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nafridh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
imoguana's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
imogen_eliza's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sebp's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In the time between when we left and when we returned there was just this infinite space where we were anyone.
Felicity Castagna takes us on a tumultuous road trip, from the Western Sydney suburbs throughout southern NSW, with no shortage of precarious and perilous moments. Perspectives switch between the road trip and Rosa later on at a correctional centre recounting it all.
Rosa is timid and bookish girl who wants what the popular girls have. She knows they have power; there's even a hierarchy just getting to the bathroom mirrors at school. Rosa wants 'what they made for themselves when they walked down those halls like nothing was ever going to trip them up.' This is one of the first inklings of this desire for agency that Rosa has in the novel. Her counterpart, Asheeka, is a popular girl who befriends Rosa despite the divide in their school "ranking".
Angered and spurred on by Asheeka's possessive boyfriend Arnold and his equally objectionable, misogynistic friends, the duo steal his car and head off. Accidentally smashing Arnold's prized possession during this cursory trip round the block, the pair hightail it out of town. This is where their road trip to wherever begins.
Girls in Boys' Cars is the best type of go-your-own-way story, one where protagonists Rosa and Asheeka flee and act with reckless abandon, letting their impulses run wild. It answers the questions of our urges, the what-ifs: what if we stole that car, what if we just ran away. Their growing resentment of expectations, social order and conventions, and desire to never go back causes them to leave a path of destruction in their wake. It's this realistic setting and characterisation but also the uncertain threat of consequences that makes this adventure so engaging.
On page 93, TikTok is unfortunately mentioned, simply to make a point of it being something relevant (for the time being). Considering the prevalence of this reference in current YA books, it's almost as if it's a written demand in the contracts of every YA and contemporary fiction author; yet, we know anyone with the patience to read a book isn't looking to be engaged by a simple reference. For sure, Married at First Sight is the best reference, being the dumb thing on TV that Rosa was watching.
This story is about self-discovery and agency, being away from family, friends, and lovers. Rosa does a lot of thinking, but mostly she feels, feeling in the moment, seeing the stars, the smoke, the fire, bodies spinning, feet walking onward. Through all of this feeling and impulsive doing, Rosa and Asheeka's flaws are front and centre. Yes, the duo are aimless, and frivolous, and clueless. They aren't perfect and they aren't trying to be either; and maybe it takes chaos for them to find themselves.
Negotiating the unexplored territory of the countryside, Rosa reflects on dark and challenging moments, whether of past memories at school and home, or memories of on-the-run committing sometimes exhilarating petty crimes. What's repeated throughout the story are the themes of longing and growing: longing for answers, longing for belonging, and longing to understand the world around them. With Asheeka and Rosa alone, they are free to express how they see the world, for example, when Asheeka says this:
They’re always expecting things. Boys. Girls don’t expect so much.
And through these statements, these "universal truths", they express their own needs and desires. Yet, just like the dialogue between the two teenagers, the messages presented in this book are often quite vague and simplified. While the lines do make sense, this limited expression demonstrates a low expectation of a reader's ability to comprehend anything more insightful to come from the young characters. On a related note, the story lulls in the middle of the book, and this is partly due to the narration seeming to allude to something more, to some profundity, but never more than an allusion. Perhaps this is also the fault of opting to end most chapters by describing a little vignette, or an unbroken action like walking and walking, or driving and driving; it's a rest stop of sorts for the reader. Though after a few of these chapter endings, the imagery starts to take on the visual equivalent of empty platitudes.
The story includes the depressing reality of the devastating 2020 fires. Amidst the tumult and chaos of their running away and their own fractured relationship, from the background the raging fires push their way to the foreground. Likewise, to this foreboding, creeping inferno, every few pages is the terror of being a girl out in the world. Abuse and mistreatment isn't hidden. The boys are proud of it, in fact. And this unavoidable malevolent eye is not just in the Sydney suburbs, it's out in the bush too, it seems, even if more covertly. Castagna portrays very real fears. Those animalistic stares, always a danger ready to present itself, to curtail the hunger of barely repressed violence. But this is no paranoia. It's not even subtext or a few small hints; 'the look' is bold and unabashed, and written with a startling casualness and frequency. The scenes creep up on you, and by the end you expect it. Every time the pair enter a new place, every person they meet, you don't trust. This line in particular illustrates the seedy environment:
He took us in with his eyes, running them all along our bodies. He gave me a kind of half-smile that said, Yeah, and I’ll take you, I’ll take you both.
There are always some creeps watching these girls. You begin to wonder, can they ever catch a break?? There's no shortage of odious onlookers, but fortunately most don't receive much more than a vague passing description.
Castagna doesn't tie her story up with a nice red bow. There are consequences, and everything changes. From their purgatorial trip, they return to reality, changed. Well, Asheeka is unchained, but Rosa is less so.
Girls in Boys' Cars may not resonate with everyone's experience of teen-hood, but it shows the messy side, the frustrations, the lack of control and agency that we desperately crave and just as soon wish we hadn't received it, and wonder why we even wanted it so much. But the story also demonstrates that a little chaos can be good, and maybe it will take some tumultuous times for you to find yourself.
Also, I think there's an error on page 246, where the word is spelled alter instead of altar?
oneoflifeslollopers's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sarjanie's review
4.0
Girls in Boys’ Cars perfectly captures the lives of suburban Aussie teenagers and the social issues they face today. It’s full of literary and pop culture references, but they are included purposefully which avoids the cheesiness that you’d typically expect. I was captivated by the fact it was set at the beginning of 2020 as the bushfires were happing and the pandemic was about to change our way of life; the setting felt like a metaphor for how Rosa and Asheeka’s lives were about to implode. The ‘being on the run’ plot was a little far fetched for me, particularly with how it all ends. This is the only reason I knocked off one star. Great Aussie YA novel, definitely worth the read if this is your genre.
brooklynt101112's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0