20 upvotes, 5 direct replies (showing 5)
View submission: Best Books of 2016 Results!
I was really disappointed with *The Girls*. Emma Cline is a good writer, but the story's characters had no depth, there was so much "telling" instead of "showing", and it felt like a YA coming-of-age novel with some cursing and a few graphic scenes.
Comment by rglo820 at 15/01/2017 at 02:31 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I agree - I thought some of the prose was very nice, but the book as a whole was extremely mediocre.
Comment by SamSzmith at 15/01/2017 at 08:22 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yep, it was bad. It was also lifted heavily from a true story and didn't deviate or add anything of value to it.
Comment by la-oceane at 15/01/2017 at 15:26 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I found it was just...fine. As I read it, I kept wishing I'd picked up Helter Skelter instead. The Manson inspiration was far too heavy-handed. I felt like the author originally wanted to just make a novelization of the true story from the pov of a fictional participant but decided that wasn't "literary" enough.
Comment by [deleted] at 15/01/2017 at 16:39 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I definitely didn't like it, and came here to say essentially this. I literally cannot understand how it is on so many top lists of the year. It was... bad...
Comment by theswanoftuonela at 15/01/2017 at 01:16 UTC
-1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Oh dear not the whole showing over telling again