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mbrandmaier's review against another edition
5.0
Lucy discovers a many layers of cattiness and hatefulness in her new school. She must use her inner strength and courage to stand up to the bullshit. Also, I can see Lucy's love for her family shining throughout the story.
essjay1's review
4.0
Loved this book - took me back to all the confusion and clarity of being 15, and the politics of the school system which is enabled by parents & teachers in some instances. Pung's sharply observed characters exist everywhere, not just in posh private schools, and she writes Linh's story beautifully. This book is for anyone who has ever tried to fit in, or wandered those hallowed halls and thought "What the hell am I doing here?"
glitterkitter's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this a lot! It does do a *twist* that I normally can't stand, but it was only a minor part of what was going on and didn't ruin my enjoyment of the rest of the book.
tonyriver's review
5.0
What a standout book! So well written, such good characters - even the nasty ones - a truly memorable and compelling book. I wanted to finish this book but also wanted it to endure.
Well I guess I will get my wish as I have both finished it now and I am sure I will think back on it, especially as I recommend that others also read it.
Well I guess I will get my wish as I have both finished it now and I am sure I will think back on it, especially as I recommend that others also read it.
ngreader's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't know what to expect and honestly don't know how to describe this book to give it justice but this is definitely one that I can see myself reading again.
aylasreads's review against another edition
2.0
this coming of age story is very cute- however, i felt a bit disappointed in most of the characters. linh’s character fell short for me. it wasn’t developed enough for the letters to MEAN anything to me, and i was unsatisfied with the story.
sidneyellwood's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it blew me out of the water. Lucy and Linh was clever on its commentary about the viciousness of girls, the "white woman's burden", and the discrepancy between white descendants of colonialists and new immigrants, but it was also a highly enjoyable and entertaining read. Lucy Lam has won a scholarship to an upscale girl's school, Laurinda, and loses herself in the school.
I loved the setting of Laurinda. It was picturesque and felt too good to be true, which it was, and even though the Cabinet were unlikable, and did many awful things throughout the book, I still felt for them somewhat. Somehow, Pung humanizes the mean girls while still keeping them mean and not giving them a redemption, and it was fascinating to read about.
Lucy's voice was beautiful and while her writing seemed a bit mature for a fifteen-year-old, I can see how her time at Laurinda would justify it. Her character was strong at the beginning and just got better and better.
There were also really clever commentaries on racism. How Laurinda was taking an Asian student for diversity. How Lucy was embarrassed when she went to Ms. Leslie's house to make rice paper rolls; how white people can talk about "exotic" culture and never have to think about consequences. And the commentary on girls and sexuality: how girls were supposed to be pure, but the Laurinda language was loaded with sexual innuendo. (I feel like this is Foucauldian and incredibly interesting? Literary theory class ruined me.)
This was a great, entertaining and self-aware book. While it's about mean girls, it goes far deeper on social commentary and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I loved the setting of Laurinda. It was picturesque and felt too good to be true, which it was, and even though the Cabinet were unlikable, and did many awful things throughout the book, I still felt for them somewhat. Somehow, Pung humanizes the mean girls while still keeping them mean and not giving them a redemption, and it was fascinating to read about.
Lucy's voice was beautiful and while her writing seemed a bit mature for a fifteen-year-old, I can see how her time at Laurinda would justify it. Her character was strong at the beginning and just got better and better.
Spoiler
I did not see the Lucy is Linh plot twist coming, though; it was a clever plot twist, but I'm not sure how well it worked for when Lucy addressed Linh and her actions in narration.There were also really clever commentaries on racism. How Laurinda was taking an Asian student for diversity. How Lucy was embarrassed when she went to Ms. Leslie's house to make rice paper rolls; how white people can talk about "exotic" culture and never have to think about consequences. And the commentary on girls and sexuality: how girls were supposed to be pure, but the Laurinda language was loaded with sexual innuendo. (I feel like this is Foucauldian and incredibly interesting? Literary theory class ruined me.)
This was a great, entertaining and self-aware book. While it's about mean girls, it goes far deeper on social commentary and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
jemimaskelley's review
3.0
This book had a good storyline and it’s overall messages are really important. But for me they got lost in random story arcs and weird pacing that I couldn’t always keep up with. That being said it was an enjoyable read AND I was super pleased that there was NO dumb boy-meets-girl romantic storyline.
asimilarkite's review against another edition
4.0
#1 in the "Sara is catching up on book reviews series"
Before I picked it up, I kept reading that this book is basically Australian Mean Girls. And yes, it is kinda that. But it's also more than that. It goes deeper than Mean Girls, delving into issues of race and class. I read this book a long time ago, and what sticks with me about it is how Lucy is treated by her new "friends" at her fancy rich boarding school. She comes from the other side of the tracks -- and she's treated as a charity case, an exotic other, and a fetishized ideal. Because the whole thing is first person from her perspective, you really feel what it's like to move from a poor neighborhood school where most of the kids look like you to an affluent private school where you're VERY much a minority.
