A review by futurememory
All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry
4.0
Phew, first book I've read after an extremely long hiatus, and I wasn't unhappy with this one.
I think fans of Francesca Lia Block would love this novel. It's short, poetic, raw, unflinching, dreamy, surreal, and intensely focused on female love and relationships. There's not much to All Our Pretty Songs - the bones of the story are a fairly standard take on Greek mythology. The plot isn't reinventing the wheel.
It's what it does with that story that elevates it. McCarry explores the blurry lines of female friendship and sexuality. Her characters are off the rails, stubborn, electric. It's a coming-of-age novel in the best way possible, and our main character learns to grow and accept who she is, and pivot from what she thought she was. All Our Pretty Songs doesn't flinch. It sees the punches coming, and accepts them. Pretty brave, especially for a YA novel.
It's definitely a bit wordy and overwrought at times, and these types of punk/music/teen type stories aren't exactly my favorite, but the Greek myth touches were pretty great, and the writing held it all together.
I think fans of Francesca Lia Block would love this novel. It's short, poetic, raw, unflinching, dreamy, surreal, and intensely focused on female love and relationships. There's not much to All Our Pretty Songs - the bones of the story are a fairly standard take on Greek mythology. The plot isn't reinventing the wheel.
It's what it does with that story that elevates it. McCarry explores the blurry lines of female friendship and sexuality. Her characters are off the rails, stubborn, electric. It's a coming-of-age novel in the best way possible, and our main character learns to grow and accept who she is, and pivot from what she thought she was. All Our Pretty Songs doesn't flinch. It sees the punches coming, and accepts them. Pretty brave, especially for a YA novel.
It's definitely a bit wordy and overwrought at times, and these types of punk/music/teen type stories aren't exactly my favorite, but the Greek myth touches were pretty great, and the writing held it all together.