Reviews

American Girls by Alison Umminger

absurtiddy's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

twylghast's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

ljrinaldi's review against another edition

4.0

I loved this book. I am still trying to decide if this is a four or five star, but I loved how authentic this whole story was. I loved how Anne had two moms and that wasn't a huge or big deal (well it was in a way but not a big way). I loved how her sister wasn't perfect, nor was anyone else. Everyone was human. I also loved how Los Angeles was described. Having lived there for the first 25 years of my life, I am very familiar with it. And having lived near where the Manson murders took place, as well as being alive when they happened, I am familiar with that history.

Others have said good things about this book, so I don't have to say a lot. I think the author did an excellent job about doing research about Los Angeles and Manson. My father worked for the studios, and I agree which her description of what it is like to be on a set. There is a whole lot of down time.

But, as I brought up in an update, I have one thing to pick on, and this could be easily edited if they chose to. You can drive to a parking lot below the Hollywood sign, but you can't drive up to the Hollywood sign, you have to hike up there.

The non-American name of this book is "My Favorite Manson Girls" which makes more sense, to me.

Thanks to NetGalley for making this book available for an honest review.

kingaphrodite's review against another edition

4.0

I heard lots of excellent reviews of this story and was excited to read this, despite the more average rating. It wasn't as life inspiring or deep as I expected, but that's not to say it wasn't deep at all. Probably something that has to do with the fact that I couldn't relate to Anna at all. We all experience significant change, but while other authors manage to create a crazy family and still have that underlying connection with the audience, I don't think Umminger managed to do that quite as well.
However, I do love how she managed to create this atmosphere of LA and the idea of everyone being a caricature of themselves.

plumeriade's review

4.0

i think the manson girl connection could have been more in depth but other than that i liked this a lot! lots of truth about how we value and punish girls/young women.

the protagonist has two moms! this is actually pretty great, and Anna's mom is not perfect but she's not like, terrible. Anna resents her a lot for giving attention to her little brother, and pulling her out of her private school, which is what prompts her to run away to LA. Anna doesn't have a huge transformation but she does realize that her mom was dealing with some stuff on her own and that she may have made it harder because of her behavior, which is something (and realistic).

anyway there's a really funny part (i mean, to me. it's not actually funny-funny). after Anna's sister Delia has her mom watch some horror movie:

"She says, 'I can't have sex since I saw that movie. It's disgusting and it's made me realize that sex with men is violent and predatory. I'm not sure that I can ever have sex with any man again."

other quotes i liked:

When we finished The Great Gatsby, the last day of class, he asked, all sly and crafty, 'While we're on the topic of things prohibited: is there any chance that Nick Carraway was in love with Gatsy?' You could practically hear the snickering, not that it was funny. I technically had two moms, and I could have told all of them that it wasn't exactly stand up comedy. But Mr. Haygood waited the laughter out, and by the end we wondered if maybe he wasn't right.

-

Nothing but a body. The line bothered me because when I was reading about the murders, so much more seemed to be written about the Manson girls, and Charles Manson, than about the victims themselves...[Sharon Tate] went from being a body on a screen to a body in a bag.

about three-fourths of the way through Delia is at a director ex-boyfriend's house with Anna and the ex starts praising Roman Polanski. Delia goes off, rightly, which was GREAT to see. then Anna asks what is really the point of the entire book:

"Why do you think it is that Roman Polanski does this awful thing and doesn't even feel sorry about it, but he gets to live his life? And you have these women, the Manson girls, who did this really horrible thing when they were young and stupid and on drugs, and they never get to spend one day not paying for it, even though most of them have spent the rest of their lives trying to do something to, I don't know, atone?"

this isn't an action-packed book but there's a lot of thought in it.

bookishdaylight's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

3.0

So this story is just Anna going to LA and being with her sister Delia and they just argue, work and lie to Dex. Dex is Delia’s boyfriend and he’s the sweetest!! He’s the only character that I like in this book! Delia doesn’t deserve Dex. Anna also realizing that LA is just full of toxic people trying to be pretty and popular.
The book was just boring! I’m more interested in the Mason Girls story than theirs!

kade_spade's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

penguininabluebox's review

3.0

I have kind of conflicting feelings about this one. I enjoyed the story in and of itself; especially the part about the Manson Girls I thought was really interesting. However, I feel like it fell flat and didn't get the depth I wanted it to. Our protagonist, Anna, was unbearable at times, and then again very relatable in some aspects. I don't really know how I feel about the book; I just know that I did have a good enough time reading it but still can't say that I really enjoyed the book.

hannahmk's review

4.0

For a debut novel, I was very impressed with this book. I had some problems with the use of language and the style at times, but the way that she incorporated the real history of the Manson girls and showed real parallels between them and the life of the protagonist was a really interesting angle to take.

ellievh's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Stalking

Moderate: Rape and Self harm

Minor: Miscarriage