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A review by desterman
Girls in Boys' Cars by Felicity Castagna
4.0
When I first started reading Felicity Castagna’s 2021 novel 'Girls in Boys Cars', I thought it was going to be just another cliché teen angst coming of age tale. I was so wrong - it is much more than that. This novel is written in a way that gives such great insight into the complexities of being a teenager in modern Australian society. Rosa and Asheeka are teen girls living in Parramatta in Western Sydney. Rosa is a good student, smart and bookish, but struggling after the demise of her parents’ marriage and the death of her grandfather. Asheeka is not as invested in school, misses her deceased father and is struggling under the burden of the cultural expectations of her mother. After a tense incident with Asheeka’s dropkick boyfriend, the girls steal his precious car and escape on a road trip.
The story is told in first person from the perspective of Rosa. Rosa is now in juvenile detention after all that happened and tells the story in flashbacks of what took place on their road trip to land her in such trouble with the law. The novel explores the complexities of female friendship, child and parent relationships, and the massive pressure on young women who, despite recent progress, are still not entirely free to be themselves. As Rosa reflects from her cell, “Girls’ anger is a different type of thing from boys’. You have to cram that anger into your body every day. It’s large and it’s loud and it stretches and swells and cracks until it leaks out of your pores. People are always surprised. Girls can have so much anger.”
I really enjoyed this book, both the setting, and the excellent character development. You don’t always empathise with the girls, but you do understand their actions and motivations. Their perspectives are captured so beautifully.
The story is told in first person from the perspective of Rosa. Rosa is now in juvenile detention after all that happened and tells the story in flashbacks of what took place on their road trip to land her in such trouble with the law. The novel explores the complexities of female friendship, child and parent relationships, and the massive pressure on young women who, despite recent progress, are still not entirely free to be themselves. As Rosa reflects from her cell, “Girls’ anger is a different type of thing from boys’. You have to cram that anger into your body every day. It’s large and it’s loud and it stretches and swells and cracks until it leaks out of your pores. People are always surprised. Girls can have so much anger.”
I really enjoyed this book, both the setting, and the excellent character development. You don’t always empathise with the girls, but you do understand their actions and motivations. Their perspectives are captured so beautifully.