a disappointing blend of melodrama and mystery that fails to live up to its intriguing premise. Despite some promising elements, like the eerie atmosphere and the hints of something darker lurking behind the school's facade, the story falls flat. The characters are either too one-dimensional or overly dramatic, and the pacing feels forced rather than natural. It’s a tale of secrets and deception that lacks the depth and complexity needed to keep you invested. The amount of similies about diamonds and gems please stop.

This book is confusing. I personally enjoyed it quite a lot, even though at the end I still wasn't sure what exactly happened throughout the book. The "lesson" of the book is pretty clear though: All of you is what makes you whole, and true beauty includes flaws. You can’t break yourself into parts and live like that forever. Your flaws can even be a great source of beauty, like the way that flaws in emeralds make them stunning.

There is a lot to process with this story, and I think it would be an interesting book club pick just for the conversations, interpretations, and questions that would be brought up. Everyone else I have talked with who has read this book just left it at "that was weird and confusing," and even the author's note at the end was confusing. But again, to me, that makes it a great read for people who would be willing to dive in and pick it apart. I believe it will find its audience, but it's going to be a smaller adoring audience than most of McLemore's books. I will still be recommending it to plenty of readers.

Flawless Girls is about two girls who go to a boarding school for training to be society ladies. This reminded me a lot of The Honeys so anyone who likes that one should pick this one up. One of the sisters goes missing and the other goes back to the school to find out what happened to her. While a good portion of the book felt like a fever dream (I'm guessing that's why it ranked lower in some reviews) something that redeemed it for me was the discussions about gender, sexuality, femininity, and what's socially acceptable. I also appreciated the perspective of the author as a non-binary person. I think a lot of suspense, horror, and mystery readers would enjoy this one and it would be a good addition to any secondary library collection. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I very much appreciate being gifted this copy of Flawless Girls, and the opportunity to read & review it. Thanks to the publisher. Anna-Marie McLemore is such a telented writer, and I truly enjoyed this book.

Pretty much all of A.M. McLemore's other books can be classified as magical realism, and while I would argue there's a taste of that in this story as well, it’s also branching out into new genres that we haven’t really seen too much from them before like horror, thriller, mystery, surrealism. It’s a bit darker than what they usually write, but I think it really works.

As queer people, as gender expansive people, as people with bodies and experiences that don’t neatly fit into these very delineated forms of "acceptability," you are made to feel horrifying—you are made to feel that you don’t belong, that there isn’t space for you, that your experiences aren’t "real enough" compared to everyone else. And because that dissonance is so difficult to process, we often reflect that horror back onto ourselves and onto the world around us, which is exactly why the tense, creepy, unsettling tone of the story is so incredibly effective.

The elements of horror and surrealism in the story are anything but cliché. They’re unexpected, they’re just slightly offbeat, and all of that adds up to a truly bizarre yet satisfying ending.

I will say. the story does get a bit repetitive in its messaging towards the end. Like it’s *really* gonna hammer its message home and make sure the reader does not miss it. That didn’t bother me too much, because I found that message to be incredibly resonant. But I did notice it regardless. But even with that said, this was another incredible story from the brilliant mind of A.M. McLemore.

Beautiful, but difficult to ground yourself in. Sort of like the Alarie girls themsleves, this book was gracefully, lavishly written--but without much substance beneath. The jewel/gem/color metaphors were too much about a third of the way in, and only continued to pile on.

I would have liked more of Isla's interior life--thoughts, emotions, confusions, reactions--as she navigates a world of polish and pretension and tries not to let it turn her into something she doesn't want to be.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review.***

Anna-Marie McLemore does it again. This time with a magical realism book about intersex identity. I really loved this.

I thought this book was pretty good. I found the narrative a bit confusing, but the characters were well developed and I loved the intrigue going on in the ladie's finishing school. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book and give it every chance, even knowing that as a Gen X’er, I am not necessarily the audience. I more stories like these, but I feel like the story here relied too much on and got bogged down by the metaphors so it was hard to simply connect with the characters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book. The synopsis sounded great. A creepy school for young ladies? Yes please.

Unfortunately….this book was not for me. I wanted to love it. But I did not. There was nothing inherently ‘off’ about the book. I just felt I wasn’t the target audience.

I will return to this book at a later date. Anna-Marie McLemore is a great author and I highly recommend Flawless Girls. If you have enjoyed their other works, you will also enjoy this. I love their writing.

2.5-stars: Flawless Girls had an interesting concept, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The premise of a group of seemingly perfect girls with hidden flaws had so much potential, but the execution felt a bit underwhelming. The story had its moments of intrigue, but the plot was often predictable and lacked the tension I was hoping for.

The characters, while initially intriguing, didn’t feel fully fleshed out. I wanted more complexity and depth from them to really connect with their struggles and motivations. Instead, they often came across as stereotypical and one-dimensional, which made it hard to stay invested in their journeys.

The pacing was uneven, with some sections dragging while others moved too quickly, glossing over important plot points that could have added more weight to the story. That said, there were a few twists that kept me somewhat engaged, even if they didn’t completely surprise me.

