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subtlemurder 's review for:
Prep
by Curtis Sittenfeld
Prep is a coming-of-age novel about a young girl named Lee Fiora. The novel deals with the usual coming-of-age themes - trying to fit in, issues of self-esteem, newly found interest in boys etc. In that regard, it was well written, as a lot of the issues addressed are things which young girls face on a daily basis.
However, the main issue I had with this book is how low Lee's self-esteem was, and how the author chose to deal with it. Lee basically bends over backwards to please people (that is, she becomes the resident hairdresser) in an effort to fit in, thusly forsaking one of her only friends in the process. She also caves in and sleeps with one of the academy's most popular boys on a regular basis, despite knowing in her heart of hearts that he's not truly interested in her (their relationship is secret and he ignores her outside of that).
Nowhere in this book did Lee overcome the issues she faced, or progress into something more positive. We do get some sense that Lee might have dealt with these issues later on in life, and overcome them, but we never actually see how these issues were resolved.
I felt the book was mostly about representing the kinds of adolescent issues that we generally face as youth. If this is the case, Sittenfeld did rather a good job. Otherwise, there is no other merit to the story.
However, the main issue I had with this book is how low Lee's self-esteem was, and how the author chose to deal with it. Lee basically bends over backwards to please people (that is, she becomes the resident hairdresser) in an effort to fit in, thusly forsaking one of her only friends in the process. She also caves in and sleeps with one of the academy's most popular boys on a regular basis, despite knowing in her heart of hearts that he's not truly interested in her (their relationship is secret and he ignores her outside of that).
Nowhere in this book did Lee overcome the issues she faced, or progress into something more positive. We do get some sense that Lee might have dealt with these issues later on in life, and overcome them, but we never actually see how these issues were resolved.
I felt the book was mostly about representing the kinds of adolescent issues that we generally face as youth. If this is the case, Sittenfeld did rather a good job. Otherwise, there is no other merit to the story.