exhaleartist's review
1.0
Three words: confusing, unbelievable, horrifying.
Warning: This book contains heavy sexual content.
Warning: This book contains heavy sexual content.
liralen's review
2.0
Not terrible, but slow. Set over the course of three summers (with a ten-years-later epilogue), Dreams of Significant Girls follows three (not very significant?) girls at a summer camp in Switzerland in the early 70s.
The spread-out timeline gives the three characters more room to develop, but it also means that a lot of that development takes place off-page. Shirin, for example, spends the year after their first summer in the throes of a nervous breakdown (or something like that) and comes back with something approaching a personality transplant, and it's not entirely clear why or how. A ton of issues and questions are raised, but they tend to drop off the page when the summer ends...except for the recurring questions of sex and relationships (and right back to sex), which I could have done with less of.
I was interested in the book in part because of the historical setting, but I was pretty disappointed on that score. There's subplot about World War II and the way in which it affected their families, and the epilogue touches on the way the Iranian revolution changed Shirin's life, but other than that...? Add modern technology, and the book could easily be set in the present day. So altogether...not really what I wanted.
The spread-out timeline gives the three characters more room to develop, but it also means that a lot of that development takes place off-page. Shirin, for example, spends the year after their first summer in the throes of a nervous breakdown (or something like that) and comes back with something approaching a personality transplant, and it's not entirely clear why or how. A ton of issues and questions are raised, but they tend to drop off the page when the summer ends...except for the recurring questions of sex and relationships (and right back to sex), which I could have done with less of.
I was interested in the book in part because of the historical setting, but I was pretty disappointed on that score. There's subplot about World War II and the way in which it affected their families, and the epilogue touches on the way the Iranian revolution changed Shirin's life, but other than that...? Add modern technology, and the book could easily be set in the present day. So altogether...not really what I wanted.
clarkco's review
3.0
Trials and tribulations of three girls at a summer boarding school in Switzerland in the Seventies. I feel like plot would have worked better had the girls been college-aged instead of teenagers.
heykellyjensen's review
3.0
I loved the writing, as it was really literary, and the food descriptions could almost be tasted. This book reminded me a lot of Nina de Gramont's GOSSIP OF THE STARLINGS, right down to the boarding school, the drug and sexual content and brutality therein, the acts of defiance on the parts of the characters, and the writing style.
However, I found it hard to understand the motivations of the characters. They acted on impulse, all three of them, but I never quite got the whys of it. It made it difficult for me to buy their stories because of this. There's a lot of action on their part, and while there is consequence to it, it didn't make sense to me as a reader. I needed more of what they were thinking and why they were following through. It was a missing piece of their development.
That said, I did quite like the connections the girls had that they didn't suspect, despite how convenient it was. Maybe I liked it because it gave me a reason to understand the underlying/subconscious motivations of the characters. It comes really too late though.
I feel like I could have read 100 more pages of the book with more character development up front and then this would have been a really strong book.
However, I found it hard to understand the motivations of the characters. They acted on impulse, all three of them, but I never quite got the whys of it. It made it difficult for me to buy their stories because of this. There's a lot of action on their part, and while there is consequence to it, it didn't make sense to me as a reader. I needed more of what they were thinking and why they were following through. It was a missing piece of their development.
That said, I did quite like the connections the girls had that they didn't suspect, despite how convenient it was. Maybe I liked it because it gave me a reason to understand the underlying/subconscious motivations of the characters. It comes really too late though.
I feel like I could have read 100 more pages of the book with more character development up front and then this would have been a really strong book.
tarryncurrentlyreading's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I liked this book, I really did. But there were a couple problems, the main two being: this book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer, but any length other than what it was would have left me totally burnt out.
I thought the characters were interesting, if not a bit frustrating. However, their friendship, the whole point of this story, did not feel fleshed out enough to me. There was hardly any deep communication between the three - Shirin often never shared major and traumatic events with Ingrid and Vivien. And even though they KNEW she had had issues in the past, very big issues, they never seem overtly concerned when she's upset or acting weird. I saw events that would purportedly strengthen their bond occur but never actually saw their bond strengthen. So by the end, the message that no matter where life took them, or how far away they were from each other, that friendship would never die, just seemed totally unrealistic. And considering how weak the bond truly seemed, I found it highly unbelievable that during the eleven months they weren't together each year they didn't have friendships that were stronger with other people. They only spent like 30 days together each year for three years. It's just odd.
Out of all the characters, Shirin is who I wanted to know. There was a lot going on with that girl, things I really wanted to be explored, especially some of the things that happened during the first summer. But of course, the girls literally never discussed the madness of that first summer together. I was left with a lot of questions and frustrations.
I liked this book, I really did. But there were a couple problems, the main two being: this book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer, but any length other than what it was would have left me totally burnt out.
I thought the characters were interesting, if not a bit frustrating. However, their friendship, the whole point of this story, did not feel fleshed out enough to me. There was hardly any deep communication between the three - Shirin often never shared major and traumatic events with Ingrid and Vivien. And even though they KNEW she had had issues in the past, very big issues, they never seem overtly concerned when she's upset or acting weird. I saw events that would purportedly strengthen their bond occur but never actually saw their bond strengthen. So by the end, the message that no matter where life took them, or how far away they were from each other, that friendship would never die, just seemed totally unrealistic. And considering how weak the bond truly seemed, I found it highly unbelievable that during the eleven months they weren't together each year they didn't have friendships that were stronger with other people. They only spent like 30 days together each year for three years. It's just odd.
Out of all the characters, Shirin is who I wanted to know. There was a lot going on with that girl, things I really wanted to be explored, especially some of the things that happened during the first summer. But of course, the girls literally never discussed the madness of that first summer together. I was left with a lot of questions and frustrations.
brightside878's review
2.0
First of all, from looking at the cover and even reading the summary on the front flap, it looks modern, not like it's set in the 70s.
And second of all, I did not connect with the characters at all.
And second of all, I did not connect with the characters at all.
yeahdeadslow's review
2.0
Apparently the 'dreams of significant girls' don't involve much more than boys and sex. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh - the girls did have passions that later developed into careers but those took backseat and I feel more space than necessary was devoted to the girls' amours. My inner feminist made her presence known, making grumbling noises practically the entire time I was reading. (And it takes a lot to get my inner feminist up and running. She's buried pretty deep down.)
It's a shame, really. The concept sounds great (I have a penchant for boarding school stories). But well, note the complaints listed above and also, the three girls never became friends of mine. Meaning, they never developed into empathetic characters that I felt a compulsive desire to read about; they didn't develop much at all.
I guess [b:Bloomability|742272|Bloomability|Sharon Creech|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177914197s/742272.jpg|1952589] will have to remain my lone favourite Swiss boarding school story for now.
It's a shame, really. The concept sounds great (I have a penchant for boarding school stories). But well, note the complaints listed above and also, the three girls never became friends of mine. Meaning, they never developed into empathetic characters that I felt a compulsive desire to read about; they didn't develop much at all.
I guess [b:Bloomability|742272|Bloomability|Sharon Creech|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177914197s/742272.jpg|1952589] will have to remain my lone favourite Swiss boarding school story for now.
cuocuo's review
5.0
A beautiful narrative, rendered so faithfully I can't believe I wasn't reading about real people.
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