Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing psychological mystery that is not for the faint of heart. At the age of 13, Angela 'Angie' Chapman is kidnapped. Three years later she returns home, with no memory of where she has been or what has happened to her, completely unaware that any time has passed and with a fractured blank space in her mind. In order to mend the missing pieces of herself she must journey into the dark and dangerous labyrinth of her mind, filled with horrifying secrets hidden in only the darkest of corners. 
 I quite enjoyed this book, although it's definitely a mature read. It is reasonably well paced and filled with plenty of tension, although the beginning is a bit disorientating and tries too hard to confuse the reader before the narrative really finds its feet. I thought the overall premise of the story was interesting and very ambitious, although it perhaps missed the mark on being truly fantastic. At its core this is a story about dealing with trauma and it explores how the mind reacts to horrifying experiences (such as sexual abuse). I really enjoyed the psychological aspects of the story and the process Angie goes through to understand and accept what has happened to her as she tries to rebuild her life. 
 However, while this is a story that tries to grapple with a lot of big concepts I don't think some of these ideas were handled with as much sensitivity or finesse as they could have been (for instance, 'slut' references in the context of rape - a pet peeve of mine - and an experimental procedure performed as part of Angie's therapy which completely opposes the idea of acceptance the book is trying to explore). I also think that this book fell down in places because the plot tried to be overly convoluted in an attempt to really dissect the psychological aspect of the story. If you're going to pin a novel on the psychological exploration of trauma then it needs to be extremely well refined. Similarly, if you have a story that explores rape and child abuse then you need to deal with those concepts carefully and thoughtfully, and that requires significant discussion, not avoidance or outright 'deletion'. There were also a few plot holes that stood out, for instance the lack of media attention after Angie returns home. I mean, really? It just didn't make any sense given that she was attending high school surrounded by hundreds of students who were aware of her situation. 
 Overall I found it to be a compelling read but it could have more nuanced and deal with certain topics more effectively. I would recommend it to people with an interest in psychology or stories about dealing with traumatic experiences.