Member Reviews
Flawless Girls was an interesting read. It had a decent message, but it fell a little flat for me. I felt like I was forcing myself to finish it.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to figure out what was happening! I loved how descriptive the author was which was very refreshing as many books I read lack this!
This one I couldn't get into, unfortunately. The prose was too flowery and the descriptions over the top. It felt less like fantasy and more like literary fiction, which might be some people's thing, but sadly isn't mine.
Flawless Girls is not the mystery I thought it was going to be. It's more of a coming-of-age magical realism thriller. Which is fine. It just wasn't what I was expecting.
At the heart of Flawless Girls, it's really a story about learning to be your real self and not what society expects of you or demands of you. I have seen quite a few reviewers call it a giant metaphor, and yes, basically, it is. I would also classify it as a light Dystopian.
Thank you to Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for providing me with a review copy.
Anna-Marie McLemore is one of the best literary voices of this generation, and Flawless Girls is further evidence of that!
Book Review of Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore
Cover Story: Shine Bright
BFF Charm: Caution
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
Talky Talk: McDreamy
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+ Representation
Factor: Sisters
Relationship Status: Nice to Meet You?
Cover Story: Shine Bright
Although this cover is very pretty, there’s something ominous about the dripping gold. Very fitting for the story within.
The Deal:
When Isla and Renata Soler arrive at the Alarie Girls finishing school, Isla immediately senses something is off, and leaves the night they get there. Renata stays, but she’s a completely different person when she returns home after completing her courses. And then she disappears in the night.
To figure out what happened to her sister, Isla must return to the school. But will she be able to keep from means losing herself, too, in the process?
BFF Charm: Caution
Although she always tells the truth, Isla feels like an unreliable narrator because of the uncertainty of the plot. I liked her a lot, but I never felt like I could fully trust her. I commiserate with her confusion—there’s so much about the Alarie Girls and the school that confounds—but she also frightened me. Were I at the school, I likely would have wanted to be her friend. But me attending a finishing school is a hysterical notion, so I doubt we’d have ever crossed paths.
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
When Isla meets Paz, she’s taken aback by the other girls’s louche nature and masculine ways. Paz doesn’t fit in with the rest of the girls at the school, but she’s given free reign to do as she pleases, something that confounds Isla; the rest of them are forced into tight little boxes of decorum, and yet Paz can wear trousers and slouch in chairs. The two have a connection but it’s overshadowed by the larger plot. The two could be something more given time and space, but in the book their relationship takes a backseat to the mystery.
Talky Talk: McDreamy
McLemore’s books are hard to describe to anyone who’s never read them. Part fever dream, part Southern gothic horror, Flawless Girls continues that trend. I both enjoyed and was unsettled by the story and had to sit for a while after finishing to try and sort it out in my head. (Was I successful? Remains to be seen.) I do love their characters, though. They’re always such fully realized individuals with all that comes along with being a flawed human being. Paz was particularly great in this novel; she’s such a breath of fresh air amongst all of the other “proper” folks in the book.
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+ Representation
Isla is intersex and spends much of the book trying to hide her “different” body from the rest of the “normal” girls at Alarie House. But by the end of the novel, she’s realizes that it’s her differences that make her the person she is, and just because her body doesn’t exactly fit the standard set by society, it doesn’t mean she’s lesser or strange. McLemore always has such great queer inclusion in their books, and Isla’s yet another example of this important work.
Factor: Sisters
Isla spends much of the novel trying to get out of the shadow of her older (prettier, smarter, more poised, better in every way) sister, Renata. But no one’s put her there except Isla herself. Watching her come to that realization is both difficult and fist-pump worthy.
Relationship Status: Nice to Meet You?
I can’t say I fully enjoyed our time together, Book, because you gave me anxiety in a very nebulous way. (Which, if you’ve ever experienced anxiety, can often just make it worse.) That said, I think I liked you, overall. It can be good to get out of one’s comfort zone.
Do any of your favorite authors have new books coming out this year?
I am super excited about Anna-Marie McLemore’s newest release, Flawless Girls, which will be coming out tomorrow! Today I am highlighting Flawless Girls as a part of @turnthepagetours’ bookstagram tour with @mackidsbooks!
Here’s a synopsis of Flawless Girls:
The Soler sisters are infamous in polite society—brazen, rebellious, and raised by their fashionable grandmother who couldn’t care less about which fork goes where. But their grandmother also knows the standards that two Latina young ladies will be held to, so she secures them two coveted places at the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites.
Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls in their prim white dresses. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she’s unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes.
