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_mercury_'s review against another edition
2.0
I don't want to diss feminist literature, but this book was a really low point for me this week. It's one of those books that have really interesting descriptions, but the actual story is boring and annoying.
The plot was messed up. This is what was written in the description:
"A keenly perceptive coming-of-age novel, All Girls captures one year at a prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their ambitions, friendships, and fears against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.
But as the months unfold, and the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis fall short, these extraordinary girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power. A tender and unflinching portrait of modern adolescence told through the shifting perspectives of an unforgettable cast of female students, All Girls explores what it means to grow up in a place that promises you the world––when the world still isn't yours for the taking."
And this is what I read:
"A dully perceptive coming of age novel, All Girls captures one year at a not so prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their romantic adventures, empty friendships, and plenty of other boring additions against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, as the months unfold, and as the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis are barely seen at all besides some crappy, tacky emails and useless restrictions, these bright but shallow girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power that's hardly seen at all. A boring and dry portrait of modern adolescence told through the multiple perspectives of an annoying cast of female students, All Girls explores what it means to live in a boarding school that promises you the world--but really tries to make sure the world isn't yours for the taking"
This was not interesting. This was not feminist. This was a terrible attempt at feminist literature. How can you say that this book is about young girls finding their voices when one of them practically gets r**ed by a boy she likes but never reports it? And the mysterious teacher who's the reason behind the scandal that's the backdrop of this book? All that I'm mostly sure about is that he resigned, but we never learned ANYTHING about his identity. The whole thing was just a mess. I could have gone the rest of my life without reading this.
The plot was messed up. This is what was written in the description:
"A keenly perceptive coming-of-age novel, All Girls captures one year at a prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their ambitions, friendships, and fears against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.
But as the months unfold, and the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis fall short, these extraordinary girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power. A tender and unflinching portrait of modern adolescence told through the shifting perspectives of an unforgettable cast of female students, All Girls explores what it means to grow up in a place that promises you the world––when the world still isn't yours for the taking."
And this is what I read:
"A dully perceptive coming of age novel, All Girls captures one year at a not so prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their romantic adventures, empty friendships, and plenty of other boring additions against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, as the months unfold, and as the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis are barely seen at all besides some crappy, tacky emails and useless restrictions, these bright but shallow girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power that's hardly seen at all. A boring and dry portrait of modern adolescence told through the multiple perspectives of an annoying cast of female students, All Girls explores what it means to live in a boarding school that promises you the world--but really tries to make sure the world isn't yours for the taking"
This was not interesting. This was not feminist. This was a terrible attempt at feminist literature. How can you say that this book is about young girls finding their voices when one of them practically gets r**ed by a boy she likes but never reports it? And the mysterious teacher who's the reason behind the scandal that's the backdrop of this book? All that I'm mostly sure about is that he resigned, but we never learned ANYTHING about his identity. The whole thing was just a mess. I could have gone the rest of my life without reading this.
paragraphsandpages's review against another edition
4.0
I was a bit wary going into this due to the current GR rating, but I ended up really enjoying this! While I understand how some aspects of this book could put some others off, I really enjoyed those aspects in the end.
This story is almost written as an anthology, switching between smaller stories of individual characters as the larger story slowly unravels. I feel like this style worked perfectly for what this book was trying to accomplish, and I found myself quickly invested in each new girl's story every time. While it was sometimes sad to slip back out of the girl's inner world right when things started getting interesting, it was something I got used to quickly. I liked how each story ended up building upon the other, and getting to see the different perspectives on both the boarding school experience and on the rape case that the school is going through gave a much more rounded picture of it all. We were given so many angles from many different backgrounds, and it was interesting how the same thing could be perceived so differently depending on the girl.
Overall, I felt this was a really strong debut, and it surprised me in so many ways. Anthology style books like this don't always work for me, and I haven't necessarily loved a lot of boarding school books, but the way this was done worked really well in my opinion.
