When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill

Hey book lovers! I’m here with a book review for the first book I finished in 2022 – When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill. I requested this ARC after giving five stars to The Lonely Hearts Hotel.

About The Book 📚

Title: When We Lost Our Heads

Author: Heather O’Neill

Publication Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher: HarperCollins

Suggested Reader Age: Adult

Genre: Historical Fiction (Canada)

About The Author

“Heather O’Neill was born in Montreal and attended McGill University.

She published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel won the Canada Reads competition (2007) and was awarded the Hugh Maclennan Award (2007). It was nominated for eight other awards included the Orange Prize, the Governor General’s Award and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize. It was an international bestseller.

Her books The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014) and Daydreams of Angels (2015) were both shortlisted for the Giller Prize.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12676.Heather_O_Neill

My Review

› “Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett had met in the park on Mont 17 Royal behind their homes when they were little girls of twelve years old. It was 1873.”

Marie Antoine had light hair, Sadie had dark. Marie had blue eyes, Sadie had dark. They may have appeared opposite in physical appearance, however, the universe brought Marie and Sadie together because inside they had the same struggles, and would contribute to the revolution in their own way.

As children, they shared their deepest, darkest thoughts with each other:

“Then Sadie had an idea. They sat at the veranda table in front of two bowls of chocolate pudding. They both tied blindfolds around their eyes. They spoke to each other with their blindfolds on. Sadie thought up a bleak idea and then they took a bite of the pudding. The dark idea would forever be associated with something delicious.”

This entire pudding scene stuck in my head for the rest of the book. The girls had a fascination with death – Sadie in particular. She murdered animals and felt no remorse. One day, while playing a game with guns, the girls killed a maid. This event would change their lives. They had a complicated on-again, off-again, friendship/attraction. Neither had a firm grip on reality for their entire lives. Their imaginations often left them losing family, friends, time, and each other.

Marie lived in Golden Mile, Sadie ended up living in Squalid Mile. Although the Golden Mile is for the rich, and you’d think that would mean women living there had a better life, we see this is not the case. Money doesn’t change the battles women fought every day against sexism and violence.

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 4

› Atmosphere: 4

› Writing Style: 5

› Plot: 3

› Intrigue: 3

› Logic: 6

› Enjoyment: 3

Average 4

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★

› Final Thoughts
• This is not the way I wanted to start a new reading year. I’m terribly disappointed. This book was way longer than it needed to be. I was bored. If it wasn’t an arc I would have quit, and to start 2022 with a DNF would have been tragic. When We Lost Our Heads is a raw, deadly, twisty story about tragedy, obsession, women’s rights, gender roles, and class. The reader is taken on a journey with Marie and Sadie through turmoil and triumphs as they discover more about themselves, the world, and each other. I’d recommend this to adventurous readers who don’t mind a lot of fluff and a slower pace.