“Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get.”
Summary:
Evie Boyd is now in her fifties as she reflects back on her time as a 14 year old living in late ‘60s Northern California. As with most 14 year old girls, Evie is young, impressionable and longing to find her place in the world. She comes across a group of young women in the park and their carefree ways captivate her. Soon she manages to befriend one of these young women, Suzanne. Suzanne takes her under her wing. Evie is swept into Suzanne’s world when they visit the ranch where the girls are living. She is introduced to their leader, Russell Hadrick. Russell is an enigmatic man who has this fantastic following and seems to be on the edge of fame. He and his “family” seem to have the world in the palm of their hands and Evie can’t resist the pull.
The Premise:
This book has gotten rave reviews. Perhaps I am alone in not finding it all that captivating. None of the characters in this book were likeable including the main character, Evie. It’s so obvious that this is a fictional representation of a young girl being taken into a Charles Manson-like cult. Knowing the outcome of that horrendous true-crime story makes it hard for me to understand how anyone could be lured to it. I read Helter Skelter when I was very young and I was appalled by it. I didn’t get how those young women could be drawn to such a monster and I still don’t get it even after reading this book. Someone of a younger generation who cannot recall those events so easily might find this book much more riveting than I did. Like Gone Girl, this book just made me want to take a shower.
The Writing:
Each generation has their version of living on the edge and doing things that seem taboo. The 60s were a great turning point in the freedoms that society experiences to this day. It was a turbulent time of change for young people. Emma Cline takes us into the head of one young girl during that time. Evie became easily misdirected and her poor decisions will forever haunt her. To me, there is one very important point here. When we are young our expectations of the world are high. Society leads us to believe that things should be a certain way. We begin to realize during adolescence that maybe for some of us those things aren’t that easy to come by. Is the world going to be disappointed by us? Are we going to be disappointed by it? The heart can be a lonely confusing place and we all long to belong somewhere. As we grow away from some we’ve been close to and towards new people, we each have an inner journey going on that no one else is privy to. Cline did indeed give us a vivid picture of the strife that can come with this journey.
I want to thank the publisher (Random House Publishing Group – Random House) for providing me with the ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Great read. It took me a while to actually start this book but once I did I could not put it down. The story touched so many aspects of my life and invoked countless memories. Read this book!

This was one of the big hype books of summer 2016, and, ever the contrarian, this made me I predisposed to dislike it. It didn’t help that press kept breathlessly hailing Emma Cline as the voice of her generation – making me think of Hannah Horvath in HBO’s cult hit Girls “"I think that I may be The Voice of My Generation... or at least a voice of a generation”.

Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogues with words like 'sunset' and 'Paris.' Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus.

Set in 1960s California, inspired by Charles Manson and his ‘Family’ The Girls is suffused in a sun baked headiness of social and sexual awakening. The book is told form the point of view of teenage Evie Boyd, who becomes embroiled in the cult not because of the cult leader Russell but because of her need to be accepted by his female followers. She sees them as impossibly cool and beautiful, and as her family falls apart Evie’s longing to be loved and accepted by these women is almost a physical need. There is something languid, blurry, and vaguely stoned about the writing that captures the situation and time-period perfectly. In short – it turns out this was an increasingly rare case of justifiable hype. It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more from Emma Cline.

You have probably seen Emma Cline's book all over the internet by now. It seemed at one point to be THE book you ought to read, if you were only going to read one book (after all it made it to the NY Times Bestsellers list!).

I really had high hopes for this book. And maybe that's the problem. I am not sure it if was all the hype constructed around the book, or if it was my hope to read the next "Gone Girl" with an even bigger story twist. Instead... well. It was all but that.

