The Baddest Girl on the Planet

January 25, 2021
Frese debuts with an impressive examination of small-town island life in coastal North Carolina. In 2013, 23-year-old Evie Austin is dissatisfied with her underachieving husband, Stephen Oden, and a year later Evie and Stephen are divorced, with Evie and their five-year-old son living in her parents’ house. The author intercuts Evie’s negotiation of single life with Evie’s memories of growing up on the island, where, at nine, she met her childhood bestie, vacationer Charlotte McConnell. As the narrative progresses, Frese toggles through the years to reveal experiences that have defined Evie’s life, among them an unplanned pregnancy at 19 with her high school sweetheart; a strange obsession with Mike Tyson, whom she met while visiting Charlotte in Ohio (“the first man to disappoint” her, after his rape conviction); and an ill-advised trip to Las Vegas with a male pen pal. As the narrative builds to the present day, Evie is faced with the choice to reconcile with Stephen or take a chance on new love. While some of the conceits feel a bit too quirky (“Bad girls make up lots of lies. Sometimes accidentally. Sometimes on purpose,” Evie pronounces, reflecting on her youth), Frese’s dynamic structure and strong voice provide engaging snapshots of Evie throughout the years. Readers will find lots to love.

February 15, 2021
If people want to think Evie Austin is a bad girl, well, they can thank Mike Tyson for that. She met him the summer she was nine years old and bragged to her friends that he was pretty much her best friend; then he turned out to be a bad man, so she had to turn out to be a bad girl. She was bad by association. But now Evie is in her 20s and has a young son to take care of. If she can't be good for herself, maybe she can at least be good for him? Set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and told in a series of vignettes that flash back and forth in time, The Baddest Girl On the Planet is the story of a young woman not looking for redemption, per se, but reassurance that her mistakes don't define her. Frese's debut is a snappy novel with a relatable character that will resonate with readers.

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