As their grandmother uses every connection she has to find Renata, Isla re-enrolls, intent on finding out what happened to her sister. But the Alarie House is as exacting as it is opulent. It won’t give up its secrets easily, and neither will a mysterious, conniving girl who’s either controlling the house, or carrying out its deadly orders.
Tautly written, tense, and evocative, this is a stunning YA novel by award-winning and critically acclaimed author Anna-Marie McLemore.
I love a book with a thrilling academic setting!!
The quick cut: A girl who has never been separated from her sister runs away the first night at a finishing school. Chaos ensues when her sister returns a completely different person and then disappears.
A real review:
Thank you to Feiwel & Friends for providing the arc for an honest review.
People change over time. Even those closest to us can become unrecognizable over time. So what would you do if that was your sibling? This is the case for Isla.
Isla and her sister Renata were sent to a prominent finishing school called the Alarie House to become prim and proper ladies of society. Night one though, Isla runs away and refuses to become one of the eerily sweet girls who finish. When her sister finishes and comes home, Isla doesn't even recognize her before she disappears overnight. What did the Alarie House do to Renata? Can Isla discover the truth going back?
I was definitely the wrong audience for this book, so consider that when it comes to my rating here. The book is like a fever dream that finishes before it feels like it's started and it uses flowery language that makes you wonder what was real. There's very little reality to really cling to in this tale and by the end, you have more questions than answers. I hate that feeling.
I couldn't connect with Isla as a character, but I've also never had the struggles she has. Someone who relates to how she feels would definitely love her journey more. That connection to her family is a good thing though, its what seems to matter most to her.
A book that leaves you wondering what just happened and what if anything was real.
My rating: 3 out of 5
I tried. I really tried. I read the entire book and I feel soooo much was left out and way too much was included. The overall concept of the story is a good one but the focus was too much on imagery and not on the actual plot. I had to read the author's note to finally know what she meant by not like a girl should be meant. I get the vagueness maybe lending to the aspect of anyone could imagine themselves as not quite like everyone else BUT she is intersexed. Don't you think saying that and maybe telling her story of accepting that about herself in real concepts and words instead of eating jewels? I think the book was trying to be more than it was and is rather pretentious.
I just finished this and I am speechless. It has sparked so many thoughts and I will absolutely be rereading it in the future. I recommend adding this to your Pride Month tbr and let me know what you think so we can discuss!
Definitely check this one out if you like:
💎 Dark academia vibes
💎 Spooky houses
💎 Gender exploration
💎 Books that leave your brain feeling broken but you just can’t stop thinking about them
Thank you so much to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.
Magical imagery!
17yo Isla and her 19yo older sister Renata are sent to the well known Alarie House finishing school by their grandmother, who insists that the school’s reputation will set them up for life. Isla leaves after a day but Renata stays and when she returns home, Isla notices how different she is acting and it frightens her. Renata runs away, so Isla decides she’s going back to Alarie House to find her. When Isla arrives at the finishing school, everyone raves about Renata to her but she’s nowhere to be found. What Isla does find is haunting.
Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the analogy between jewels and people where flaws make us better and more beautiful. The author handled gender situations with tact and compassion and from personal experience. I liked Isla’s determination and intelligence.
Mature content: PG-13
Language: PG for 6 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody stabbing.
Ethnicity: mixed with Latina main characters.
I'm always here to try out a book where the synopsis gives off Gothic or dark academia vibes. I enjoyed a good part of what I read, but at the 30% mark this book began to drag and get too repetitive for me. Anytime it takes me almost a week to make a 10% progress jump on a book I have to consider jumping ship to avoid putting myself in a slump.
I did like the writing and I enjoyed the start of what seemed to be an extended metaphor that was going to carry throughout the rest of the book. I was interested in our protagonist and the plot of her missing sister, but the rest of the story seemed to lack the substance needed to keep it going.
I'd consider reading something else by this author in the future because I really did like her prose, but this one just wasn't for me.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
Flawless Girls follows the Soler sisters, whose experiences at the mysterious Alarie House finishing school draws them into a twisty mystery.
Anna-Marie McLemore's latest is a mystical literary venture that, for me, was so much more about vibes than anything else. The book examines womanhood and femininity in some really interesting and engaging ways, and though its metaphors can be heavy-handed at times, I did find this approach incredibly thought-provoking. McLemore always breaks down gender in interesting, nuanced ways, and I feel like that skill is on full display in Flawless Girls. This, combined with the overall brief length of the book, made for a quick read which, though flawed, will be one I think back on frequently.
