I just couldn't get into this one. I gave it a hundred pages, but I found the characters to be very annoying.

Not my usual genre of book struggled at first but stuck with it persisted and actually finished it. Subject of rape is covered within the book which readers should be aware of as it may trigger some readers but it is handled sensitively by they writer. Many thanks to both netgalley and the author for allowing me to read the book for my honest review. .

For some reason I love books set in boarding schools. I guess it is kind of like the ones where people are isolated on an island or snowed in at a cabin in the woods and there is a murder and then a murderer is trapped with you. Boarding school books are like that and I enjoy reading them. "All Girls", by Emily Layden is the second one I have read in the last couple of months and it did not disappoint me at all !!
Set at a prestigious New England boarding school in Connecticut "All Girls" brings with it everything you could wish for in this type of navel. You have a scandal of course, this time it is a accusation of rape by a teacher of a former student. You have the students, most of whom come from wealthy, powerful, families and it shows in their attitudes. You have the stern unshakeable dean or head mistress who is the unchallenged leader and disciplinarian. You have the teacher that all the students adore who jokes and laughs and doesn't make you do your homework.. .And of course you have the misfit, the student who doesn't fit in, the one who shies away from the parties and groups of laughing teasing girls, the one who hides when it is time to change in the locker-room for gym class because she is afraid of being singled out and teased.
When signs appear about the rape and articles are written by unknown persons in the school newspaper about it the suspicion rises, and the school's failure to answer inquiries regarding this lead to unrest among parents and students. As tensions rise and nerves are set on edge friends begin to look at each other with suspicion and doubt.
This was a gripping story, it held my attention will and I finished it quickly. Emily Layden has great character development, I could see Lauren, Macy, Mia, and Chloe as though they were in front of me. Their interaction and conversations were exactly what you would hear from teens today. Nothing was stilted, out of place or forced. There is a very nice seamless flow to the book which I love because that makes a book so much better to read.
There really wasn't anything I disliked about it. Even the descriptive scene setting paragraphs were not too long and drab. That is something that usually puts me off in a book. When they go into too much detail and describe things that do not need explaining. There is none of this in the book, the descriptions are good, giving the reader just enough they need to know to form a picture for themselves without over loading our minds with frivolous details.
I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars and I will stop now before I add too much frivolous detail!!
I recommend this to all general fictions fans, but beware there are some scenes with sexual content and the subject of rape is prevalent throughout. I feel the writer did a great job writing about such a sensitive topic, she handles it with dignity and care, showing great sensitivity to the victims, and leaves sound advice should anyone reading this novel find themselves in such a situation.
#NetGalley
#AllGirl;s
This review will be posted on the blog website mycatreads.com on its publication date of February 16, 2012, also on that date on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I would also like to thank the publishers at St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance E-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book was a mixed bag for me. I liked the setting and some of the characters. Ultimately, there were just too many stories told from too many POVs. I could see this working better as a TV show or a movie. Also, the scandal wasn’t all that central to the story - it never felt pressing or suspenseful and there really wasn’t much of a resolution. I do think this was a promising debut as Layden writes well, but I think there were just too many ideas and too many characters to keep track of.

I'm drawn to books about boarding school. All Girls by Emily Layden is one year at a prestigious New England all girls school. One year in the life of many, MANY girls, dealing with sexual assault allegations by an alum against a teacher.

The sexual assault allegations are the connecting story in the background. There's also school traditions like Fall Fest and Ringing - told in various voices. It did get somewhat confusing, with each long chapter focusing on a different set of characters. While the insight into each young girls pre-school life was interesting, I did think that it was a little overwrought in places.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I normally love books about girls and schools that have a topical bent but I felt like the characters were very flat. I had a hard time keeping the girls straight, they didn’t have very interesting or distinctive personalities. I think it could have been a lot better with a little more work, it just never really got started for me.

by Emily Layden (Goodreads Author)
10821880
Jennifer Morrison's reviewDec 24, 2020 ·



Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced ebook copy of Emily Layden's novel ALL GIRLS, a collective portrait of an all girls school in New England and nine of its students.
The school is haunted by a charge of sexual assault by one its faculty but it isn't until five years later, when the novel takes place, that one student endeavours to reveal the culprit.
All Girls follows, from a distance, a number of students and their relationships with family, school and fellow students. The sexual assault is the background to meeting these nine young ladies and while we don't get an in-depth study of them, they build the story of the community, the boarding school and how it has dealt with the stigma of the incident.
I found it helpful to take a few notes on characters as a I went through as there are many and it added to the enjoyment of getting an overview of the school itself.
For readers who enjoy coming-of-age, community stories - 3 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Emily Layden for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have always had a penchant for books and stories set in girls' boarding schools, from the Enid Blyton books of my childhood, my mother's stories about her time in English boarding schools, to "Dark Vanessa" and now "All Girls" by Emily Layton. From the description of this book, I had assumed it would be more of an intense mystery, like "Dark Vanessa" and there was somewhat of a mystery, but it was more of a compilation of overlapping stories about a year at a fictional boarding school told from the perspectives of 9 students. The story was set during a time period in which a sexual abuse case that took place 20 years ago had again become an issue in not only in the school but also in the community of alumni and neighboring town.

There were many issues addressed in the stories of these girls, including eating disorders, issues with sexuality, parental expectations, bullying, and sexual harassment. The differences between how the sexual abuse case in question had been handled two years ago vs how it was handled twenty years later in the time of "Me Too" were described beautifully. I enjoyed that the author included some glimpses into the future for the characters, and would love to read more about them!

Once I let go of my idea that this was going to be a story about one particular student/group of students and I understood the format, I really enjoyed the book .

What really goes on at a preppy, tony, private school in Connecticut? Layden presents her version of what could occur. The book is broken up into different sections that help differentiate yet combine the story, I thought the writing was good. The topic has been a hot commodity in the last few years. I couldn't really connect with the characters, although I did have empathy. I think this book will garner a lot of interest in the material, topic, and outcome.

I love books based in schools, but this one just didn’t engage me. I felt the characters could have been developed more fully and the pace should have been faster.

As each girl is driven up the long driveway to her new school term at Atwater Private Boarding School for Girls, each sees signs that inform her of a rape scandal at the school, placed there by a former student. In this book, we follow each girl as she makes her individual way through the challenges of the new school year, as well as how she deals with the scandal at her school. We follow nine individual girls as they grow up and discover their true essence.

This book was not what I expected it to be, but it was a satisfying read, nonetheless. I had been expecting it to be a mystery about the scandal unfolding through its pages. Instead, it was a tale of how the girls dealt with the scandal at their school while dealing with their lives in a boarding school in general. This book is well-written and tenderly insightful about the feelings and experiences of young maturing women.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

The story of All Girls is set at a fictional prep school in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut called Atwater. There are many characters and each chapter, denoted by an annual event at the school, focuses on different girls, their experiences at the school, and sometimes their backstories. The book’s first two chapters set the stage for the book’s central theme as students arrive for the 2015-16 school year. Several signs advertising that “A Rapist Works Here” are planted on the only road that leads to the school. The message is confusing and disheartening, especially for families with little experience with boarding schools. As the story progresses, the girls react to the danger intimated by the signs. Still, the school, steeped in its traditionalist, diehard ways, struggles to acknowledge the story behind the sexual assault victim’s message.

Each successive chapter carefully conveys the pros and cons of the time-tested ritualistic events such as fall fest, vespers, and prom. The author does this through the realistic contemporary conversations, comments, and observations of the astute female students. Each of the featured characters has an opinion. Each wants to be heard and make a statement within the confines of the rules and expectations, but sometimes those rules have to be tested when “enough is enough” of the conventional secrecy of what happens behind closed doors. Although there is some admiration for the time-honored annual events, it is clear how demeaning some of the pageantries are and how so much was designed to maintain women’s place in society as second class citizens. The many voices provide multiple reasons why Atwater and the real institutions it represents need to change.

