This review is a struggle to write.

Parts of this novel were great and engaging, useful and illuminated toxic masculinity within teenage friendships. Other parts were boring and maybe even harmful.

I initially disliked the ending as I felt it undermined the narrative however I’m not appreciating it as the effects of the acts that took place are irrelevant to the ending.

I LOVED this book. The prose is so compulsive it's bordering on hypnotic. You can tell how skilled the author is because Alice writes seven or eight drafts of the same college application essay and you're absolutely hanging on every word. It's also genuinely terrifying, in a way that felt completely fresh.

I did get extreme Kate-Atkinson-A God-in-Ruins vibes at the end, but that only made it more brilliant. What a book. Also, I hope they go for the pink cover.

A timely story about male privilege, he said/she said, misunderstandings and who controls the narrative. It frequently has a YA feel as the central events happen when characters are in high school and they don't really seem to age as they get older. Structurally, this follows a 'found footage' template with film scripts, college applications, and a postmodern sleight-of-hand at the end. All of which doesn't obscure the fact that the material has been done before, important as it is. Interesting and contemporary.