I was looking forward to reading All Girls as the description sounded interesting but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. It was an OK read but it did not wow me in the way I hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

This book has really troubled me. The messages it tries to instill in the reader are very mixed, the narrative becomes confusing within the chapters and the characters are not likeable.

Before reading, I assumed this book was going to have messages of female empowerment, having respect for your own body and overcoming sexual assault - how can the reader feel any sense of this when characters are described as 'not pretty', 'racially ambiguous', 'standard American girl pretty', etc. Some of the character description left me feeling very uncomfortable, such as, for some reason, the character Priya being described as removing 'liquid caught in the hairs above her lip.'

So while the book regularly discusses how the girls feel their concerns over safety from teachers accused of sexual misconduct are ignored by the faculty, and at some parts just seen as genitals on legs (e.g. Chloe's chapter - the importance and emotional rollercoaster of losing one's virginity being completely skimmed over and how she was essentially used by the boy for this exact purpose), this is not in fact extended to all characters as an aluma is offered the respect that she be 'referred to by her own accomplishments, not her passed down fortune.'

The key narrative I thought was going to run through this book was the seeking out of the teacher accused of sexual assault - the way this came together was lazy; not being mentioned through most of the book then a random game of 'guess who' to them then resigning. Giving everything that happened with the #metoo movement and respecting the young girls that live in this school, it is deeply troubling that a teacher would be allowed to stay on teaching without having to take some sort of sabbatical while an investigation took place. This felt like the perpertrator was protected, while the accusations were brushed under the carpet, and while progress has been made in this area, there are still girls out there who are victims of sexual assault who feel unable to speak their truth. We need to show and give them the strength that they can do this, they will be believed and justice will be served. Even if it is through this exact rhetoric written into books aimed at an age group deemed more susceptible to this kind of abuse.

Set in an all girls boarding school outside of New York the new school term starts but as the girls and their families approach Atwater School they see signs everywhere with an image of the school saying ‘a rapist works here’.

I feel so utterly frustrated by this book, it could easily be amazing but due to too many characters with each chapter voicing another girls point of view the potentially powerful and empowering messages looses their hit. There are signs of the storyline exploring themes of sexual injustice, coming of age, sexual expectations of young women, racism, inequality and mental health difficulties, but due to such a disjointed narrative the book never gets the chance to fully invest in these themes.

I did however like Macy’s storyline. Her anxiety and obsessive behaviours to try and control her anxiety was actually brilliantly written. Just when I became invested in her the storyline flips to another character. I continued reading hoping to pick up again with Macy’s story but was left disappointed. I wish the author had focussed on two or three girls to narrate the year at Atwater School, I could have connected more.

This was not good and not bad... It was just something. Every chapter is different. But I just wasn't really in the moment with this book. If there are people who love YA boarding school theme books they would love this, me not so much.

Maybe,because I am old, but I just didn't gate this one.

2.5 stars

This is set in a girls’ boarding school and it’s difficult for me to write a review.
I was drawn in at the start but got a bit lost with the school traditions. Probably my age and nationality didn’t help with this. Yet there was at times a real insight into how the girls were feeling
An “up and down” read

I’ve always been a sucker for a book set in a boarding school. From Malory Towers to Hogwarts, something about these far removed fantasy worlds always resonated. When I ended up briefly attending boarding school myself it definitely did not live up to my expectations. But I still keep coming back to boarding school stories (see also: books set in Ivy League universities though alas I don’t think Harvard would want me). Atwater from the outset isn’t perfect, as the new students driving into campus find out from the posters plastered everywhere proclaiming that one of the staff is a rapist. But school goes on and life goes on and we watch the students deal with the repercussions of these accusations while also getting on with life at an elite boarding school. The story jumps between different students and I really enjoyed getting to know them and hearing things from a different girls perspective every chapter. I can see why some people might not like this though, as you don’t have much time to get to know each individual.

(Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review)

I enjoyed this book a lot - it reads as a series of short stories in chronological order, each from the point of view of a different girl at Atwater Prep School. It covers a wide variety of topics - from Lauren who wanted to go to boarding school because her old best friend did, to Macy who suffers from crippling anxiety, to Sloane the former ballerina and Emma and her girlfriend Olivia who are navigating their relationship. There are nine perspectives in total, each with their own short story set against the same backdrop.

