If this book were longer I never would have finished it. ( )

I was drawn to this novel because of the book's good reviews and its purported story of the first female student at a New England prep school. While I greatly enjoyed reading some of the paragraphs in this novel, I agree that the chapters each seem more like short stories. The "plot",as it were, is unsatisfying and the pleasure of reading Carolyn Cooke's words and phrases can't make up for the lack of good story well-told. I look forward to the author's growth as a writer because, although this novel failed me, the intelligent and evocative prose paired with a well-conceived and paced plot could be a wonder to read. I have my fingers crossed.

More a disjointed collection of short stories than a novel. Overabundance of descriptions of sexual acts. Last story/chapter finally ties the stories/chapters in the book together. ( )