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nicolelavelle's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
a real glittery shimmery weirdo story, a vhs movie that needs tracking, a book about youth and friendship and shitty corners of america, would read again, just might.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
daphreads's review
3.75
This is one of those books where I can’t tell if i’m not fully getting it bc i’m stupid or because Tate wasn’t doing a great job at conveying the story. She was able to do a killer job at creating the atmosphere of a dark and twisted story but with the feelings of woman and girlhood. And a lot of the sentences or paragraphs are beautiful as stand-alones. I just think that she unfortunately could’ve done a better job at connecting all the individual stories and the time jumps to make more sense. And with that and the ending, she was dropping only very vague hints to make it surprising I guess- but they were so vague that I wasn’t even surprised I was just confused.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
petit_lecteur's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
ghostshark's review
medium-paced
2.5
I was intrigued by the concept, but this book really fell through. Despite reading the whole book in a day, I could not tell you what the plot was. I liked the use of "we" in most of the chapters, but unfortunately the individual character chapters really lacked in development and narrative. My biggest criticism is that it felt like it was trying too hard to be edgy, to the point where it felt like reading a high schooler's self-insert fanfiction. Honestly, it's not a bad book, but it's not great either. It needed more focus and character development.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Pedophilia
rionstorm's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
I don't know if I loved this book, but I flew through it because I couldn't look away, like when you see a car crash or something really gross.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
mzymcmln's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
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