alexacj 's review for:

The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton

4.0

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This book really captured how obsessive and intense those teen years can be, which I found relatable despite the fact that my own teen years were nowhere near as... unhinged? as this book was. But wanting a better world, and for yourself to be bigger and better within it? The way friendships at that age felt insular, fragile, larger than life? Oof. This story probably isn't for everyone, but comparisons to The Secret History were apt enough - though I liked how this story was set in the relative present, and the protagonist never fully managed to escape the "real world" around her despite how desperately she romanticized the past/her own idea of a different present. It made their fumbled grasping for transcendence feel flimsier, which I thought was a plus. You can convince yourself of a lot (especially at seventeen) but at the end of the day your culty teen delusions are probably going to fall apart - if they don't tear you apart, first.

I liked it, what can I say. Protagonist Laura might have been weak-willed, but she was the perfect lens for witnessing holy dumpster-fire Virginia. Their relationship was problematic as hell and I loved every second of it. If teens making terrible, terrible decisions in the name of Something Better sounds like a good time to you, this might be your book.