These Girls: A Novel

I've had this book on my to read list for quite some time now, and it's certainly lived up to its hype.

These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen follows the lives of three very different women: Abby, Cate, and Renee as they navigate life, love, and work. At first, I thought it was the typical "fluff" read and while a fun novel, one that wouldn't stay with me long. I couldn't have been more wrong.

This book does tread familiar ground-- dealing with broken marriages, infidelity, friends who both like the same guy, eating disorders. But the way Pekkanen handles her characters and her prose transcend this book into a totally different category.

I loved the development of all of these women, particularly Cate and Abby. There is a very poignant encounter with Abby and another character that I will not divulge-- but it was powerful, meaningful, and surprising. A two dimensional character became very three dimensional and human.

The turn of phrase is often beautiful and unexpected. And I thought this was a four star book until the very end where I was surprised and moved to tears by how Pekkanen deals with ending her story. It was done in a way that was perfect and ultimately satisfying without pandering to the stereotypical chick flick ending.

Overall, I was impressed with this novel-- beautifully written, wonderful characterization, and a must read.

I've loved Sarah Pekkanen since she came onto the writer's scene with The Opposite of Me and she once again sealed it for me with her sophomore book Skipping A Beat. So when her third book, These Girls, came out, of course, I had to get my hands on it. I zipped through it with a frenzy and fell in love with these girls like you wouldn't believe.

There are three main characters in These Girls and it's such a great book because they're all equals - not one character takes the stage. You've got Cate, who has just been promoted to features editor at Gloss magazine, a girl who doesn't have to try to maintain her size 4 figure, but who feels like she has to prove her spot at her job. She's also keeping a secret that might very much jeopardize her new position.

Then there's beloved Renee, who is everybody's friend, a size 12 curvy girl, my type of girlfriend, the girl at the party everyone knows, everyone wants to be friends with. She's trying awfully hard to win the job of beauty editor, but has doubts because of her weight, and falls into some serious trouble when she discovers a quick weight-loss tactic. But will the fact that she's losing weight be the end-all to her woes, or will it just cause further problems? She's also dealing with the fact that her parents are having problems of their own, and a mysterious new family member reveals herself to Renee to stir up even more doubts about herself and her family.

Abby - what can I say about Abby - Abby just wants to be loved and have a family. She's escaping from something terrible, but even she's not exactly sure what she's running from - a secret from her past? The fact that she had infiltrated herself into the family she was nannying for just a little too much? She runs to NY to her brother, Trey, for help.

Of course, there's Trey, hottie Trey. Renee dated him briefly, but things didn't quite work out the way she had hoped, and now there's a teeny spark brewing between him and another character. I love how Sarah brings in just enough romance to keep the pages turning, but not too much to take away from the story. The way Sarah Pekkanen brings these three women together is a perfect story of friendship. All three are in need of something they each don't know how to get. I think they're all looking for acceptance of themselves, and acceptance in their jobs, in other women, in the men they choose to be with.

As Sarah herself has said in interviews, her stories always have surprises in the end, and These Girls' ending did surprise me a bit. I may at first have wanted a little bit of a different ending, but after I closed the book, I thought for a few minutes. I thought about what the story was about. I thought about WHO the story was about. I realized the title of the book is THESE GIRLS. And then I knew that it was the most perfect ending for another wonderful book by Sarah Pekkanen!

This was such a great book. I couldn't put it down. I liked each of the three main characters and thought they all held their own. Each time we went to another story I was just as invested because I wanted to know more about what happened in their pasts, as well as what was going to happen moving forward. I thought these were all things that any young woman could go through in the right set of circumstances and it made the plot ring that much more true to me. Spoilers: I didn't love that Abby was responsible for her brothers death, I'm not sure what that really added to the story, and the fact that they just never spoke about him, but obviously never healed. I just don't know if that was a normal reaction to a crisis like that. Perhaps missing her love from her parents is what drove her to another woman's husband. Joanna was weird, she didn't seem to care for her family at all, even her daughter. I can't imagine her doing something as selfless as being pregnant and having a child, if that's not where she was in her life. Maybe she had baby blues? But Bob never seemed to hint that things were that different before Bella came along. I wish we had gotten to see Renee meet her half sister. I wanted a bit more to be resolved for Cate. She didn't get love, she was holding her mother together by a thread and her job seemed to always have a certain threat because she didn't feel respected by the staff or her editor. But that can ring true in a way, life can look good on the outside but have so many flaws underneath.