This story is almost written as an anthology, switching between smaller stories of individual characters as the larger story slowly unravels. I feel like this style worked perfectly for what this book was trying to accomplish, and I found myself quickly invested in each new girl's story every time. While it was sometimes sad to slip back out of the girl's inner world right when things started getting interesting, it was something I got used to quickly. I liked how each story ended up building upon the other, and getting to see the different perspectives on both the boarding school experience and on the rape case that the school is going through gave a much more rounded picture of it all. We were given so many angles from many different backgrounds, and it was interesting how the same thing could be perceived so differently depending on the girl.
Overall, I felt this was a really strong debut, and it surprised me in so many ways. Anthology style books like this don't always work for me, and I haven't necessarily loved a lot of boarding school books, but the way this was done worked really well in my opinion.
ncrozier's review against another edition
4.0
For a book where every chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, the author made it work extremely well!
finalgirlkate's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
This book is marked as a thriller on GoodReads, and the synopsis sounds like it’s a literary fiction about a school handling a sexual assault allegation. Neither of those are true.
This is more like a series of vignettes, following girls at an all-girls boarding school. But there isn’t anything tying the stories together. The rape os barely mentioned, and has no impact on any of the stories.
You spend so little time with each character, it’s difficult to get invested with any of the individual girls, and even harder to tell them apart.
This is more like a series of vignettes, following girls at an all-girls boarding school. But there isn’t anything tying the stories together. The rape os barely mentioned, and has no impact on any of the stories.
You spend so little time with each character, it’s difficult to get invested with any of the individual girls, and even harder to tell them apart.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of Emily Layden’s novel, All Girls, in exchange for an honest review.
When a scandal from 1995 surfaces and threatens to damage the reputation of Atwater, a prestigious all-girls boarding school in Connecticut, the current students are left wondering who they should trust. All Girls is set during a single school year and each chapter focuses on a different student, high school girls with different dreams and personalities, all trying to navigate the complications of adolescence.
As the girls are being dropped off at Atwater in the fall, they encounter a series of yard signs alerting them to a rapist living on campus. In 1995, a student named Karen Mirro was raped by a teacher and subsequently expelled from Atwater based on an unrelated incident, with no repercussions for the rapist. Now in her late thirties, Mirro has brought a lawsuit against Atwater, and although none of the students firmly know which of their teachers is a rapist, the rumors run rampant and distrust is high.
The school year proceeds with its usual traditions and events, as the administration struggles to keep the lawsuit on the down-low, including none of the staff being removed from their positions. The student paper tries to publish an edition regarding sexual assault and they are barred. Just as the signs mysteriously appear, so do other reminders of the case, such as flyers and unusual artwork. Atwater is awash in the mysterious identity of both the rapist and the person calling attention to Mirro’s case. But even more, the girls all worry if their beloved school, which is steeped in their identity, would protect them if they were in Mirro’s shoes?
I was initially drawn to All Girls because the blurb likened it to one of my all-time favorite novels, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. I can see the reasons for the comparisons, but All Girls was especially timely due to recent revelations about my high school years.
I graduated from a prestigious arts high school in 1995 and during my time in school, I did not realize boundaries that were being crossed between teachers and students. Sure, I saw things that seemed borderline inappropriate, but like Layden’s characters, when you are a teen, sometimes the lines are very blurry. Since graduating, I have heard stories from close friends of very, very inappropriate behavior towards them from some of our male teachers. More than one story, more than one teacher, and certainly more than one female student being affected. It hurts to realize this was happening and that friends were hurting in silence.
All Girls highlights an issue that has been raised recently among my friends, that there has been a shift in the current generation. Mirro was of my generation, which now I realize, we didn’t feel that we had the ability to speak up. She files the lawsuit decades later, because now, during the “me too” movement, she feels like she has a voice. The current Atwater students may still have some uncertainties regarding boundaries and inappropriate behavior, yet they are also raised during a time when they know the power of their own voices. They know that it is vital to hold Atwater accountable for protecting its students.
Layden’s novel took me right back to my teen years, not that I attended a boarding school or grewup with social media, yet the teen emotions were similar. I enjoyed how she framed the novel with focusing on a different student for each chapter and how the book took us through a single school year. I liked having different voices tell their experiences of Atwater and Mirro.
