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Strange Girls
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15 copies available
U.S. only
"Touching, infuriating and painfully true, Strange Girls is a superlative novel by one of our most perceptive writers. Sarvat Hasin is an artist whose work demands to be read."
—Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea
An award-winning international author’s stunning US debut about two estranged friends who reunite over one feverish weekend and reckon with the choices that tore them apart
A decade has passed since Ava spoke to Aliya. During the years of silence, Ava's life has remained at a standstill, while Aliya got the one thing they both wanted more than a book deal. Forced back together at a mutual friend’s bachelorette in London, Ava returns to Aliya’s doorstep, desperate to unpack the truth of their shared history—and what they meant to each other.
When the two first met in the halls of their historic campus, their connection was electric. Aliya and Ava created a world of their own through the stories they wrote, influencing and borrowing from each other’s work. But when the end of college loomed, the real world began to pull them in opposite directions. Was their bond ever truly as strong as Aliya thought? And what would become of the stories they told themselves about each other?
Weaving together the friends’ past and present, Strange Girls is an ingenious portrait of a fraught friendship, and an exploration of the ties forged in the intensity of the college experience, and the scars left when they break.
—Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea
An award-winning international author’s stunning US debut about two estranged friends who reunite over one feverish weekend and reckon with the choices that tore them apart
A decade has passed since Ava spoke to Aliya. During the years of silence, Ava's life has remained at a standstill, while Aliya got the one thing they both wanted more than a book deal. Forced back together at a mutual friend’s bachelorette in London, Ava returns to Aliya’s doorstep, desperate to unpack the truth of their shared history—and what they meant to each other.
When the two first met in the halls of their historic campus, their connection was electric. Aliya and Ava created a world of their own through the stories they wrote, influencing and borrowing from each other’s work. But when the end of college loomed, the real world began to pull them in opposite directions. Was their bond ever truly as strong as Aliya thought? And what would become of the stories they told themselves about each other?
Weaving together the friends’ past and present, Strange Girls is an ingenious portrait of a fraught friendship, and an exploration of the ties forged in the intensity of the college experience, and the scars left when they break.
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First published March 10, 2026
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About the author
Sarvat Hasin
6 books116 followersSarvat Hasin is from Pakistan. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford.
Her first novel, This Wide Night, was published by Penguin India and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book You Can’t Go Home Again was published in 2018 and featured in Vogue India’s and The Hindu’s end of year lists. She won the Moth Writer’s Retreat Bursary in 2018 and the Mo Siewcharran Prize in 2019. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as Outsiders, The Mays Anthology, English PEN, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in London and works at the Almeida Theatre.
Her new novel, The Giant Dark, is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is forthcoming from Dialogue Books on the 8th of July
Her first novel, This Wide Night, was published by Penguin India and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book You Can’t Go Home Again was published in 2018 and featured in Vogue India’s and The Hindu’s end of year lists. She won the Moth Writer’s Retreat Bursary in 2018 and the Mo Siewcharran Prize in 2019. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as Outsiders, The Mays Anthology, English PEN, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in London and works at the Almeida Theatre.
Her new novel, The Giant Dark, is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is forthcoming from Dialogue Books on the 8th of July
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
the type of vibe me and my friends bring to the function
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
March 13, 2026
At a small university somewhere near London, Ava, a Jewish American, forms an intense (but lopsided) friendship with Aliya, a Muslim from Pakistan. Together, they are self-styled ‘strange girls’. (The title comes from that old poster you’ve probably seen a hundred times on Tumblr etc: STRANGE GIRLS... WHY? WERE THEY BORN – Ava has it on her wall.) Years later, now estranged, the two meet again. A bitter Ava is jealous and scornful of Aliya’s choices in life, but for Aliya, the story is a lot more complicated.
This novel is simultaneously dreamlike and grounded. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be ‘wistful’. It’s imbued with nostalgia that is evoked well, and endlessly relatable, because its source is a timeless thing: the feeling and experience of being young. I liked Hasin’s use of a fictitious university, which creates the sense of a collegiate environment without the more typical example of Oxbridge. Aliya and Ava’s shared world is unusual but insular and really all quite tame and intellectual – not a criticism, I liked seeing this depicted in a book, that their ‘strangeness’ isn’t founded on anything objectively remarkable.
