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pensiona's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
janneyf's review against another edition
5.0
I must be at the time and place in my life when I love reading about friendships between girls/women. And this book is splendid. Claire Messud is such a skillful, intelligent writer, and I found myself stopping throughout the story to contemplate one sentence or another. This story is full of deep emotion and the truth about girls' friendships--I just loved it. I read it in two days because I couldn't put it down.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of Cassie, as seen through the eyes of her best friend, JuJu. The two girls were inseparable, and during the summer before they began middle school, they wandered all over their small Massachusetts town and the woods around it, but beginning in middle school, the girls drift apart, a process that JuJu finds confusing and painful. She's been put in all the advanced classes, while Cassie falls in with the crowd of popular kids who party. From a distance, JuJu watches Cassie change and when she gains a stepfather, the speed at which she embraces a risky lifestyle increases.
Messud has done a good job in writing her adolescent characters. JuJu is intelligent and insightful, but she's also full of the drama of the situation. The book is told from JuJu's POV and the author restricts the level of information the reader is given to what JuJu knows, which means we are getting Cassie's story in random sudden lumps and through hearsay, which was surprisingly effective, even as it meant that a lot of the questions remain unanswered.
Messud has done a good job in writing her adolescent characters. JuJu is intelligent and insightful, but she's also full of the drama of the situation. The book is told from JuJu's POV and the author restricts the level of information the reader is given to what JuJu knows, which means we are getting Cassie's story in random sudden lumps and through hearsay, which was surprisingly effective, even as it meant that a lot of the questions remain unanswered.
hatrireads's review against another edition
3.0
I like this author. A very compelling coming of age story about two close girl friends who grow apart as they enter their teen years. I could recommend this book.
bookyanne's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book! An interesting coming of age story about two girls. I enjoyed the narration and how it felt a bit train-of-thought-y. It was just a girl telling a story, which was sometime sad and sometimes happy and overall just a story about the pain of growing up and growing apart. Very well written and would recommend.
arielamandah's review against another edition
3.0
This was an easy read. A story about summer and friendship and growing out of people. There is certainly truth about how it feels to be a teenager here: the way friends come and go and how circles widen and contract. It didn’t knock my socks off, but I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time, either.
irishlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Really well-written, true-to-life description of female friends whose paths diverge when adolescence strikes.