Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Las chicas

I think Cline is a really talented writer and has a way with words that you come across only once in a while within books. I had picked up this book going off of some prompt/review saying it was about a lesbian and a cult. While that isn’t wrong, it didn’t quite encapsulate the entirety of the situation either.
I think personally the book would have profited a lot from Evie being upwards of 17. While it would have taken away a bit of the hopeless lamb, but it wouldn’t have been that much. I think it would have lent to Evie and Suzanne’s relationship and Evie’s character in general.

There wasn’t much going on in their relationship besides Evie pining, not until Suzanne let Evie out of the car and visited her at boarding school, was some texture added. It would have made a more engaging story to have Suzanne a bit more fleshed out and receptive rather than this idealized character Evie was projecting everything onto. And the ‘connection’ she kept talking about in terms of her and Suzanne would have been justified and engaging.
Aside from that, all the SA on a 14 year old and this promiscuity put upon them in literature makes me really uneasy and angry, honestly. I don’t think teenagers are ever that deliberate of sex in the way it’s presented in books like this. While it is shown that Evie is forced into it, it’s played off for the most part by her being like “oh well,” until the Mitch situation. Even that didn’t have enough anger or was presented in a bad light. I’m always aware in books of what writers project onto their characters and of what age because it is a choice, and not inspired off of true events ( entirely here anyway).
I also found it really redundant that all of this happened over a fucking record deal. I wish it was something else and the bad blood between Russel and Mitch had more weight and tension, especially for the girls. (I read up and see this is what happened in real life but just copy pasting these events without much of a weight or exploration just feels like a waste and triggering for no reason.) I wish it would have subverted the tale by instead having the girls turn on Russel somehow and kill him instead. That would have made a better story line.

I kept reading this book as it had a premise for having the opportunity to explore queerness, girlhood and the patriarchy in depth. However, besides from some insightfully written paragraphs on what it is like to be a girl, it feels rather flat in all the other departments. And it felt rather disappointing to finish this triggering book to get through with all the events just falling flat onto nothing overall and by the end.

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frog_appreciator's review against another edition

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2.0

I understand the point of the book is to be uncomfortable to read but I don’t think I enjoyed it. Feels a bit icky to have resemblance to a real life cult. While I appreciate the intent of showcasing the internalized misogyny of girls and the way the world treats them in general, reading it felt a bit too much like trauma porn. There were one or two pages that stood out to me like wow I felt that, but not enough to make it worth it.

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annagerman's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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lexigrce's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

once upon a time in hollywood for depressed girls

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madswhitaker's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-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

2.0

This book was an impressive debut novel. My two stars come from a place of tired writing rather than an uninteresting plot and story. I was hooked all throughout but often found myself cringing or stopping in my tracks at writing devices and crutches that felt so juvenile compared to the rest of the book.

Oftentimes, phrases were picked straight from The YA Catalog of Character Mannerism™ (she sucked her teeth, she set her jaw, etc). I always find these kinds of explanations of action flat and overused. They make the character lack individuality and immediately make me think they are just characters. Nothing else. And with such a realistic fictional plot such as this one, your characters can’t be 2D copies of ones you’ve read in other books. We need fully flushed-out characters that were there in 1969, killing people in their seaside mansions. If this is at the expense of cutting a character or two, so be it.

Cline also had a hard time drawing up metaphors that referred back to previous points in the book. I found myself trying so hard to follow her connection points to build a deeper metaphor but she just couldn’t draw up that clear, hitting comparison she was hoping to make. For example on page 348:

Suzanne was not a good person. I understood this. But I held the actual knowledge away from myself. How the coroner said the ring and pinky fingers of Linda's left hand had been severed because she had tried to protect her face.

These moments that she was trying to connect––to draw a deeper meaning to––always fell flat for me. Like a song lyric that just doesn't quite follow the rhythm the way it should, just in hopes it can contain the meaning in as many syllables as possible over following the form of the counts.

My favorite part of this book was the way Cline’s imagery sets up a gorgeous backdrop for this story. Such rich, sultry descriptions that placed me into each scene. I couldn't peel my eyes away and every image was as vivid as the next. I think this plus an interesting storyline really pulled me through to the end.

I didn’t hate the moments we would switch back to the present day, but I wasn’t a huge fan. It felt like fluff, no reason for it but to have the main character reflect and, honestly, spoil what was to come. For this story, I wanted to be thrown into it. I didn’t want to know that Evie hadn’t joined the murderous expedition beforehand. I wanted to take this vibrant, dirty journey alongside 14-year-old Evie. The explanation of the events, the obvious connection points made to her past, and her unexplained growth as a character really gave everything away. I found myself feeling the same way about Moshfegh’s debut novel “Eileen” and wonder if this is a direction given by editors before readers really trust a writer’s ability to tell a story without a clear protagonist. To me, it feels lazy, a way to throw the reader a bone before they even earn it.

This book was interesting, it was fairly well written, and I was captivated enough to follow through to the end. I'm honestly excited for her book The Guest and will be following along with her journey as an author. I think there were many kinks in this first novel that, when trusted by herself, her readers, and her editor, will be worked out in the books to come.

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helenamichelle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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