The List Paperback – 7 April 2016

Like

Okay

“To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.”----Simone de BeauvoirSiobhan Vivian, the New York Times bestselling author, has penned an incredibly enlightening and an entrancing contemporary young adult fiction, The List in which the author has woven a story about eight high school teenage girls from various grades who are picked up for a list that labels four of the girls as the ugliest in their high school and rest four as the prettiest, but little did they knew that before the homecoming dance, this list would actually ruin their lives and their relationships, no matter how good or bad they are labelled as.Synopsis:This riveting exploration of physical appearance and the status it confers opens a cultural conversation that’s needed to happen for a long time.Every year during homecoming week, a list is posted anonymously at Mount Washington High naming the prettiest and ugliest girls in each class. Abby, who finds it easier to get credit for her looks than hard work, and Danielle, whose swimmer’s physique gets her labeled “ugly,” are this year’s freshman duo. The list confers instant status, transforming formerly home-schooled sophomore Lauren from geeky to hot while consigning her counterpart, pretty-but-mean Candace, to pariah. But what the label mainly confers is anxiety. Prettiest junior Bridget despairs that she’ll ever be thin enough to merit her title; Sarah takes refuge in anger, vowing to earn her ugly label big-time. Jennifer, four-time “ugliest” winner, tries to relish the notoriety. Margo’s title should make her the slam-dunk choice for homecoming queen, but will it? Whether clued in or clueless to the intricate social complexities, boyfriends reinforce the status quo, while moms carry scars of their own past physical insecurities.The issue is seldom front and center in books for teens, but Vivian refuses to falsify or avoid the uncomfortable realities that looks alone confer status, and their power is greatest when obscured by the pretense that “looks don’t matter.”Mount Washington High school turns into a nightmare for some girls and into a boon from an evil curse for a handful of girls, every year in the month of September, right before the Homecoming day when a Homecoming King and Queen is elected. Every year from the freshmen to sophomore to junior to senior grades, two girls are picked or rather say, labelled as "ugly" or "pretty" in The List that decides the fate of the eight teenage girls on whether they would win the title or not. Little did girls like, Abby, Danielle, Lauren, Candace, Bridget, Sarah, Jennifer and Margo knew that they would make the list that year and that would completely change their personal as well as social lives and circles, for the better or for the worse, but whatever the outcome is, this list is going to destroy their relationships and friendships. But can the girls overcome this challenge or will they ever find out who is behind this social stigma?This is the first time that I read any books by this author and before picking up a copy of this book, I wasn't expecting much from this particular book. And boy, oh boy, it surprised me a lot, not because of the author's writing style or prose, but only because of the story line that the author has flawlessly created and that gripped me through out the entire story line. The sharp edge of brutal honesty reflects from each and every pages and that astounded me on how much real the story line felt and how vividly the author captured about a fragile and young world where body shaming can ruin some one's future.The author's writing style is okay, not that perfect or coherent, because there are eight main characters and sometimes it feels tedious to read about the drama happening in their lives. The narrative is dull yet it has that power to stimulate the young minds, and sways smoothly with the pace of the book. The one problem is that the dialogues lack the depth of emotions, although from the grounds of social morality, the whole story is going to incite anger many young teenagers and their parents and eventually finding resolutions and closure in the climax.The characters are well developed, but since there are so many characters, somewhere in the story line, their personal stories get overlapped eventually that will leave the readers a bit confused. The main eight characters reflect authenticity and realism thorough their demeanor. Their fight and struggle to overcome from the label, be it good or bad is real to the very core and is bound to strike a chords with those who have faced the same situation in their lives. The supporting characters are good enough and peak the interest level of the story line.The issues that this book raise are very much real and every single day, girls are becoming a victim to this social stigma. And the author deals with this cause with much sensitivity and emotions that will motivate the common people especially the parents and the teachers of the victims to curb this social stigma from spreading. The author sends a strong message through this book and it hits rightly through the souls of the people and encourages them to take a step against this issue of body shaming and labeling young girls upon their beauty, looks and figure.In a nutshell, this is a must read book for not only the young teenage girls but also for their parents and teachers, that will compel them from their very core to understand the gravity of such a social issue.

