Girl One, Josephine Morrow, is one of nine miracle births in which a scientific experiment achieved conception without the use of male DNA. A scientific breakthrough which some people see as an affront to God, men, and the natural order leaving the women targeted by both the media and those who want them eradicated. When a mysterious fire breaks out at their commune, killing two, the remaining mothers take their daughters and flee. Years later Margaret, Josephine's mother, goes missing after her home is set on fire. Josephine finds clues left behind that point back to the mysterious fire at the Homestead and her "sisters". Josie sets out to find the others in hopes of getting answers that may lead to her mother’s location. Josie soon uncovers secrets about the Homestead and the experiments that appear to have given each of the young women an ability...a power that some people want to use or destroy.

Girl One is a fascinating feminist sci-fi novel that introduces a group of young women with powerful abilities who were born without male DNA. The story primarily focuses on Josie, the first miracle baby, after her mother goes missing. The story jumps back and forth between Josie tracking down the others and events from her childhood at the Homestead, the commune where they lived. She soon discovers that all of the "girls" possess an ability or power, which many don't realize they have, that appears to grow stronger when they are together. As much as I enjoyed this novel it wasn't as action-packed as I had hoped it would be. Most of the novel is Josie uncovering her past while searching for her mother, traveling around meeting her "sisters", and the women discovering or revealing their powers. I will warn that the novel contains some sensitive material including sexual assault. Although, I did really enjoy this novel, my only complaint is that it felt more like a mystery with sci-fi elements rather than the powerful, action packed, sci-fi novel I was hoping for.

QUICK TAKE: as a genre fan, I found a lot to like in this one. The comparisons to ORPHAN BLACK feel spot on, with a mysterious woman tracking down members of the strange commune she grew up in. Oh yeah, and did I mention that she was the produce of what is essentially scientific "immaculate conception"? Of course, as she begins tracking down others like her, she realizes nefarious forces are out to get her, and ultimately discovers more about herself than she ever knew. It's fast-paced and fun with a couple really dark and twisty fun scenes.

Thank you for the ARC of Girl One. I was very excited by the premise of this book. However, I found myself hoping for more scientific information and back story to parthogenesis. The book dragged on too long for me and I kept hoping things would speed up or I would feel more invested in the characters. I think many people will find this the perfect "different" thriller, as it is definitely not the same old plot. For me, it was good and I am glad to have been given the chance to read it.

4.5, this book was close to a 5 for me, a mystery, a science fiction/fantasy world. I loved alot of the language, and the way she explored relationships between women as friends, as deep lovers and of mothers and daughters. The book was a bit long, it could have been tightened up a bit and I think it would have made it more powerful. It was engrossing, so was worth it

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting novel about a group of women born without men. Lots of twists and turns. I love ending.

An interesting novel that starts out as one woman's search for her missing mother and turns into a quest for the truth about her own background. The protagonist was the first of nine girls born via an experiment in parthenogenesis and she ultimately discovers that it means more than just existing without male DNA.

The story moves along well, provides tension and has you wanting to know what's really going on. Because it's from the protagonists POV, you don't readily get all the details. The majority of characters have depth and faults, so you never know if they're going to make what seem to be the best decisions. But there's strong female content that doesn't feel like preachy feminism and LGBT elements later in the story that doesn't overtake the main plot.

The comparisons to Orphan Black are apt - there are multiple "sisters" involved (though not clones), edgy science, questionable personal and professional histories, and plenty of action.

I absolutely love the story that sets the plot in motion in this book. It's about a group of girls born without male DNA on a commune. Of course, this kind of science is highly pioneering and so considered dangerous and immoral but some. Someone later sets fire to the commune, killing the doctor who did the experiment. The girls and their parents scatter across the country and lose touch as people do. Some live in the shadows, some out loud. But when one of the moms disappears, the remaining people from the experiment must band together to find her. In the process, they reckon with their unnatural origins and what it might mean for humanity. I think if a man had written this, it would have been boys instead of girls, and this could have devolved into some kind of action book. Instead, we get nuanced, emotional characters who give complexity and depth to the narrative. Even those these women aren't completely like the rest of us, we can relate to so much of what they feel. A great, emotional read.

5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 16 May 2021.


Perhaps my favorite book of 2021 so far.


