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Monday 18 February 2013

{ARC Review}: September Girls by Bennett Madison

September Girls
by Bennett Madison
Expected Publication: May 21, 2013
by HarperTeen
Page #: 256

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When Sam's dad whisks him and his brother off to a remote beach town for the summer, he's all for it--at first. Sam soon realizes, though, that this place is anything but ordinary.Time seems to slow down around here, and everywhere he looks, there are beautiful blond girls. Girls who seem inexplicably drawn to him.
Then Sam meets DeeDee, one of the Girls, and she's different from the others. Just as he starts to fall for her, she pulls away, leaving him more confused than ever. He knows that if he's going to get her back, he'll have to uncover the secret of this beach and the girls who live there.


*An ARC was provided by Water Street Books for review purposes*

Wow. What a beautiful book, to say the least. I don't think I've ever read anything so unique and powerful before.

This book has alternating point of views, which I really enjoyed. I don't usually read books with a guy's POV--not as a rule or anything, but usually I just end up reading books narrated by girls.  The few times I have read a book with a guy's POV, I've liked it. Well let me just say that I loved Sam's point of view. He was a deep, emotional character who just made the pages explode with pure honesty.

Everything in this book pretty much comes down to finding yourself.  It's a tremendous theme throughout the whole book. Here is a teenage boy in the depths of loneliness and anger, and here are girls caught up in the same things. By the end of the book, everyone has found him or herself.  It was a beautiful end to a spectacular book. I re-read the last couple pages at least five times, marveling at their beauty, truth, and rawness.
At first I wasn't sure if I liked the "Girls" as Sam called them. The way they stared, their attitude, their shocking beauty, their all-around enigma--I just wasn't a fan, especially of Kristle, and even sometimes DeeDee. And I thought Sam's reaction to it all was a little weird--"So what, there are hundreds of blond girls staring at me? Oh, whatever"--or at least that seemed to be the vibe he was giving off. It kind of annoyed me.
But then, when I was almost three quarters through the book, I had this sort of epiphany and just GOT it. I got the Girls, I got Sam, I got everyone in the book. All (most) of my unanswered questions were now somewhere in the vicinity of being answered. A similar thing happened with the writing style. I wasn't used to the poetic touch that Madison put on the Girls' POV, but I grew to appreciate it.

All in all, this book is definitely deserving of the 4-star rating that I've given it.  Bennett Madison has penned a beautiful and profound masterpiece of a novel, and should be immensely proud of himself.

4/5 stars

6 comments:

  1. This book looks really unusual. I like original books, so this might be a book for me.
    Fab review!!! You have a way with words :D
    *Old follower*

    Sapir @ Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was very original indeed! Thank you!
      I love your blog :)
      -Annabel

      Delete
  2. Beautiful cover? Check. Interesting premise? Check? Able to get a positive review from Annabel? Check.
    Conclusion: must read
    :P
    Really, great review!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I really want to read this!
    Great review! :)

    ReplyDelete

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