_duskicreads's review
5.0
THIS BOOK GUYS! THIS BOOK!
Flannery Culp is editing her journal two years after the events described, telling her side of the story of what came to be known as the Satanic murder of a classmate by the Basic Eight.
The book starts out slow and it takes a while to warm up to it - but bear with it, it will be worth it.
Just the fact that she is telling her story and quite literally editing her journal is a clear indicator of how unreliable of a narrator she will be - but she still manages to blindside you a fair few times. Going through this book, one of my favorite things was to just try to figure out what really happened and what she made up - and I'm still not sure - for example: there is a conversation she had with Adam, followed by a conversation with Gabriel, in which she verbatim repeats Adam's words - but did that conversation really happen? Would it have worked, with the same phrasing? Or is she changing it as she writes her journal?
Truthfully, I enjoyed everything about this book - her snarky and clever way of writing, the pretentiousness of the Basic Eight, a bunch of high school students who wear pearls and throw dinner parties, the way literary plot devices were being called out by Flan as she used them (like foreshadowing), the way she gives away spoilers ahead of time (like, who it was that died), the way chapters were structured like text-book chapters complete with a vocabulary section and discussion questions which actually further the plot.
And the ending! Holy mother of God! I'm not even going to say anything about it, if you've read it, you know what I'm taking about. And if you haven't - well, what are you waiting for?
Flannery Culp is editing her journal two years after the events described, telling her side of the story of what came to be known as the Satanic murder of a classmate by the Basic Eight.
The book starts out slow and it takes a while to warm up to it - but bear with it, it will be worth it.
Just the fact that she is telling her story and quite literally editing her journal is a clear indicator of how unreliable of a narrator she will be - but she still manages to blindside you a fair few times. Going through this book, one of my favorite things was to just try to figure out what really happened and what she made up - and I'm still not sure - for example: there is a conversation she had with Adam, followed by a conversation with Gabriel, in which she verbatim repeats Adam's words - but did that conversation really happen? Would it have worked, with the same phrasing? Or is she changing it as she writes her journal?
Truthfully, I enjoyed everything about this book - her snarky and clever way of writing, the pretentiousness of the Basic Eight, a bunch of high school students who wear pearls and throw dinner parties, the way literary plot devices were being called out by Flan as she used them (like foreshadowing), the way she gives away spoilers ahead of time (like, who it was that died), the way chapters were structured like text-book chapters complete with a vocabulary section and discussion questions which actually further the plot.
And the ending! Holy mother of God! I'm not even going to say anything about it, if you've read it, you know what I'm taking about. And if you haven't - well, what are you waiting for?
veronicacanread's review
dark
funny
mysterious
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
3.25
kmsilverman92's review
3.0
Due to the unreliable narrator, this book ended up leaving me with a lot of question and few answers.
kellyzen's review
4.0
Flashes of The Secret History: this book is populated by improbably erudite children who drink ludicrously — also, murder! It doesn’t rise to the spellbinding beauty of Tartt’s, but it’s fun and funny and worth a read.
batsworthy's review
4.0
More like a 3.5, because I devoured this and then the corny "twist" at the end did NOT impress me. But I do just love a decent TSH clone.
nrphoto's review
2.0
It tries real hard to be edgy. It tries real hard to be a caricature of high school. It doesn't get either one right. It's just a not very interesting story of a bunch of really vile teens with an ending so absurd it's...well...absurd.
This would make a great b movie. Right up there with like, Teaching MS.Tingle, The Faculty, and The In Crowd. But it's not worth more than 90 minutes on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
This would make a great b movie. Right up there with like, Teaching MS.Tingle, The Faculty, and The In Crowd. But it's not worth more than 90 minutes on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
whorriorr's review
4.0
It was an interesting book- that's for sure. More explicit than I would have expected from someone who wrote "A Series of Unfortunate of Events" but just as sarcastic and satirical as I expected. There were some things that didn't make a lot of sense but I think that was mostly Handler putting emphasis on the main character's insanity. The plot twist was pretty predictable but satisfying enough. Though I do think the middle of the story dragged on while the climax and ending felt rushed. But this definitely deserves a reread in the future.
laineyg's review
3.0
okay the plot twist wasn’t as infuriating as we were liars but it still pissed me off
stronlibrarianvibes's review
5.0
While it would be really easy to compare this book to HEATHERS, there's something some much more complex with what Handler is trying to do. The narrator's own comments on her veracity make this a critque on the nature of "true crime" books and autobiography as much as it seems a commentary about the nature of teenage life and romance. And it never gets too bogged down in it's own self-importance. I really enjoyed this one.