The one thing I will say is that the very end didn’t quite work for me and I felt it was slightly out of step with how the rest of the story had unfolded – although I do understand what Hasin was trying to do here. The ambiguous, incomplete nature of Aliya and Ava’s ending is fitting not because it’s satisfying but precisely because it isn’t.
I received an advance review copy of Strange Girls from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is simultaneously dreamlike and grounded. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be ‘wistful’. It’s imbued with nostalgia that is evoked well, and endlessly relatable, because its source is a timeless thing: the feeling and experience of being young. I liked Hasin’s use of a fictitious university, which creates the sense of a collegiate environment without the more typical example of Oxbridge. Aliya and Ava’s shared world is unusual but insular and really all quite tame and intellectual – not a criticism, I liked seeing this depicted in a book, that their ‘strangeness’ isn’t founded on anything objectively remarkable.
The one thing I will say is that the very end didn’t quite work for me and I felt it was slightly out of step with how the rest of the story had unfolded – although I do understand what Hasin was trying to do here. The ambiguous, incomplete nature of Aliya and Ava’s ending is fitting not because it’s satisfying but precisely because it isn’t.
I received an advance review copy of Strange Girls from the publisher through Edelweiss.
March 12, 2026
There's then and there's now: Then, Aliya is an international student in London, uncertain and struggling to find her footing. When she meets Ava, it's clear to both of them that they've each found their person. Everything changes. Now, Ava is ten years out of university and surviving rather than thriving: isolated in Scotland, bank account chronically low, her dreams of publishing a novel gone stale. And now, the two of them are back together in London, meeting after years apart, no longer sure what to say to each other.
We both chose London. It is not a surprise when romantic girls who like books choose London. It means nothing except that if we'd not picked it, we'd not have ended up in each other's lives. (loc. 1192*)
I am drawn to books about platonic friendship. The one Aliya and Ava have is so specific and set so relatable: Their friendship is intense (not least because they're both intense) but at the same time uncertain; they aren't quite old enough when they meet, or with quite enough life experience, to be confident in themselves and their friendship. They fall into something kind of enmeshed, mostly healthy, something where they love fiercely and at the same time are not always sure what is right or true.
The split in perspective works brilliantly well. We hear only from Aliya in the Then and only from Ava in the Now, and both they and their relationship have changed so much in the meantime that there's an initial disconnect in the ways they view each other. For Aliya in university, Ava is a grounding force, confident and direct and talented. But for Ava as an adult, Aliya is the one who has it together—married, with a book on the way, stable. Neither of them has changed, not really, but their places in the world have.
The early-evening sun spills in through net curtains and lights up all the things they have put down here together. These are the things I should want. (loc. 563)
One point of confusion: I did not really understand the ending. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say about this, as I suspect the book is doing something more intentional than I fully grasped. It didn't work as well for me as the rest of the book—but then, that might change once I understand the ending better. It's a quiet book, and although there's drama (they are so young in the Then, and have so much unprocessed history in the Now), it tends to be small-scale. Not minor for them, in their lives, but all told there's not all that much that happens. Again, it works well within the context of the book, but this is definitely one for lit fic readers and those who don't mind a quieter story.
*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
We both chose London. It is not a surprise when romantic girls who like books choose London. It means nothing except that if we'd not picked it, we'd not have ended up in each other's lives. (loc. 1192*)
I am drawn to books about platonic friendship. The one Aliya and Ava have is so specific and set so relatable: Their friendship is intense (not least because they're both intense) but at the same time uncertain; they aren't quite old enough when they meet, or with quite enough life experience, to be confident in themselves and their friendship. They fall into something kind of enmeshed, mostly healthy, something where they love fiercely and at the same time are not always sure what is right or true.
The split in perspective works brilliantly well. We hear only from Aliya in the Then and only from Ava in the Now, and both they and their relationship have changed so much in the meantime that there's an initial disconnect in the ways they view each other. For Aliya in university, Ava is a grounding force, confident and direct and talented. But for Ava as an adult, Aliya is the one who has it together—married, with a book on the way, stable. Neither of them has changed, not really, but their places in the world have.
The early-evening sun spills in through net curtains and lights up all the things they have put down here together. These are the things I should want. (loc. 563)
One point of confusion: I did not really understand the ending. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say about this, as I suspect the book is doing something more intentional than I fully grasped. It didn't work as well for me as the rest of the book—but then, that might change once I understand the ending better. It's a quiet book, and although there's drama (they are so young in the Then, and have so much unprocessed history in the Now), it tends to be small-scale. Not minor for them, in their lives, but all told there's not all that much that happens. Again, it works well within the context of the book, but this is definitely one for lit fic readers and those who don't mind a quieter story.