I was just introduced to Sarah Pekkanen when I stumbled across The Oppsite of Me on Amazon recomendations. I thoroughly enjoyed the Opposite of Me and went searching for more books by this author. I completed These Girls in two days and have now went straight into reading The Best of Us. These Girls was a good story line and addresses the issues of each roommate very true to life. I loved the way the author conveyed the building of the friendships and the way the different personalities interacted and forged an important bond. I found each character very true to life, covering the many life issues of work, career, love, family, and self image. The only reason I didn't go for 5 stars is I thought Cate's character needed a little more substances. I didn't feel like I got to know her as well as the other two roommates. I will continue to read Ms Perkkanen's books!

Welcome to New York. It's busy and fast paced and feels as though you are surrounded by a constant buzz of electricity that feels the air.

For Cate, New York has brought her the sought after title of feature editor for the magazine Gloss. It is everything that Cate had hoped for in a career, and everything she has dreaded as well.

Renee, is in the running for the coveted position of Beauty editor of Gloss. She suffers from low self-esteem to her constant battle with her weight and her two components for the position seem to have it far more together than she does. However, the diet pills she has started taking seem to be giving her energy and curbing her appetite and she is learning that if she takes more pills, she has more energy.... and maybe the weight will drop faster.

Abby, had her life together. She was happy and in a dream job where she was able to go to school in the evenings and by day live with a young family and take care of their darling little girl. But the man of the house, Bob, is pretty good-looking, and oh so kind, and the wife just works all the time late into the evenings.... leaving Abby alone with Bob...

As these three women connect and eventually become roommates, the secrets that can busy us... perhaps friendship can save us?

Women friendships. Why do they have to be so complicated? Cate has the job that she loves and is getting her feet wet into this new career with a flourish. Yet her friend and roommate Renee struggles through life with weight issues that seem to shadow over everything she does. If a date does not go well, it is due to her weight, if she doesn't get the position she wants.. no doubt it is contributed to her weight... and the mean comments that show up on her beauty tips blog just seal the deal that she has to do something about her weight. They Abby enters the picture and by the time Cate and Renee meet her she is a fragile broken girl with a story that they know nothing about. Abby's career as a nanny is now over - and as the pages turn we get a glimpse into what was true then....

Now every author can pull off the multiple protagonists, Sarah Pekkanen does it with a flourish. Not once did I get confused over whose story line was taking the wheel for a part of the book. And each of these women - Cate, Renee, and Abby felt like real women to me. What each woman was going through was so different from the others, yet I could relate to each. Cate had a drive which I loved, but she also had to balance that out with friendships, and family issues. Renee's battle to look good believing it would lead her to feeling good... is a topic I think many of us struggle with, and Abby just fell into the wrong situation which never felt pre meditated... it just... happened.

Reading a Sarah Pekkanen book is like spending time with friends. I enjoyed spending times within its pages.

I have read both of the author's previous books and loved them so I was really looking forward to reading her third outing. I have to say that this book does not disappoint. The themes of this book are very relatable. Who hasn't?

-suffered from low self esteem -desired someone that is forbidden fruit -had a struggling relationship with our parents when we were kids and now as we are adults -feared that we were really a fraud at work and that our co-workers were going to figure it out -had mean and catty co-workers who made coming to work unbearable at times -had a secret from our past that we want no one to find out about -worried about our parents now that they are getting older -had a sleazy boss who made you feel uncomfortable -wished we were more like our friends and less like ourselves -had a cringe worthy moment (or day) and wished we could erase it from existence

SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER

The author's real talent is in how she entwines these themes into a related and organic plot. She takes the theme of low self esteem and makes Renee's struggles with it go to an extreme. However, you still feel sympathy for her despite the fact that you would probably not let it get that far if it was you.

