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A review by yangyvonne
The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey
4.0
Sara is just 16 and living in a quaint town in Canada, but she has a burning desire in her to do something, go somewhere. She is fascinated by a teen rebel, Justine, and in the span of one week, goes from a loner tomboy to a suspect in an attempted murder. In between, she befriends a teenage hooker, is taken-in by a gay man who cuts and dyes her hair, goes to a party at a house owned by a heroin dealer, cuts a fellow student with a knife and is expelled and helps the hooker (Alice) fleece a John for his money so Alice can leave town. Meanwhile, her mom is in a cult in CA and her hippie dad has abandoned her when he caught her masturbating in the garden.
The book is all in Sara's voice, so you are never quite sure what is real and what is in her head. Add to that the lack of any quotations used by the author and this is one confusing story. I never understood her need to follow Justine and why she was okay with going to prison. You never learn enough about her past in the cult to see why she is unable to assimilate now. Maybe it is my own age, but it just seems so self-indulgent and detached from any teen angst or coming-of-age that I could relate to. And her escape from juvenile hall was also unrealistic and very sad - she is now a runaway for a crime she didn't commit and no high school degree 11 days from graduation (at 16??)
The book is all in Sara's voice, so you are never quite sure what is real and what is in her head. Add to that the lack of any quotations used by the author and this is one confusing story. I never understood her need to follow Justine and why she was okay with going to prison. You never learn enough about her past in the cult to see why she is unable to assimilate now. Maybe it is my own age, but it just seems so self-indulgent and detached from any teen angst or coming-of-age that I could relate to. And her escape from juvenile hall was also unrealistic and very sad - she is now a runaway for a crime she didn't commit and no high school degree 11 days from graduation (at 16??)