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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This was a top read! Intelligent, emotional, funny, acerbic, gritty, with a main character who was very likeable and brought me right back to my own private girls' school days of the early 1980s.
Told from the eyes of a precocious 13 year old, this book could been cliched, but it totally wasn't. So much about this book felt fresh: the characters' names alone were unique and brought no preconceptions to the story (e.g. Eulabee, Maria Fabiola, Ewa, Svea, Axel). The teachers were mostly ridiculous and condescending, but that's how some of them appeared to me when I was a teenager.
I even loved the Swedish slant: Eulabee's mother is a Swedish-born nurse, with her own ideas about American rich white culture. She cycles to the hospital each day, then cleans her own house, and cooks the meals, etc, while passing down her own cultural traditions to her daughters and catching up with her Swedish friends to bitch.
The relationship between Eulabee and Maria Fabiola is the fulcrum of the story, and without giving anything away, how excruciating is it to be 100% invested in what peers think and do. Teenage years can be breathtakingly exciting and devastating at the same time, and Vendela Vida has nailed it.
Told from the eyes of a precocious 13 year old, this book could been cliched, but it totally wasn't. So much about this book felt fresh: the characters' names alone were unique and brought no preconceptions to the story (e.g. Eulabee, Maria Fabiola, Ewa, Svea, Axel). The teachers were mostly ridiculous and condescending, but that's how some of them appeared to me when I was a teenager.
I even loved the Swedish slant: Eulabee's mother is a Swedish-born nurse, with her own ideas about American rich white culture. She cycles to the hospital each day, then cleans her own house, and cooks the meals, etc, while passing down her own cultural traditions to her daughters and catching up with her Swedish friends to bitch.
The relationship between Eulabee and Maria Fabiola is the fulcrum of the story, and without giving anything away, how excruciating is it to be 100% invested in what peers think and do. Teenage years can be breathtakingly exciting and devastating at the same time, and Vendela Vida has nailed it.
I did not want this book to end! Perfectly captures preteen angst, and the character studies are so in depth and observant. Gorgeous meditation on the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco as well. A thriller/mystery is interwoven throughout. Really enjoyed this special book and will be reading more from the author.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.5 but I’ll round up. Delightfully fast paced and whimsical. I loved the heroine narrator for not letting all those mean girls get to her.
Book started out with too much exposition of the characters, what they thought, what their background was, not enough showing all of the aforementioned. Immediately got annoyed and decided to DNF.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The energy of this book reminded me of the My Brilliant Friend/Neapolitan Novels, which I liked. Kind of this grungy, raw, anything can happen and it can also be bad feeling. The description calls the book "achingly beautiful," but I don't think it's supposed to be. (Maybe aching because your bff stabbed you and is smiling about it.) It's about how young girls can hurt each other like it's their actual job. That maybe girls yearn to hurt and even be hurt. I thought it was really fun, and I'd totally read this author again. (But omg the narrator kept pronouncing "dour" like "tour" when it's supposed to sound like "sour," and it was rough lol.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol
Meh. Nice writing, but the plot and characters didn’t do much for me: young, rich, White 13 year old girls in 1980s San Francisco. Didn’t offer any new insights or have any compelling plot twists, just reminded me of how terrible teenage girls are to each other.