hrhopkin's review against another edition
2.0
Long book to get through and would definitely not read it again
jess_es02's review against another edition
4.0
sittenfeld has a gift for making mundane, unfamiliar situations seem both profound and relatable. this book is intensely readable and memorable, though so pervasively melancholic (and with such an unlikable protagonist) that it's difficult to describe as "enjoyable" as such.
deadea's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jillian_roach's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
linesiunderline's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lines I underlined:
“Anyone who's really interested in anything spends time alone.”
“I wanted my life to start - but in those rare moments when it seemed like something might actually change, panic shot through me.”
“I have always found the times when another person recognizes you to be strangely sad; I suspect the pathos of these moments is their rareness, the way they contrast with most daily encounters. That reminder that it can be different, that you need not go through your life unknown but that you probably still will--that is the part that's almost unbearable.”
“Anyone who's really interested in anything spends time alone.”
“I wanted my life to start - but in those rare moments when it seemed like something might actually change, panic shot through me.”
“I have always found the times when another person recognizes you to be strangely sad; I suspect the pathos of these moments is their rareness, the way they contrast with most daily encounters. That reminder that it can be different, that you need not go through your life unknown but that you probably still will--that is the part that's almost unbearable.”
milstew's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ahoffkosik's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
acrisp's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tnanz's review against another edition
3.0
This book was unexceptional except in it's description of a teenager relating to her mother and father. I feel like the lost angsty teenager with lots of gifts and lots of anger has been done to death, and this book didn't add anything to the genre. But I loved the brief descriptions of Lee talking with her parents. In particular, when she was showing them around the school, Ms. Sittenfeld nailed it. The awkwardness, the disconnect, the mother talking about irrelevant random people from home, then the mother's eagerness to meet and befriend her daughter's new friends, the impressiveness to them of small every day things that aren't supposed to impress. Oh yeah. That was very well done. If Ms. Sittenfeld had shucked the packaging of the novel, all the random prep school girls and boys and the mindless events of four years of prep school, and just left the sections where Lee interacts with her family, I would have given this book a higher rating.
internationalkris's review against another edition
4.0
I really appreciated this deep dive into life at a New England prep school as revealed through the struggles of our Mid-Western protagonist and scholarship student Lee Fiora. In many ways this was a fun book to read with plenty of events which kept the pages turning - the assassin game, roommate struggles, crushes and sexual exploration - but it also had a lot to say about class and power. Parent weekend when Lee's two worlds collided might have been my favorite chapter of the book, but there were many.