The backdrop is a rape accusation from 1995, a former student coming forward about a male teacher from when she was in school. The girls process it in different ways, but unite together at their school publication the Heron. Throughout the year, the investigation progresses, and one of the girls creates a series of 'pranks' to force the school into acting.

Overall, this is a solid debut that somehow manages to bring together nine points of view. I appreciated the diversity in perspectives, and was furious at how useless the adults seemed to be, more focussed on protecting the school's image than the safety of their students. I will be interested to see what Emily Layden writes next.

The good: I love a boarding school book. I like the different perspective changes in the chapters. The ending of each chapter with an email was really interesting. The bad: The chapters were sooo long.

I enjoyed this from the start, an engaging story of a group of teenage girls in a single sex boarding school in America, coming to grips with who they are as young women and their place in the world. Full of teenage angst and overthinking, that is all too familiar and realistic - the storyline starts with allegations of a historic rape within the school community, and follows the repercussions of that. But it has more to it, lots of well developed characters and a good understanding of the microscopic world of teenage school life. It had hints of Donna Tartt's Secret History for me.

I love YA's based at a boarding schools & I was really intrigued about All Girls.

The book follows an academic year at prestigious school Atwater after a faculty member is accused of sexual misconduct against a student 20 years ago. The book begins with a new student's journey to school as she sees signs on the way about the allegations. The beginning is very atmospheric and mysterious which does continue through the book as the allegations impact the students & staff.

The book is sectioned up by events such as orientation and initiation and with each new section there is a different student who is the focus. I thought this narrative style was interesting, I liked how this allowed you to see the different experiences students had depending on their background/year of study/event.

I particularly enjoyed seeing how previous students were weaved into later chapters but I did find it to be confusing at times. I thought there a couple loose ends where I wanted a particular student to have a resolution and sometimes I was frustrated we were moving on but Layden does mostly deal with any major plot points.

I thought the overarching themes of consent and sexual assault were dealt with really well and it was interesting read that I really enjoyed.

I'd give it a 3.5 because I although enjoyed it I thought the narrative style could be confusing at times. I would definitely read something by Layden again.

All Girls is a novel about a girls' boarding school in Connecticut and what happens in the year after sexual assault allegations come out in the school community. Each chapter gives the point of view of a different student that year, separated by emails sent out during that time. From the perspective of a brand new student who just wants to work out how to fit in to seniors taking part in leaving traditions, the interconnected stories show what happened to the wider student body whilst also focusing on a range of teenage issues and the battle to have your voice heard.

One of the most notable things about the book is the fact each chapter is from a different perspective, something likely to divide readers as to whether it works or leaves you disconnected. I personally found it less of an issue that I have with other books that only give each character's perspective once, though it did vary by character as some (those naturally more popular or prevalent) you see outside their own perspectives, and others you hardly do. The individual stories, however, never feel like they quite all come together into anything, and it didn't really feel like the sexual assault narrative, looking at how institutions deal with not only allegations, but with the general conversation and atmosphere around consent, sex, and assault, really came to much either.

I found All Girls a pretty enjoyable reading experience, but lacking in an overall narrative that made the ending satisfying. There were also a number of small things—descriptive phrases, narrative choices—that seemed a bit lazy, and by the end I had forgotten some of the characters' names so did get slightly confused. As someone who likes adult fiction set in closed off academic environments, it wasn't a bad take on the subgenre, but needed something more.

I'm not sure why I keep doing this to myself. If you are a die-hard fan of the 'boarding school' subgenre you will probably enjoy this. Maybe it's my fault, maybe I'm just not in a 'YA' mindset but I have 0 interest in reading about this kind of tired dynamics. The writing did not help: the billboards idea seems a bit of a rip-off from a certain film, then we have descriptions such as "Her skin is smooth and poreless and racially ambiguous" (which begs the question, is 'racially ambiguous' a skin colour? Couldn't the author have described her skin tone ?), "Bryce is naturally thin, grown-up thin", and my 'favourite', "Their skin gleams like Gwyneth Paltrow's" (what kind of teenager would use Paltrow as a descriptor for 'gleaming' skin ? Wouldn't Beyoncé, who, like her or not, is an actual icon, have been a better fit here?).
Anyway, I'm too old or too jaded with this genre. I'm sure other readers will enjoy this much more than I was.