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Unabridged Digital Audiobook
Runtime: 11 hours, 40 minutes
Read by Ali Ahn, Caitlin Davies, Carlotta Brentan, Cheryl Smith, Chloe Cannon, Dylan Moore, Emily Shaffer, Imani Jade Powers, Jesse Vilinsky, Kristen DiMercurio, Natalie Naudus
We certainly live in a challenging time—one where we’re struggling to right so many different wrongs in our society, all while fighting our way through a global pandemic. The audio edition of All Girls by author Emily Layden takes on just one of these societal issues, following several young women through their coming-of-age journey.
The story takes place at a prestigious all-girls boarding school in New England. As the students make their way to the campus, ready for the new school year, they’re greeted by a number of troubling signs, accusing the school of employing a rapist. And as the year plays out, the administration struggles to deal with a decades-old scandal and the students’ reactions to it. And various students reflect on their own experiences and attitudes toward growing up and becoming a woman in today’s difficult environment.
In telling the stories of nine different students of different ages, different backgrounds, and different experiences, All Girls sets out to explore just some of the challenges that young women today face. As they struggle to understand the scandal that’s shaking up a community that they once believed to be a safe, nurturing environment, they wrestle with their feelings about the school, the staff, and their fellow students as they’re faced with a wide variety of issues.
Each chapter takes on a different voice: the freshman who’s trying to ignore the scandal and settle into her new home, the junior who feels pressured to hook up with a boy—any boy—because everyone else is doing it, the dancer who gave up her dreams because of the advances of her mentor, the senior who struggles with her racial and sexual identity. They’re all timely stories, but none of these short snapshots of their girls’ lives hit especially hard.
Meanwhile, the author connects all of these stories together with occasional references to the time of year and the latest updates on the school’s scandal and the administration’s handling of the case. At times, the characters show up in one another’s story. But there are so many different characters and so many different stories—and while they all take place at the same school during the same school year, they feel more like a collection of short stories than a cohesive novel.
With the #Metoo Movement increasing awareness in a variety of issues, All Girls definitely tackles some timely topics. But it does so in a way that often feels distant and disconnected.
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