The Girls is Emma Cline's debut novel and it tells the story of Evie Boyd, a young privileged teenager, who finds herself drawn by a group of girls living in some sort of made-up boho camp ( really a run down ranch), and following an older man as their leader. It is very clear whose story Emma Cline is trying to tell: the infamous Manson clan. The story doesn't get any more original from that point, instead, we are offered to relieve the horrors of the past but it a very slow fashion. Where one would hope to see strong female characters and their take of what it must have been like to be part of a cult like Manson's was, we are instead offered a pretty pale version. Evie is another stereotyped rich girl who finds herself sucked into something bigger than she had bargained for. We are supposed to feel bad for her, but instead I fell very annoyed by her character and disappointed by all the other female characters in this book.

As you can imagine by now, I didn't think much of this debut novel. Yes, it was well structured and well told, but the magic and the surprise elements were just lacking. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong inspiring ourselves from history (what would be do without a good historical fiction anyway?), but there must be something more compelling than just regurgitating facts and changing names. There must be an element of surprise for the reader, and the characters have to be compelling enough to lead us til the end. However, The Girls missed the mark.

I give the book a solid 3 stars, and that is mostly due to the fact that despite Emma Cline missing the thrill-bandwagon, she was pretty good at describing scenes and translating how Evie feels and why she is drawn to the leader of the cult. We get it - she is lonely, feeling unloved, and desperate for attention. Emma Cline made me understand Evie's struggle, and why Suzanne seems so appealing to her. But like I said, besides that, there is nothing else to the story, and that is very sad.

I think Emma Cline has potential to write a good novel, and I hope that someday I will come across a much enticing novel that will really make me rate it 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Random House for an ARC of The Girls by Emma Cline, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really intriguing to me - I really wanted to know the story that happened in the past. Be warned, though, it has sensitive content - all the trigger warnings apply!

I knew once I read the synopsis for The Girls, I just had to read it.  Coming from a criminal justice background, I was intrigued by the fact that this book is modeled after the infamous Charles Manson case.  I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride…

One day, while ridding her bike in the park, Evie sees a group of girls.  She watches the girls cross the park, intoxicated by their energy.  Little did she know that this chance encounter would change her life forever…

“I looked up because of the laughter, and kept looking because of the girls.”

At the impressionable age of 14, Evie is searching for the love and attention that she is not receiving at home.  It is no surprise that she would be drawn to Suzanne and the other girls…

"She said that the place we were headed was about a way of living.  Russell was teaching them how to discover a path to truth, how to free their real selves from where it was coiled inside them."

The thing that I felt that Cline did so well here was her portrayal of cult culture.  I am not sure why, but there is something about cults and cult culture that is oddly fascinating.  I think it stems from the fact that a “normal person” looking in wonders how these people get sucked into these strange, and often sinister, groups.  Cline was really able to depict how cult leaders prey upon those who are “weak” and make them feel apart of a family.  These people are very charming and charismatic, so these “weak” individuals find themselves drawn to them like a moth to flames…

“You’ll love him,” she said.  “He’s not like anyone else.  No bullshit.  It’s like a natural high, being around him.  Like the sun or something.  That big and right.”

Since this book is modeled after the infamous Charles Manson case, you may THINK you know how it all is going to pan out, but you may find yourself surprised.  I think it actually works better if you are a little familiar with the Charles Manson case going into this book, as it really adds to the tension and foreboding.   I had a pit in my stomach for the majority of this book, knowing how it was going to end and waiting for the “big event.”

The Girls is unlike any book I had ever read before.  It is very dark and seductive, often to the point of discomfort.  While reading parts of this book, I found myself almost feeling guilty for reading it.  It is very difficult to explain… You ever come across a bad accident and find that you cannot look away?  This book felt a little bit like that.  To say this book gave me an uneasy feeling would be an understatement.

There were definitely parts of this book that I enjoyed, but once I reached the end I had very conflicted feelings about this book.  Here are a few reasons why…

The writing through out the majority of the book suited the tone perfectly, however there were a few parts that the writing felt a little odd to me.  Like the writing was forced?   There were some passages I marveled at Cline’s eloquence, but other times her writing had me scratching my head.  I am not sure if this is due to the fact that this is a debut novel, or if I was not accustomed to her particular writing style.