*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
March 8, 2026
the trials and tribulations of a codependent friendship. the type where your bestfriend is the one great love of your life… this is so beautifully written. the book immerses you in aliya and ava’s friendship by switching between being in aliya’s younger, present mind and ava’s reflection on their friendship with hindsight as an adult.
i felt every ounce of heartbreak in this story. it’s so real and so raw. simply stunning.
i felt every ounce of heartbreak in this story. it’s so real and so raw. simply stunning.
January 27, 2026
ugh so good. i love a book that gives me girl so confusing vibes about the INTENSITY of friendship and what it means when there are queer undertones, all the power in the words not spoken. my best reading month ever i think ???
Read
March 12, 2026DNF @ p120
Pre-Read Notes:
Have you seen that wild ass cover??
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) I caught Covid this winter and was wiped out for two whole months. I'm quite behind on arc reviews actually and it may be making me stern about DNFing early if I'm not enjoying a book. I made it through half of this one before giving up, as I loved the concept and the cover, but the plot was buried and the action convoluted.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ "I have heard there are relationships like that, that go dormant for years but come alive, restored to their former vibrancy just as they were before, as if a slip of time has opened to let you through to the last moment of intimacy. Perhaps this will be us...." I'm surprised to find I relate to this.
✔️ "When Aliya got to university, she mostly stopped speaking. It happened quite gradually. First on the plane on the way over, she noticed the comfort of silence, of not needing to communicate with anyone except to hand over her ticket or passport and listen to their instructions. She didn’t need many words. Nods and gestures of agreement sufficed." This is fascinating character development. Because again, the author doesn't pathologize or stigmatize her character.
✔️ "I watch her whirl and spin like a dervish." p40 The writing is a little stilted.
Thank you to Sarvat Hasin, Dutton, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of STRANGE GIRLS. All views are mine.
Pre-Read Notes:
Have you seen that wild ass cover??
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) I caught Covid this winter and was wiped out for two whole months. I'm quite behind on arc reviews actually and it may be making me stern about DNFing early if I'm not enjoying a book. I made it through half of this one before giving up, as I loved the concept and the cover, but the plot was buried and the action convoluted.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ "I have heard there are relationships like that, that go dormant for years but come alive, restored to their former vibrancy just as they were before, as if a slip of time has opened to let you through to the last moment of intimacy. Perhaps this will be us...." I'm surprised to find I relate to this.
✔️ "When Aliya got to university, she mostly stopped speaking. It happened quite gradually. First on the plane on the way over, she noticed the comfort of silence, of not needing to communicate with anyone except to hand over her ticket or passport and listen to their instructions. She didn’t need many words. Nods and gestures of agreement sufficed." This is fascinating character development. Because again, the author doesn't pathologize or stigmatize her character.
✔️ "I watch her whirl and spin like a dervish." p40 The writing is a little stilted.
Thank you to Sarvat Hasin, Dutton, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of STRANGE GIRLS. All views are mine.
February 18, 2026
maybe 3.5? idk i wanted more from the story
December 12, 2025
Ava and Aliya meet in college and connect over writing. In the past timeline, their relationship grows slowly… part creative partnership, part friendship, and part something neither is ready to name. The present day timeline finds them as adults who have slipped out of each other’s orbit.
The plot is deliberately low energy built from flashbacks which are a mix of mundane and intimate moments. While the story ends on a cliffhanger, it also leaves space for the possibility of messy unresolved love.
Thank you to the publisher for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
The plot is deliberately low energy built from flashbacks which are a mix of mundane and intimate moments. While the story ends on a cliffhanger, it also leaves space for the possibility of messy unresolved love.
Thank you to the publisher for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
March 10, 2026
“We weren’t in a friendship that could sustain itself. I couldn’t live like that. It was too tight in there for us to grow. We couldn’t stay like that forever. You must see that. People don’t live that way forever. They grow out of those things. They move on. Life moves on.”
Sarvat Hasin's STRANGE GIRLS explores the emotional complexity that come from Ava and Aliya's friendship. Set in dual timelines and POV's, Hasin shows what it's like to form, sustain, lose and renew a once in a lifetime connection. I heavily related to what it's like to be so tight with a friend that you practically merge into one person. Hasin nailed the push and pull of codependent friendships and how difficult it is to sustain such an extreme level of emotional and physical closeness.
