Girls on Fire

The prose is good, I'll admit it. And I wasn't bored, so that's good. But this was trite. The 90s detailing was fairly obvious stuff. It could have taken place now, but there were no cell phones. The characters were also trite. The usual good girl/bad girl stuff. Nikki was the most interesting one of the lot. But then overblown things kept happening between all these kids. Not the gangrape of Dex (let us call it what it is, she's molested), no. It's the sexual interaction between certain other characters I find unbelievable. And then the violence between these other characters. And–spoiler!–how Lacey is involved in TWO murders in the book, but no big deal, right? We'll just be traumatized, but even that is fairly humdrum, yes? Also, the men in this book are also trite and stupid. Not one of them felt real; they were caricatures of men. Dex's dad is a dreamy loser. Lacey's stepdad is an abusive religious fanatic. Craig is a dumb jock horndog. None of the men have personalities. And the mothers are stereotypes–rich bitches, humorless nags, etc. The ending is too much for me to believe. Also, another book written by someone living in a big city about small town America, as if they understand any of it. They're usually running off of assumptions, stereotypes, and a dash of research.

All that being said–I didn't hate this book. The negatives were frustrating, but I also found this book an engaging attempt to make sense of female interactions in a male-dominated world. I just wish it had done it a little better.

Also, call me awful–Nikki was almost my favorite character. She was the most interesting, the most peculiar, and the most awful.