melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
I love a "girls coming of age in the city doing bad things" story (I can relate), even when not much happens (as in this one).
tuft_titted's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I went to Bennington and read this book after graduating since so many of my peers read it before starting to "get a sense of the school." I can see Bennington, especially full tuition or nearly full tuition students, reflected in the book, but there is a lot I would not have gotten if I had not gone to Bennington. For reflecting a very specific type of Bennington student, the discussions around class and race and sexuality are absolutely abysmal. Maybe this is accurate to the view point if a full tuition or near full tuition student, but that fails to give clarifying details (and assumes non-Bennington people understand that full tuition type of person). I hated the characters and their treatment of relationships and money made me anxious while reading, which could have been a strength of the book if there was more reflection on it or more viewpoints from people that can feel real to people who aren't rich, white women. I still found some enjoyment from the book and did not struggle through it. Personally, I don't think a book needs plot and was not bothered by the lack of one.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
5.0
This is similar to Friendship and the show Girls. The writing is smart and lovely, and the characters are spot on, down to the tiny details. Like the author, the two main characters (Cassandra and Sylvie) are Bennington College graduates, which--from what I gather, is a Liberal Arts college with a Bohemian, artsy, and prideful culture. The girls try to continue their entitled existence in NYC but lose more and more of their idealism every year. Do Harvard guys think that Bennington girls are only good to sleep with but not to marry? --is one of the issues they have to grapple with. There's cynicism but also tenderness. There's just so much in here that you just have to read it for yourself. Great commentary on hipster Brooklyn, too.
completingmytbr's review against another edition
2.0
Different perspective of life from my own. I think this exists and interesting to read. But also shallow and so not an uplifting read…
lorryx3's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.75
lazygal's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe I read a different book than the blurbers did, but this was mostly bad with some funny bits. The characters weren't just unlikeable, their situations were. If this book is to be believed, Bennington Girls aren't easy, they're catty, dumb and uneducated.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
rhinoceroswoman's review
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
0.75
Strongest case ever to not be friends with ⚪️ ladies. I don’t see the point of the book, not poorly written but I wouldn’t recommend this to literally anyone, especially POC. I can’t imagine people actually acting like Sylvie & Cassandra in real life. Do not read, and if you resonate with Sylvie’s character in any way, get help.
marceelf's review against another edition
2.0
http://www.anurseandabook.com/
What They Say.....Bennington College, founded in 1932 as a suitable refuge for the
wayward daughters of good families, maintains its saucy reputation for attracting free spirits. There, acres outnumber students, the faculty is composed of fading hippie and clothing is largely optional. Or, as J. D. Salinger put it in Franny and Zooey: a Bennington-type “looked like she’d spent the whole train ride in the john, sculpting or painting or something, or as though she had a leotard on under her dress.”
Cassandra Puffin and Sylvie Furst met in high school but cement what they ardently believe will be everlasting friendship on Bennington’s idyllic Vermont campus. Graduation sees Sylvie moving to New York City, where, later on their twenties, Cassandra joins her. These early, delirious years are spent decorating their Fort Greene apartment with flea market gems, dating “artists”, and trying to figure out what they’re doing with their lives.
The girls are acutely and caustically observant of the unique rhythms of the city but tone deaf to their own imperfections, which eventually drives a wedge between them. Equal parts heartfelt and hilarious, Bennington Girls Are Easy is a novel about female friendships—how with one word from a confidante can lift you up or tear you down—and how difficult it is to balance someone else’s devastatingly funny lapses in judgment with your own professional and personal missteps.
What I Say....I am super proud of myself that I finished this book. It took work.
It wasn't the writing that was bad, the author definitely has talent, but the story just meandered. There was no beginning, middle or end. It just felt like one long description of two characters that I couldn't tell apart until about the middle of the book.
As for the main characters, Cassandra and Sylvie, I didn't care too much about either one. For two girls who were at a very expensive liberal arts college, there was never any mention of family money or support, which seemed a little odd.
In the beginning, I thought the book was set in the 50's, so I was confused later when there were some recent pop culture references made. It was so weird, I couldn't even tell what time period this story was supposed to be taking place in.
I wonder if the story would have been more meaningful to me if I had attended, or knew anyone who attended Bennington College. Since I don't, I didn't get a lot of the references to Bennington girls being sluts (the author's word, not mine), or lesbian-ish, or having multiple broken engagements.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say bad books make me sad.
photo signature_zpsc91ef999.png
What They Say.....Bennington College, founded in 1932 as a suitable refuge for the
wayward daughters of good families, maintains its saucy reputation for attracting free spirits. There, acres outnumber students, the faculty is composed of fading hippie and clothing is largely optional. Or, as J. D. Salinger put it in Franny and Zooey: a Bennington-type “looked like she’d spent the whole train ride in the john, sculpting or painting or something, or as though she had a leotard on under her dress.”
