It's very unfair to compare every single thing that comes out of Northern Ireland to Derry Girls, but unfortunately that's just what's going to happen for the foreseeable, and I'm going to do it here too.

Initially I struggled with this book because it did feel like an inferior version of Derry Girls.  Some of the humour felt forced, even unnecessarily crude at times, and the main character, Maeve, veered too far into unlikable to get away with most of it. However, as it went on the writing began to settle a bit, the humour landed more, and the further into the story I went, the more I started to like it, and Maeve herself. 

Factory Girls goes a lot deeper into the reality of growing up during the troubles. Whereas Derry Girls kept it somewhat in the background, this book really shows how the normal milestones of childhood, growing up, family, deaths, friendships, leaving school, leaving home, were all tied up in and warped by the troubles. And it's still funny with all that, in the very natural "sure if you didn't laugh you'd cry" way that these things tend to be. 

Some elements of the plot felt kind of unnecessary, or at least like they weren't as integral to the main plot as I thought they would be early on. And what was going on in the factory felt a bit of a let down when it was revealed, but on reflection it ties in with what I said above about reflecting the realities of life during the troubles. There's always someone that can take advantage of any situation for their own benefit, usually at the expense of ones already suffering.