Of course, this school year just precedes the national MeToo movement. The school year’s events describe both literally and metaphorically why MeToo’s message was so desperately overdue. The author does a great job of showing, not just telling what goes on in traditional school settings where esteemed faculty members’ reputations are treasured. She also outlines how easy it is to protect adults at the expense of students experiencing life-changing moments. Mrs. Brodie, Head of the Atwater School, responds to the former students’ accusation and current students’ concerns as though they are a mere disruption. It is incredible and deplorable, depending on your point of view, how skillfully she downplays the cries for help from the students she purports to serve. Institutional denial is alive and well at Atwater as it becomes publicly known that a faculty member accused of raping a student twenty years ago is still teaching at the school.

The strength of storytelling in All Girls is in the depictions of 2015-16 students using their access to multiple forms of social media as forums to speak their minds and stage unsettling pranks for the adults at Atwater. It becomes obvious that the students can wreak havoc and outsmart faculty and staff members living in the past and using dated means to uphold the school’s integrity and reputation. The students in this story are brilliant and driven to accomplish great things. They can see beyond the age-old expectations for “proper” upbringing, and they show how to employ modern tools to expose both the old-fashioned narrow-mindedness of the faculty and the loopholes in the social-emotional learning that is part of the school’s mission.

I found the story compelling. The author, at times, had me vacillating between sympathizing with students and adults. Many issues are raised about how schools respond to accusations of sexual assault in high school, especially when staff members and their spouses live on campus. Is it always one big happy family? What about the power imbalances? How is trust developed? These are such important questions that are not sufficiently addressed in the nation’s schools. The importance of student concerns and the danger of dismissing them is a pervasive theme. Layden creates articulate teenaged characters whose conversations with each other are replete with the typical coming of age concerns and demands that those living in ivory towers change their views about the women they serve.

Reflecting upon this book, I reacted similarly to Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise. It is tragic when adults condescend to or patronize high school students. It is a cultural travesty when those entrusted with young adults’ teaching and supervision in a boarding school shirk their responsibility to provide guidance and protection. The hopeful outcome that the students at Atwater seek, the intolerance of rape and sexual assault, is something that all modern communities must strive to attain. Ignoring sexual assaults is just not acceptable, regardless of the status of the accused and accuser. Conducting business as usual as the world finally recognizes the issues at established cultural institutions is neglectful.
I am grateful to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

“All Girls” is a debut novel by Emily Layden, a graduate of Stanford University who has taught at several girls' schools in the U.S. The book follows a bevy of high school girls though a full year of their time at the prestigious (but fictional) Atwater school.

Readers start off by meeting freshmen women during the first week of school, who arrive on the heels of a public lawsuit from a former alumna. So maybe we think the book is about the #metoo movement and sexual abuse? But the book offers tangents into the lives of different girls, their upbringing, their desire to get with boys, make it into prestigious colleges, participate in traditions at the school, and discover the truth behind the allegations and the school’s cover-up.

While reading, I was literally taking notes about the book. I felt I needed to keep track of all of the characters. And I’m glad I did because there were so many names, descriptions, hometowns, pedigrees, and backstories. Yet I was frustrated in that I didn’t really need all of those details. The story mainly focuses on 10 people despite me being introduced to what felt like 20 or more. And 10 is a lot to begin with. Consequently, with 10 stories, the plot bounces around a lot and didn’t hold my interest. Things just didn’t add up for me and I was without a main protagonist to root for. This is a major pass for me.

I’m left wondering if this book is meant to be about a pedigreed school that empowers young women? But then silences them when it comes to their first amendment rights? Or is it about girls who go to boarding school to find their place, their voice and their purpose? I honestly cannot say it was wrapped up in a bow.

Despite this book not being my cup of tea, I’m grateful for the opportunity to review an advanced e-galley from St. Martin's Press, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest feedback.

All Girls is a thoughtful, character driven novel focusing on several teenage girls at a New England private school. A sexual assault scandal casts a dark cloud over the prestigious Atwater school, but it's never really talked about. While the girls struggle with school demands, insecurity, anxiety, now they have to try to wrap their heads around the idea that the school may be failing them. How can this school keep its traditions and status alive while also moving forward into the MeToo era?

