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vlrieg's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bybyberry's review against another edition
4.0
Bought this book ten years ago, never read it, found it at my parents house and brought it along for my three hours long train ride and....it was perfect! I swear, reading is truly all about timing lmao.
Deliciously atmospheric, the tension truly creeps up on you and builds up page after page. I think the cheerleading camp setting is a perfect choice, and the narration going back and forth between memories and the present is well executed. The main character is also both fascinating and believable.
The twist is interesting, though I'm not 100% sold on everything. But the book definitely doesn't take you where you think it will.
Overall, a nice, catchy read, perfect for getting out of a reading slump.
Deliciously atmospheric, the tension truly creeps up on you and builds up page after page. I think the cheerleading camp setting is a perfect choice, and the narration going back and forth between memories and the present is well executed. The main character is also both fascinating and believable.
The twist is interesting, though I'm not 100% sold on everything. But the book definitely doesn't take you where you think it will.
Overall, a nice, catchy read, perfect for getting out of a reading slump.
aussiebroadwayfan's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ruby_roo's review against another edition
1.0
So this was a re-read of a book that stuck with me from about ten years ago. It was the twist that stuck with me and I was really looking forward to reading it again to see if I still liked it. I did not.
I just found this book so problematic, I don't know if I didn't notice before because I was so young or because I knew what was going to happen this time through so I was more focused on the writing than the mystery but I found myself making loud noises of disgust frequently through this book. Slut shaming, virgin shaming, body shaming, girl on girl hate and a whole host of other things just made this book an uncomfortable read for me.
The twist and the ending of this book was fantastic, something I personally haven't come across before or since reading this ten years ago, and I would love to have been able to love the entirety of the story, I'm sad that I just can't.
I just found this book so problematic, I don't know if I didn't notice before because I was so young or because I knew what was going to happen this time through so I was more focused on the writing than the mystery but I found myself making loud noises of disgust frequently through this book. Slut shaming, virgin shaming, body shaming, girl on girl hate and a whole host of other things just made this book an uncomfortable read for me.
The twist and the ending of this book was fantastic, something I personally haven't come across before or since reading this ten years ago, and I would love to have been able to love the entirety of the story, I'm sad that I just can't.
huncamuncamouse's review against another edition
4.0
3 stars boosted because Laura Kasischke is such a good writer. So for whatever reason, I didn't realize this was a YA novel, despite the title and seeing a small thumbnail of the cover when I requested it from the library. It was the last novel by her I hadn't read, but honestly, it seems pretty mature in style and themes for a YA reader--reminiscent in voice and descriptive detail of Jo Ann Beard's In Zanesville and Jayne Anne Phillips's Sanctuary, although there's more melodrama here.
I wouldn't quite call this a thriller, but there's an undercurrent of violence and simmering sexuality set against the backdrop of cheerleading camp (I personally would have been more interested in a general summer camp, but whatever). What made this book special was Kasischke's voice and the brief chapters that weave through time; some readers will think these chapters are tangential, but they actually serve to deepen the character and her friendships. Ultimately, the middle section dragged a bit, and I wanted to spend a little more time reflecting on the twist . . . which kind of goes against the point of a twist ending, but given this absolutely crazy thing happened, it seemed kind of lame to just give this reveal and be like, "okay the end."
I wouldn't quite call this a thriller, but there's an undercurrent of violence and simmering sexuality set against the backdrop of cheerleading camp (I personally would have been more interested in a general summer camp, but whatever). What made this book special was Kasischke's voice and the brief chapters that weave through time; some readers will think these chapters are tangential, but they actually serve to deepen the character and her friendships. Ultimately, the middle section dragged a bit, and I wanted to spend a little more time reflecting on the twist . . . which kind of goes against the point of a twist ending, but given this absolutely crazy thing happened, it seemed kind of lame to just give this reveal and be like, "okay the end."
raloveridge's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT. THE. HECK.
Gorgeous book, beautifully rendered and ABSOLUTELY SURPRISING IN EVERY WAY.
Gorgeous book, beautifully rendered and ABSOLUTELY SURPRISING IN EVERY WAY.
cynthiak's review against another edition
4.0
This is NOT a young adult book. C'est un livre par Laura Kasischke qui, une fois encore, fait une critique cinglante d'un aspect de la vie américaine. Ici, en l'occurrence, la superficialité des relations adUlescentes sur fond de cheerleadisme et l'égocentrisme qui frappe les jeunes filles "bien-comme-il-faut" ou "à-ne-pas-fréquenter" issues de la sacro-sainte middle-class. Une critique aussi de l'insouciance des jeunes (ah oui, laissez-les vivre dans l'insouciance) mais dont les choix insouciants ont des conséquences qui affecteront leur vie. A nouveau, on peut faire une lecture à plusieurs niveaux. C'est incroyable comment, mine de rien, Laura Kasischke arrive à dépeindre ses personnages avec finesse et une complexité sans fin.