Josephine is a med student at the University of Chicago working on parthenogenesis. Truth be told, she chose this field of study because Josephine herself is a product of parthenogenesis. Her mother Margaret was part of an unconventional medical experiment in the 70s called the Homestead. Women lived there and were able to give birth without any male DNA. Josephine was the first, Girl One.

In total, nine baby girls were conceived at the Homestead, under the watchful eye of Dr. Bellanger. By the time Girl Nine was born, things had gone sour, and all the women fled the Homestead to other places in the US, only to lose touch. Josephine and her mother had different feelings about her origin, Josephine wanted to know everything and continue Dr. Bellanger’s research. Margaret wanted to live a simple life and pretend as though the Homestead had never happened.

Then Margaret goes missing, sending Josephine on a wild goose chase around the States looking for her mother. What she learns along the way will change her ideas about the Homestead forever.

I loved this book. Every single page. Every single word. So well written and put together, it leaves you wondering what next for Josephine and her search for her mother and her past. The initial blurb about it being similar to Orphan Black is what led me to want to read this. There are similarities, but it is still very different. It is compelling, especially to see what happens when women are given power to reproduce without needing men or sperm. Crazy, possible, fabulous. Not enough adjectives to describe what a wild, fun ride with Josephine and her comrades this is.

If you love twisty looks a side of feminism, the ln girl one is for you! The entire time I was on the edge of my seat and usually when books compare them to other books I have a hard time seeing it. However girl one really is an amazing combination of orphan Black and the handmaid's tale. I easily read this book in a day

“Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood.” Talk about unrealistic expectations.

Suffice it to say that it was an unusual story that I would only recommend to a limited number of people.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

With a dab of The Girl with All the Gifts and a sprinkling of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar children, this book was a sometimes exciting fantastical buddy adventure with some road trip elements.  Like the books I mentioned that became films, I could see this book as a movie easily. 

Overall not a bad novel.  With the understanding I was reading an ARC, there were some light editing issues and it could use a little thinning out.  Also, some characters just disappeared, not sure if this was leading the way to a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well darn it! This book was so original and had such a good premise. Nine different women who all conceived a child without a man. This was done with the help of an outliner doctor, who had problems of his own.
What I found the most frustrating was this story was simply too long. I found myself constantly looking at how far I had progressed. By the time I got to the end I found myself not caring. Nine different women and their children were also difficult to follow as to who was who.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Josephine Morrow is infamously known as "Girl One" She is one of nine babies born without male DNA in the 70's and raised in a commune like structure called "The Homestead." At the start of the novel, we quickly learn tha Josephine's mother has gone missing. They had a fractured relationship and this event has caused Josephine to reflect on her old Homestead life and her true origins.

Joining up with a local reporter, she is no longer sure who she can trust as she slowly tracks down the other miracle babies . As she gets closer to the answers she seeks, she discovers that there is a killer tracking down the other girls from Homestead as well. Can she find her mother? Who can she trust? What are the real secrets behind the mysterious virgin births?

A bit of science fiction, but primarily a slow burning thriller. I recommend this book to all those interested in cults, communes, and mysteries. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the galley prior to publication in turn for a unbiased review.

This is a very interesting story. However, it does leave a lot of questions at the end. As the story revolved around Bellanger and his remarkable science project where women can reproduce without men, there was no back story to Bellanger or how his project began. Knowing that this is completely fiction, I didn't expect a lot of science behind it. However, the mere made-up explanation as to why was it that these women only had girls was never explained. None of the characters had any back story. The idea of this new science is very interesting as many animals in nature do reproduce without the need for a male species. In the end, there were more questions than answers that made me not enjoy it as much.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for letting me read this interesting ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an interesting concept - parthenogenesis. And while the concept of women reproducing without men caught my attention, this novel is really about female power and the bonds of sisterhood.

Nine women came together in the 1970s to participate in an experiment with parthenogenesis. Dr. Bellanger unlocked the secret. All 9 women had baby daughters. Now it's the 1990s and they are all grown up. Josephine, Girl One, is in medical school, thinking she wants to follow in Bellanger's footsteps when her mother goes missing. On her search, she meets and reconnects with some of her "sister" and they set off across the country to find the rest of the mother/daughter pairs. Lives will be changed, secrets will be revealed, and all the young women will find power within themselves, and learn that together they are stronger than they are apart.

