Richard Laymon Same Vein
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RATING:  |
Date of Release: January
2003
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Publisher: Pan Macmillan |
Review Source:  |
Special by Bella Bathurst
Special is a chilling and subversive debut novel about adolescent girls forging
their identities - at any price. A group of teenage schoolgirls are on a field
trip to the Forest of Dean. Vain, spoilt and interested primarily in sex, alcohol
and outfits, the girls squabble and smoke, skive and bitch, torment their teachers
and betray their friends, and the reader bears witness to the development and
disintegration of relationships. So far, so typical. But this world of teenagers
is a hall of mirrors, where the everyday can become monstrous, and nothing is
quite what you expect. Soon enough something dark and sinister begins to move
underneath the surface.
'Special' gives a chilling insight into the minds of adolescent girls, seen
largely through the eyes of Ali, an old-before-her-years loner who obvserves
the antics of her peers with a curious detatchment. She watches as the fragile
relationships between the girls deteriorate to the point of destruction both
of each other and themselves.
Anyone who believes that female friendships are based on caring and nurturing
can think again - this book portrays calculating cruelty from girls desperate
to build relationships and find their own identities in an environment that
has not equipped them to do either.
A superb book. A stunning read.
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