In a 335 paged book, Siobhan Vivian has tried her best to put light upon some serious issues prevailing in the society such as objectification of women, labelling of a person, insecurity and inferiority complex, the pressure of living upto expectations, the embarrassment of being bullied, and the stereotypes of beauty and fashion. Am I serious? Yeah. Although on one hand this all sounds too much, The author has done a very courageous attempt at achieving the perfect depiction and struggles of teens facing in their high school.However, at a few points I have felt that the author has taken too much on her plate, and here is why –1) It is a delight to read a book written from 2 point of views. A 3 POV story begins to bother me. The List has 8 POVone-dimensional,he overdoing of characters actually adds negativity in the book as each of the characters have hardly five chapters to them. The characterisation, therefore, was expected to be only one-dimensional, however Vivian has very effectively built a good characterisation of about 5 of the girls.2) The Ending is Abrupt. You are left with a lot of questions and practically no answers so as to what happens with a few of the girls next as their fate remains unresolved.Despite the complaints, I am hugely satisfied with the book and I would never mind re-reading it. The reason is Vivian’s writing style. While the narrative gets kind of confusing, Vivian has a blessed writing style which has gone almost missing in today’s fiction and teen books. I can term it as a good literature. Apart from teens, parents and teachers must also consider reading the book to understand the gravity of the situation that prevails in today’s teens.If you pick up the book with an expectation to read only mean things directed for the girls labelled as ugly, you are wrong. Even the girls tagged as pretty are in as much of social pressure as the ugly ones. This is just a signification of the fact that no matter which side of the coin falls for you, get ready for trouble. Moral in Rupi Kaur’s amazing words, The body is what you come into the world with. This Is the First home, and would be the last home. So love your body.I finished this book in just 4 hours. That’s right. In a long time I haven’t read such a compulsive read and maybe that’s why I loved it so much! At no point did I feel that I was having to push through.

Ainda não li o livro, mas gostaria de parabenizar o serviço da Amazon... podem confiar e comprar numa boa! hahaha

Parfait

The idea for this book is both interesting and appalling - a school where the highlight of every year is a list appearing naming the prettiest and ugliest girls in the school - and despite the arbitrary nature of this, it seems to be accepted as the truth by the student body. The writing is very sharp and it would definitely draw me to read more books by this author and I found very entertaining. The girls all react differently to being on the list - some such as Marge see it as their due, Sarah decides to rebel and get her revenge on the other students at the prom, Bridget, a recovering anorexic is perhaps the worst affected, as the comments beside her name prove to be extremely triggering to her condition. The book raises all sorts of question - what is beauty/ugliness and who is qualified to judge? Why isn't there a similar list for the male students? It also introduces a character who proves that ugly too can be more than skin deep ...That having been said I have to agree with some of the criticisms - eight character viewpoints is perhaps too many to be covered in a book of this length, and some - such as Amy don't get much of a look in. I also agree that the ending lacked closure and left too many storylines just hanging in mid air. The author cheated in my mind - she created all these issues and then instead of giving the reader the kind of dramatic closure we need, she ends on a mildly ironic note. For that I have deducted one star.

In an American high school, the most toxic tradition persists. Each September the list is posted, naming the prettiest and ugliest girls in each year group. This book follows the eight girls on the list that year and how the list has changed their lives.Honestly, this story felt incomplete. Spanning not even a full week there are just aspects that I personally would have liked being tidied up. I also thought the author of that year's list was fairly predictable.A good summary of the pack mentality of teenagers though. Was a decent read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The interwoven stories of the 8 girls on “The List”-4 declared ugliest, 4 prettiest, beautifully explored many of the complexities of the female teenage experience of friendship, self-esteem, belonging, body image, competitiveness, cruelty & empathy.The latter two fed by the first five, and endlessly changing, flipping & evolving.I found the characters vibrant and relatable, many surprises that showed that there are no real good or bad girls. Unless you walk a mile in someone’s shoes (or exist in their mind), you really have no idea whatsoever what struggles, dreams, or anguish they experience.I believe that every female (and many many males) will see themselves in one, or a combination of the 8 main characters, or other women-family, friends, teachers-in the bookNEVER judge someone solely by appearance. Even if the judgement is a favourable one, you diminish their “whole” and do the no “favour” at all.Best years of your life? Jeez I wouldn’t be that age again for any price XO