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cindywho's review
2.0
I've read her other two books and I remember that they had a lovely mindfuck quality that stood out more than the quality of the writing. This one had a little less of that. The ideas were interesting but never really fully developed, nor were the characters. Several of them seemed cardboard. I was never sure if she was gently mocking her group of naive feminists or exalting them. That said, the story was engaging and I gobbled it up within two days while I was on vacation. I liked the sentiment behind the story even if the execution led me to feel a little uncomfortable. (March 10, 2005)
theatlantean's review
2.0
I was just getting into Shula's story, when it stopped, and we're taken to Wendy, a socially inept and lonely young girl. I found the writing at times to be excellent, and the prose to be very good, especially for the type of book this seems to be presented as.
But once into the first few chapters of Wendy's story, I saw through the facade of the story to what this truly is - the only slightly disguised naive sexual fantasy of an emerging wannabe goth.
Apologies to the author, but a lot of that playground stuff and expereinces of the early Wendy just have to be autobiographical.
Fantasies - sexual or otherwise - of 13-year olds are ALWAYS going to be about how they are completely alone in the world and always will be, and are very important to the person going through them. But to the rest of us, they are naive (that word again) tawdry and run-of-the-mill - a bit embarrassing really.
Aside from my total disinterest in Wendy (I read a single chapter of her after her 'emergence', and this just solidified my ideas about the wannabe goth bit), it all made me feel that I could see just how the rest of the book would work out, and so I dropped it on page 133.
Maybe I'm wrong, but only the most empassioned explanation of why i am wrong would sway me from ever picking it up again.
However, I may read another of Harris' books. Harris' prose style and some description really is very good, so if she avoids the infantile stories and the fan-fiction subjects of an ostracised teen, she could do good things.
But once into the first few chapters of Wendy's story, I saw through the facade of the story to what this truly is - the only slightly disguised naive sexual fantasy of an emerging wannabe goth.
Apologies to the author, but a lot of that playground stuff and expereinces of the early Wendy just have to be autobiographical.
Fantasies - sexual or otherwise - of 13-year olds are ALWAYS going to be about how they are completely alone in the world and always will be, and are very important to the person going through them. But to the rest of us, they are naive (that word again) tawdry and run-of-the-mill - a bit embarrassing really.
Aside from my total disinterest in Wendy (I read a single chapter of her after her 'emergence', and this just solidified my ideas about the wannabe goth bit), it all made me feel that I could see just how the rest of the book would work out, and so I dropped it on page 133.
Maybe I'm wrong, but only the most empassioned explanation of why i am wrong would sway me from ever picking it up again.
However, I may read another of Harris' books. Harris' prose style and some description really is very good, so if she avoids the infantile stories and the fan-fiction subjects of an ostracised teen, she could do good things.
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