The Ice Cream Girls By Dorothy Koomson

[amazon_link id=”075155152X” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Ice Cream Girls’ is the eighth book by Dorothy Koomson.

As teenagers, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts. Years later, having led completely different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened while Serena wants no-one to in her present to know about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again.

‘The Ice Cream Girls’ is the first book that I have read by Dorothy Koomson and I have to say that right from the very start, I thought it was a wonderfully compelling story that had me captivated from the start.

Serena and Poppy, the lead protagonists were such a pair of strong and fiercely independent women, that I immediately found them intriguing. I warmed to Poppy in particular, having spent most of her life in prison, she is a hard, insecure character who finds it difficult to trust people and longs for her parents forgiveness and love to return. In a series of flashbacks seen from the perspectives of both Serena and Poppy, we join them as they reminisce on the lives that they used to have and as they both tried to escape the memories of their pasts which haunted them on a daily basis. Life for Serena has been a little bit easier for her, now married with a family, she finally feels secure in her life, until Poppy is released from prison and treks Serena down, insisting she is innocent and imprisoned wrongly, she wants Serena to admit to a crime, that Serena maintains that she never committed.

This story is truly gritty and disturbing, touching on the subjects of abuse of all levels, mental, physical and sexual. It embarks on the remarkable and troublesome friendship of Poppy and Serena as they both fall for the same man. The man, Marcus is an absolutely heinous character that I disliked with such a passion that I actually worried myself. Sexist, abusive and manipulative, his actions and words regularly shocked me to the core as he played the two teenage girls against each other.

A story of love, abuse, heartache and innocence until proven guilty, ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ is a dark, intense and definately a thought provoking story that will have you hooked and with fantastic unexpected twist at the end that will leave you wondering if you ever really know those closest to you.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”075155152X” target=”_blank” ]The Ice Cream Girls on Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.