The past and present timelines, for me, didn’t work particularly well.  I think it COULD have worked IF some of the events that happen in the present had any relevance to the plot… I couldn’t figure out if the author was trying to throw the reader off course, or there was some poor editing decisions here.

The ending was very abrupt.  I think it could have been handled a little differently with better effect.  This is not to say that I didn’t agree with how Cline chose to wrap things up for Evie, just that it all felt underwhelming.  It was like the entire book was a huge build up to a big finale, but the finale never comes.  I think had Cline given us more after “the night” it would have helped with the abruptness.  Maybe an epilogue?  I just didn’t feel a sense of closure for Evie.  How did these events effected her as she aged?

Even though I had a lot of problems with the book, I did enjoy it and think it is a worth while read.  I think maybe this book was a little over-hyped for me, so it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations.

“Of course my hand would anticipate the weight of a knife.  The particular give of a human body.  There was so much to destroy.”

*Big thanks to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Just meh. So many places this book could've gone, but it tripped over itself too much. And Evie? Talk about a sad sack of a narrator with no redeeming character traits.

I feel awful that I didn't review this right after I read it. This was a favorite of mine for the year.

The writing spoke directly to me, the character (although very different from me) had that same inner voice that I think is SO true to life. Her back and forth banter within her own brain made everything so alive for me.

I have to admit that the storyline was also a slam dunk for me since I am always so fascinated by cults, killers and the mentality behind those who follow. This couldn't have been more perfect for me.... a teenager struggling with herself and identity while facing some of the most perverse brainwashing out there.

This book started off okay, but I felt like I was drowning in too much unneeded detail. The book is about a young girl who comes from a broken family through divorce. Evie is a loner who becomes a member of this cult-like group. She later becomes obsessed with one particular member of the group. The story is told from young Evie’s and present day Evie’s point of view. But, it doesn’t draw you in. It stops short at showing you exactly why Evie was drawn to and participated in the cult and not a group of mall hanging teenagers.

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Thursday, November 3, 2016
"The Girls" by Emma Cline

FTC Disclosure: I received an e-ARC of "The Girls" from the publisher through NetGalley for review consideration. I ordered a print copy through my Book of the Month Club subscription.

I was thrilled to see Emma Cline's debut novel "The Girls" as an option for my July Book of the Month Club book. I'd heard the buzz around this loose retelling of the Manson murders focusing on the girls who flocked to the cult leader, and was excited to dig into it.

As I mentioned in my Goodreads review, the infamous cult setting may generate the buzz, or at least be the piece that will stick in many readers' minds. But it was the writing kept me enthralled. The novel opens on Evie, a grown woman, recalling the summer of 1969, when she was only 14 and fell in with the group living at the ranch, then largely unknown to the larger world. For Evie, it is not the leader, Russell, who attracts her, but Suzanne, a 19-year-old who first allows her into the group.

The ranch and its inhabitants are interesting, but Cline shines when she writes about the mundanities of growing up. Evie's parents have divorced and she is distant from them both as they each look to build their own romantic relationships. Perhaps most tragic is the dissolution of Evie's relationship with her best friend since childhood, Connie. Cline captures the end of their friendship, rendering it familiar as a natural casualty of growing up. Anyone who has experienced the havoc that can be wrecked by teenage girls will relate to the incident of their final confrontation, a scene that stands out as one of the most touching and well-crafted in the novel.

Verdict: Affirmed. As other reviews have noted, it's the coming of age story that shines in this novel that happens to be set alongside one of America's most infamous cults.

"The Girls" by Emma Cline, published June 14, 2016 by Random House.

Goodreads:
A beautifully-written coming of age in a crazy setting. It got press for the setting, but the story-telling kept me around.

FTC disclosure: I received an e-ARC from the publisher through NetGalley for review consideration on my blog, www.sometimesiread.com. I ordered a print copy through Book of the Month Club.