Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Τα κορίτσια

I think Cline is a really talented writer and has a way with words that you come across only once in a while within books. I had picked up this book going off of some prompt/review saying it was about a lesbian and a cult. While that isn’t wrong, it didn’t quite encapsulate the entirety of the situation either.
I think personally the book would have profited a lot from Evie being upwards of 17. While it would have taken away a bit of the hopeless lamb, but it wouldn’t have been that much. I think it would have lent to Evie and Suzanne’s relationship and Evie’s character in general.

There wasn’t much going on in their relationship besides Evie pining, not until Suzanne let Evie out of the car and visited her at boarding school, was some texture added. It would have made a more engaging story to have Suzanne a bit more fleshed out and receptive rather than this idealized character Evie was projecting everything onto. And the ‘connection’ she kept talking about in terms of her and Suzanne would have been justified and engaging.
Aside from that, all the SA on a 14 year old and this promiscuity put upon them in literature makes me really uneasy and angry, honestly. I don’t think teenagers are ever that deliberate of sex in the way it’s presented in books like this. While it is shown that Evie is forced into it, it’s played off for the most part by her being like “oh well,” until the Mitch situation. Even that didn’t have enough anger or was presented in a bad light. I’m always aware in books of what writers project onto their characters and of what age because it is a choice, and not inspired off of true events ( entirely here anyway).
I also found it really redundant that all of this happened over a fucking record deal. I wish it was something else and the bad blood between Russel and Mitch had more weight and tension, especially for the girls. (I read up and see this is what happened in real life but just copy pasting these events without much of a weight or exploration just feels like a waste and triggering for no reason.) I wish it would have subverted the tale by instead having the girls turn on Russel somehow and kill him instead. That would have made a better story line.

I kept reading this book as it had a premise for having the opportunity to explore queerness, girlhood and the patriarchy in depth. However, besides from some insightfully written paragraphs on what it is like to be a girl, it feels rather flat in all the other departments. And it felt rather disappointing to finish this triggering book to get through with all the events just falling flat onto nothing overall and by the end.

Content Warnings

rachel24x7's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

helenamichelle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

adelexmarie's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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gwenisnonbinary's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Evie, please go see a therapist.

Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first couples pages of the book were over-the-top flowery language, and I wasn't sure if I was going to stick around, but it calmed down a little bit. I think the strongest parts were the descriptions of the very challenging time of pre-teen/early teenager-dom, when girls are really trying to just figure out how they fit into the world. I did not like the use of "Asiatic" to describe childlike banter - that feels.... not right and insulting to Asian languages. Just really unnecessary. I'm not sure if I'd read this author again because I might just not be able to get on her level of stuffed sentences.

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