I’m in my early 40’s, and I feel that hindsight gives me a different perspective then if I had read All Girls during my teen years. I have a stepdaughter who will soon turn fourteen, and I couldn’t help but see her in a few of the younger characters, particularly cringing with some of the cruelties that the girls inflict upon each other, hoping that she will make true friends and that her “bad decisions” are mild.
All Girls is poignant and beautifully written. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading Layden’s future works.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
When a scandal from 1995 surfaces and threatens to damage the reputation of Atwater, a prestigious all-girls boarding school in Connecticut, the current students are left wondering who they should trust. All Girls is set during a single school year and each chapter focuses on a different student, high school girls with different dreams and personalities, all trying to navigate the complications of adolescence.
As the girls are being dropped off at Atwater in the fall, they encounter a series of yard signs alerting them to a rapist living on campus. In 1995, a student named Karen Mirro was raped by a teacher and subsequently expelled from Atwater based on an unrelated incident, with no repercussions for the rapist. Now in her late thirties, Mirro has brought a lawsuit against Atwater, and although none of the students firmly know which of their teachers is a rapist, the rumors run rampant and distrust is high.
The school year proceeds with its usual traditions and events, as the administration struggles to keep the lawsuit on the down-low, including none of the staff being removed from their positions. The student paper tries to publish an edition regarding sexual assault and they are barred. Just as the signs mysteriously appear, so do other reminders of the case, such as flyers and unusual artwork. Atwater is awash in the mysterious identity of both the rapist and the person calling attention to Mirro’s case. But even more, the girls all worry if their beloved school, which is steeped in their identity, would protect them if they were in Mirro’s shoes?
I was initially drawn to All Girls because the blurb likened it to one of my all-time favorite novels, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. I can see the reasons for the comparisons, but All Girls was especially timely due to recent revelations about my high school years.
I graduated from a prestigious arts high school in 1995 and during my time in school, I did not realize boundaries that were being crossed between teachers and students. Sure, I saw things that seemed borderline inappropriate, but like Layden’s characters, when you are a teen, sometimes the lines are very blurry. Since graduating, I have heard stories from close friends of very, very inappropriate behavior towards them from some of our male teachers. More than one story, more than one teacher, and certainly more than one female student being affected. It hurts to realize this was happening and that friends were hurting in silence.
All Girls highlights an issue that has been raised recently among my friends, that there has been a shift in the current generation. Mirro was of my generation, which now I realize, we didn’t feel that we had the ability to speak up. She files the lawsuit decades later, because now, during the “me too” movement, she feels like she has a voice. The current Atwater students may still have some uncertainties regarding boundaries and inappropriate behavior, yet they are also raised during a time when they know the power of their own voices. They know that it is vital to hold Atwater accountable for protecting its students.
Layden’s novel took me right back to my teen years, not that I attended a boarding school or grewup with social media, yet the teen emotions were similar. I enjoyed how she framed the novel with focusing on a different student for each chapter and how the book took us through a single school year. I liked having different voices tell their experiences of Atwater and Mirro.
I’m in my early 40’s, and I feel that hindsight gives me a different perspective then if I had read All Girls during my teen years. I have a stepdaughter who will soon turn fourteen, and I couldn’t help but see her in a few of the younger characters, particularly cringing with some of the cruelties that the girls inflict upon each other, hoping that she will make true friends and that her “bad decisions” are mild.
All Girls is poignant and beautifully written. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading Layden’s future works.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
paigestilwill's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The writing of All Girls is beautiful and poetic. Layden takes her time setting the scene, allowing the reader to immerse themselves in Atwater, the story’s backdrop.
The cast of characters is uniquely diverse, in religion, sexuality, race, personality and perspectives, giving the book a depth I don’t often come across in young adult work.
While the shifting perspectives and sheer amount of characters is, at first, disorienting, once I got to the halfway point, I understood the point Layden was making—each young woman’s experience and perspective with and on sexual assault is nuanced, but valid. The book calls into the spotlight the epidemic of misogyny characterizing the treatment of young women, especially when reporting sexual assault, and especially when that sexual assault is less black and white in nature. All Girls is not just a story that needs to be told, it’s one that needs to be heard.
For a debut novel, both the writing and complex message were impressive.
