Ivy Pochoda | THESE WOMEN

Plot (via Goodreads):

In West Adams, a rapidly changing part of South Los Angeles, they’re referred to as “these women.” These women on the corner … These women in the club … These women who won’t stop asking questions … These women who got what they deserved … 

In her masterful new novel, Ivy Pochoda creates a kaleidoscope of loss, power, and hope featuring five very different women whose lives are steeped in danger and anguish. They’re connected by one man and his deadly obsession, though not all of them know that yet. There’s Dorian, still adrift after her daughter’s murder remains unsolved; Julianna, a young dancer nicknamed Jujubee, who lives hard and fast, resisting anyone trying to slow her down; Essie, a brilliant vice cop who sees a crime pattern emerging where no one else does; Marella, a daring performance artist whose work has long pushed boundaries but now puts her in peril; and Anneke, a quiet woman who has turned a willfully blind eye to those around her for far too long. The careful existence they have built for themselves starts to crumble when two murders rock their neighborhood.

Review:

So earlier this year, I read a crime fiction book that completely blew me away and one of the things that I loved about it was how the author focused more on the victims and their lives than they did the killer themselves. I kept praying that this would be a trend in upcoming books. Soon after, I began reading the story of The Grim Sleeper and loved how this non-fiction book was focusing more the victims and who they were and their backstories and families and everything that was lost and left behind. Well, as I was reading this I came across "These Women" by Ivy Pochoda and when I found out the novel was based on the case I was reading, I was lucky enough to get a copy. I am so glad I dove into this one as soon as it arrived. These Women is a poignant and harrowing story that features a razor-sharp and immersive prose, a dangerous web of a plot, and characters that are so vivid and brilliant that at times you'll forget you're reading a crime fiction book.

I love that this story was told in five parts by five completely different women who are such important parts to this case. Pochoda's prose is beautiful and fluid and yet the story is so gritty and at times deeply saddening. There's something to be said about writing that is so stunning that I never really once thought of the pacing of this novel. While the pacing is slower, Pochoda will guide you on a journey into the lives of six women who are all related to the case in their own way. I found Dorian and Julianne to be my favorite characters and once I got to know another one, she quickly was added to the list. Dorian's story was so emotional and empowering and it just made me go through all of the motions with her. Julianne was such a bad-ass character that probably had the most layers to her personality and within less than 100 pages, I felt like I knew what she was going to say and that I had known her for years. Every single character in this novel brings such justice to the story and really gives you a broad look at this case. I love a good serial killer novel, but Pochoda does a brilliant job of focusing on the victims and their relatives and how it's not just a "whodunnit" novel where women are killed and never thought of again. It's a jarring and sensational story that shows who these people were and what they left behind. While it's a novel that can be hard to read at times due to the nature and how Pochoda can portray the emotions of this case and  these characters, this is easily one of my favorite reads of 2020 thus far.

Special thanks to Ecco Books and Ivy Pochoda for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5