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Post by elliej84 on Jun 14, 2017 18:10:13 GMT
Some of you have been extra keen this time around and have already read the book. So as I'm a nice person and I'm worried about people forgetting, ok mainly I'm worried about the forgetting I have opened the discussion thread earlier... Just a quick reminder that any spoilers should be highlighted in the white colour by clicking reply rather than using quick reply. Write your message as normal and then click on the colour wheel once the spoiler is highlighted and click on the white colour font. This will then still show whilst you are highlighted on the font but if you click away it will vanish. So tell me your thoughts and happy reading  |
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Post by mandyj on Jun 15, 2017 17:01:27 GMT
I read this last year and really enjoyed it. Reviewed it at the time, so here's what I thought....
I found this coming-of-age story of a disaffected 14 year old both compelling and convincing. I think it’s rather a shame that so many readers are comparing it to the Charles Manson case as I believe it stands on its own merits, and whether the author took her inspiration from Manson or not seems irrelevant to the appeal of the book. Perhaps it adds a certain frisson to know it’s based on fact, but even so this is a gripping tale of a child who gets caught up in a not very interesting commune but which consumes her life, is full of psychological insight into the behaviour and thoughts of young people on the cusp of adulthood and who are so easily impressed by those they perceive as glamorous and transgressive. I found the atmosphere of the 60s counter-culture evocatively portrayed as is the atmosphere of small town American life. All in all I very much enjoyed the novel. Cline writes well and with authority, and has complete control over her subject. The book is well-paced and well-constructed and in my view deserves at least some of the hype.
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Post by dramioneforever on Jun 17, 2017 0:46:43 GMT
Here are my thoughts below:
I really enjoyed this book and it is my first book of this type eg cult fiction. I did enjoy it and I think that I dont really know much about the Manson murders which this is supposedly based on. I found the writer's writing compelling and it kept me flicking the pages. I am glad I read this book and will be looking for more of this author's work in the future.
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peppercricket
Book Assistant
Batley Townswoman's Guild presents the Battle of Pearl Harbour
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Post by peppercricket on Jun 20, 2017 12:09:07 GMT
Here's my review/thoughts.
I’ve read about true crime and I’ve read about the Manson murders. How one insignificant individual sent his “followers” on a path of destruction in August 1969, is absolutely shocking. So I’m afraid my interest was piqued when I read the synopsis of this novel. Although names have been changed, there is some of that Manson fact within this fiction.
Anyway, all that aside, I thought this was an excellent debut novel.
Evie is 14, vulnerable, adrift and practically estranged from her flaky mother (who is more interested in finding herself another man, after her husband leaves her for a younger model). Both seemingly floundering, both trying to find security. Is it any wonder Evie latches on to the charismatic “cult” member Suzanne Parker, a friend, a rebel, a sister, a groomer, a murderer…
An evocative read. Some of the imageries are brilliant. One stand out description - “Mitch Lewis was fatter than I expected someone famous to be. Swollen, like there was butter under his skin.” You can imagine him, right? Ugh.
In places it was a deeply disturbing and uncomfortable read, (losing her virginity to Mitch. She’s 14, remember), however, it was absolutely compelling and I couldn’t stop reading.
Five stars from me. Good choice Ellie!
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Post by geminii on Jun 22, 2017 11:29:27 GMT
I finished this Book yesterday, so I've had a few hours to gather my thoughts ..
I was born in 1969, so my knowledge of these Cult groups is only what I have seen on old news reels or US Real Crime TV shows. This is the first book I have read on this subject, and it was interesting that it covered the 'inner workings' of this type of Group, rather than as seen from the barbed wire fence.
Although we can all imagine the narcissistic and charismatic nature of Russell, can any of us say we would not be taken in, even for a second ?
But the story was not about him, it was about Evie .. as with all these stories, sadly, there is a change in home life that unbalances the child and they are left adrift and rudderless. Her father has a new 'toy' and her mother is also floundering, trying to find who she is rather than just a wife .. even her money couldn't keep him.
Meeting Suzanne and the other girls awakens feelings in Evie, these people are new, not silly school friends of the same age but older, wilder, more free, more interesting even .. accepting of her, but were they also recruiting ?
The incident where Evie is found at the side of the road is quite interesting to me .. Suzanne doesn't want her to tag along in the bus .. the next day, she wants to drive her home .. is this just to make her feel better about such a young girl being there, or is there another reason that was not explored ?
All through her time at The Ranch, Suzanne is with Evie .. is she a protector, a sister, an abuser, a manipulator ? We do not find anything of her back story, which is a shame. Why does she throw her out of the car on that fateful trip .. was it love or was it because she didn't want a little kid getting in her way ?
The present day story of Evie, although to me was trying to show that she couldn't move past the Murders that she was almost caught up in, guilty that she couldn't stop them even, I felt it was perhaps just showing us that things hadn't really changed .. Julian and Sasha, were they any different to Russell and Suzanne ?
Although all the build up to that one night was very descriptive and enjoyable reading, I was disappointed that the trial was just glossed over .. I would have loved to read the testimonies etc. Even some more background on Russell. He was obviously as mad as a box of frogs, but his initial reasons for setting up the Group must have been for more than some freeloading and free love, surely ..
Thank you Ellie, this is my favourite, so far .. 
