Some days back I completed”The Girls” by Emma Cline and today I’m writing my review/thoughts about the same.
The plot revolves around Evie Boyd, a 14 year teenager whose parents are recently divorced and who is also having a hard time with her only friend Connie. Evie’s grandmother left her mother ancestral property & money to keep their life going but Evie is not satisfied with this. One fine day, Evie spots a gang of girls – free spirited who are just not bothered with the outside world. As Evie was looking for love and attention, and so after bumping into the group a number of times, Evie finally managed to find her way through the group where she felt the connection with Suzzane in no time. She’s then taken to the Ranch – a weird place where a group of few teenagers are living together under Russell‘s(a 40year adult & fame seeker) guidance. Under the pretext of guidance on love between humans, Russel took advantage of all those teenage girls at the Ranch and exploits them sexually(& emotionally) which was the one of the creepiest part of the story. The major part of the book revolves around the connection between Evie and Suzzane and how she’s almost being dragged into a crime. The girls at the Ranch see Russel as a mentor, lover or just another human like them who loves them.
The summary of the book says Evie is desperate to be noticed but I think it was also about her desperation for love which she somehow found in Suzzane’s presence. Evie was a normal teenager who tend to believe everything which they think is correct. She never saw Suzzane’s side nor did she want to clarify with her. I felt so so bad when Suzzane left her in dark. Evie felt the connection with Suzanne which she assumed as mutual. Evie didn’t even notice that the group was pretending to love while having no idea about love. Russell always talked about love but the irony was he was taking advantage of the young girls. Russell had so hatred in himself that he sent the group to murder and only because he couldn’t get sponsors for his album.
I enjoyed some parts of the book and some parts really sent me chills. I wasn’t sure when I picked it up what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at some places and disappointed at some.
I loved the narration of the book and the depth how the perception of Evie was portrayed was wonderful. It was like I could feel what is going on in Evie’s mind which was really engaging for me. There were 2 stories..the present and the past and the movement betweem them was seamless.
I found a few flaws in the book, I don’t know if I missed it or not, but this point is bothering me. Towards the end Evie said she didn’t say anything about the murder to anybody, but then how did Julian know about the incident and when Sasha searched about the same on internet mentioned that Evie’s name was not anywhere. How did they know??
Because of these doubts the book left me with, I’m giving the book 4stars. I recommend the book to those who can somehow manage to read a creepy plot where teenagers are exploited, others can give it a pass.
Like to buy Emma Cline’s The Girls? Buy it on Amazon.
– The Wanderer
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