Maxine Mei-Fung Chung

Maxine Mei-Fung Chung’s The Eighth Girl features Alexa Wú, a woman struggling with multiple personalities (stemming from years of childhood abuse). As the drama and stress in her life heighten, she begins losing control over herself—which, of course, makes her life all the more complicated.

This book had so much potential to be great, yet it failed to be the psychological thriller I expected. The plot holds little thrill or surprise, unfortunately. The focus, instead, proves to be simply the psychology of Alexa’s character, which while quite interesting, did not give enough to the story for me to be intrigued. The Eighth Girl just was not a book for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.… (más)

The Eighth Girl is a story of a girl named Alexa Wu who has DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder. This book is a harsh look at the reality of mental illness, it's blunt and straightforward. Maxine doesn't skirt around details. I feel, as someone who battles mental illness herself, this novel is a welcome addition to the book world.

The story is told from two points of view, Alexa's and her psychiatrist, Daniel's. It's confusing. Getting into the characters and learning each of Alexa's personas, "the flock", is a challenge. To be completely honest, I have no idea why Daniel's view is necessary, but seeing Alexa's therapy sessions through his eyes is... different and semi-intriguing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't completely grasp the novel. I'm saddened by this fact, and had to give up on it at page 100. Where's the thrill? I got no suspense or thrill from any of those pages, just a lot of dragging, confusing story. This novel had so much potential that it just didn't quite live up to for me.… (más)