Take a photo of a barcode or cover
plainscaribou's review against another edition
4.0
A coming of age story that is never sentimental nor overwrought, but breaks one's heart all the same.
sahoward's review against another edition
5.0
This is easily one of my favorite reads of the year this far. Everyone knows a Rainey Royal, and they love to hate her and hate to love her.
Rainey is unlikable and impetuous, but talented and heartbroken, and Landis shows us all of that depth gracefully, through many different angles. This book works as individual stories and as an accomplished whole. It's a truly wonderful book, and I will be recommending it to anyone who asks.
Rainey is unlikable and impetuous, but talented and heartbroken, and Landis shows us all of that depth gracefully, through many different angles. This book works as individual stories and as an accomplished whole. It's a truly wonderful book, and I will be recommending it to anyone who asks.
lectures_du_soir's review against another edition
2.0
Beaucoup de mal avec l'ambiance malsaine du Roman.
thatabbygirl's review against another edition
4.0
engrossing and crisply written, although it felt more like a story collection than a coherent novel. slightly terrifying - is this what youth is like?
bibleahteca's review against another edition
4.0
Rainey Royal is the beautiful, provocative teenage daughter of a jazz musician in 1970s Greenwich Village. Although she is glamorous and charismatic on the outside, she has some serious demons to battle: the myriad young “acolytes” shacking up with her father, the inappropriate night-time visits of his best friend, and the various struggles of growing up in a broken world. I really enjoyed this novel in stories, which follows Rainey into adulthood as she grows up, deals with her hidden vulnerability, and tries to nurture her artistic soul.
samhoward's review against another edition
5.0
This is easily one of my favorite reads of the year this far. Everyone knows a Rainey Royal, and they love to hate her and hate to love her.
Rainey is unlikable and impetuous, but talented and heartbroken, and Landis shows us all of that depth gracefully, through many different angles. This book works as individual stories and as an accomplished whole. It's a truly wonderful book, and I will be recommending it to anyone who asks.
Rainey is unlikable and impetuous, but talented and heartbroken, and Landis shows us all of that depth gracefully, through many different angles. This book works as individual stories and as an accomplished whole. It's a truly wonderful book, and I will be recommending it to anyone who asks.
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
If you like coming-of-age fiction about teenage girls, or things set in bohemian New York City in the 1970s, give this a try! It's got a lovely cover.
greenogal's review against another edition
2.0
Check out my review here:
http://shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2015/01/rainey-royal-landis.html
http://shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2015/01/rainey-royal-landis.html
readingwithhippos's review against another edition
4.0
Never before have I been so transfixed by such an unlikable character. The titular Rainey Royal is a skilled manipulator, oversexed and under-supervised in early '70s New York. She steals. She bullies. She licks her teeth at her male teachers. She has a lot of emptiness in her life, and she will apparently do anything to try to fill it.
The thing is, I recognized Rainey—she easily could have been one of my tempestuous, attention-seeking sophomores from my first year of teaching. She's one of those girls I would have tried to “get through to,” and I suspect I would have failed just as miserably as Rainey's well-meaning but clumsy chemistry teacher does with her.
Despite her flexible morality and simmering latent anger, Rainey isn't beyond redemption. She's a vibrant artist with a startlingly creative mind. But she's never recovered from her mother leaving, and her father Howard is a hippie musician who is too frank about some topics and not frank enough about others. He fills the house with other musicians, “acolytes” (Rainey's word) who will stroke his massive ego, and largely ignores his daughter. And if he isn't aware that his best friend and roommate Gordy goes into Rainey's room at night, it's because he willfully ignores that too. It's no wonder Rainey searches in desperation for anyone who will truly see her, without judgment or ulterior motive.
The novel, told in loosely connected chapters, spans about ten years of Rainey's tumultuous life. It's not so much the story of a bad girl making good, because it seems that in some ways she will always be a little bit vulnerable, a little bit broken. But it feels honest. It feels like Landis painted this character in front of a live model.
Rainey Royal will be on my mind for quite some time.
With regards to NetGalley and Soho Press for the advance copy. On sale September 9.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
The thing is, I recognized Rainey—she easily could have been one of my tempestuous, attention-seeking sophomores from my first year of teaching. She's one of those girls I would have tried to “get through to,” and I suspect I would have failed just as miserably as Rainey's well-meaning but clumsy chemistry teacher does with her.
Despite her flexible morality and simmering latent anger, Rainey isn't beyond redemption. She's a vibrant artist with a startlingly creative mind. But she's never recovered from her mother leaving, and her father Howard is a hippie musician who is too frank about some topics and not frank enough about others. He fills the house with other musicians, “acolytes” (Rainey's word) who will stroke his massive ego, and largely ignores his daughter. And if he isn't aware that his best friend and roommate Gordy goes into Rainey's room at night, it's because he willfully ignores that too. It's no wonder Rainey searches in desperation for anyone who will truly see her, without judgment or ulterior motive.
The novel, told in loosely connected chapters, spans about ten years of Rainey's tumultuous life. It's not so much the story of a bad girl making good, because it seems that in some ways she will always be a little bit vulnerable, a little bit broken. But it feels honest. It feels like Landis painted this character in front of a live model.
Rainey Royal will be on my mind for quite some time.
With regards to NetGalley and Soho Press for the advance copy. On sale September 9.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
lazygal's review against another edition
2.0
Very nearly a DNF; despite the great things I heard about this, I didn't understand why it was set in the 1970s nor did I find anything likeable about Rainey. There are times when unlikeable main characters still lead to great books, ones that make you think but here? Not so much. If only we'd gotten more about her art, or some reason to live in her world.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.