I cannot quite say that I really enjoyed the book, but I was extremely engrossed by it. I just kept reading and reading until I had pretty much forgotten the time, until I realized that I had just passed a whole day. And this was actually my second time reading this book, though to be fair, it was quite a while since I last read it. The writing was simple, yet beautiful, and the characters were so real, so painfully real that it was as if they were sitting there telling me the entire story. I really ended up feeling for all of them, and it was truly sad how screwed up they became due to their families and past experiences.

I found the ending beautiful though. At least two of them managed to reconcile, and especially Rennie, the writer, who managed to reconcile her past with her present, and it seemed that she was able to move on. I especially love the meeting between her and Amy, and how they realised that, despite everything that happened, they could still count on each other and the memories of their friendship. I also loved how Amy managed to come clean about her role in the crime she and her friends took part in, and how she was able to... well... not really reconcile with the man who betrayed her, but at least there was some form of comfort between them.

I'm not too sure about what happened to Cherry though, her story was a bit convoluted. I was able to understand her past, but I'm not sure whether the way she ended her story was to be a happy or sad ending. It also saddened me that she never got to reconcile with her two best friends. At the same time, what she did for both of them was extremely touching, and it made her present situation all the more sad because it seemed that she never really recovered from her past.

All in all, it was a beautiful book, and I really loved it. I especially felt that the message behind the story, that only when you are able to confront the past are you able to move on from it, especially true, and told beautifully with this story. It's definitely on my recommended reads list, and it's a book that I would definitely be visiting over and over again. ( )

A book that could have been so much better than it is. The premise is that three young women in highschool, bound together by their dysfunctional lives, rebel by considering themselves a sort of secret society against the world. At the ehart of the book is a "shicking" act sadly one guesses its nature from early on and if the girl's antics as recorded in their "bitch goddess" notebook are intended to shock and disturb the reader, Ms O'Connor must ahve led a very sheltered life!

It could have been very good - it has elements that are intriguing and could ahve been developed properly but overall it's a slight read, unsatisyfing and horribly neat. The end is an utter cop-out and as adults the women are not really much more interesting than their adolescent selves, never really achieving either the ability to move or shock.

Will make a neat little movie probably. ( )