The List by Siobhan Vivian
An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.
It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.
This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.
Genre: YA Contemp
Source: library
Series? No
Buy it: Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound Book Depository
Author stalk away: ~site ~twitter ~blog
I have wanted to read this one for some time because I was interested the the premise of this list that targeted the most beautiful and ugliest girl in each class. I wanted to see how the dynamics played out, how much bullying would come into play and wanted to know who is behind the list and why.
There is a shifting point of view and it is with all eight of the girls, so it took me a bit to remember the individual story line, what they were voted, and what role they play in relation to the others. They all had different story lines and motives, and it was a great look into how women view themselves and how easily they could be persuaded by others/popular opinion.
I wish that it would have had less characters and been able to go deeper, and for me to actually remember who was voted prettiest and ugliest, and what they were feeling about it.
But there was something compulsive about it. I didn't want to stop reading even through my character confusion. I wanted to know who was behind it. I wanted to know how this would bring together or separate the girls, and how they respond to being on their place on the list.
I felt like once the story got going and I was starting to get into the characters' stories and tell them from each other, it was over. And to me, at least, it didn't feel like a very complete ending.
My question to you, my lovely readers:
Did your high school have a strict heirarchy?
