Review Detail

The List by Siobhan Vivian is one of those books that made me so freaking angry while I was reading it, and yet I couldn't make myself put it down.

I hated 90% of the characters in The List. They were all so messed up and obnoxious and self-centered and bratty and downright cruel - and yet, unfortunately realistic. So I guess it's good that I couldn't stand them. Although I think someone should push Andrew off of a cliff.

The List took place during Homecoming week in high school, told from the perspective of eight different girls. Surprisingly this didn't confuse me. I thought the point of view change flowed nicely and allowed the reader to get the perspective from each girl and their various lives. And every girl in The List all did have surprisingly complicated lives. I thought maybe one or two of the girls would fall flat but Siobhan Vivian managed to give them all a life of their own.

I still hate them though.

The List by Siobhan Vivian is one of those books that's hard to take. The fact that teenagers can be so cruel to each other and to themselves is a bitter pill to swallow, but Siobhan Vivian doesn't shy away from it.

Some of the girls in The List, however, didn't really get a wrapped-up ending. Sure, I know everything doesn't end with a pretty bow - especially not in a brutally honest book like The List, but I kind of felt like some of the girl's stories were unfinished.

In the end, The List by Siobhan Vivian is a contemporary worth your time. It's painful to get through, and I can guarantee you'll want to throw something at each and every character at some point, but The List bitterly realistic and honest about what it means to be a high school girl.