crabbygirl's review against another edition
2.0
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]
i often make book lists after reading my favorite bloggers, but i don't always remember who recommended which book and for whom. (i take note of books for me, as well as pepper & fierce) when this YA one came in - innocence title and slim width - i thought it was pepper. well, thank-god i read it first! it's the kind of scary tale told around the campfire and was VERY effective in that sense. the tension kept building and i thought this would be a great alternative to those horrid Goosebumps series that my daughter likes to read. but the characters - so smutty! more flawed than redemptive. i tried to give it a chance (because maybe the ending would provide a moral judgement to counter point all this bad behavior) but no - the beautiful cheerleaders keep their perfect lives and the world keeps turning.
i often make book lists after reading my favorite bloggers, but i don't always remember who recommended which book and for whom. (i take note of books for me, as well as pepper & fierce) when this YA one came in - innocence title and slim width - i thought it was pepper. well, thank-god i read it first! it's the kind of scary tale told around the campfire and was VERY effective in that sense. the tension kept building and i thought this would be a great alternative to those horrid Goosebumps series that my daughter likes to read. but the characters - so smutty! more flawed than redemptive. i tried to give it a chance (because maybe the ending would provide a moral judgement to counter point all this bad behavior) but no - the beautiful cheerleaders keep their perfect lives and the world keeps turning.
taylorfennerwrites's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 of 5 Stars!
The first time I read Boy Heaven was twelve years ago. I was thirteen and at the time this story creeped me out. Years passed and I lost track of the book but never forgot the story, eventually managing to track down a used copy online. And so as a now-twenty-five-year-old-woman I read this book for the third time.
Boy Heaven is about a girl named Kristy who attends cheerleading camp with her best friend Desiree. There they meet a redhead also named Kristi and one day decide to ditch camp and drive to a nearby lake to skinny dip. Along the way they attract the attention of two boys in a station wagon who decide to follow them. The girls decide to turn back for camp and see the boys following them so they decide to flash them. Unbeknownst to them this event causes a disastrous chain of events. Soon Desiree and the redheaded Kristi insist they're seeing the boys watching them at the camp but the other Kristy doesn't believe them, thinking they're losing their minds.
With the help of the camp lifeguard, T.J., Desiree and Kristy discover the truth about what really happened the day they ran into the boys in the station wagon, a truth that will change all of their lives forever.
This book is an okay read. It's told in a very strange way - like you know how someone starts talking about one subject then before you know it they've off-shot into about a hundred other topics that you wonder how they were connected to the original topic to begin with. That's how this story is written. Originally it starts with a camp counsellor telling horror stories around the campfire, and the Desiree and Kristis' story is one of them then we hear the story in Kristy's perspective with a bunch of offshoots to things that happened in her past that aren't really but sort of are connected to the main story.
It's not as eerie of a story as I thought it was as a teenager but the ending - the fate of the three girls still gives me an uneasy feeling and reminds me why I never liked telling scary stories in the dark as a kid.
Overall, I like this book but I think there are a lot of things that could have been cut from the story.
The first time I read Boy Heaven was twelve years ago. I was thirteen and at the time this story creeped me out. Years passed and I lost track of the book but never forgot the story, eventually managing to track down a used copy online. And so as a now-twenty-five-year-old-woman I read this book for the third time.
Boy Heaven is about a girl named Kristy who attends cheerleading camp with her best friend Desiree. There they meet a redhead also named Kristi and one day decide to ditch camp and drive to a nearby lake to skinny dip. Along the way they attract the attention of two boys in a station wagon who decide to follow them. The girls decide to turn back for camp and see the boys following them so they decide to flash them. Unbeknownst to them this event causes a disastrous chain of events. Soon Desiree and the redheaded Kristi insist they're seeing the boys watching them at the camp but the other Kristy doesn't believe them, thinking they're losing their minds.
With the help of the camp lifeguard, T.J., Desiree and Kristy discover the truth about what really happened the day they ran into the boys in the station wagon, a truth that will change all of their lives forever.
This book is an okay read. It's told in a very strange way - like you know how someone starts talking about one subject then before you know it they've off-shot into about a hundred other topics that you wonder how they were connected to the original topic to begin with. That's how this story is written. Originally it starts with a camp counsellor telling horror stories around the campfire, and the Desiree and Kristis' story is one of them then we hear the story in Kristy's perspective with a bunch of offshoots to things that happened in her past that aren't really but sort of are connected to the main story.
It's not as eerie of a story as I thought it was as a teenager but the ending - the fate of the three girls still gives me an uneasy feeling and reminds me why I never liked telling scary stories in the dark as a kid.
Overall, I like this book but I think there are a lot of things that could have been cut from the story.
katiecoops's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. I was completely unprepared for the kind of writing the story told within the pages because the cover is just plain awful. I would NEVER have picked this book up based on the cover alone but I read a review of it that made me curious. I've never felt like a book needed a different cover (and maybe title) more than this book does. It's just so incongruous with the story and it is a fantastic story. Kasischke's writing is beautiful and unexpected and the story is so different from most other YA books. I definitely recommend this book even though I can't really tell much of the story without giving it away. I can say it is not a fun, sun-soaked read like the cover would lead you to believe and it is much darker than you think.