I love a good novel in a school setting and this one checked all the boxes! Layden follows nine girls at a prestigious all-girls boarding school as they face the challenges of school, friendships, and boy problems--all amidst a scandal of an alleged rape of a previous student by a male faculty member. It's an honest and straight-forward look at contemporary society and the issues our kids face as they navigate high school, social media, and the often-blurred lines of right and wrong. It's just a lovely, heartfelt coming-of-age story that will resonate long after the final page.

I am often drawn towards YA novels, and have read quite a few based on an all girls boarding school set in New England, with a heavy dollop of something controversial to pique the interest. All Girls is exactly that. As the novel opened and flowed through the beginning, I could see where it was going, but it was written in a tone that still tempted me to continue reading. I welcomed the settings and the characters the most, and definitely picked up on the accurate insights and perspectives of the college girls. I am thrilled that the author is drawing attention to the multitude of controversial topics addressed in this novel - it is so important for them to be addressed and talked about - and am impressed with the way she was able to address them in such real life situations.

I struggled with my rating. I loved the writing style and tone, (and clearly the topic), and would love to read more by this author, but I feel everything shifted after the beginning of the book and became scattered and never really circled back.

One year at a prestigious all girls boarding school in New England unfolds from multiple POVs. The backdrop is a scandal - a teacher accused of raping a student back in the 90s and the current lawsuit, but this book is more a coming of age novel. I enjoyed the multiple POVs (which are written in third person), but I notice many reviews do not. I did not find it difficult to follow the story. Each POV gave a different perspective, not just on life at the boarding school, but on different insecurities that many girls feel as they navigate adolescence - sexual awakening/experience/identity; sexual assault; imposter syndrome; just generally thinking everyone is coping much better than you are, etc.

"ALL GIRLS captures one year at a prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their ambitions, friendships, and fears against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced.

But as the months unfold, and the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis fall short, these extraordinary girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power. A tender and unflinching portrait of modern adolescence told through the shifting perspectives of an unforgettable cast of female students, ALL GIRLS explores what it means to grow up in a place that promises you the world––when the world still isn't yours for the taking."

From the book: "the portion of a culture that takes and takes and takes from girls, all the while refusing to recognize them as whole people. . . .[T}hey didn't only want to be seen. They wanted to feel like they mattered."

There's a WHOLE lotta truth in those few sentences. I found all the girls to be relatable in one way or another, regardless of how much of their POV related to my experiences as a teenage girl. Fantastic debut novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This could have been such a good book. The premise was good, it kind of reminded me of “Prep”, which I really loved. But the story being told by so many voices made it seem disjointed and confusing. I couldn’t form an attachment to a character because as soon as I started to get invested, another chapter would begin. Kind of disappointed in this one.

On the way to her first day at the Atwater boarding school in Connecticut, Lauren and her family are faced with hundreds of flyers en route to school that say “A Rapist Works Here.” Thus begins All Girls by Emily Layden, a look at how a school handles or fails to handle the accusation of sexual assault on an alum by a faculty member. Soon, the members of the school community are buzzing about the incident, trying to fit the pieces together. In each subsequent chapter we are introduced to new characters, so many, in fact, that it becomes quite a puzzle to keep track of and differentiate them all. There are definitely some interesting and important discussions about consent and school responsibility. And the book begs the question what is more important to an institution, protecting their students or protecting the good name of the school? But ultimately, it was a story that felt a bit disjointed and was difficult to get fully invested in. Thank you to St. Matin’s Press and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book because the premise sounded like it was going to be good. Unfortunately the pace of the writing was a little slow for me. I didn't really feel connexted to any of the characters and I didn't really get to apoint where I feel like the socially commentary I expected popped up. I am sure it was there, but 38% into the book with nothing but a bunch of character introductions and build up but no actual pay out and I couldn't stay with it. I love the idea of the boom, I just prefer a faster paced story line for this type of drama.

