Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

There are three things that push a book into LOVE IT territory for me: high stakes, characters with nothing to lose, and punchy dialogue. Hello Girls delivers all three.

Best friends Winona and Lucille have seen more than their fair share of hardships. They’ve been abused and used, and have only each other to cling to, along with a dream of something more after graduation. But one fateful night fast tracks their plans to get out, and in a stolen convertible they aren’t turning back. They’ve got a new plan—Las Vegas—they’ll just have to knock over a few gas stations for cash on the way.

I love this story—not just for the wild, Thelma & Louise vibe, but for the intensity of emotions brewing just under Lucille and Winona’s dark banter. It’s fun, shocking, and intense, with a mystery that will keep readers flipping pages to find out what happens next.