All Girls by Emily Layden

“You don’t always see the lines until you’ve crossed them.”

Book: All Girls by Emily Layden

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for a review!  If you're not a NetGalley member, and you love getting insider access to books, check them out!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to attend an all girls’ boarding school?  No parents, your closest friends, and endless options in the dining hall?  Would it be all that you hoped, or would it be more pressure than you could take?  All Girls gives readers a sneak peek into the lives of boarding school girls--what it’s really like in their small, privileged world.  Think Gossip Girl meets the New England countryside.  Told through chapters highlighting the important events at Atwater throughout the school year (Initiation, Vespers, Prom, Commencement, etc.), All Girls is a delightful story of perfection and social image, and the price tags--both literal and moral-- that come along with it.  

The beginning of this novel reminded me so much of the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, with the mysterious and accusatory signs that popped on roadsides leading to Atwater’s hallowed campus.  “A rapist lives here,” they charged.  With an opening such as this one, cloaked in mystery and anonymity and crime, I definitely expected more suspense and drama to come. To be honest, I kind of expected that to be the most important aspect of the book, but that was not the case here.  The campus rape allegation and the subsequent “pranks” that kept happening to call public attention to the seemingly swept-under-the-rug scandal are not really at all the focus of the book.  The novel is more about the stories of the girls at the school, each one different, yet all finding themselves in this sort of forced sameness as Atwater students.  The rape allegations fade into background and often go unmentioned for long periods of time, to the point where you kind of forget its a thing and then it ends up fizzling out anyway with no huge shocker of a reveal or conclusion.  So, if you’re looking for a keeps-you-guessing, justice-is-served kind of story--this is not the one.  However, I found the stories of the girls and the private-school mystique to be intriguing.  Having been a public-school gal, I found myself living vicariously through the pages of girls participating in sacred traditions; losing themselves in the excitement of boys visiting from a neighboring school; sneaking booze, cigs, and tattoos; getting ready for prom together, playlists blasting.  To me, Atwater seemed a lot like freshman year of college--a gaggle of girls from all over the country, living in the same building, and having the time of their lives.  

I think Emily Layden put together an entertaining cast of characters, each bringing their own flair to the story, but I do wonder a bit about stereotyping and tokenism.  Like why is the Black girl the only one with “muscled shoulders,” when the others are often portrayed more daintily?  To me, it seemed a bit “trying too hard” in terms of telling every possible scenario of a boarding school girl.  There were so many girls to keep track of, and while some came and went fleetingly, others returned throughout.  It often jumped from story to story or scene to scene and was a bit hard to follow.  Without any thread to really pull all of the stories together, and no real conclusion to the rape allegations, the novel really fell flat for me.  I found myself asking, “What is this book about?” and “What am I supposed to be following here?” and “What about the rape allegations?!?”  Also, maybe it’s my lack of knowledge of boarding school life in general, but to me the girls all seemed way older than high school.  But  maybe that’s how it really is!  I don’t know!  

This book would be a good fit for anyone immersed--at present or in a past life--in the private school and/or boarding school world.  I bet you’d enjoy reading about the goings on of Atwater and maybe even liken a storyline or two to your own experience.  And, like I always say, writing a book is an incredible labor love and a mentally taxing experience, so while All Girls wasn’t the book for me, Layden has given the world this novel, and it just might be the book for you!  

Look - Skirt - Mine is from Loft, but it’s old, so I linked a similar one from Zara; Shoes - Target (other colors available, too!)

I just love when I can fully match a look to a book cover.  Thanks to the pub team for the plaid skirt inspo, and to Emily Layden for giving such good boarding school outfit descriptions throughout the book.  I felt extra preppy while reading and *may* have revisited the basic bitch staple a few times while reading.  Tall camel boots, jeans, sweater, thin puffy vest, ribbon in the hair--you know the one.  It’s just so good sometimes I can’t help myself.  Even this public school gal can pull off a private school look for a time or two!   

Thanks for reading and following along!  Let me know your thoughts on this book and/or look if you’ve read, shopped, or are thinking about either!

Happy Reading!

-Amy-