Reviews of THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL

Just a quick note to say how much these good reviews mean to me. As someone who’s been writing reviews for almost 20 years, on and off, the task of engaging with a novel specifically for a book review is a specialized one. In one relatively brief package, that review does so much work: invites a wide range of readers to consider a narrative, conveys its deft essentials, and also what it does especially uniquely or well. That’s the ideal, anyway. Sometimes there is room for a line or two of caution or criticism if it’s important, but the possibility of being at the receiving end—if you’re the writer—always looms. More often, though, a book simply doesn’t get reviewed. There are so many of them, and so little space, and it’s no fault of the writer if their book gets less critical attention than it deserves.

Although I am not reading my reviews very closely, any more than I would hold a piping-hot potato for more than an instant, sharing them is part of a book’s life in the world. I’m told they’re positive, and a few more are on the way. So here they are, as of May 2, 2023.

Sarah Cypher