The epigraph reads, “Young women deserve to have their experiences seen more fully. This book is dedicated to them.” The book opens with parents and students winding their way through the Connecticut countryside en route to The Atwater School. They encounter an unwelcome surprise en route: signs that read “a rapist teaches here” line the roads. The students are scared. The parents are concerned. Against this foreboding backdrop, Layden employs an unusual structure to great effect: the lives of nine students take center stage, and in rotating points of view, these nine different narrators take us through the school year, each story centering on a major event like orientation, fall fest, or prom, as experienced by that girl. Through it all, the campus investigation continues, and the students grapple with their position at an institution that exists to empower girls—until it comes at a cost. Readers, take note: triggers abound, including sexual assault.

I liked this book quite a bit, but I’m a sucker for a boarding school book, especially adult novels about teen characters, especially set in New England. And with a feminist theme, absolutely. But while the author is making a point about “all girls’” experiences with sex and shame and anxiety at an “all girls’” school, there are way too many POV to care strongly about any of them. There are certainly memorable moments: the drive on to campus with the signs, the date rape in the corn maze, the runner with severe anxiety, but the girls mostly blend together and the scandal gets watered down to nothing by the middle of the book. The scandal was the hook for this book, and then it seemed to get completely lost after the teacher leaves and the “pranks” get smaller and smaller.

Atwater is a prestigious all-girls school in Connecticut. At the start of the novel, we’re introduced to freshman Lauren, as she and her family are navigating to the school for the first time. As they approach the small town, they see a number of yard signs announcing “A RAPIST WORKS HERE”.

The novel continues, each chapter focusing on a new student, as well as the ongoing rape allegations of an unknown faculty member and an alumna from 20 years ago.

I felt this novel had some really good portions, focusing on a lot of different aspects adolescents face (sexuality, rape, trauma, classism and racism) but I also found it hard to get through, mainly because every single chapter focuses on a new student.

Overall, I found myself giving this one 2 stars, mainly because I wish the author would have focused more on just a few main characters. I also felt like the main focus of the rape allegations and how the school dealt with them (as well as the mystery student) could have been formatted better.

All Girls rings with authenticity. Having worked at an all girls boarding school, this book rang true in terms of girl culture and boarding school culture and traditions. This book also echoes the #MeToo movement. I often wondered if the author was a student or teacher at the school where I worked at a different time! Well done!

This was a relevant, interesting read with a fantastic setting but felt really disjointed to me. I had a hard time connecting with the characters because there were so many glimpses into them but not enough for me to dig in and identify with them all. I feel if there was one character in a few core groups that I could see through this might have worked better for me.... but that aside I enjoyed the story and liked quite a lot about this book. The triggering aspects were very well written and the writing moves along well with the events. I would absolutely read more from this Author and I'm thankful for the opportunity to read it through this forum.

I requested this title because of the comparisons to Curtis Sittenfield’s *Prep." "Prep" is one of my favorite books and I do agree that readers who enjoyed *Prep* will likely also enjoy *All Girls.* The book's setting takes place at an all-girls boarding school called Atwater. This is set in 2015. The novel starts with our main character, Lauren, and her new friends driving up to the school - they begin to notice an abundance of billboards that look almost like an election campaign proclaiming that the school has a teacher who is a rapist. We come to learn that a student (from 1995) is suing the school because she was assaulted by a teacher and never received true justice. The story continued on to be told from many different points of view-all involving the same subject, I really thought the character development was well done and that the author had the balls to face this very common problem of prestigious schools covering up issues to save their reputations and tuition. "All Girls" is a story that could take place at any school in this country today, Sometimes the different perspectives got a little tiresome, but the point was made and I appreciated that.

All Girls by Emily Layden sucked me in from the very first page. The writing, the different & distinct POVs, the lush atmosphere of the school- I loved it all. It was a challenge not to rush through the book to get to the end, but I just couldn't put it down. Highly recommend!!!!

