Who doesn't want a glimpse into life at a private girl's school in New England? The setting is fine and the issues are important ones, but to me, the characters were a little too quirky and sometimes lacked believability. But it is a thought provoking read and should appeal to both teens and adults.

This book was well written with many interesting characters. At times, I did feel there was a little too much going on with the many characters. The dither, Emily Layden, did a good job offering different viewpoints about various issues such as sexual assault, sweeping things under the rug, and the elite boarding school life. This novel will capture the minds of many young adult readers.

* A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy

The cover of this book implies that this will be sort of a gossipy book about snobby private school girls. Instead, it is a serious, accurate and timely exploration of the real pressures of “coming of age,” with an emphasis on confusion and fumbling experiences of sexuality among young women. I thought it was very well done, and that the personal individual stories of each of the girls rang very true to life. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for review.

The premise of this book is very intriguing, a private all girls boarding school and scandal. Unfortunately the story has too many points of view and too many characters for it to be all encompassing and compelling. Takes too much attention to try to keep track of who everyone is. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I was disappointed in this book and I had such high hopes because I love stories that take place at schools. I kept waiting for something to happen or to land on a character who drew me in but neither occurred. Will not mention online as I don’t like to leave a negative review.

I think the author is talented, but the book is too poorly focused for me. There are many descriptions of traditional school events, but I was so awash with names and connections. I was pretty confused, by halfway my head was really spinning.

3 for neutral, unfortunately this was not a book for me, or at least not at this time. I did try to read a few times, but it just was oddly written and very slow. I’m a very moody reader, so if I am able to finish at later date, I’ll update.

It is not lost on me that although I often gravitate towards books about boarding school, I rarely enjoy them. Of course, it must be said that I also work at a boarding school, so I understand all of the nuances, strange traditions, and overall bizarreness of the bubble-world these schools inhabit. Debut author Emily Layden received a six-figure deal for All Girls, and if nothing else, she also understands these institutions and hits the details right on the nose. All Girls is being touted as an “ensemble” novel, and I love a book that jumps from character to character, but Layden doesn’t do enough to distinguish the voices. All of the girls blur together, and maybe that symbolizes the homogeneity of these schools, but it doesn’t make for great reading. The basic plot revolves around a decades-old sexual assault and how the school, Atwater, deals with the past and current ramifications. None of the characters stand out enough to mention, and many of them play frustratingly token roles. Layden’s writing is sharp and easy--she should have used that skill to focus more on a few of the young women to create some empathy and attachment. All Girls is an odd mix of strong writing and an interesting subject with a fizzling-out plot and poorly developed characters. The writing and subject make it worth a look by readers who enjoy an ensemble-style book and are intrigued by boarding schools.

A strong start, however this book ended up being a collection of POV's by narrators living at the same all girls boarding school in the throes of a sex scandal. While this book fell short as adult fiction, I do think it has an audience of mature teens, and will recommend accordingly.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I love stories set in boarding schools/acadamies usually, but this one honestly just bored me out of my mind.

First, I want to express my appreciation to both St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book pre-publication in February, 2021.

It opens with Lauren and her parents driving to Atwater, an all-girls boarding school in Connecticut where she plans to spend at least the next year. Along the road they see signs alluding to the fact that there’s a crisis brewing at the school. It turns out an ex-student of Atwater has claimed she was raped by one of the teachers and that person is still teaching there.

This book begins with a bang with Lauren meeting her roommate and a few of the other students. The descriptions of these personalities drew me in and I wanted to follow their year-long journey. Instead the author introduces more girls with names and backgrounds I can’t remember after a few pages. It was like a few vignettes of different girls at the school – never getting to know any one of them well.

The author also touched on topics I wanted to read more about like hazing and the requirement of wearing white dresses at graduation. But there was no thread tying all this information together. As they often say on Chopped, “it wasn’t a cohesive dish.”

So I slogged through to the end, but I can’t recommend this book.

I think I have a thing for books that take place in a boarding school, but this one was a little off for me. For starters there were a lot of characters and a lot of stories to follow concerning the allegations of sexual by a teacher and most of them seem to be newer students. Its an interesting look at an elite girls's boarding school that is rocked by a scandal.
Thank you #Netgalley and St Martins press for the Arc.

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Even though this book is written in the way that it could come across as a women's fiction novel, the level of language and the characters' personalities comes across as very YA feel. This novel is set at an all-girls boarding school in the year 2015 called Atwater. It is Lauren and her new friends a first year, driving up to the school - they are bombarded with what looks like election signs proclaiming that the school has a teacher who is a rapist. The novel then follows several of the students' experiences in the school from hazing to initiations to the life of being part of the campus in general. All with the undertones of trying to work out which teacher was accused of rape and the consequences that the student had coming forward in 1995 and the school just sweeping it under the rug as of course this is considered bad publicity for the school. All Girls felt very realistic as you can imagine what schools would have been like back in 1995 which was years before this #MeToo Movement and also boarding schools/ private schools have more often than not a reputation to uphold and don't need this staining their perfect records and image. All Girls by Emily Layden was also a slow-paced read and at times the characters did feel a bit immature but overall was a thought-provoking novel as we think about how far we have come in terms of the #MeToo movement and what it is has meant for the development of rape accusations in today's world as things like this are taken more seriously now and a lot of women are now being listened too, whereas in 1995 - it was mainly he said/she said and without any evidence, it was seen as simple hearsay and if the person was in a position of power, the odds were in their corner to come out on top rather than the victims.

This was a fantastic debut novel. The novel begins as Lauren Triplett is on her way to her new boarding school, an elite institution where serious allegations against a faculty member have recently been made. From there, the novel shifts perspectives rapidly, showing how various members of the school community process and react to the situation. At first I thought it would be hard to keep track of so many narrators, but ended up liking this structure, as it gave the novel a sense of intensity and claustrophobia that mirrored the experience of the characters in this isolated environment.

The font seemed a little small and smashed together. I didn't care for the details in the beginning describing the land. Signs appear near a boarding school proclaiming a rapist. Lauren starts the boarding school and her roommate is Bryce. I was curious to see what would happen.

I was really intrigued by the plot line of this book, however, unfortunately I think there were too many characters, each were pretty indistinguishable from one another, and lots of them didn't advance the plot.

I think if there were a few core characters, who were more linked to the main plot line, it could have become more like The Secret History.

I went to an all girls high school, though not boarding school, and thought the sense of home and family that this title strikes is spot on. That makes it all the more jarring when you realize something horrible happened at the school, and the school is trying to cover it up. I could not put this book down! I love the changing point of views, giving a full 360 degree view of how each girl is processing this information and handling it-while also trying to handle being a teenage girl which anyone who was a teenage girl will say is truly hard enough.

All Girls has an interesting concept and one that any fan of literary fiction would enjoy. However, there were too many character POV's and it became very confusing to differentiate between them all. This caused my focus to wane. I will say though that I think this book has very good bones and would be a great read for those who can focus on a multitude of character narratives- that's unfortunately not me.

Emily Layden's All Girls is the story of a school year at a prestigious all-girls boarding school. When the freshmen are on their way to the campus, they see mysterious signs that point to sexual misconduct on campus. The first chapter serves as a jumping-off point for an unfolding of the truth of campus life that will come out throughout the year. As the reader experiences events like Vespers and prom with the characters, they also see a different campus side not shown on the brochure. Layden's narrators come in the forms of various girls on campus who lend a distinctive voice to life at Atwater. I was engrossed in this novel and would definitely read another book by Emily Layden. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes books about schools or books that talk about the Me Too movement.