The Girls by Emma Cline
Fiction
2016 Random House Audio
Read by Cady McClain
Finished on January 17, 2020
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)
Publisher's Blurb:
Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go horribly wrong.
It's been a few years since I first learned of Emma Cline's debut novel, The Girls, which is loosely based on the Charles Manson cult and brutal murders of 1969. Several of my blogging friends raved about the book, so I downloaded the audiobook over three years ago and only now got around to listening to it this month. I actually tried to listen to it when I first purchased it from Audible, but it didn't grab my attention, so I decided to wait and try again at a later date. Unfortunately, my second attempt was no better, but I stuck with it and pushed through to the final chapter. None of the characters felt fully realized and I didn't care about Evie or how her involvement with the group would eventually unfold. I read Helter Skelter many, many years ago and that narrative scared the daylights out of me. This tale left me bored, cold and somewhat annoyed. It certainly didn't live up to the hype and is not one I can recommend.
I read it in print and felt the exact same way.
ReplyDeleteKathy, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who was disappointed with this book.
DeleteI will skip this one!
ReplyDeleteI just checked and nine of my friends gave it a 4 or 5 star rating on Goodreads. Seven gave it 3 stars or lower. This is definitely one that people either loved or disliked. :)
DeleteSkip. I'm always fascinated by books set in this time period, but I'm quite sure I won't like it if you didn't.
ReplyDeleteDeb, it had so much potential, but really fell short for me.
DeleteYes, somehow this one never grabbed me at all. Probably my aversion to reading true crime. I am the biggest fan of crime fiction, but true crime just doesn't work for me or it rarely does. May I say that it's because it's actually true and justice is rarely served and good rarely wins over evil.
ReplyDeleteKay, I don't care for true crime either. I read Helter Skelter so long ago and it really scared me.
DeleteI'm somewhat interested in it, probably because so many bloggers have mentioned it, but not in a rush to read it.
ReplyDeleteIliana, it might be better in print than audio. Who knows.
Delete