Boarding school is one of my favorite settings for a book - the isolation of a small group of students who are coming of age gives a writer and a reader a lot to unpack! All Girls was no exception - we follow a diverse group of nine girls through a year at Atwater, a prestigious school with an image problem. As the school reckons with a sexual abuse lawsuit, the girls reckon with their own romantic/sexual experiences and their time at Atwater.

I enjoyed having a window into the lives of these girls - Layden dedicates a chapter to each girl's point of view, and we see figures from other chapters pop up in the context of friendships and classes. Each girl's circumstances are different but their struggles with identity fit together well. My only critique of the structure is that I wanted more from each girl - having each story at only one point in the year didn't let me know how they processed those experiences and grew from them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the novel - the writing felt real, and I could see my teenage self at Atwater being friends with these girls. The discussions of consent, power, and feminism sprinkled within the pages add depth to the book, making it more "literary fiction" than just a "boarding school drama".

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I liked this book quite a bit, but I’m a sucker for a boarding school book, especially adult novels about teen characters, especially set in New England. And with a feminist theme, absolutely. But while the author is making a point about “all girls’” experiences with sex and shame and anxiety at an “all girls’” school, there are way too many POV to care strongly about any of them. There are certainly memorable moments: the drive on to campus with the signs, the date rape in the corn maze, the runner with severe anxiety, but the girls mostly blend together and the scandal gets watered down to nothing by the middle of the book. The scandal was the hook for this book, and then it seemed to get completely lost after the teacher leaves and the “pranks” get smaller and smaller.

This honest coming of age story is full of captivating, descriptive language. This story is set in the middle of nowhere Connecticut at an elite, all-girls boarding school called Atwater. The book starts on the opening day and continues throughout the year, all the way up until graduation through all of the school's important traditions. From the first day, a rape allegation of a former student from the 80s starts to get media traction, and it seems like the school is covering things up to save the reputation of a beloved and accomplished teacher by discrediting the alum. The book follows a group of girls starting the school year, from freshman to seniors, and each of their different perspectives and backgrounds as they try to find out the truth that their school's been hiding for years. We follow various girls from different classes, cliques, who all have different coming of age journeys. It's a captivating mystery trying to deduce what happened and how each girl can relate the alum's story to their own life and how big of an issue assault and rape is as young women.

i really enjoyed reading this book, you could tell that the characters felt like real people and I enjoyed going through the story.

Compulsively readable and of the moment, All Girls is an examination of the fallout of sexual misconduct at Atwater, an elite all girls boarding school. The novel opens with an unsettling mystery: someone has placed signs along the route leading to the school accusing a renowned professor of rape. All Girls unfolds in multiple viewpoints in a structure that follows traditional mileposts of a school year as more pranks occur blaming the institution and leadership of Atwater for turning their backs on their students. .

This novel would be perfect for book clubs with its commentary on predatory sexual behavior swept under the rug in the 80's and 90's that is now forced into the light in the lens of these #metoo times.

It was difficult to keep track of the multiple characters (many with similar names), but I wonder if that was the point: to generalize and personify the way a portion of our culture treats girls not as fully formed humans but as objects to be admired, pursued and consumed.

As a bookseller, I would recommend All Girls to fans of Celeste Ng. Would be a good pick for older YA/New Adult readers as well.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.*

The first book I've read by Emily Layden, All Girls is the story of the fictional Atwater School, a boarding school in Connecticut that caters to the privileged, rich and legacy daughters of the Important People. Initially I thought it might be a thriller. But it's not that. Then I thought it was going to be sexually deviant or scandalous. But it's not that. It seems to be confused as to what it is. In fact, I couldn't tell you who the main characters were. The story seemed to move from character to character without a real reason. There wasn't a specific character you cheered for or hated. And I felt like just when I started to get invested in the characters, the story ended and I was left going "huh"?

It was entertaining because I like a story about rich snooty girls as much as the next person. And often the writing is fantastic. But it seemed like the organization was not well mapped out and I still don't understand the actual plot.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.