Overall, Flawless Girls had the potential to be a gripping read, but it didn’t quite live up to its premise. It’s a quick read and might appeal to readers looking for a light, suspenseful story, but for me, it lacked the depth and complexity I was hoping for.

This had a surprising amount of body horror for a young adult novel, which I absolutely loved! I think teens can withstand a bit of gross yuckfactor in their stories, and love the way McLemore handled it here. I will say that the overall message of this one seemed like it was trying to be given via metaphor, but it was pretty heavy handed. That also said, I'm not the exact target audience for this, so keeping in mind that I'm an adult and not a teen, maybe it's not so heavy handed at all? I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and love how much depth and emotion McLemore packs into their books.

Anna-Marie McLemore writes such beautiful stories that even when the description has me unsure of if I'd like the book I know I'll at least love the prose and that's what happened here.

Flawless Girls is a short novel that functions as an extended metaphor for girlhood and the way women are forced to shave down the "bad" parts of themselves to fit into societal expectations. I loved the social commentary aspects of the story but found myself needing more grounding in the magical realism/horror elements of the story. The prose is lush and evocative and I loved the imagery even if I did sometimes find myself getting lost in the details about gems.

I also loved Isla as a main character and her struggles reconciling her body (especially being intersex) and behaviors with societal expectations of what it means to be a girl. That being said, the rest of the characters felt a little more one dimensional. I think I personally just wanted to see more, especially with regards to the world, and Paz and Renata.

Flawless Girls really went hard on metaphor and messaging. It was, frankly, hard to miss. I enjoyed the thriller aspect with a touch of body horror sprinkled in. This one is definitely worth the read!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

Flawless Girls, we follow the Soler sisters as they attend the "Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites." - synopsis

Isla returns after one day at the school while Renata remains at the school. Mysteries unfold when Renata goes missing and Isla, after many strings are pulled, returns to find her sister.

This story starts off very eery and creepy the perfect dark academic setting. I loved the writing in this novel overall. However, I found the storytelling to be disjointed and very told. The story felt very told instead of lived through iwth the characters. Jumping between present life, with different storylines and the history of the woman who have graduated from Alarie House. I found the story to be unique and needing to be told, with a real relatable component of the 'parts of a woman'. Just didn't feel that it was executed very well.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for the ARC copy of this novel for my honest review.

I'm not really sure what to make of this one. The premise was interesting and I liked the intersection of expectations on girls and the role of race and culture. And the writing itself is careful and intentional. But the reality of the plot is confusing. I was never fully clear as to what was going on. I feel like proper understanding would require a second closer read but I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

This is just creepy enough to feel like horror without going all-out. It still feels like McLemore's familiar magical realism but with the horror aspects dialed up. The atmosphere and writing and vibes are immaculate. The plot is a little confusing still, but it was an immersive read and I had trouble putting it down, even if I wasn't sure what was happening for the last quarter.

I LOVED the commentary throughout on what it means to be a perfect girl and what striving for that does to someone and how that was tied together in the end. Having Isla, an intersex girl, as POV character and Bas, a lesbian, as love interest, eternally perplexed by the other girls' - including her beloved sister's - drive for perfection really helped sell the themes.

The audiobook was well narrated and enhanced the reading experience.

*Thanks to Feiwel and Friends for providing an early copy for review.

Anna-Marie McLemore's books are always impeccable, and this one was no different! Their books always touch upon identity and include magical realism; one thing I also love about their work is how timeless their books feel-- they could take place today or they could take place 100 years ago.

This one follows Isla, who enrolls at an elite girls' finishing school called the Alarie House along with her older sister Renata. After seeing something unsettling her first night at the house, Isla believes that something is wrong and flees, though Renata chooses to stay. Months later, when Renata returns home, she is no longer herself-- and shortly after her return, she disappears. In order to find the truth about her sister, Isla returns to the Alarie House...and discovers disturbing horrors within its jeweled walls.

Much like McLemore's previous books, Flawless Girls is lush and lyrical, though this one leans more horror than their other books. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that this book is a fascinating exploration of how gender is performed, and specifically the confines of traditional femininity. What does being a girl really mean? What happens when girls do not fit this mold? What happens when we push back against these gendered expectations? And what happens when we tear them down?

Flawless Girls is unique, beautiful, and disturbing. It has queer rep--specifically a main character who is intersex (an identity underrepresented in YA literature!), and several characters who are not explicitly labeled but who defy heteronormativity.

Highly recommend to readers who've enjoyed McLemore's previous books, or enjoyed "A Lesson In Vengeance" by Victoria Lee or "What Big Teeth" by Rose Szabo.

**⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | A Lyrical and Enchanting Tale of Identity and Empowerment**

Anna-Marie McLemore’s *Flawless Girls* is a beautifully written novel that intertwines magical realism with powerful themes of identity, beauty, and self-acceptance. McLemore’s lyrical prose creates a vivid, enchanting world where the characters' struggles with perfection and societal expectations are portrayed with deep empathy and nuance. The story’s rich symbolism and emotional depth make it a compelling read, though the pacing may feel slow at times. Despite this, *Flawless Girls* is a captivating exploration of what it means to embrace one’s flaws and find true strength within.