Flawless Girls is a mysterious, suspenseful, almost bordering on thriller story about a finishing school. It's about the confines of womanhood, of the cages girls are trained to inhabit. All the ways society will enforce our obedience, our empty gazes, and complacency. The myriad of ways we have to learn how to be a girl. In many ways, I loved Flawless Girls for its themes. For the ways McLemore examines and explores this specific image of girlhood, being unmoved, un-opinionated, and 'flawless'.

After a promising, engaging start to the book, it devolved into madness. Though gothic horror is definitely a genre, this work needed a smidge more reality on which to hang its gothic fever dream. It just became too bizarre.

3.5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Flawless Girls has a lot going for it, and depending on what you’re looking for, I think you’ll really enjoy it. Having recently finished Bridgerton season 3 part 1 (and gone back started rewatching), I really liked the way this book explored a similar concept of extreme femininity and the pressure put on a “finished” girl to be a proper lady, especially when you don’t fit in, for whatever reason, including falling outside the gender binary (something that the show lacks thus far).
While I can’t say I was super invested in the characters, I did like the exploration of gender, especially with the MC being intersex. And the relationships between the girls at Alarie House intrigued me in their own way.
The writing is quite beautiful and engrossing, and the story itself is rife with symbolism. I admit it was a little more literary and metaphorical in places than I expected, but it was balanced by short chapters which kept the pacing going.
While this was kind of a mixed bag, this is still an objectively good book, and I’d recommend it to readers interested in a literary historical-horror that explores queerness and gender identity.

I've always enjoyed Anna-Marie McLemore's books, and this one is no exception. Flawless Girls is a masterpiece, offering a glimpse into the theme of the mind in the act of disintegration along the lines of Sylvia Plath's "The Yellow Wallpaper." The story centers on two sisters, Isla and Renata, who have to make it through finishing school in order to temper their reputation for being, ahem, a bit uncouth. But Isla soon learns that the Alarie House is hiding some very sinister secrets and that the house itself is affecting the girls in horrifying ways. Especially Isla's sister Renata, who is all but unrecognizable after she graduates, returning as a sickeningly polite and sadistic verson of her former self. When Renata vanishes without a trace, Isla decides to return to Alarie House to find out what happened to her sister. But she ends up learning much more than she bargained for. Overall, this novel offers poignant and impactful metaphors explicating how perfection is a silent killer, slowly chipping away at our well-being in ways we don't often realize. Even more importantly, it epitomizes the way we often feel we have to hide the "unacceptable" pieces of ourselves in shadow. Because ultimately, Isla will have to unravel the mystery behind Alarie's horrors without getting unhinged herself--a very relatable balancing act for us all. My only caveat is that this book could have been a bit more plot-driven, but as a literary work it is flawless. Highly recommended for any and all library shelves.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be. While the writing was beautiful, it was hard to follow at times and I really struggled getting through each chapter. I'm not the ideal reader for this book, but I can see many others enjoying it.

Anna-Marie McLemore is one of my favorite contemporary YA authors. I snagged a giveaway copy of When The Moon Was Ours back in 2016 and, ever since, I’ve been hooked. McLemore writes with such lyrical prose and such loving care, and, although Flawless Girls didn’t soar to the heights of their previous novels for me, I still consider it a really enjoyable book and one I would recommend.

Flawless Girls is the story of two sisters: Isla and Renata. The two of them are more than close: they’re a “matched set,” a complete pair. Sent to Alarie House, an eerie finishing school, to finish their education, younger sister Isla runs away on the first night, abandoning her older sister Renata behind. It’s the first time in their lives they’ve been apart, and the diverging paths the two of them will take begin at this juncture. When Renata returns home, she is prim, proper, and may be harboring a secret violence. And then: she disappears, leaving Isla to return to Alarie House in an attempt to piece together what exactly happened to her sister in an attempt to understand her motives and, hopefully, piece together the clues of where Renata has disappeared to.

I want to stress that, although three stars may seem like a low rating, I did like this book! McLemore has a dreamlike way of writing that may not be for everyone, but I find the fever dream quality of their prose lent itself well to the plot of this book. The intersex representation was great, and from reading the author’s note, it’s clear that this is something McLemore cares deeply about — which comes through in the character work.

