2.2/5: i received this book from a goodreads giveaway.

the lesser (in my opinion) parts of this book dripped with the same theme as the entirety of the back cover: this was written by a young and promising writer.

emma cline's debut has been long-hyped, and she really did try to live up to it. in some sentences you can feel her going back and trying to make it fresher, more original, fit for the descriptor "up-and-coming."

but i'm certain cline is a promising young writer after all. her voice is like gillian flynn's, if slightly undercooked, and i don't foresee her going away anytime soon.

Spoiler

a definite plus of this book was the background intrapersonal conflict of evie's sexuality--it is always nice to find an LGBT character, especially in a book that isn't entirely focused on the LGBT experience. although that's great, too.

if i can be nitpicky for a moment: why isn't this book marketed as being a fictionalized, name-changed account of the manson "family" murders?

Spoiler

it's in the california desert in the late 1960s, russell (manson) is described in the same way, the murders go somewhat not according to plan in that the patriarch of each family was not home, russell/manson is surrounded by girls who fascinate the public by doing the dirty work, etc etc. i could go on--there's no question of the basis of this narrative. so why is there no reference to the family in the synopsis, on the back or even in the goodreads description?

anyway. i digress. another disclaimer before the conclusion: this book drags itself, plotless, on the shoulders of its characters. i don't mind character-driven books. in fact i often prefer them. but there was no love lost between me and any of these Girls, so i caught myself dragging along often, too.

but in the end: pick up a copy of this book. that way, in five or so years when cline writes her massive bestseller, you can brag about picking up her works before they were cool.