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timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
2.0
finalist for 2009 Pulitzer
This book SO didn't do it for me! It's written in a style that I really don't like....very short sections, each from different perspectives. I chose not to finish it.
This book SO didn't do it for me! It's written in a style that I really don't like....very short sections, each from different perspectives. I chose not to finish it.
jklein725's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to enjoy this book and I thought I would, but I just really didn't like the way it was written. All of the separate little stories made the book feel choppy and hard to follow at times. I think that the story itself was good, but it would have been significantly better if it had more of a flow to it.
hcnye's review against another edition
1.0
This book was okay. The plot had pretty much no climax and frankly made me bored most of the time. There were too many characters to keep track of. The only part I found interesting was Astra's story. All of the little subplots didn't provide for the book. Potentially good concept, not very good execution. As a teenager I do not think it accurately depicts a teenager's thoughts. It sounded like it was coming from a middle aged person who had forgotten what adolescence felt like, to be honest.
kpdoessomereading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
allymckill's review against another edition
2.0
Yeah, this book was...mehhhhhh. I kept waiting for it to get interesting and it never really did. The book revolves around a cancer-stricken high-schooler and focuses on how her classmates at an exclusive NYC girls' school react to/deal with/live their lives in the wake of her illness. Seemed like there could be potential for some good melodrama, but it was just a snoozefest. Many characters were introduced but not developed. Might have been better if the book was longer so these characters could have been developed more, but if it was any longer I would never have finished it, so oh well.
laurelkane's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but didn't love it. It was kind of like an outline of a novel that the author had meant to go back in and flesh out at a later date. I felt like I was getting these little glimpses into the exclusive private school world of Siddons and it just made me want more. You never found out enough about any one of the 10 or so characters the book followed to really care about them. I'm sure Christine Schutt had some sort of rationale behind writing All Souls in that format, but it just wasn't for me. There were also passages that seemed totally irrelevant and I got the feeling that I was supposed to find some hidden meaning in (Wendell Bliss?), but ended up being confused.
It also reminded me a lot of the tv show Gossip Girl, and for good reason. After some research, I figured out that Schutt is a teacher at the same Upper East Side private girls' school that Cecily Von Ziegesar (author of the Gossip Girl book series that the show is based on) attended. A couple of the characters had almost identical story lines.
All in all I wouldn't discourage people from reading All Souls, but mainly just because you can read it in about 2 days.
It also reminded me a lot of the tv show Gossip Girl, and for good reason. After some research, I figured out that Schutt is a teacher at the same Upper East Side private girls' school that Cecily Von Ziegesar (author of the Gossip Girl book series that the show is based on) attended. A couple of the characters had almost identical story lines.
All in all I wouldn't discourage people from reading All Souls, but mainly just because you can read it in about 2 days.
karasmichelle's review against another edition
3.0
This novel was told from several different viewpoints centering on a teenage girl/private school student with cancer named Astra Dell. Astra is hospitalized during her senior year, while all her friends are gearing up for college. The chapters were the first-person feelings and reactions of some of her classmates, teachers and the school's parents. I thought that the author was pretty true to the sometimes cruel whims of adolescent girls. Would be a good beach read.
taisie22's review against another edition
5.0
All Souls is the story of the Siddons School, a girls prep school in New York City, in 1997. In truth, it's not really a story per se with a defined plot line. I found it more a kaleidoscope of character sketches as Ms. Schutt describes various students, teachers, and parents as the school year passes. A central figure is Astra Dell who is in the hospital with a rare form of cancer as the book begins. She is in her senior year, a lovely, kind girl who was a dancer before her illness struck. It is her absence from the school that impacts the others in the book in various ways.
Ms. Schutt has a definite style of writing that I very much enjoyed. Her word choices are lovely, and the result is almost a tone poem.
There's a variety of characters. Most of the girls are privileged, but there's the one scholarship girl. Most are recognizable types along with their brittle mothers and absent fathers. The teachers are also standard prep school figures, but it doesn't matter because they are all described in a unique and lovely manner. I often found myself reading aloud, mouthing the phrases, tasting the words as they flowed. I imagine this book is not to everyone's taste, but I can see why it won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
Ms. Schutt has a definite style of writing that I very much enjoyed. Her word choices are lovely, and the result is almost a tone poem.
There's a variety of characters. Most of the girls are privileged, but there's the one scholarship girl. Most are recognizable types along with their brittle mothers and absent fathers. The teachers are also standard prep school figures, but it doesn't matter because they are all described in a unique and lovely manner. I often found myself reading aloud, mouthing the phrases, tasting the words as they flowed. I imagine this book is not to everyone's taste, but I can see why it won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
sophiei's review against another edition
4.0
She has found her voice, great prose, and good story. I feel like the narrative revolved around Aster, when it should have been hers to tell. Interesting perspectives though.