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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
The book is very slow paced and difficult to get into it. I had a hard time keeping all the characters and their relationships to one another straight for the first few chapters.
I loved the switching timelines and POVs between Whitsun girls, mainly told from Daisy during the present, and their ancestor Jane in the 1800s! I also enjoyed the parallels between both POVs of navigating love, sex, desire, and pregnancy.
Overall an enjoyable and interesting story, I didn’t love it or hate it, the novel was just average. I’m glad to have read it but probably won’t remember it. I’d recommend for anyone who enjoys character driven stories with explorations of complex issues/emotions!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Infidelity and Car accident
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Sexual assault
kjboldon's review against another edition
5.0
I would have loved to have this book as a teen, in the pre-internet days. My main source of information about sex and my body was from books, and there were so few realistic teens in what I read, and even fewer that had frank portrayals of the push/pull of teen sexuality. Mesrobian intertwines two timelines, a past narrated by a ghost who was a child bride to a distant Midwestern farmer, and a present in which the ghost observes a trio of teen cousins (The Whitsun Daughters of the title) who struggle to understand boys, sex, menstruation and more in a modern midwestern farm town. There is an impressive amount of background history. In the past, there is infidelity, immigration, and strange cures for madness. In the present, there are secrets upon secrets, layered over two generations. What I liked best about the book was its depiction of teen desire, as well as the matter-of-fact portrayal of teen bodies, menstruation, and sex.
stenaros's review
3.0
The writing! So good! But this is a hard book to get into. There are two plots--one back in the day maybe mid-1800s? and one modern. The first chapter has five members of an extended family, plus another guy, plus an ex-boyfriend, plus a dead mother, plus a mention of a different guy, plus a reference to a different family, plus a dog named Rusty.
By the end of the first chapter, I had a rough sketch of all the people, but it was touch and go there for a bit. At any rate, Mesrobian, besides being a lyrical writer, is so good at portraying emerging female sexuality. I'd say it's worth wading through.
By the end of the first chapter, I had a rough sketch of all the people, but it was touch and go there for a bit. At any rate, Mesrobian, besides being a lyrical writer, is so good at portraying emerging female sexuality. I'd say it's worth wading through.
paperxfaerie's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautiful and atmospheric story which alternates between the ghost of a woman from the 1800's telling her own story, and her descendants, three teenage girls, coming of age in modern times. It is bold and unashamed in its portrayals of the things many young girls experience growing up, and speaks plainly about things like menstruation, sex, and pregnancy. The story connects the women of this family with those experiences they have in common, even though they live centuries apart.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and moody, and the writing was poetic, while still maintaining a sense that the author was speaking plainly about things. I especially loved this directness when it came to topics that most authors skirt around with vague and flowery inferences. I loved the idea of a ghost watching her descendants grow up just as she did, but in a different time and a different way.
The characters felt very real and many of the youngest sister, Daisy's, experiences and feelings rang true for me. There are definitely some questionable events happening in this story (particularly a sexual relationship between a 15 year old and a 19 year old), and some of it made me uncomfortable because I could never tell if the story was aware of itself there or not. On the other hand, I do feel that the uncomfortable feeling, and the uncertainty around what's ok and what's not, is something that so many young girls have to feel while growing up, and it's presence in this story, whether intentionally or not, added to the theme for me.
My only complaint would be, again, the fact that some questionable things are not fully addressed. I also think the marketing might be a little off calling this a "ghost" story when really it's just narrated by a woman from the past.
But overall, it was a gorgeous and captivating read.
Thank you Penguin Teen for the Netgalley ARC!
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and moody, and the writing was poetic, while still maintaining a sense that the author was speaking plainly about things. I especially loved this directness when it came to topics that most authors skirt around with vague and flowery inferences. I loved the idea of a ghost watching her descendants grow up just as she did, but in a different time and a different way.
The characters felt very real and many of the youngest sister, Daisy's, experiences and feelings rang true for me. There are definitely some questionable events happening in this story (particularly a sexual relationship between a 15 year old and a 19 year old), and some of it made me uncomfortable because I could never tell if the story was aware of itself there or not. On the other hand, I do feel that the uncomfortable feeling, and the uncertainty around what's ok and what's not, is something that so many young girls have to feel while growing up, and it's presence in this story, whether intentionally or not, added to the theme for me.
My only complaint would be, again, the fact that some questionable things are not fully addressed. I also think the marketing might be a little off calling this a "ghost" story when really it's just narrated by a woman from the past.
But overall, it was a gorgeous and captivating read.
Thank you Penguin Teen for the Netgalley ARC!
themaddiest's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A gem of a book. Mesrobian's writing has never been more beautiful than it is here, and this slight novel features characters both historical and contemporary. Readers can always expect Mesrobian to explore the complexities of sex and love, and that is on full display here. This is a hauntingly beautiful novel, probably not for everyone, but an absolute diamond in the rough for readers who like their fiction a little bit abstract, their characters more than a little messy.
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