genres (YA, science, thriller, mystery, horror). Told in a "then" and "now" format, Give Me Your Hand tells the story of two high school friends, Kit and Diane, and the past secrets they share. It's an interesting look at female friendships, rivalries, and the challenges faced in academia. Abbott captures the mood of how far one would go for a friend and how far friendships can be tested.

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I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was definitely a book that kept you thinking! I would definitely recommend this book to fellow readers. Thank you!

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A psychopath, a patsy and an ethically challenged scientist meet in an absurd plot. Kit Owens and Diane Fleming were friends for a short time when they were in high school. Diane shared a terrible secret with Kit and it ended the friendship. It was pathetically easy to figure out what this secret was.

Now 12 years later, Kit is a post doc and Diane reappears in her life. Kit wants to be assigned to a new research project led by Dr. Lena Severin. They will be studying premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which is sort of PMS on hyperdrive and causes rage, among other symptoms. PMDD may or may not exist. I have no idea. I don't know the author's reasons for selecting this as the research topic, but if the author had been a man, my diagnosis would have been misogyny, because it was irrelevant to the plot. But I don't care for even a suggestion that women have to study women's issues or that women are all nuts, but they have an excuse.

I've read too many thrillers and I need some basic level of believability for a book to get out of the mediocre range. If I read only a couple of books a year I would probably be a lot easier to please. I admit that the lab details seemed realistic, as did the competitiveness of the post docs, but nothing else did.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

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What a terrific story! Abbott's writing is top notch. Her storytelling is beyond excellent. She sucks you in straightaway and will not let you go - the characters and their story - WOW!! I absolutely LOVED this book! It was unputdownable and I loved every minute I spent with it. Unforgettable characters and brilliant writing - what more could I want?

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I am still reeling from the shock of how much I loved this book. I never expect very much from thrillers, but Give Me Your Hand exceeded all my expectations. It is a tense, disquieting look at madness and at the complexities of female friendships that ultimately reads like a Greek tragedy. Though there’s few allusions to the Greeks, only to Shakespeare and Marie Curie, the story has an ancient, timeless feel to it, with the sinister undertones exacerbated by the discussions of PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or extreme PMS).

Kit Owens lives in a working-class, likely post-industrial town with her single mother. She has few ambitions besides attending the local community college, but the arrival of the strange and alluring Diane Fleming invigorates her. The two girls become friends and study partners, the friendly competition between them encouraging them to be better and better as they compete for the same scholarship. Then, Diane reveals a secret to Kit that tears their friendship apart. Years later, Kit is poised to take part in a groundbreaking research study about PMDD, when Diane Fleming reappears to compete for the same coveted position. And then everything spirals out of control very quickly.

Though I used the words “compete” and “competition” a lot, this is not the story you think it’s going to be. This isn’t about nasty competition and jealousy between two women; it’s so much deeper than that. Kit and Diane have such a fascinating, complex relationship. Even before Diane reveals her secret, she and Kit are friends, but there is a distance, a tension, between them. After the secret and decades later, the relationship is fractured, but there is still a compulsion between the two of them. They are drawn to one another whether they want to be or not. There is an undeniable chemistry between them – not romantic, but deeper than that, a kind of unspoken understanding almost, something that keeps them tightly knotted together. They are simultaneously rivals and allies, friends and enemies, and it makes for an incredibly compelling dynamic.

There is an undercurrent of something sinister running deep throughout this book. The question of “What is wrong with Diane?” is never explicitly addressed, but that makes her all the more fascinating, all the more ominous and mystifying. Kit as well never seems entirely stable, particularly in the “present” scenes, when she seems to be retreating further and further into her mind and her paranoia and always seems minutes away from falling completely apart. That both of these characters’ instability is surrounded by discussions of PMDD somehow makes everything seems so much more foreboding. There is something about the way Abbott discusses PMDD that makes it seems absolutely terrifying, as though it’s a demon lying in wait in the darkness, waiting to emerge and possess you.

Which brings me to my next point: the writing. Oh my God, the writing. Abbott’s use of description and metaphor is so raw and visceral. There is something about this writing that gets under your skin, burrows deep and makes a home for itself. It’s evocative in an almost heady way. There were so many lines I had to go back and reread because they were so powerful and so disturbing; there is one scene where she compares a character’s red hands to the “husks of a pomegranate” and it is such a vivid, disquieting image that I had to stop to take it all in. There are so many instances like this of images and metaphors that will make your skin crawl and make you vaguely uncomfortable and I fucking loved it. This is a book I can easily go back and re-read just to drink in the writing all over again.

Similarly disquieting is the undertone of casual misogyny present throughout the book. Kit and Diane work in a research lab with mainly men, in a male-dominated field. Though at first they seem like decent enough guys, Abbott slowly peels back their layers and reveals the ugly mottled misogyny residing under their skin. But she does it subtly, deftly, almost casually. That makes it all the more disturbing. It’s one thing when you know someone hates women because of how obvious they are about it, but it’s another when you spend years working with someone and thinking of them as a kind of comrade only to discover what they really think of you. I experienced something like this myself once, in high school, and it’s enough to tip you over the edge. What a clever way to allude to madness in a book that circles it but never quite catches it.