I enjoyed the perspective of the teenage girls. I can remember having some of those same confused feelings as a young adult. And the author's knowledge of private school makes the book feel very authentic. However, there are a whole bunch of characters (and a whole bunch of issues) in this novel that can make it difficult to follow. I fear some readers will find it frustrating. But, I enjoy a coming-of-age story, especially with a boarding school setting. And, as I mentioned, the writing is thoughtful and feels authentic. If you enjoy character driven novels that almost read like a series of vignettes (think If I Had Your Face), then you'll enjoy All Girls.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading the heck of this book.

I always was fascinated by city lights, or building lights, looking at each lit window and wondering who lived there, what did they do, and what's going on with their lives.

Reading this book is like looking into those windows, and getting a snapshot, or a glimpse of those people. The story may not all correlate, and doesn't tie together neatly in a bow, but the characters themselves were wonderfully written, and felt like real people. Their "voices" in the story were astoundingly different, and brought the characters to life. I particularly enjoyed reading about :
-the runner girl with the eater disorder (the part of her ripping her cuticle or squeezing her pimples really helped to show us who she was)
- the Chinese girl who was too fobby for Americans, but not fobby enough for the new comers,
- the editor of the school paper
- Olivia and Brooke

Overall, wonderful debut.

This book was deeper than I originally anticipated. It is not just the basic teen boarding school story. Set in the atmospheric backdrop of a New England private school, everything is not as perfect as it looks in the pretty brochures. There’s a big scandal- an alleged rape from years ago involving a teacher and a student that the school is trying to ignore to save their reputation. (Told you it was deep). It’s sad that this abuse of power happens more often than we’d like to believe in real life, which makes the pivotal plot in this book important. Told from multiple POVs, you get into the heads of a lot of adolescent girls surviving their fancy school amidst a scandal. It almost takes you back to being that age (ew no thanks). Emily writes the characters realistically. They’re all dealing with insecurities- relatable teenage issues like self esteem, sexuality, eating disorders, college pressure, and bullying. At times the characters were a bit immature- probably because they’re so young. Then on the contrary, there are also times when they’re headstrong, fighting for justice the school won’t provide. Sometimes the ever changing perspectives got confusing and tiring to keep track of. I kept mixing up the characters. I almost wish the author narrowed more focus but understood that she wanted to portray many different types of girls to make it more relatable for all types of readers. The book had such a promising premise but all of the details just took away from the main points a bit. Overall though it was still an intriguing and timely coming of age read. TW: sexual assault, victim shaming. Thank you #NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for our honest review. (PUB DATE 2/16/21).

All Girls captures one year at a prestigious girls boarding school. The story unfolds through the eyes of several girls at the school in which a rape occurred years prior. The central theme of the novel circles around sexual assault and consent, but it misses a mark to truly ‘say’ something meaningful on the topic. The whole book was leading up to a climax that absolutely fell flat. In fact, when we found out who the ‘culprit’ was I could barely remember who the character was among all the other narrators. What I did love was reading about the lifestyle. Being middle class Midwest, reading about lavish east coast lifestyles of wealthy teens drew me to the story and kept me engaged throughout. However everytime a characters story became interesting, the novel pivoted the spotlight on someone new and I had to scramble to remember who it was. OveralI I enjoyed All Girls, it was fun and it held my interest enough to read it in a weekend. However, it just didn’t have leave any lasting impression. Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I was drawn in with the first chapter of the first day for a young girl attending an elite all girls boarding school.
As she approaches, with her parents, there are signs along the route, accusing a professor of rape.
The story is then told in multiple narratives, and perhaps that's where I started to get a bit lost. I had difficulty keeping track of the girls, as the names, and their personalities seemed similar. That made it difficult for me to care. This was a good book, and I suspect many book clubs will love it.

I, for the life of me, could not get into this book. When I read the description I was hoping for more Gossip Girl vibes. There's an uncomfortable sexual theme in the book that I was not expecting and honestly could have done without. Not my favorite read.

DNF 22%. I found the characters rather insufferable and the writing wasn't enough to hold my attention on this one. It's just not for me right now.