She takes the average person's work struggles and amps it up for Cate's story line. You understand when she doubts herself and you root for her when she tries to work through it without totally rocking the boat.

Abby's story line was the most interesting for me, though it was told mostly through flashbacks which I am not a fan of. You really, really feel for her even though her actions are not sympathetic (especially if you are married).

All in all I would say to give these girls a try.

Initial Thoughts: I'm a sucker for chick lit novels. Anything remotely along the lines of Sex and the City and I'm intrigued. So when you tell me about three roommates in New York? I'm sold.

The Pros: All three girls were immensely relatable. Who hasn't felt stressed out by their job, wished they could lose a few pounds, and had their heart broken into a million pieces? I'm pretty sure every girl has.

Abby's story was the most compelling to me. It had the most depth, and kept me guessing. The love she showed little Annabelle was heartwarming.

Renee personifies my fear for girls today. No one is ever thin enough or pretty enough, and some girls will stop at nothing to be the thinnest and prettiest. It's an important lesson to instill in young women.

Cate's decision to put her friends above herself was noble, and shows where her alliances lay. Remember the saying.. chicks before... well... you know the rest.

The Cons: I wished it was a bit longer. I wanted to know more. With around 300 pages split between three girls, that's just about 100 pages a girl. Not nearly enough to get my fill.

I wanted to know more about Trey. It seems like he was just glossed over.

The Wrap Up: This is your standard chick lit quick read. It was interesting enough to keep me amused, but nothing I would rave about. Cute and relevant, it's a good beach read.

Favorite Quote: "I can't take back what I did. But it might... help you to know how much I love your daughter. I thought the letters were for Annabelle, but they're not. They're for you.

Not sure I would recommend. This was a story that took more longer than it should have to complete it. I think that was because I lost interest. I am just one to give up reading a book all the way through. The characters were just average for me. No part of the story really grabbed me. No one I could cling on to, feel sad for or relate to. I would maybe consider another novel from the author and give her another shot. I think there could be some potential in her writing.

3.5 stars

This is a story of three women (late twenties, early thirties) who are each struggling internally with personal issues; Renee is beautiful both inside and out but, as a size 12, she constantly compares herself to thinner women. When she competes for the position of beauty editor at a magazine, her body issues hit an all-time-low; Cate is holding back a secret that she feels threatens her new leadership position at the magazine; This secret also keeps her a bit emotionally unavailable for relationships both platonic and romantic; and Abby has run away from her life in the suburbs and is starting to see the influence her childhood has had on her present choices. Renee and Cate have been roommates in their small NYC apartment for a while but never true friends, but when Abby's brother Trey asks them to take in his sister, things change.

I have mixed feelings about this book. In truth, I had difficulty putting it down because I wanted to know what would happen to each of these girls (no pun intended). In that respect, it was a great book. At the same time, I was often not happy with the author's choices and, with the exception of Renee, did not sympathize with the girls as much as I think I was supposed to. Cate, in particular, got on my nerves more than once. Each time she made a bad choice, she would internally acknowledge that she might be doing the wrong thing but then she would justify it and do it anyway. I thought she was a bit selfish, although she redeemed herself somewhat at the end. And while I understood what provoked Abby to do what she did, I still found her actions hard to swallow. Renee, on the other hand, was extremely likeable and sympathetic. She was, by far, my favorite character and the only one in whose story I felt truly vested.

SPOILER ALERT I really did not like the love triangle aspect of the book and was very upset that the author choose to make Cate the object of Trey's interest when Renee was such a better match and, in my opinion, a much better catch! My heart broke and my blood boiled for Renee as I watched the building chemistry between Trey and Cate - did not like the idea of them together AT ALL.

Finally, there were issues in the book that I thought could have been resolved better - for instance, the cyber-bullying of Renee by her colleague was never really addressed - that could have added more tension.

I absolutely LOVED Skipping a Beat and will certainly continue to read books by this author but this one is not a favorite.