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Post by elliej84 on Jun 22, 2017 21:49:07 GMT
Well I'm still trying to process this book, so it was good to finally be able to read your thoughts on this.
I found it a bit slow in places and the way it jumped around at the beginning completely threw me off, but I soon adjusted.
Evie seems like a lost little girl, who wants some attention from a mother who would rather give her time to finding her own happiness. Suzanne is the bright shiny star that draws Evie in, although I felt somewhat reluctantly. Or was this just an act??
I would have liked to get inside Russells head or have some more back story, there was too much left unsaid especially towards the end, it was a slow build up and then instead of a bang seemed to be slightly anticlimactic. Don't get me started on that ending!
Mitch, blimey he made my skin crawl whilst reading that scene with Suzanne and Evie. Although, the first scene with Evie and Russell was difficult reading as well.
I did like Clines writing style and her descriptions. I could feel the cloying heat of the summer and imagine the smell and the picture the run down house they all lived in.
The parts in the now just highlighted how lost Evie still was and how she hadn't really grown. I think if Russell came to her she would go off with him all over again.
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Post by rosemary3 on Jul 1, 2017 19:18:07 GMT
This is waiting for me at the library now. I'll pick it up sometime next week. I haven't read any of the whited-out comments but from the "What we read this month" thread it looks like people are mostly enjoying it, which is encouraging!
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Post by pennylane on Jul 7, 2017 9:09:15 GMT
I am still waiting for my copy at the library though I am next in the queue - it seems to be taking ages  |
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Post by aileen11 on Jul 13, 2017 17:49:41 GMT
I must have missed something. I struggled to get through the first 80 or so pages and took it back to the library.
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Post by elliej84 on Jul 13, 2017 17:56:13 GMT
Oh that's a shame aileen11, I must admit I struggled slightly with the first part but did eventually get into it |
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peppercricket
Book Assistant
Batley Townswoman's Guild presents the Battle of Pearl Harbour
Posts: 7,075
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Post by peppercricket on Jul 14, 2017 7:27:12 GMT
Oh no Aileen! Have you got anything else to read?  |
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Post by aileen11 on Jul 14, 2017 18:51:52 GMT
Oh no Aileen! Have you got anything else to read?  can't hide my tbr from you now Janice! |
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Post by pennylane on Jul 15, 2017 9:48:33 GMT
Still waiting for my copy!!
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Post by celia48 on Jul 17, 2017 14:53:14 GMT
Just finished.
First, my thanks to Ellie for choosing this book. I would never have chosen it myself but am very glad I read it.
All the way through, I was filled with dread. I kept thinking how young Ellie was, just a 14 year old child. The scenes with Russell and with Mitch and Suzanne were very difficult to read. It was also clear that something awful was going to happen and I am grateful it wasn’t as gory as I thought it was going to be. The author quite simply presented the facts of the murders which made it easier to digest.
I can completely understand Evie’s fascination with Suzanne and the others. Her life at home with her mother was predictable and sad so to be part of this wild group, which was so different to everything she had known, must have been very appealing. It was heartbreaking to see how needy she was.
I also would have liked to learn more about Russell and to read more of the trial. What was his power? What was Suzanne’s background? These things were never fully clear to me but I guess that is a sign of a good book – leaving you wanting to know more.
Emma Cline’s style of writing was excellent. My reading never faltered even when the subject matter was so distressing.
Great choice
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Post by rosemary3 on Jul 22, 2017 21:45:13 GMT
I finished reading this last night. My thoughts:
I was blown away by the way Emma Cline got right into the head of a certain type of adolescent girl. Evie seemed to me very insecure and not entirely likeable, quite superficial in the way she was with her friend Connie, but completely convincing as a character. Sometimes in the first part of the story I'd read something and think, "Oh God, I remember being like that" - which was quite scary given what she got into later!
I knew this was based on something like the Manson family and I had read a bit about that quite recently, so I knew all along what it was building up to. I don't know if that changed how I viewed the ending. The ending did leave me wanting to know more, but I think if we'd had all the details of the trials it would have quickly turned into an anticlimax. Also, I've found myself when I was on the edges of a major violent event once, I didn't want to read about it or watch news for a long time afterwards, so it seemed natural to me that Evie might not even know that detail.
I love the comment someone made above about Julian and Sasha being like Russell and Suzanne. I don't think that necessarily means Julian and Sasha would go killing people, just that the potential for being swept into something like that is in a lot more people than we may think. (That was the scariest part of it for me.) There was a sense of things "nearly not happening". Everything was on a knife edge and could have gone one way or the other. Suzanne picked Evie up in the car at the side of the road once, and another time she stopped the car and threw her out, and both of those small actions changed Evie's life. Then if they'd picked a different night for the crime, certain people wouldn't have been there.
For the most part I loved the language, but sometimes the style grated on me. The incomplete sentences. A participle taking the place of a verb.  I see that this allowed the author to do a lot of atmospheric description without constantly repeating "there was" and "I felt," but sometimes it seemed overdone. All in all, though, I really liked it. |
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can't hide my tbr from you now Janice!
I see that this allowed the author to do a lot of atmospheric description without constantly repeating "there was" and "I felt," but sometimes it seemed overdone. All in all, though, I really liked it.