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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
I reread Prep more than a decade after reading it for the first time — it’s interesting how my perspective on it has changed. I’d still round up to 4 stars, and I think Sittenfeld captured elements of high school masterfully, but I found Lee’s character both less likable and less sketched out than I remembered.
Incredibly evocative, there are a number of unexpected turns in this book which kept it fresh for me. Lee is pretty unsympathetic because she spends most of the book stuck, stuck in her own head, her own fears. I can see why that perspective might have put some readers off, but to me, it made the moments of contrast with her dad, her older self all the more poignant. The chapter with Parents' Weekend is worth a star all by itself.
dark
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Incredibly well written. I want to say it’s like The Secret History, but if you go into it thinking that you may be disappointed by the very different stakes at play. It’s much more petty— and actually, closer to My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante in that way. The author does a great job at showing the claustrophobia of a place like the Ault School and the impressionability of teenagers in such settings. It killed me to witness Lee be so wantonly and yet the warped rules of the world made it make sense half the time. It’s full of flawless sentences for flawed characters and even though you cringe when reading certain parts there is a veneer of forgiveness for their youth.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good book, and definitely very well written. But I personally found it impossible to relate to the main character, and actively disliked her, so that made me feel less invested in the story.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes