A Girl Is a Half-formed ThingA Girl Is a Half-formed Thing
Score Modern
What it's about
A young woman's relationship with her brother, who lives with the after-effects of a brain tumor, told from deep inside her head.
Why it's worth reading
It won the Women's Prize for Fiction. It's a shocking, intimate look at a vulnerable, isolated narrator.
You'll love it if you liked
Milkman
Mrs. Dalloway
Shuggie BainGood to know
It plunges you inside the narrator's head, and it isn't always comfortable.
By the numbers
- Readers5 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics56 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller12 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz2 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #1419 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #2673 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
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All 47 best-of lists →
Women's Prize for Fiction winnersTop 20 · 20 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 751 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedQuick answers
Is A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing worth reading?
Yes. It won the Women's Prize for Fiction. It ranks #2,673 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 58.5 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing about?
A young woman's relationship with her brother, who lives with the after-effects of a brain tumor, told from deep inside her head.
How long does it take to read A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing?
About 6 hours (230 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing won?
Women's Prize for Fiction winner (2014).
What should I read after A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing?
If you liked it, try Milkman by Anna Burns, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf or Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.