Rufi Thorpe

The lifelong bond between hard-hearted Mia and kind Lorrie Ann is tested by the challenges of Mia's dysfunctional family and the tragic losses that transform Lorrie Ann's personality in ways that make Mia question her views about family and loyalty. A first novel. 75,000 first printing.

The Girls from Corona Del Mar

Amy Maddess

I almost stopped reading this because I thought it was some random contemporary novel about girls growing up in the suburbs but it was a realistic portrayal of two girls growing up together and a treatise on how life never goes down like we want it to. 

I often think about how we are affected by the people that we meet, and I am fascinated by the way that we pick up common behaviours and ticks from those we spend the most time with and admire. I think that we choose our friends based on reflections of ourselves that we see within them, and because they spark inspiration to grow a certain part of us. Whether or not we are doing this consciously, I think it makes it very difficult when our friends make choices that we would not agree with, because we are forced to face that this close friend is not an extension of us, but a separate existence. We are also forced to face the question of what choice we would have of made, having been in their shoes. 

I like how this book forces us to confront our own egocentrism, and to ponder that we often view and judge other people’s lives based on our own experiences. It poses the question “can anyone ever really know anyone?”

I also liked how it was real about the fact that we often maintain friendships that we have had since childhood based on some unspoken loyalty created by a lot of time and shared memories. When we have had a friend for more than ten or fifteen years we often ignore when our interests change, and by pass the time in which it would be best to grow apart. We keep peddling through, because of some unspoken commitment made in the days of girlhood. This book made me think about how in truth we do not know our friends at all, we know only how they are presenting themselves to us- even in the weakest moments.

Olivera Mitić

I almost got rid of this book a couple of days ago. I decided to give it a try via audiobook before I actually went to sell my physical copy.
I knew from the third chapter on that this was gonna be a 5 star for me.
A day later and here I am. I am shook and touched and I feel so greatful that I had that little of brain left to give The Girls from Corona del Mar a try.
It was depressing as fuck, but it was the realest thing I've ever read.

UPDATE 9/7/18
 
Perhaps a 4.5? Now that I'm a bit more removed for the book it's not really on the full 5 star level for me.

Andrea Badgley

The ending was a little too tidy, but I love how the novel deals with how our perceptions of a person shape and even override the reality of their situation. Really interesting premise.

Olivia

Meryn Kae Addison

Claudia Bennett

Best friends Mia and Lorrie Ann couldn’t be more different; where Mia is reckless and proudly hard-hearted, Lorrie Ann is kind, serenely beautiful, and seemingly immune to the kind of teenage mistakes that Mia can’t help but make. But within a few years, fortunes change. Suddenly, Mia is free to grow up and adventure, falling in and out of love while Lorrie Ann is weighed down by responsibilities at home. And when good, nice, brave Lorrie Ann stops being so good, Mia must question how well she ever really knew her best friend in the first place.

The Girls from Corona Del Mar

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