All Girls, by Emily Layden, is an ensemble novel set in a girls’ boarding school in Connecticut. It’s more a series of interesting vignettes over an academic year than a plot with a resolution. The girls’ varied experiences touch many topics — sexual consent, stereotypes, classism, power dynamics, racism, abuse, gender presentation, and more. Too many, perhaps, because the book never quite draws a conclusion or makes a statement.
Most of the scenes were girls at a turning point or realization, with insightful characterizations and descriptions, but we rarely see the consequences of these moments. Instead, it’s on to another character, creating an interesting ramble through private-school adolescence, but with way too many characters to keep track of each connection.
I liked how the young women’s experiences were taken seriously and their emotions were valued throughout the book. Many of the vignettes relate to sexual consent or men “getting a little weird” as one of the alums describes it, including a whisper network of which classes to avoid, but that was more of a theme than a plot. It never really formed a narrative or led to a conclusion. All Girls was more vibes than storyline, which was fine while I was reading, but I realized at the end of the book that I’d been waiting for the meandering stories to coalesce into something more, and it never quite did.
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Sounds like this one had a lot of potential that never really got actualized. Are you glad you read it or would you skip it if you had known that nothing really came together in the end?
I enjoyed it while I was reading, but I really thought the vignettes were going to connect and make a theme. I guess reading on Kindle you don't always realize how close you are to the end of the book.
I do love books set in boarding schools. It's a bit strange the stories didn't really come together in the end though.
-Lauren
I've been thinking about a roundup of all the girls' boarding school books I like!