I've seen this plot play out with romantic relationships to no end, so it's refreshing to see friendships in the spotlight because those are also the connections that shape us, for better or for worse. It's interesting how such a deep level of friendship can sometimes turn into limerence and blur the line between what makes a platonic or romantic bond.
I've found myself in similar dynamics before, so I felt quite seen by this book. People always talk about romantic breakups, but they rarely focus on how equally hard the growing pains of friendship can be. After reading this book, Hasin has reminded me that I have been both an Ava and an Aliya in my friendships. This is a touching literary fiction with insightful and quotable prose, and bonus points for THE DREAMERS reference. Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Sarvat Hasin's STRANGE GIRLS explores the emotional complexity that come from Ava and Aliya's friendship. Set in dual timelines and POV's, Hasin shows what it's like to form, sustain, lose and renew a once in a lifetime connection. I heavily related to what it's like to be so tight with a friend that you practically merge into one person. Hasin nailed the push and pull of codependent friendships and how difficult it is to sustain such an extreme level of emotional and physical closeness.
I've seen this plot play out with romantic relationships to no end, so it's refreshing to see friendships in the spotlight because those are also the connections that shape us, for better or for worse. It's interesting how such a deep level of friendship can sometimes turn into limerence and blur the line between what makes a platonic or romantic bond.
I've found myself in similar dynamics before, so I felt quite seen by this book. People always talk about romantic breakups, but they rarely focus on how equally hard the growing pains of friendship can be. After reading this book, Hasin has reminded me that I have been both an Ava and an Aliya in my friendships. This is a touching literary fiction with insightful and quotable prose, and bonus points for THE DREAMERS reference. Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
January 16, 2026
As a woman who’s about to turn 30, I read this story at a timely point in my life.
Strange Girls is a title that refers to Ava and Aliya, two girls who develop a close, almost co-dependent friendship during college. Their magnetic connection is instant and their interests so aligned that both often feel the other is able to read their mind. And yet, underneath this admiration and fondness for each other is unspoken jealousy, competition and feelings that border on romantic love.
We see the story told from Ava’s current POV and both Aliya’s current and past POV as we start to learn how their friendship disintegrated. What I found so realistic was that there was no huge, explosive, dramatic fight. Rather, it was a combination of time, cultural differences, growing older and miscommunication that led to their estrangement. I feel like every young woman who’s had a close female friendship can relate to this story in some manner. I know I certainly did, and in a way Ava and Aliya’s story healed some residual guilt I harbored for my role in the dissolution of a college friendship.
Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC!
Strange Girls is a title that refers to Ava and Aliya, two girls who develop a close, almost co-dependent friendship during college. Their magnetic connection is instant and their interests so aligned that both often feel the other is able to read their mind. And yet, underneath this admiration and fondness for each other is unspoken jealousy, competition and feelings that border on romantic love.
We see the story told from Ava’s current POV and both Aliya’s current and past POV as we start to learn how their friendship disintegrated. What I found so realistic was that there was no huge, explosive, dramatic fight. Rather, it was a combination of time, cultural differences, growing older and miscommunication that led to their estrangement. I feel like every young woman who’s had a close female friendship can relate to this story in some manner. I know I certainly did, and in a way Ava and Aliya’s story healed some residual guilt I harbored for my role in the dissolution of a college friendship.
Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC!
March 23, 2026
Hasin structures Strange Girls to examine the evolving relationship between her two characters. The dual timelines, with Ava narrating the present and Aliya covering the past (largely so), bring forth a more reliable story. A fuller picture of the two women’s relationship and their perspective at the time, and viewed in retrospect, slowly pieces together a fuller account for the reader.
The book opens with Ava visiting Aliya’s residence in London, with the Now timeline spanning a weekend celebrating at their university flatmate’s hen party. This compact timeline pairs well with the Then, in which we gain insight into their initial encounter at university with dreams to be published authors of fiction, growing friendship as women who explore their sexuality and test adulthood, and intensifying a yoking relationship that blurs the boundaries of where one person ends and the other begins. These pairings, along with a nostalgic Then and relationally strained Now, are notable strengths in Strange Girls.
