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_jasmin's review against another edition
couldn't get into the plot, wasn't compelled to keep reading
midnightcitizen's review against another edition
3.0
'Mean Girls', but it's 'The Craft', but it's at Hogwarts, but it's a meditation center, but it's written by Carrie Bradshaw who really loved Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History'.
It's a fun novel that does not really have its identity, but manages to be authentic along the way. I would recommend reading it in between or during more difficult titles. And that's really a good thing that it has going for itself, in addition to being a perfectly good inspiration for a Netflix limited series of 8 episodes, 30 minutes each, rated as 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's a fun novel that does not really have its identity, but manages to be authentic along the way. I would recommend reading it in between or during more difficult titles. And that's really a good thing that it has going for itself, in addition to being a perfectly good inspiration for a Netflix limited series of 8 episodes, 30 minutes each, rated as 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
sarahbryson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
sherim___'s review against another edition
2.0
Reviews of this book said it was dark and delightfully weird. I gave up at 33% - the author kept promising something bad was about to happen, but failed to move the plot forward.
hrtaylor95's review against another edition
4.0
I love books that aim to be about religion but are actually about repressed female desire.
One facet of this striking novel that still sits with me is the breaking of the 4th wall throughout. It haunts and lingers in me. The young women in the story are as lost as they are strong, and the unreliable narrator had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
One facet of this striking novel that still sits with me is the breaking of the 4th wall throughout. It haunts and lingers in me. The young women in the story are as lost as they are strong, and the unreliable narrator had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
leemac027's review against another edition
4.0
Emily Temple has a way with language - her use of words is at times mystical but also edgy. I enjoyed how she constructed this story.
Olivia, a young and impressionable girl, does not understand why her father left. He went to a meditation centre and just did not come back. Olivia's mother had a visceral reaction to his departure but Olivia took a different approach.
She enrolled into a program at the same Centre - the last place she knew her father was. Olivia meets other girls in the program but ends up embedded with a group that are searching, but for what? Serena, a big personality who can dominate at will, decides that learning to levitate is the way to enlightenment.
And so they proceed - Olivia, Serena, Janet and Laurel - to seek their enlightenment. But there is one complication - there is Luke - and he becomes entwined with the girls but in different ways - was this his intention or was he led?
Who will survive this program?
A compelling read.
Olivia, a young and impressionable girl, does not understand why her father left. He went to a meditation centre and just did not come back. Olivia's mother had a visceral reaction to his departure but Olivia took a different approach.
She enrolled into a program at the same Centre - the last place she knew her father was. Olivia meets other girls in the program but ends up embedded with a group that are searching, but for what? Serena, a big personality who can dominate at will, decides that learning to levitate is the way to enlightenment.
And so they proceed - Olivia, Serena, Janet and Laurel - to seek their enlightenment. But there is one complication - there is Luke - and he becomes entwined with the girls but in different ways - was this his intention or was he led?
Who will survive this program?
A compelling read.
sausome's review against another edition
3.0
This was a decent book about the bonds of girlhood; philosophical and religious growth from a child to an adult; and general explorations of the foundations of Buddhism, surprisingly. The book is primarily exposition, describing the scene the people the principles of Buddhism, etc., but there is a also a good amount of narration about Olivia's childhood, her relationship with her mother, her search and yearning for an absent father, and her emerging sexuality.
I didn't especially love any of the characters, or feel connected to them, and could have put the book aside and walked away at many points in the book. It just didn't resonate with me, though I can see, from an objective standpoint, why others may be drawn to the story.
I didn't especially love any of the characters, or feel connected to them, and could have put the book aside and walked away at many points in the book. It just didn't resonate with me, though I can see, from an objective standpoint, why others may be drawn to the story.
sarahskye1138's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
innocenthedgehog's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0