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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
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
If you liked the vibe of The Outsiders, this book is for you! Such a good story, gender flipped to be about girls in the 60’s and the pressures of all that. So good.
I received an e-arc via a publisher giveaway.
A fairly straightforward, gender-bent retelling of the classic novel THE OUTSIDERS. As someone who has never read THE OUTSIDERS, the structural set up of the story beats was brand new to me. I think I enjoyed the story more because of this unfamiliarity with the source material. After finishing the story, I read a synopsis for THE OUTSIDERS and could understand how the two related. I did not feel like I needed to read THE OUTSIDERS to understand or enjoy BAD GIRLS NEVER SAY DIE.
Evie, the central character, is a wonderful narrator. One of the best parts of the book is how well the author stays within Evie's voice and character. Several of the lines hit harder because of how well this character voice is established. It especially fits with the time period of the book (1964, Houston, TX).
The feminist themes of the book fit well with the narrative, though things wrap up at the end in a way that is more hurried and clean than I would have liked. Overall, an enjoyable read, and one that I would recommend instead of or adjacent to THE OUTSIDERS (which I now plan to bump up on my TBR!)
"Maybe because running wild is a way to forget what put our hearts through so much pain in the first place."
A fairly straightforward, gender-bent retelling of the classic novel THE OUTSIDERS. As someone who has never read THE OUTSIDERS, the structural set up of the story beats was brand new to me. I think I enjoyed the story more because of this unfamiliarity with the source material. After finishing the story, I read a synopsis for THE OUTSIDERS and could understand how the two related. I did not feel like I needed to read THE OUTSIDERS to understand or enjoy BAD GIRLS NEVER SAY DIE.
Evie, the central character, is a wonderful narrator. One of the best parts of the book is how well the author stays within Evie's voice and character. Several of the lines hit harder because of how well this character voice is established. It especially fits with the time period of the book (1964, Houston, TX).
The feminist themes of the book fit well with the narrative, though things wrap up at the end in a way that is more hurried and clean than I would have liked. Overall, an enjoyable read, and one that I would recommend instead of or adjacent to THE OUTSIDERS (which I now plan to bump up on my TBR!)
"Maybe because running wild is a way to forget what put our hearts through so much pain in the first place."
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Outsiders was of one of my favorite books (and movie) back in HS. This retelling centering on a female group is everything I didn’t know I wanted. The writing is more of a 3.5-4 star but I’m rounding up for how much I loved reading it.
Bad Girls Never Say Die is a book being touted as a feminist reworking of The Outsiders. While it focuses on a group of female characters, the book remains set in the 1960s and - for me - this led to the whole thing having a rather dated premise. If you’re going to rework something seen as such a pivotal text, I wonder why the decision wasn’t taken to set it in modern times and explore modern attitudes.
Nothing much has changed, and perhaps that is part of the point being made.
Our story is told from the viewpoint of Evie, a girl from the wrong side of town who many believe will not amount to much and whose choices are limited not just by money but also by her gender.
Evie experiences a traumatic event. She is rescued by a ‘good’ girl. Scratch the surface though and we see that they are pretty similar. Money does not hide everything.
Though only 15 and always feeling less than her ‘brave’ counterparts, Evie is a character with plenty of spunk. She learns the hard way how this can impact on you and others.
Interesting idea, and I’m sure it will be loved by many younger female readers.
Nothing much has changed, and perhaps that is part of the point being made.
Our story is told from the viewpoint of Evie, a girl from the wrong side of town who many believe will not amount to much and whose choices are limited not just by money but also by her gender.
Evie experiences a traumatic event. She is rescued by a ‘good’ girl. Scratch the surface though and we see that they are pretty similar. Money does not hide everything.
Though only 15 and always feeling less than her ‘brave’ counterparts, Evie is a character with plenty of spunk. She learns the hard way how this can impact on you and others.
Interesting idea, and I’m sure it will be loved by many younger female readers.
*Thank you to Team BKMRK (Hachette! for providing me with a copy of this book to review!*
This book is apparently a gender-swapped retelling of The Outsiders, but as I haven’t read that yet I’m just going to talk about it as it stands alone. It did definitely solidify my desire to read the original though!
This was one of those books that I picked up and didn’t book back down again until I finished it. The writing was fine and easy to fly through, coupled with a snappy pacing that just made each chapter feel like a breeze. It had an interesting plot to keep you wanting more and a fun little cast of characters you can’t help but root for.
The female friendship group here made it for me. I feel like the interactions between these girls ended up being so positive and nice and it was just quite wholesome to see a group of girls having each other's backs so fiercely - despite all of their differences. It was also nice to see on page development from some of the characters who started off quite standoffish come to warm to the others and be more open. It was my favourite aspect of this book. I feel like they all also need a hug.
There was a bunch of tiny plot twists in here that I didn’t see coming, and the overall atmosphere of the story was way tenser than I was expecting. I didn’t know where it was going and right until the very end it managed to surprise me. That ending was so bittersweet. It came completely out of left field for me.
My main criticism of the book was that perhaps it was a little too fast - which admittedly wasn’t helped by the speed in which I read it. The events happen over eleven or so days and you can feel it. I didn’t overly get emotionally invested in the characters and not all of them had enough time to fully develop. It was nevertheless a really fun read that I’d definitely recommend.
This book is apparently a gender-swapped retelling of The Outsiders, but as I haven’t read that yet I’m just going to talk about it as it stands alone. It did definitely solidify my desire to read the original though!
This was one of those books that I picked up and didn’t book back down again until I finished it. The writing was fine and easy to fly through, coupled with a snappy pacing that just made each chapter feel like a breeze. It had an interesting plot to keep you wanting more and a fun little cast of characters you can’t help but root for.
The female friendship group here made it for me. I feel like the interactions between these girls ended up being so positive and nice and it was just quite wholesome to see a group of girls having each other's backs so fiercely - despite all of their differences. It was also nice to see on page development from some of the characters who started off quite standoffish come to warm to the others and be more open. It was my favourite aspect of this book. I feel like they all also need a hug.
There was a bunch of tiny plot twists in here that I didn’t see coming, and the overall atmosphere of the story was way tenser than I was expecting. I didn’t know where it was going and right until the very end it managed to surprise me. That ending was so bittersweet. It came completely out of left field for me.
My main criticism of the book was that perhaps it was a little too fast - which admittedly wasn’t helped by the speed in which I read it. The events happen over eleven or so days and you can feel it. I didn’t overly get emotionally invested in the characters and not all of them had enough time to fully develop. It was nevertheless a really fun read that I’d definitely recommend.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes