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A review by megsbookishtwins
Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon
5.0
I received this free from the publishers via NetGalley
Tourmaline Harris is the daughter of the leader of the town’s infamous biker club known as the Wardens. She’s got a good home life, a good relationship with her father. But at 15 she unintentionally sent her mother to prison. Virginia Campbell was ‘sold’ into the service of Hazard – a sleazy but powerful (&criminal) attorney. Virginia is sent to infiltrate the Wardens under the orders of Hazard because he wants them gone. Virginia has every intention of going through with her orders, but after meeting Tourmaline, she starts to have second thoughts. The two girls friendship blossoms, each gaining strength and confidence from each other.
Done Dirt Cheap is a novel about friendship and the girl’s defying the expectations placed upon them. Done Dirt Cheap is a refreshing read in the sense that it offers something a lot of books don’t really offer – an authentic and complex female friendship. Both Tourmaline and Virginia are fully formed, messy, and contradictory female characters. They would seem like unlikely friends, complete polar opposites, but they make it work and while they don’t always get along, they know they need each other and they help each other navigate the complicated and dangerous landscape of their lives.
“We’re friends because when girls – women – are alone in this world, they’re easier to pick off.” …“When girls stick together in this world, they’re harder to pick off.”
One thing I loved about Tourmaline and Virginia is that they subverted the typical female character tropes that we often see in YA. The ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’. Tourmaline has always tried to be likeable and good, but that isn’t who she really is. Tourmaline was placed into her dangerous drug dealing life, it wasn’t one she chose. But each girl wants something different, and they help each other to get it. So there was some really great character development.
I absolutely adored the romance. If you love age-gap romances I do highly recommend this. (Don’t worry, both Tourmaline and Virginia are 18). Tourmaline’s relationship with Cash was my favourite – it was a forbidden romance and fantastically written. Virginia’s relationship with Jason felt a little rushed and insta-lovey but I loved it nonetheless.
If you are looking for a feminist and female empowered book, with a complex and central female friendship where they always try to uplift each other and not tear each other down, then I do highly recommend Done Dirt Cheap.
Also, Biker Girls, need I say more?
Tourmaline Harris is the daughter of the leader of the town’s infamous biker club known as the Wardens. She’s got a good home life, a good relationship with her father. But at 15 she unintentionally sent her mother to prison. Virginia Campbell was ‘sold’ into the service of Hazard – a sleazy but powerful (&criminal) attorney. Virginia is sent to infiltrate the Wardens under the orders of Hazard because he wants them gone. Virginia has every intention of going through with her orders, but after meeting Tourmaline, she starts to have second thoughts. The two girls friendship blossoms, each gaining strength and confidence from each other.
Done Dirt Cheap is a novel about friendship and the girl’s defying the expectations placed upon them. Done Dirt Cheap is a refreshing read in the sense that it offers something a lot of books don’t really offer – an authentic and complex female friendship. Both Tourmaline and Virginia are fully formed, messy, and contradictory female characters. They would seem like unlikely friends, complete polar opposites, but they make it work and while they don’t always get along, they know they need each other and they help each other navigate the complicated and dangerous landscape of their lives.
“We’re friends because when girls – women – are alone in this world, they’re easier to pick off.” …“When girls stick together in this world, they’re harder to pick off.”
One thing I loved about Tourmaline and Virginia is that they subverted the typical female character tropes that we often see in YA. The ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’. Tourmaline has always tried to be likeable and good, but that isn’t who she really is. Tourmaline was placed into her dangerous drug dealing life, it wasn’t one she chose. But each girl wants something different, and they help each other to get it. So there was some really great character development.
I absolutely adored the romance. If you love age-gap romances I do highly recommend this. (Don’t worry, both Tourmaline and Virginia are 18). Tourmaline’s relationship with Cash was my favourite – it was a forbidden romance and fantastically written. Virginia’s relationship with Jason felt a little rushed and insta-lovey but I loved it nonetheless.
If you are looking for a feminist and female empowered book, with a complex and central female friendship where they always try to uplift each other and not tear each other down, then I do highly recommend Done Dirt Cheap.
Also, Biker Girls, need I say more?