In many ways, Hasin’s novel reminds me of Wambugu’s Lonely Crowds. In both stories, the two female characters come-of-adulthood, navigate the creative arts space, and face a breaking point in their relationship because they don’t understand how to allow their intimate dynamic to transform as they grow. Furthermore, one woman chooses a traditional route by marrying for stability and garners success in her work, while the other rejects stifling norms and struggles to attain her goals. I rate Strange Girls 3 stars for the plot’s familiarity.
The book opens with Ava visiting Aliya’s residence in London, with the Now timeline spanning a weekend celebrating at their university flatmate’s hen party. This compact timeline pairs well with the Then, in which we gain insight into their initial encounter at university with dreams to be published authors of fiction, growing friendship as women who explore their sexuality and test adulthood, and intensifying a yoking relationship that blurs the boundaries of where one person ends and the other begins. These pairings, along with a nostalgic Then and relationally strained Now, are notable strengths in Strange Girls.
In many ways, Hasin’s novel reminds me of Wambugu’s Lonely Crowds. In both stories, the two female characters come-of-adulthood, navigate the creative arts space, and face a breaking point in their relationship because they don’t understand how to allow their intimate dynamic to transform as they grow. Furthermore, one woman chooses a traditional route by marrying for stability and garners success in her work, while the other rejects stifling norms and struggles to attain her goals. I rate Strange Girls 3 stars for the plot’s familiarity.
October 20, 2025
A realistic novel that will likely resonate with fans of female friendship stories, "Strange Girls" is a detailed look behind the rise and decline of the relationship between two girls named Ava and Aliya. I'd say this is not just a story about friendship, but also a story about jealousy as well as the importance of communication and learning how to be honest with both yourself and with others.
The prose was smooth and insightful and I really enjoyed how down-to-earth the plot here is because it really helped the story feel more relatable. I also liked the way the split timeline was set up with Ava's chapters being our present day setting, while Aliya's chapters started in the past when the two first met and continued up through their initial falling out. I think this was a good way to offer the reader a more pragmatic understanding of the girls' relationship, whereas a chronological story would've likely not provided quite the same insights throughout.
Overall I think this was a very well-written novel — although I did find some parts of the story to drag a bit — and would absolutely recommend it to readers who enjoy more realistic, character-driven novels.
(Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with an advance review copy for free via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)
The prose was smooth and insightful and I really enjoyed how down-to-earth the plot here is because it really helped the story feel more relatable. I also liked the way the split timeline was set up with Ava's chapters being our present day setting, while Aliya's chapters started in the past when the two first met and continued up through their initial falling out. I think this was a good way to offer the reader a more pragmatic understanding of the girls' relationship, whereas a chronological story would've likely not provided quite the same insights throughout.
Overall I think this was a very well-written novel — although I did find some parts of the story to drag a bit — and would absolutely recommend it to readers who enjoy more realistic, character-driven novels.
(Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with an advance review copy for free via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)
March 26, 2026
4.5 rounding down to 4. This was more of a sophisticated book than I anticipated. For starters, the title: I wouldn’t necessarily say they were “strange girls” in the way you initially think of the term. They were different, niche, alternative, but not weirdos by any means. However, there is a reference to the title that makes it make sense. Secondly, the cover: I LOVE the cover, but in my opinion it doesn’t match the vibe of the story. The book is very well written. I loved the story, the vibe, and cared about the characters. The problem was that the past timeline lacked “the thing we were all waiting for” and the present timeline lacked resolve. Even still, I would recommend this book, and I think I might even re-read it in the near future- which is not a common practice for me.
March 3, 2026
A beautifully written book about the complexity of female friendships and how they change throughout our lives.
The title and cover caught my eye, and I'm so glad they did! Hasin is a talented writer and the story will be relatable to any woman who fiercely loves their friends. I could pick out parts of myself in both Ava and Aliya, and that made the reading experience extra enjoyable for me. I could have a 1000 page book about their whole lives.
The title and cover caught my eye, and I'm so glad they did! Hasin is a talented writer and the story will be relatable to any woman who fiercely loves their friends. I could pick out parts of myself in both Ava and Aliya, and that made the reading experience extra enjoyable for me. I could have a 1000 page book about their whole lives.
March 15, 2026
devoured in a weekend, gave me chest pains on the tube
Read
March 14, 2026clever ending! lacked something unexplainable on an emotional level for me, but i did resonate with hasin’s tender musings on female friendship.