I’m giving this a 4.5, technically, and that is because of my one qualm with the ending, which I thought was rushed. The entire book is a slow-burn rising to an enormous crescendo, but the ending feels somewhat hurried. In particular, the ten-year time jump felt pointless to me. I usually love time jumps, but here it didn’t fit, and I think there were plenty of ways to convey the same information in a way that didn’t feel as rushed and disjointed.

But that is a minor complaint, and, clearly, I loved this book. I loved all the female characters, I loved the complexities of female relationships, I loved the bond between Kit and her mother. I loved how dark the book was, how menacing. Again I have to emphasize how much this book reminded me of a Greek tragedy. There is something ancient and timeless the themes brought up here. And like a Greek tragedy, the reader senses the danger coming, and in the end you have to wonder if it was all somehow fated to happen.

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I typically enjoy thrillers, but this one was a little too much for me. I could see it making a great movie.

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The constantly shifting empathies about two competitive women who are like sides of one another's baser instincts and the persuasive insight into what motivates women to kill easily make this my favourite Abbott novel since DARE ME.

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I really enjoyed the initial friendship between the two main characters. I liked how they challenged one another and made each other try to be a little bit better. I liked the relationship between Kit and her mom. I liked how driven Kit was to change her circumstances and achieve her long term goals. I liked how one of the characters KNEW there was something wrong and she couldn't get the help she desperately sought because I think this (sadly) happens more times than not. As a fan of foreshadowing, I liked the little thread at the end of the story that tied the story up, was completely unnecessary, but tied the story up brilliantly.

But . . . I just didn't like many of the characters. They seemed to work as an ensemble, but they fell short individually. Some of the actions (one in particular which, if you have read the book, you know which one I am talking about) seemed completely implausible and utterly out of character. It was definitely an eye-rolling moment for me and I think that was the point the book started to go off the rails.

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Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott.

Kit, a hopeful scientist looking to enter a prestigious program reconnects with an old friend. But unlike the usual sensations of glee and nostalgia, Kit feels fear and dread. Kit knows something about Diane that she can't un-know, and she has been working hard to distance herself from her friend, and her friend's secret. But circumstances keep bringing them together, entangling Kit in Diane's web.

Megan Abbott is like that acquaintance you have in your life that you deem perfectly nice, but just can't click with. This is the second book I have read of hers and for some reason, they just have a weird flavor that I can't put my finger on, but it's not my favorite.

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It appears I read this one wrong. It also appears that I spend a goodly chunk of time using my review space saying “if you like Megan Abbott, then you’ll like this” on books that I actually liked more than most Abbott books – excluding, of course, The End of Everything because that thing was the bomb diggity. Now please don’t get it twisted and think I won’t IMMEDIATELY cut wait patiently in line for her next release because I absolutely will. There was just something missing here for me. While I was never once tempted to put Give Me Your Hand to the side and pick up a different selection, it wasn’t nearly as page turny (new word) for me as some of her other stories. Even when I’ve had fair-to-middlin’ reactions to Abbott’s books, I’ve appreciated how dense the story and how few words she takes to get it done. This one definitely had some slow spots and the females weren’t nearly as awesomely cringe-inducing as in some of her other stuff either despite a pretty juicy storyline . . . . .

“By telling me you trapped me,” I say through my teeth. “By telling you,” she whispers, rain still glistening on her, “I was free.”

Maybe I’ve just been desensitized???? *shrug*

On the other hand, it was nice to know there’s a reason behind the times when I get murderous whilst on my menses : )

2.5 Stars, but rounding up because I still drank that Kool-Aid, yo. Now go read Diane S. or Dan or Char’s reviews to see that you actually do want to read this and not listen to anything I have to say.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

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4 stars--I really liked it, even though I was very tense the entire time I was reading!

Megan Abbott is so brutal. She's one of my always-read authors, and I liked this one quite a bit, though it's not an easy read. This time, she tackles science and sociopathy and sexism and hormones--along with her usual examination of women's friendships--and the resulting plot is bloody and violent. I was riveted.

Abbott has this knack of showing us the darkest places of women's hearts--and never flinching away from what she finds. Her writing is good, characters are stunning, and I devoured this quickly because I had to know what would happen.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

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I loved Give Me Your Hand, but then again I love all Megan Abbott books. She writes thrillers in a way that I haven't experienced before, her slow burn is amazing. This book hooked me right from the start and I finished in two days. I would recommend it to anyone!

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Megan Abbott at her best! I loved this noirish, suspenseful tale of twisted female friendship (?), workplace dynamics and academic striving. It came together wonderfully at the end.

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