Top Girl

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That strength also translates into her increasing involvement in drug dealing, she’s hanging with dangerous people in dangerous situations, working the country lines, but is able to hold her own. It definitely needs to be studied by the younger generation, as Danielle's brutal honesty leaves nothing to the imagination. For me the defining moment in Danielle’s story is the appalling lack of response by the authorities who effectively sold her down the river after a sustained and violent gang rape. Danielle starts off like every other child, full of joy and not necessarily aware of, but loving the multi-cultural and varied life style in which she was raised. They aren’t always the people you are warned about, the ones in cars who want you to see their puppies or offering you a ride home ‘because your mother sent me’.

The warning signs come when she is separated from her friends, and passes the entrance exam to public school. She put him in danger, daily, and felt wronged when he was taken away and ultimately given to his father.It’s a rollercoaster of violence, drugs, sex, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, all rolled into one fascinating true story of a young girls life, devastatingly let down by the police after a brutal sexual assault, Danielle seeks solace in a local drug dealer, who introduces her to the exciting yet dangerous world of selling class A drugs, she soon rises up the ranks earning the gangs trust, and becomes west London’s ‘top girl’. She takes full responsibility for some of the things that she has done but when you read the unfathomable trauma that she has endured you cannot help but feel a deep level of empathy for her.

Interestingly Danielle repeatedly mentioned the notion of gangs being an external concept and not the view held by those involved. I genuinely think that this book should be available in comprehensive schools up and down the country. It was so sad to read about her journey and how often she was failed by the services meant to protect her. Betrayed by the police after a brutal gang rape, she finds protection under the wing of organised criminals and falls in love with the local ‘top boy’. Danielle had a safe and happy childhood growing up in West London and looked to have a bright future, but this soon faded as she turned her back on academics for a life of crime and gangs.

Even when to an outsider it seems patently obvious like she was failed by the authorities, Danielle does not look for excuses and I found it impossible not to empathise with her.

On reflecting back on it I do think that we don’t get a full account if what it’s like for those doing this, I think we get a more glamorised look at the country lines, still seems awful but I’ve read worse accounts of it recently. Top Girl is relatable for all readers, of all ages, with its modern and relevant tone it will appeal to YA readers, as well as those who love true crime reads. Top Girl is Danielle (“D”) Marin’s first-hand and frankly harrowing account of her journey from twelve year old schoolgirl to county lines drug dealer and her eventual decision, at the age of twenty-five, to turn her back on the only world she knew. This searing, moving and , at times, gut wrenching memoir pulls literally no punches in the way Danielle describes how she fell into the county lines culture, the drugs and gang lifestyle, and the systems set in place to help her which did the complete opposite, and drove her deeper. Her honesty and her no holds barred account, from barely a teenager to her life to date is to be commended.Old before her years, Danielle has a plethora of experiences while still a child and I had to constantly remind myself how young she was, she also reminded us but aspects of the book were truly shocking and more so when reflecting that this was a school girl. I think every school-age child should read this book as it’s a lesson in the consequences of making bad choices. But because it deals with the author's teenage years I'd still recommend it to teens, especially those with a higher risk of being sucked into something like this.