October 8, 2025
I'm a sucker for a book about female friendship, especially coming-of-age stories where two people latch onto each other while still figuring who they are as individuals. The ending was a little abrupt, but it's true that stories like Ava and Aliya's have no tidy ending. When you grow into who you'll eventually become alongside someone else, they'll always remain a part of you.
Four and a half stars
Four and a half stars
November 6, 2025
Two women meet at a university near London. Both want to write and that's how they met on the web. The scene switches to a visit by Ava, a Scot, to Aliya, a Pakistani, to attend a friend's wedding. Aliya is married, but Ava is not. There is discomfort and difficulty in reestablishing their friendship.
I found the book confusing, hard to differentiate between the characters and plainly and simply boring. Perhaps Sarvat Hasin is simply not for me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.
I found the book confusing, hard to differentiate between the characters and plainly and simply boring. Perhaps Sarvat Hasin is simply not for me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.
December 2, 2025
I started off thinking I would love this and ended so frustrated. This should’ve been right up my alley — I love (ex) best friends with homoerotic tension and unlikeable characters — but I got a little bored waiting for something explicitly gay to happen in the college timeline. And then that timeline ends with a moment of hope that feels unearned because we already know how badly things will play out in the present day timeline. Disappointing! I love the cover though.
March 13, 2026
Some friendships feel like a fever dream while you’re inside them. Strange Girls is about one of those.
Ava and Aliya meet at university in England and immediately fall into the kind of intense, all-consuming friendship that tends to happen when you’re young, slightly lost, and trying to figure out who you are. They bond over writing, books, ambition, and the strange thrill of finding someone who seems to understand your brain perfectly.
The novel moves between timelines: Ava narrates their awkward reunion years later, while Aliya’s chapters take us back to the beginning - when the friendship was still electric and full of possibility. I loved this structural choice. It lets you sit in the uncomfortable present while slowly uncovering how things unraveled in the past.
What really worked for me here was the prose. The writing is smooth, perceptive, and incredibly good at capturing the emotional chaos of female friendships in your late teens and early twenties. That time in life when a friend can feel like your entire universe - when you’re rooting for them with your whole heart while also quietly competing with them in ways you don’t even fully understand.
Both Ava and Aliya are messy, fascinating people. You don’t necessarily like them in a traditional sense, but they’re compelling enough that it feels almost intrusive to be inside their heads. The dynamic between them - admiration, envy, loyalty, resentment - feels painfully real. It also nails something very true about creative friendships: how easy it is for admiration to blur into rivalry when two people want the same things.
Female friendships can be foundational in ways we only understand much later. Even when they end badly, they shape who we become.
My only real issue was the ending. The book intentionally leaves things open-ended, and I understand why - friendships don’t always resolve neatly. But after spending so much time inside this relationship, I personally wanted just a little more closure. The ambiguity felt purposeful, but it still left me slightly unsatisfied.
Still, this is a beautifully written, thoughtful novel about friendship in its most intense form — not the idealized version, but the real one: messy, consuming, sometimes toxic, and impossible to fully forget.
If you liked My Brilliant Friend and enjoy character-driven literary fiction about complicated female friendships, this one will probably work for you.
Ava and Aliya meet at university in England and immediately fall into the kind of intense, all-consuming friendship that tends to happen when you’re young, slightly lost, and trying to figure out who you are. They bond over writing, books, ambition, and the strange thrill of finding someone who seems to understand your brain perfectly.
The novel moves between timelines: Ava narrates their awkward reunion years later, while Aliya’s chapters take us back to the beginning - when the friendship was still electric and full of possibility. I loved this structural choice. It lets you sit in the uncomfortable present while slowly uncovering how things unraveled in the past.
What really worked for me here was the prose. The writing is smooth, perceptive, and incredibly good at capturing the emotional chaos of female friendships in your late teens and early twenties. That time in life when a friend can feel like your entire universe - when you’re rooting for them with your whole heart while also quietly competing with them in ways you don’t even fully understand.
Both Ava and Aliya are messy, fascinating people. You don’t necessarily like them in a traditional sense, but they’re compelling enough that it feels almost intrusive to be inside their heads. The dynamic between them - admiration, envy, loyalty, resentment - feels painfully real. It also nails something very true about creative friendships: how easy it is for admiration to blur into rivalry when two people want the same things.
Female friendships can be foundational in ways we only understand much later. Even when they end badly, they shape who we become.
My only real issue was the ending. The book intentionally leaves things open-ended, and I understand why - friendships don’t always resolve neatly. But after spending so much time inside this relationship, I personally wanted just a little more closure. The ambiguity felt purposeful, but it still left me slightly unsatisfied.