As for what I didn’t like - the metaphors, at a certain point, were just too distracting. I get what the point was, but there’s really only so many references to diamonds I can take before I start feeling like I’m in Bridgerton. The writing, while beautiful, can sometimes feel distracting. I can definitely see how this would bother some readers who are more interested in plot and character development. I’m someone who appreciates great prose and even I found myself growing a little frustrated with the language by the end of the book. I also think characterizing this book as “ romance” is doing it a disservice. While I wasn’t expecting capital-R Romance given the synopsis, readers who are in the mood for gothic romances might find themselves disappointed by the contents of the book.

However, as I mentioned, and as I want to keep mentioning, I enjoyed this book! McLemore is a standout in the YA space for their lyrical, dreamy prose (much of YA, at least in my experience, is more focused on storytelling than story craft; this isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the age demographic, but, still, it’s refreshing to see!). All-in-all, I would still recommend anyone intrigued by the premise to check this out.

2.5 stars

What the heck did I just read?

This is a YA horror book about Isla, whose sister, Renata, comes home from finishing school a totally different person. Isla suspects something happened there, so she enrolls herself to investigate. I appreciated the subtle creepiness of the school and its descriptions, but there was so much figurative language and dreams/hallucinations that it was hard to tell what was and was not real. Not much actually happened in terms of plot. While I appreciated the overall message being a critique on the patriarchy and the gender binary, along with some pretty descriptions, overall I had a hard time staying focused while reading. This book was not for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

As always, McLemore’s writing is beautiful, and I think that gave me a better impression of the book overall than I might have had otherwise. It’s a pretty quiet story, without much physical movement, but there’s a lot of really nice “grotesque” imagery and quite a lot of unexpected turns in the story. I kept thinking I knew what was happening until something changed and the cycle repeated.

Where this really falls short though is the relationships between characters. I didn’t feel like we understood Renata, Paz, or Carina - but Isla was enough to get us through, especially with the writing style.

I had high hopes for Flawless Girls and I’m not entirely sure if they were met? The writing was beautiful and the story started out just as good, but about halfway through I began to feel like I was being strung along on someone else’s adventure.

It is more of an unsettling horror as opposed to a more outright “traditional” horror theme, which I also enjoyed. Overall I think I would recommend this to someone who enjoys atmospheric literary fiction and is looking to dip their toes into the horror genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I may not be the ideal reader for this book, but I really struggled to get through it. The premise sounded awesome, but then the vast majority of the story felt like one descriptive metaphor after another with little progression in the story. I appreciate the message that all people should accept who they are despite social expectations and constraints on gender, etc., but I do not think my high school students would make it through more than a few chapters of this before putting it down.

"Flawless Girls" by Anna-Marie McLemore is a mesmerizing exploration of identity, sisterhood, and the power of acceptance. McLemore's lyrical prose weaves together the stories of two sisters, each struggling with their own insecurities and desires for perfection. Set against the backdrop of a small town with its own secrets, this novel beautifully captures the complexities of growing up and finding one's place in the world. With its diverse characters and heartfelt storytelling, "Flawless Girls" is a gem that shines with authenticity and grace.

3.5

This book was definitely heavy-handed at times, but I still enjoyed it. It feels like less of a mystery and more of a social commentary described in very metaphorical terms. While I didn't mind this for the most part, at times it got to be a bit too much. Also, the author's note at the end irked me slightly. If you're going to write something with such a blatantly obvious theme, you should trust your readers to know this and pick up on it. They don't need it explained to them.

McLemore does have amazing prose, and I did like the overarching theme of there being more than one way to be a girl. But I would just like to point out that this goes for every facet of being a girl - if some girls like wearing dresses and makeup and being in high society, it's okay. If some girls like wearing pants and tailored shirts, it's okay. Just because you identify with one way of being a girl, doesn't mean it's okay for you rag on other girls that identify differently than you. This still seems to be an issue today, and it goes both ways.

I can see why this not may as well liked as some of their other books, but I think it's worth checking out. Just know going into it that it's probably not going to be what you expect.