I really like that this is a realistic high school story without a romance. I'd recommend it to people who like perhaps more literary realistic fiction, like The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks.
Before I picked it up, I kept reading that this book is basically Australian Mean Girls. And yes, it is kinda that. But it's also more than that. It goes deeper than Mean Girls, delving into issues of race and class. I read this book a long time ago, and what sticks with me about it is how Lucy is treated by her new "friends" at her fancy rich boarding school. She comes from the other side of the tracks -- and she's treated as a charity case, an exotic other, and a fetishized ideal. Because the whole thing is first person from her perspective, you really feel what it's like to move from a poor neighborhood school where most of the kids look like you to an affluent private school where you're VERY much a minority.
I really like that this is a realistic high school story without a romance. I'd recommend it to people who like perhaps more literary realistic fiction, like The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks.
desterman's review
3.0
Set in the late 1990s, Lucy is a fifteen-year-old girl of Chinese born Vietnamese heritage, who arrived to Australia as a baby with her parents on a refugee boat. She lives in a modest home in Melbourne’s working-class suburbs with her hard-working parents and baby brother. After completing an entrance exam, Lucy is surprised when she achieves a scholarship place at the elite and expensive private all girls’ school, Laurinda. Initially Lucy tries to remain relatively invisible in this new space, but is soon sucked into the power dynamics that exist around the queen bees of her year group, known as The Cabinet.
Alice Pung’s excellent debut novel perfectly examines the way class, education, race, prejudice, and elitism clash at various pressure points in Australian society. The power dynamics and politics in this kind of system is astutely examined in the novel through the intricate characterisation and relationships that Pung skilfully creates. The novel delves deep into what is often seen as simply the nastiness and privilege of upper middle class teenage girls and slowly, but painfully uncovers the inner machinations of this sort of behaviour. Similarly, through Lucy’s life outside of Laurinda, the novel examines the hardship of those at the opposite end of society, working to the bone to make a better life for their children. What is most impressive though is Pung’s ability to convey how difficult it is for Lucy to transverse the space between these two worlds whilst staying true to her sense of self.
The novel is separated into a prologue (at Lucy’s old school) and four parts, each representing the four terms Lucy spends at Laurinda. This gives a good sense of the passing of time, but also the way in which Lucy changes and develops over time because of these new experiences. The novel is written in first person and positioned as one long letter to one of Lucy’s former best friends, Linh. This offers the reader with a thoughtful perspective of the events, firmly positioning us as outsiders with a view to the inside, much like Lucy herself.
Whilst aspects of the novel feel a little dated now, it is still a fine reflection on peer pressure and how difficult it is to establish and hold fast to your own identity while others are working so hard to diminish it.
Alice Pung’s excellent debut novel perfectly examines the way class, education, race, prejudice, and elitism clash at various pressure points in Australian society. The power dynamics and politics in this kind of system is astutely examined in the novel through the intricate characterisation and relationships that Pung skilfully creates. The novel delves deep into what is often seen as simply the nastiness and privilege of upper middle class teenage girls and slowly, but painfully uncovers the inner machinations of this sort of behaviour. Similarly, through Lucy’s life outside of Laurinda, the novel examines the hardship of those at the opposite end of society, working to the bone to make a better life for their children. What is most impressive though is Pung’s ability to convey how difficult it is for Lucy to transverse the space between these two worlds whilst staying true to her sense of self.
The novel is separated into a prologue (at Lucy’s old school) and four parts, each representing the four terms Lucy spends at Laurinda. This gives a good sense of the passing of time, but also the way in which Lucy changes and develops over time because of these new experiences. The novel is written in first person and positioned as one long letter to one of Lucy’s former best friends, Linh. This offers the reader with a thoughtful perspective of the events, firmly positioning us as outsiders with a view to the inside, much like Lucy herself.
Whilst aspects of the novel feel a little dated now, it is still a fine reflection on peer pressure and how difficult it is to establish and hold fast to your own identity while others are working so hard to diminish it.