Still, this is a beautifully written, thoughtful novel about friendship in its most intense form — not the idealized version, but the real one: messy, consuming, sometimes toxic, and impossible to fully forget.
If you liked My Brilliant Friend and enjoy character-driven literary fiction about complicated female friendships, this one will probably work for you.
March 11, 2026
“There are stories where a shadowy spectre from the past arrives on a young couple’s doorstep, dredging up secrets that have been long buried. Things do not usually go well for the young couple in these stories. They do not usually go well for the spectre either.” From these excellent first sentences, Sarvat Hasin’s shining new novel Strange Girls never ceases at being a twisting delight, propelled by two disconcertingly vivid character portraits — you KNOW these people, you surely must — and an astute eye for blending the unexpected with the inevitable. Ava is nervous to be reunited with her former best friend Aliya for a mutual friend’s hen party, skirting around the unspoken distance between them; Aliya, years previously, is lonely and unsure of herself when she meets Ava at university, and the two become so close they are like sisters, or like one person in two bodies. Through present Ava’s first person and past Aliya’s third person perspectives, the long and complicated history of their friendship is exhumed, and the possibility of resurrecting it dances on the periphery. I so admire Hasin’s restraint, in knowing how much to keep from us, and when to reveal it. It makes a small-scale drama unfold with a great but finely tuned magnitude. I love Aliya, who wants so much to make everyone happy, so full of admiration yet so unable to see herself as admirable; and I love Ava, who is cynical and cold but so real, so right-on, so sharp and hilariously deadpan. Her brutal reflections on how the single adult is sidelined were endlessly wry and resonant and reading them in someone else’s voice was, if nothing else, just so comforting. Yes it’s a book about intertwined friendships, how they curdle, how imbalanced expectations and desires can corrupt love and care, and it is a book about and how scary it is to be honest about the things we want and the things we fear. But it is also a book about making art: the costs and difficulty of doing it, and what it means to both the ones who create and the ones who witness. I loved it — out tomorrow in the UK, thanks to brilliant Sarvat for the proof!
March 18, 2026
This was an interesting first time with this author. Strange girls is a coming-of-age story that promises so much. An international student's perspective on university life, the weight of cultural expectations, and the tangled complexities of family and friendship. In many of these areas, the author delivers.
On the positive side, Hasin brings a genuine sensitivity to the cultural pressures bearing down on the young adult characters. The push and pull of familial obligation, inherited expectation, and the deep desire for self-determination is presented with care and nuance. The novel's emotional outcomes feel earned, and refreshingly, they feel true to life rather than conveniently resolved. The two central characters are also given some depth and interiority, and their relationships with their families and with each other are what makes this story.
Where the novel fell apart for me; however, is in the architecture of the story itself. Beyond the two MCs, the supporting cast feels thin. The other characters are present on the page but never fully alive. More distracting is the blurring of the two main voices; reading between their perspectives, the distinction becomes muddled to the point where it's unclear whether the effect is intentional or not. A romantic subplot, meanwhile, arrives feeling less like an organic development and more like a wrench thrown in to create conflict.
Th most confusing part though, is the novel's relationship with its own setting. For a story framed around the university experience, campus life is simply absent. No talk of lectures, exams, stress; no academic rhythms, nothing to truly anchor us in that world. The dual timeline structure compounds this issue; the present-day thread never gains enough momentum or revelation to justify its presence, leaving the narrative feeling stretched rather than complex and enriched.
The writing itself is solid throughout, and there is a real story in here. But the structural choices work against the story's strengths, and the result is a book that simply did not work for me.
On the positive side, Hasin brings a genuine sensitivity to the cultural pressures bearing down on the young adult characters. The push and pull of familial obligation, inherited expectation, and the deep desire for self-determination is presented with care and nuance. The novel's emotional outcomes feel earned, and refreshingly, they feel true to life rather than conveniently resolved. The two central characters are also given some depth and interiority, and their relationships with their families and with each other are what makes this story.
Where the novel fell apart for me; however, is in the architecture of the story itself. Beyond the two MCs, the supporting cast feels thin. The other characters are present on the page but never fully alive. More distracting is the blurring of the two main voices; reading between their perspectives, the distinction becomes muddled to the point where it's unclear whether the effect is intentional or not. A romantic subplot, meanwhile, arrives feeling less like an organic development and more like a wrench thrown in to create conflict.