Let me preface by saying I love Anna-Marie McLemore’s books and writing and I’ve been reading their work for years now. That said, this book was a little bit outside of what I’m most drawn to in their work, even if that characteristic beautiful writing was still ethereal. FLAWLESS GIRLS feels a little bit more conceptual, and I think if it had been any longer it wouldn’t have worked for me as much as it did. As it stands, a lot of the story is in the writing, in this floaty but gritty world of finishing schools and girls molded into perfect diamonds. It’s part metaphor and part fantastical reality while just slightly putting you on edge. There are definitely some parts of the story that are a little bit harder to get into than others, and I’ll admit I was a bit confused with some parts while reading them (although that might be because I was on a transatlantic flight for most of the time I read). I would say if you have mixed feelings about McLemore’s writing or you need books that are more grounded in plot then this might not be the book for you, but if you want a weird and somewhat ethereal world of girls and some queerness, then this might be worth checking out, and was a quick read for me regardless.

I am not sure how to rate this book. As soon as I saw the cover and read the summary I was excited to delve right in and follow along with Isla as she took the same path her sister, Renata, did and try to discover what actually happens at Alarie House that changes girls into unrecognizable people. However, when Isla went to that house I was left confused about all the nightmares, apparitions, and gems of the girls and how it all related to their worth. That got creepy at time with kind of Stepford wives vibes and crazy girl unraveling screaming. I guess it was all one big extended metaphor about what makes up a girl, flaws and all (which make certain gems shine all the brighter) and that it is not right that they have to hide away their complete selves. There was some magic, enchantment, curse? Not sure what exactly it was at Alarie House. It was a strange book, both intriguing and confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to read an review.

I enjoyed the overall plot and general mystery of it all, but then something was definitely going on in a literary/metaphor type of way the entire time with all these jewels and whatnot (or I just made all that up). I got a little confused a few times, and once it happened chapter after chapter I never really regained my footing on what was happening. I thought Isla was a pretty cool character to read and follow. And I absolutely LOVE the setting -- it was giving an even more bourgie look at the dance academy in Suspiria.

I was very excited to see what McLemore would do with a book that leans towards horror and I quite enjoyed it, even if it is a bit heavy-handed with the imagery and how that ties into the themes.

Flawless Girls follows two sisters who have always been close and a "matched set" so to speak. They are sent to a finishing school to hopefully polish their rough edges. Isla runs away on the first night, leaving her sister Renata behind. But when her sister graduates and returns home, she is not like herself in disturbing ways, and then she disappears. In an effort to understand what happened to her sister, Isla returns to the school and begins to go through this process herself...

I've seen people compare this to a fever dream, and it does kind of have that quality. It's horrific at times, but using metaphor to unpack assumptions of what it means to be a woman or what it requires. I love how it's dealing with intersex identities, as well as people born as girls who don't fit into expectations of femininity. It's engaging, disturbing, and ultimately satisfying. Though as I said, it does kind of hit you over the head with the imagery and related metaphors. It could have been a bit more subtle, but I liked it. Interested to see how people feel about this one! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I have was very excited for this book, it had a very interesting premise. However, I couldn't get into the writing style and found the story overall kind of clunky. Though I wanted to find out what was going on, I couldn't resonate with the characters as it felt kind of disjointed - maybe it was just working so hard to keep secrets from the reader to reveal later? I feel terrible but I just couldn't get into it

I loved the premise of this book! The finishing school was a great setting for this mysterious and ominous plot. I loved the family dynamics between the grandmother and her granddaughters, as well as the sisters themselves. They were a great foil to one another. I also loved the intensity of this story and the tight prose that kept me interested throughout!

Flawless Girls is beautifully written and creepy, on the verge of horror. The imagery of the jewels and how they play into the finishing school is fascinating. I loved the fact that the main character was intersex and how that played into her psyche. I wish I could have seen more of her sister and their relationship and I do like my stories a little more grounded in reality but it is a strong piece of work by Anna-Marie McLemore

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

While this was an interesting premise, it didn’t hit all the points for me. I liked the metaphors and messages. I liked how the point was that not every girl is the same and there isn’t a perfect way to be a girl and you can’t create one. Isla and Paz were interesting as our rebel girls and I liked their characters. After the diamonds and jewels and gold for introduced to the story I was so confused. Like what did that even mean?

The cover is eye catching and I really want to read more Anna-Marie Mclemore because their stories seem so interesting. I just can’t find ones that I’m heavily invested it.