FLAWLESS GIRLS is a hard book to rate and review. It's a mish-mosh of Mona Awad weirdness and cultural commentary wrapped in a package that originally read as YA thriller. With better labeling, this could have been a real smash hit for me. I initially went into this thinking it would be one thing and got something completely different. This is not always a bad thing, but there were several moments where this book leaped away from reality and left me a bit confused and made it hard to digest what I was reading. I love a strange and warped book, but when I don't know what I'm getting it becomes less compelling. This is by no means McLemore's fault and rather her publishing team for not advertising this book for its true nature. I think YA needs to start getting weirder a la FLAWLESS GIRLS! What I did enjoy about this book was the overall messaging, deep dive into gender, and pushback on the roles women/girls fill in society. The ending was perhaps the best piece of this book where the Alarie House girls are giving into their true selves. Brilliant work there that was unfortunately overshadowed a bit by a lack of clarity at the beginning. I'm interested to see what else McLemore has in store, and I am truly thrilled to see some depravity creep into the YA genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Rating: 3.5/4 stars
This turned out to be a much more thoughtful YA book than I expected, the description didn’t do it justice. It’s a coming-of-age magical realism thriller. This is a book that gets you to think about what it means to be feminine in society, what is deemed socially acceptable for your gender, being authentic to yourself, and what that all means when you don’t fit in.
I love the use of gemstones to convey how flaws are as beautiful, if not more so, than being flawless. Becoming flawless in society means to hide parts of yourself that are deemed socially unacceptable. To become whole, you must embrace your flaws.
*Provided a DRC (digital review copy) from the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 4.5/5 Penguins (rounded down)
Quick Reasons: #ownvoices; richly detailed, gilded purple prose; I felt as if I could swim in these words; intriguing, interesting world building; glittering glamor with a subtle hint of something festering; a coming of self story for the ages
HUGE thanks to Anna-Marie McLemore, @macmillanusa , and @netgalley for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.
This was a poignant, gorgeously faceted look into the ways society raises girls (to be perfect, to be flawless, to be diamond bright) and the many ways those pressures breathe, shape, and reform through the years. From the first page, there is something lurking just out of sight-- something festering, simmering, waiting. This was a whirlwind read, the prose almost as shining as the girls in the finishing school. This read chokes with the unknown, begging readers to dig beneath the pretty and unearth the raw truth.
This read is not for the faint of heart, Penguins. It will make you face things you do not wish to; it will make you unravel what you've ever learned, been told, told others. The prose is vividly purple, a trench in which some readers will flourish and others will tip. If you're brave enough, you'll find the heart of the story beating... but you must push for it. These characters and their motivations are wholly believable, the mystery of the paranormal well crafted and honed just right to weave a tale of perfection.... and perfection's flaws.
I definitely recommend to lovers of the paranormal, readers who long to uncover decades of secrets, and those who question the price perfection costs. This book will leave you questioning and breathless, Penguins. The crack is widening; are you ready to break through?
Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore is a wonderfully written, beautiful YA novel.
This book really captivated me from beginning to end.
It was cleverly written with excellent plot development, interesting characters and a story that kept me glued to the pages.
The characters McLemore created are well constructed and have a lot to add to this brilliant novel.
An intriguing read that keeps you on the edge of your seat making it impossible to put down.
Thank you NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Flawless Girls is engaging, disturbing, and in the end satisfying read about what it means to be a girl. I really enjoyed the author's note. You could tell how much care was put into this book! And i really enjoyed the intersex representation of our main character. I was really interested in the relationship between the sisters and the ties between the other characters. The best way I can explain this book is that it's kinda like a fever dream, it's very heavy handed with imagery and related metaphors, it could have been a little less but it was still enjoyable! I'm looking forward to reading more books by Anna-Marie McLemore! Thank you Turn the Page Tours, Anna-Marie McLemore and Feiwel & Friends for sharing this book with me!
Rounded up from 3.75!
Flawless Girls was a wild ride. It felt like the first step into converting contemporary YA readers into thriller lovers! I was on the edge of my seat from the moment Isla stepped into Alarie House and with every turn and reveal I became more enamored with the house, the school, and the girls.
Anna-Marie McLemore is a beautiful writer who provides lifelike descriptions of the setting to aid the reader as we follow Isla, desperate to try and find out what happened to her sister.
To top it all off, while trying to save her sister, Isla is trying to navigate being different. She's a girl, but not a carbon copy of every other girl at Alarie House. The stress she carries adds another layer of tension to the novel, and it is important Intersex representation.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! Anna-Marie McLemore just has the best way with words. All of her stories always have me completely enraptured (sometimes confused) with the magical feel of her worlds, characters, and prose. Flawless Girls is a wonderful examination on gender and femininity and society's expectations on women that while set in the past still reflect many of the expectations in today. This was an excellent read that I highly recommend.