The Girls - BookWyrm

Published Jan. 27, 2016 by Random House.

(3 reviews)

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go …

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go horribly wrong.

1 edition

anaulin reviewed The Girls by Emma Cline

Review of 'The Girls' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This was a great read. And also upsetting, discomforting, depressing. So much of the story a little too familiar, too close to home.

I can see how easily I could've been one of the girls in the story. Willing to ignore so many warning signs and pretend away so much unpleasantness, unease, pain, with the hope of getting a little connection, a touch of warmth.

The mundaneness of the story is what makes it so distressing for me. The loneliness of the main character so commonplace. Her emotional starvation so ordinary that it is almost shocking someone would choose to write about it.

Andrea

rated it

Aug. 3, 2016

Marcus Low

rated it

Oct. 14, 2016