The cast of characters is uniquely diverse, in religion, sexuality, race, personality and perspectives, giving the book a depth I don’t often come across in young adult work.
While the shifting perspectives and sheer amount of characters is, at first, disorienting, once I got to the halfway point, I understood the point Layden was making—each young woman’s experience and perspective with and on sexual assault is nuanced, but valid. The book calls into the spotlight the epidemic of misogyny characterizing the treatment of young women, especially when reporting sexual assault, and especially when that sexual assault is less black and white in nature. All Girls is not just a story that needs to be told, it’s one that needs to be heard.
For a debut novel, both the writing and complex message were impressive.
melissadelongcox's review against another edition
2.0
*Thanks to St. Martin's Press + NetGalley for the ARC!*
Trigger warning: sexual assault.
The premise is there for this book, but I did not love it. I love teens at boarding school with secret rituals and secrets and frenemies - like as a story concept, I just love that - but All Girls just had too much happening. It seemed as though every time you got to know a character, the POV changed to another character. It was fine but not something I'll be recommending.
Trigger warning: sexual assault.
The premise is there for this book, but I did not love it. I love teens at boarding school with secret rituals and secrets and frenemies - like as a story concept, I just love that - but All Girls just had too much happening. It seemed as though every time you got to know a character, the POV changed to another character. It was fine but not something I'll be recommending.
aaaddy's review against another edition
3.0
A captivating story surrounding perspectives of sex and sexual assault from the point of view of 10 different girls. I liked how each girl seemed to have very different experiences with sexuality in their lives, however it was hard for me to imagine that these were high schoolers. Living in dorms and mature themes made me envision them as college students so I had to continually remind myself that they're much younger which put a bad taste in my mouth as that was not my high school experience at all.
hrtaylor95's review
3.0
I wish this rating system allowed half stars. 3.5/5
I am enamored with the thought of a boarding school, but this novel captures what is difficult about this space-- it is always a relic of a past time, of hierarchy, of sequestering women and in doing so, not questioning the structures of power. At the core of Layden's novel is a sexual assault cover-up. Atwater, a prestigious Connecticut boarding school, is under scrutiny when an alumna alleges assault against a faculty member. The young women deal with the fall-out over the course of the year, through their own realizations and unraveling of traditions. The ending is unsatisfying, as many of these things are, because there is no clear answer of how to right the wrongs in these so deeply flawed spaces.
Still, I enjoyed the switching perspectives, the questioning of adolescence in conversation with sexual and relationship health. As the book posits, these experiences are inextricable from each other-- being a woman in this world means dealing with assault and sexual harassment.
I am enamored with the thought of a boarding school, but this novel captures what is difficult about this space-- it is always a relic of a past time, of hierarchy, of sequestering women and in doing so, not questioning the structures of power. At the core of Layden's novel is a sexual assault cover-up. Atwater, a prestigious Connecticut boarding school, is under scrutiny when an alumna alleges assault against a faculty member. The young women deal with the fall-out over the course of the year, through their own realizations and unraveling of traditions. The ending is unsatisfying, as many of these things are, because there is no clear answer of how to right the wrongs in these so deeply flawed spaces.
Still, I enjoyed the switching perspectives, the questioning of adolescence in conversation with sexual and relationship health. As the book posits, these experiences are inextricable from each other-- being a woman in this world means dealing with assault and sexual harassment.
martaaraqui's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
I was loving this book until the very end: I read a lot of people complaining about the constant change of POV, but it didn't bother me (I actually liked that a lot, it shows that the author has met many young girls and knows their daily lives, their struggles). The problem is that I was expecting some kind of closure with the central plot, and I didn't find it. Maybe it's more realistic that way, but it left me a bit disappointed. All the other aspects of the novel were great, and I always enjoy a good boarding school story, so this was ideal for me.
I was loving this book until the very end: I read a lot of people complaining about the constant change of POV, but it didn't bother me (I actually liked that a lot, it shows that the author has met many young girls and knows their daily lives, their struggles). The problem is that I was expecting some kind of closure with the central plot, and I didn't find it. Maybe it's more realistic that way, but it left me a bit disappointed. All the other aspects of the novel were great, and I always enjoy a good boarding school story, so this was ideal for me.