Cassandra Puffin and Sylvie Furst met in high school but cement what they ardently believe will be everlasting friendship on Bennington’s idyllic Vermont campus. Graduation sees Sylvie moving to New York City, where, later on their twenties, Cassandra joins her. These early, delirious years are spent decorating their Fort Greene apartment with flea market gems, dating “artists”, and trying to figure out what they’re doing with their lives.
The girls are acutely and caustically observant of the unique rhythms of the city but tone deaf to their own imperfections, which eventually drives a wedge between them. Equal parts heartfelt and hilarious, Bennington Girls Are Easy is a novel about female friendships—how with one word from a confidante can lift you up or tear you down—and how difficult it is to balance someone else’s devastatingly funny lapses in judgment with your own professional and personal missteps.
What I Say....I am super proud of myself that I finished this book. It took work.
It wasn't the writing that was bad, the author definitely has talent, but the story just meandered. There was no beginning, middle or end. It just felt like one long description of two characters that I couldn't tell apart until about the middle of the book.
As for the main characters, Cassandra and Sylvie, I didn't care too much about either one. For two girls who were at a very expensive liberal arts college, there was never any mention of family money or support, which seemed a little odd.
In the beginning, I thought the book was set in the 50's, so I was confused later when there were some recent pop culture references made. It was so weird, I couldn't even tell what time period this story was supposed to be taking place in.
I wonder if the story would have been more meaningful to me if I had attended, or knew anyone who attended Bennington College. Since I don't, I didn't get a lot of the references to Bennington girls being sluts (the author's word, not mine), or lesbian-ish, or having multiple broken engagements.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say bad books make me sad.
photo signature_zpsc91ef999.png
radioactve_piano's review against another edition
2.0
I very desperately want to see what other Bennington alumni said about this... because wow.
About a third of the way through, I flipped it over to read the back and saw that Oprah Magazine said it was "satire". Okay, great! What kind of satire? Because it didn't feel satirical to me -- especially not with the start of the book being the very real event of two dancers falling out of VAPA's window.
(So she shifted it two years earlier and had them both die -- it still feels incredibly icky to have even had this included in the first place. The self-centered main characters were catty as fuck (and, fine -- pretty sure Silver was on campus at the time of the accident and likely heard someone say, "But why would anyone lean against the windows anyway?" I know I did.). But including that, and then following it up with some snarky comment on how they were probably lesbians and they had terrible names anyway, just feels gross and opportunistic. You want a metaphor for how the main characters would self-sabotage? Don't use a real-life tragedy to illustrate it.)
She got much of the Bennington campus right (though, unless I was just blessed with informal teachers, none of them were referred to as "Professor"). And it certainly did seem that a large percentage of people ended up in NYC after graduation. But dear lord, these characters were terrible (I know I wasn't supposed to like them -- she certainly succeeded in that!). So that's where the satire came in? She exaggerated the Bennington experience and personalities? (OR! She didn't completely make that clear and it really just perpetuated the airhead, self-obsessed, artsy but lazy, sexually free, terrible with money stereotypes because she hated her Bennington experience! Or that.)
The only reason I say "it was ok" is because the writing is really rather engaging. But give me The Secret History any day for a book by someone who went to Bennington, giving a nod to Bennington.
About a third of the way through, I flipped it over to read the back and saw that Oprah Magazine said it was "satire". Okay, great! What kind of satire? Because it didn't feel satirical to me -- especially not with the start of the book being the very real event of two dancers falling out of VAPA's window.
(So she shifted it two years earlier and had them both die -- it still feels incredibly icky to have even had this included in the first place. The self-centered main characters were catty as fuck (and, fine -- pretty sure Silver was on campus at the time of the accident and likely heard someone say, "But why would anyone lean against the windows anyway?" I know I did.). But including that, and then following it up with some snarky comment on how they were probably lesbians and they had terrible names anyway, just feels gross and opportunistic. You want a metaphor for how the main characters would self-sabotage? Don't use a real-life tragedy to illustrate it.)
She got much of the Bennington campus right (though, unless I was just blessed with informal teachers, none of them were referred to as "Professor"). And it certainly did seem that a large percentage of people ended up in NYC after graduation. But dear lord, these characters were terrible (I know I wasn't supposed to like them -- she certainly succeeded in that!). So that's where the satire came in? She exaggerated the Bennington experience and personalities? (OR! She didn't completely make that clear and it really just perpetuated the airhead, self-obsessed, artsy but lazy, sexually free, terrible with money stereotypes because she hated her Bennington experience! Or that.)
The only reason I say "it was ok" is because the writing is really rather engaging. But give me The Secret History any day for a book by someone who went to Bennington, giving a nod to Bennington.