Th most confusing part though, is the novel's relationship with its own setting. For a story framed around the university experience, campus life is simply absent. No talk of lectures, exams, stress; no academic rhythms, nothing to truly anchor us in that world. The dual timeline structure compounds this issue; the present-day thread never gains enough momentum or revelation to justify its presence, leaving the narrative feeling stretched rather than complex and enriched.
The writing itself is solid throughout, and there is a real story in here. But the structural choices work against the story's strengths, and the result is a book that simply did not work for me.
February 24, 2026
Thank you to dutton for the physical ARC of this one!
I am genuinely obsessed with this book. I could tell from pretty early on that this was something that would feel really personal and resonate with me. I truly cannot recommend this book enough to anyone but especially writers and those who understand the feeling of an all consuming friendship and friendship break ups. the characters in this were all so beautifully real I feel as though I have met them all personally, both in that the writing brought them to life in such a way but also in that these are so based around the classic dynamics of a (mostly queer) girl friend group that the archetypes of them fit my high school and college friends incredibly well. I think the ending left me with more questions than I would like but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The prose is stunning and it is full to the brim of such an almost nostalgic feeling that made it all the more enjoyable, though sligtly hurtful, to read.
I am genuinely obsessed with this book. I could tell from pretty early on that this was something that would feel really personal and resonate with me. I truly cannot recommend this book enough to anyone but especially writers and those who understand the feeling of an all consuming friendship and friendship break ups. the characters in this were all so beautifully real I feel as though I have met them all personally, both in that the writing brought them to life in such a way but also in that these are so based around the classic dynamics of a (mostly queer) girl friend group that the archetypes of them fit my high school and college friends incredibly well. I think the ending left me with more questions than I would like but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The prose is stunning and it is full to the brim of such an almost nostalgic feeling that made it all the more enjoyable, though sligtly hurtful, to read.
October 8, 2025
Thank you netgalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. There was honestly nothing super special about this book and I wanted so much more from it. It could have definitely used a bit of work and maybe some more interesting plot points but it wasn’t horrible. It had a nice academia setting but the plot just wasn’t strong enough in my opinion. It kept teetering on the edge of doing something interesting but never reached its full potential in my opinion.
March 25, 2026
This book asks the same questions as that infamous poster…Can they marry like other girls, have children, be happy as they are? WHY? WERE THEY BORN.
And (perhaps more interestingly)…what happens when only one of them can?
In all seriousness as an unmarried, childfree thirty-something who can’t get a book deal…Strange Girls knocked it out of the park and landed it a little too close to my home.
And (perhaps more interestingly)…what happens when only one of them can?
In all seriousness as an unmarried, childfree thirty-something who can’t get a book deal…Strange Girls knocked it out of the park and landed it a little too close to my home.
October 26, 2025
This books is full of yearning. The dual timeline was well done, where we saw each of Ava and Aliya’s perspectives, but at different times. The ending felt a little sudden, but otherwise this was everything I was craving, having once been an Aliya.
Thanks to Dutton books for the review copy.
Thanks to Dutton books for the review copy.
February 2, 2026
Strange Girls is Sarvat Hasin's US debut novel that is about a complicated friendship between two women. They bounce back between the present when the long estranged friends meet up for a mutual friend's bachelorette party and the beginnings of their friendship in college. Ava returns to London to stay with Aliya and her husband after the two have not spoken in years. I was intrigued by Hasin's choice to have the present narrated by Ava, while the past was narrated by Aliya. The two women met in college and became very enmeshed, both with the dream of being a writer. While in the past it appears Ava will be the first to publish, in reality it is Aliya who has a novel about to publish. But the question for Ava is why will Aliya not share the novel with her? College can be such an intense time in relationships- romantic and platonic so it is a perfect setting to explore the relationship between the two women. This was definitely a character-driven story, and readers who are fans of stories around female friendship will appreciate this debut.
Thank you to Dutton via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Thank you to Dutton via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
March 20, 2026
A tale for all of us who had all consuming friendships upon the first whisper of freedom in our university days. 3.5, through a solid story just something felt lacking and really wanted more grounding in the whole university life and experience.
February 2, 2026
Thanks so much to Dialogue for my copy, this was beautifully unique!!
March 15, 2026
really liked this!! a bit of a rushed ending but maybe is reflective of true best friendships
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