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emsmith's review against another edition
4.0
Well, that was a roller coaster.
So this is about a bunch of Scottish catholic school girls who go on a mad one during a school trip to Edinburgh. It takes place over 24 hours, so yeah it's pretty insane.
At first, it was really difficult to get into probably because of all the many characters, the Scottish dialect and lack of speechmarks (!!!), but once I got into it, it was real good. I went to an all-girls school, although it wasn't catholic this seems a pretty accurate representation. Everything about these girls was so honest and we even got all the gross and often disturbing details of their lives, which was great. I'm honestly kinda surprised this was written by some middle-aged man in 1998.
So this is about a bunch of Scottish catholic school girls who go on a mad one during a school trip to Edinburgh. It takes place over 24 hours, so yeah it's pretty insane.
At first, it was really difficult to get into probably because of all the many characters, the Scottish dialect and lack of speechmarks (!!!), but once I got into it, it was real good. I went to an all-girls school, although it wasn't catholic this seems a pretty accurate representation. Everything about these girls was so honest and we even got all the gross and often disturbing details of their lives, which was great. I'm honestly kinda surprised this was written by some middle-aged man in 1998.
rosseroo's review against another edition
5.0
The most recent, and probably most entertaining of Warner's three books (see also Morven Callar and These Demented Lands) set in a small town on the Scottish coast, it's probably also the least demanding read and most self-consciously commercial of them. Warner shares two stylistic forms with his more famous countryman, Irvine Welsh: ultra-realistic dialogue with a rhythm and vocabulary all its own, and a tendency to write in fragments, scenes, and flashbacks to build the overall narrative. As in his previous books, the narrative here is about the oppressiveness and boredom of youth living in a small town. The book chronicles the adventures of six foul-mouthed, bawdy, and misbehavin' teenage Catholic choir girls as they take a day trip to Edinburgh to compete in a nationwide choral competition. Released to the big city the girls set sights on booze, clothes and men--with mostly predictable results, rendered in enjoyable episodes by Warner. Fun stuff, but the underlying air of desperation to grasp a good time, makes this more than a mere mildly titillating romp with youth. The dull fate that inescapably awaits these girls in adulthood make this a poignant and memorable tale.
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