"Josephine Morrow is Girl One, the first of nine “Miracle Babies” conceived without male DNA, raised on an experimental commune known as the Homestead. When a suspicious fire destroys the commune and claims the lives of two of the Homesteaders, the remaining Girls and their Mothers scatter across the United States and lose touch.

Years later, Margaret Morrow goes missing, and Josie sets off on a desperate road trip, tracking down her estranged sisters who seem to hold the keys to her mother’s disappearance. Tracing the clues Margaret left behind, Josie joins forces with the other Girls, facing down those who seek to eradicate their very existence while uncovering secrets about their origins and unlocking devastating abilities they never knew they had."

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are mine alone.

The description had me at Orphan Black..IF you like/love that show you should definitely read this book!
I could totally see this book becoming a movie or TV show, and I would absolutley watch it.

This book was a definite page turner, from the moment we meet Josie I was hooked.. and read it in one sitting, I just had to know what was going to happen next. It

Even though she hasnt spoken to her mother in about a year when she finds out from the news that her childhood home has caught fire and her mother is missing, Josie drops everything and goes home... We know from the synopsis that Josie is the first born of nine girls that were born without using sperm.. They were all famous, especially after a fire at the homestead (where they all lived) broke out and killed their doctor and one of the children, the youngest Fiona..
.
Josie knows that her mothers dissapearance has something to do with the past.. Especially after she finds some papers that her mother has hidden.. Josie decides to follow her mothers footsteps and track down the other 7 girls and their mothers that Josie grew up with.. She doesn't expect the secrets she and the others uncover about her mother and their own pasts..

I loved this book, and ill definitely be buying a physical copy when it comes out!

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and the author for sending me an eARC of Girl One.

Sci-fi thrillers but make it lesbian, baby!

Girl One is being pushed as Orphan Black meets Handmaid’s Tale, but it’s definitely giving major X-Men and Umbrella Academy as a group of not technically blood related but strong bonds of sisterhood siblings with estranged non-biological father figure grow apart, but an inciting event brings them back together again.

I was sucked in by page one. Murphy’s writing is fast-paced, thrilling, and compelling with a super unique sci-fi perspective. About a third of the way through, I did feel myself losing steam and not really liking where the story was headed, but I was curious enough about the gripping plot to see it through. However, Josie as a main character has a strong voice and it’s easy to fall in love with her on her journey.

I adore the themes of self love, sisterhood, and empowerment that this novel really successfully intertwined in the story. Whether you dig the ending or not (and I have a strong feeling this is gonna be raved about upon release), Girl One is definitely the type of book you’ll want to talk to your friends about.

https://www.aimawaymessage.online/

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!

Girl One was a fast-paced read for me. I didn't want to put it down. The premise was unique and there were several twists and turns that I did not see coming! There was an underlying feminist thread throughout the novel, which I personally enjoyed as it was not overdone. I recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys science/tech thrillers with strong female characters.

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>The characters and pacey thriller voice of this one sucked me in from page one. Josie is a compelling heroine, impatient, driven, fallible. Her relationships with the other people in her life weave through this story in ways that I found compelling. I am a pretty relationship-focused writer/reader, and this one got me good.</p>
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<p>This is very much structured like a thriller--the chapters range from reasonably short to incredibly short, and there's a lot of action, a lot of suspense. The central conceit is a science fictional one: nine women have born children through parthogenesis, over the course of the 1970s, living on a commune together, visited by the scientist who is building his fame through their babies. That's the past of the story, the backstory--or half of it, because the commune burns and the surviving mothers and children scatter.</p>
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<p>The present is the 1990s, when the babies are now adult women developing talents and interests and lives of their own. Josie is the first of the babies, now a student, trying to follow in her creator's path. She is Girl One, the first of the parthogenetic births, giving interviews to talk shows and magazines as she tries to unravel the mysteries of her own existence. Both the '70s and the '90s are very well-drawn, with a perspective on each that is neither overly nostalgic nor overly cynical, and they're a perfect combination of tone for the story that begins when Josie's mother disappears and things start to get really dangerous.</p>
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<p>This book has a modern thriller focus on several major science fiction concerns of the '70s. It goes fast with a keen eye for social details. If those are things you've missed or wished would be updated--welcome, this one's for you.</p>
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