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orlagal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Excrement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Classism, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Stalking, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
brianna_moye's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual assault
rionstorm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The plot is hard to follow and each new thread that seems like it will be the new main direction inevitably gets abandoned for whatever the characters are more fixated on at that moment, with a fickleness that is thematically appropriate. That being said, the author probably introduced more elements than she could realisticslly or satisfyingly pull off.
The two main characters, in my opinion, are the setting of Florida and the amalgamation/superorganism that is The Girls. The sensory descriptions are delicious and disgusting, and the sense of place is overpowering. This feels like a horror about being a teenage girl - everything is grubby and decorated and fascinating and boring and pointless and achingly intensely meaningful. The characters are fixated on being seen and chosen, with the two possible outcomes (achieving this or not) both anticipated as equally nightmarish.
The tension between their vulnerability, longing for tenderness, cruelty, and disgust at any softness or kindness feels sharply accurate to the experience of teenage girlhood - particularly the teenage girlhood of children who have been profoundly traumatised but don't have any way to confront or desk with that reality. The way that the narrators dance around their traumas without making direct eye contact with it, both as an unconscious survival mechanism and as a conscious denial, put words on an experience I'd seen play out among my peers as a teenager, but never identified.
Overall I found this book interesting, if confusing, and enjoyed the uneasy atmosphere it created. Reccomend to people who love gross, cruel, painful, conflicting portrayals of girlhood, to people who love descriptions of rot and bugs and swamps, and to fans of Ethel Cain. Do not reccomend to people who want a solid plot or any conclusions.
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror