Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything

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Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 2,574 ratings · 340 reviews

At the Manhattan School for Art and Music, where everyone is "different" and everyone is "special," Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. She's the kind of girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of Spider-Man, so she won't have to talk to anyone; who has a crush on Titus but won't do anything about it; who has no one to hang out with when her best (and only real) friend Kat...more

Hardcover, 182 pages

Published November 13th 2007 by Turtleback Books (first published March 14th 2006)

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Mar 31, 2010 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, ya, b

As seen on The Readventurer

I am a huge fan of E. Lockharts, but I have to admit, at first I couldn't quite get into this book. Maybe because of its artsy-ish tone - the heroine Gretchen Yee is a student at the Manhattan Art School, so everything about her (and for that matter everybody in the school) is art oriented and I can't quite identify with imaginative and artistic types. Or maybe because of a bizarre twist in the middle, when the story becomes somewhat fantasy-like - Gretchen finds that...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen

Fast read -- I read it in literally less than one hour. Gretchen is a shy, standoffish teen who loves reading & drawing superhero comics and attends a Manhattan magnet school for the arts. Feeling confused by her feelings toward Titus, a skinny Art Rat boy, and out of place in her school, she blurts out her wish to be a fly on the wall of the boy's locker room. And does she ever get her wish! Funny, smart, and uncharacteristically honest and straightforward about straight teen girl lust -- a...more

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Oct 09, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, ya

Once again, E.Lockhart has earned major kudos for her frank and honest dialog and for her genuine and oh so realistic characters.

Gretchen is insecure, as so many teen girls are, though she posses above average drawing skills for her age, and has been attending an arts focused magnet school, which is highly competitive. Gretchen fills invisible, after all, when everyone is unique, no one is. She doesn't fit in, and despite her efforts to make herself an individual, she feels as though she is fail...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Lily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is perfect for a good laugh.
Honestly, when I picked it up, I thought it would be more insightful, and deep. But it's not at all.
It is just really funny and really entertaining.
If you are the type of person who only likes books that have a deeper meaning and that makes you think, I don't recommend it. But if you like to laugh and would like a break from thinking, I do recommend it.

The characters in this book are easy to relate to, and the overall atmosphere of highschool is a very fa...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Lindsay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a huge fan of E.L Lockhart. The Boyfriend List and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks were among my favorite books of 2012. But this short novel about one girl's extraordinary journey into the boy's locker room didn't really do much for me.

Among other things, I didn't understand the bizarre fantasy plot twist in the middle of the book, nor did I enjoy the inconclusive ending or the graphic descriptions of males. The entire story seemed- and I hate admitting this, because I am a...more

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Feb 19, 2012 kit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fly on the Wall, by E. Lockhart was a downright hilarious and a "finding yourself" read. I absolutely enjoy the way E. Lockhart writes and she incoporated humour very naturally without it sounding forced (I detest forced humour—it's ridiculous). I was surprised it ended so fast though and I wished it could've been longer and more in depth. But obviously it's suppose to be a quick, fun, light read so I won't brood over it too much.

The characters were awesome and realistic. Which is why I love E....more

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Dec 17, 2011 Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, retelling-of-sorts, ya-love

Summary:
Teenager, Gretchen Yee, is one of the few privileged to attend a fine arts school in Manhattan her high school years. At least that's how it was marketed to her - a privilege. She didn't realize that she would be too odd even for the Art Rats. Gretchen just doesn't understand them, and although she's pretty envious over their friendship with one and another, she prefers sitting by herself during lunch drawing her Spider-Man comics. Her life begins to unravel when she finds out her parent...more Summary:
Teenager, Gretchen Yee, is one of the few privileged to attend a fine arts school in Manhattan her high school years. At least that's how it was marketed to her - a privilege. She didn't realize that she would be too odd even for the Art Rats. Gretchen just doesn't understand them, and although she's pretty envious over their friendship with one and another, she prefers sitting by herself during lunch drawing her Spider-Man comics. Her life begins to unravel when she finds out her parents are separating, her best friend (Katya) is hanging out with the Art Rats more, and she just doesn't understand her boy crush, Titus. Oh, not to mention they're stuck reading Kafka's Metamorphosis, which totally does not interest her and she finds it difficult to keep up with the reading. In exasperation she wishes that she could be a fly on the wall in the boys locker room.

My thoughts:

This book rocked my world. It was a quick read, mainly because it captivated me so quickly. I stayed up way past my bedtime (on a school night, even!) to finish it.

The book is divided up into three parts: part one, Gretchen being a normal angsty teenager; part two, Gretchen as (you guessed it) a fly on the wall; and part three, Gretchen with a new perspective on life. I was also keen on the idea that the author had Gretchen reading Metamorphosis prior to her transition into the fly world. Maybe a little obvious, but how neat if some 9th grader picks up Kafka because of this.

Lockhart truly captures the curiosity of a sophomore girl in the boys locker room, free from accountability. You can guess what interests Gretchen the most as the boys start strolling in. It takes her a moment to realize it, but they're eventually going to be nude! Gretchen spends the first day inspecting (purely out of adolescent curiosity, of course) all of the boys' gherkins (which her and her friends fondly call the male part). She makes an offhand remark days later that she's seen all types of gherkins now and does not understand why they're so impressive.

Fly on the Wall is not one of those books that I necessarily feel showed me a different perspective; it's not original in the coming of age discoveries. Still, it's told so well that I couldn't help but give it a 5 out of 5.

I've seen Lockhart's name mentioned a couple of times in the book blogging world and I kept overlooking her works. I only read this one because it was given to me from a teaching store for free. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to put it on my bookshelves in the classroom because the discussion of 'gherkins' is just a bit too detailed for my 7th graders. I will, however, be passing it along to some high school colleagues. (Oh, and check out her bio - how cute, she lists 21 things about herself beyond her web page biography). And her blog can be found here.

I'm excited about reading Lockhart's other works. Have you? And if so what'd ya read? (less)

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Aug 31, 2011 Christa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

A fast read, yet also an enjoyable read. Gretchen is a standoffish teen who draws Spiderman and graphic novels at a Manhattan Magnet school of the arts for other talented teens. Unfortunately, due to her standoffish nature as well as painful shyness she doesn’t understand guys whatsoever. Her secret crush, Titus, causes her to become even more confused about her feelings for him and boys in general. Thus making her blurt out that she wishes she were a fly on the wall of the boys gym locker room....more

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Aug 23, 2011 Carmen Yeung rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: my friends

Recommended to Carmen by: library

Shelves: 2010-2011-advisory

I picked out a lot of the books off the recommendation list in the library, and sadly none of them was on the summer suggested list. But since its just suggested, i went ahead and read the books i borrowed. And everything turned out quite wonderfully and fulfilled my summer with a lot of entertainment from these books. in this book, this girl named Gretchen Yee, shes chinese and had red hair. She thought no one would likeher. At the end of first chapter, she wished to become a fly so she can be...more

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May 21, 2011 Johnp rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I was totally skepetical of this book, but it turned out to be a decent read. Gretchen Yee is an artist at a performing arts high school. She's an oddball in a land of odd characters. She tries to figure out some of her classmates, but can't. She wishes should be (you guessed it) a fly on the wall and watch what goes on. Shazam - her wish comes true (we don't really ever figure out how, but just go with it!)... She awakes as a fly in (of all places) the boys' locker room! She spends a week there...more

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Apr 19, 2011 Miyuki-isb rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The fiction novel Fly on the Wall by e.lockhart, was the first novel that did not satisfy me and made me to think that it was a wrong choice that I picked this novel to read. The reason why I chose this novel is because one of my friend told me that this is a love story but the title was Fly on the Wall so it made me to wonder how does the fly do something with a love story? So I wanted to try spending my time and get the meaning behind it. I thought it was a interesting idea that the main chara...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Well, it had to happen sometime. I've read five E. Lockhart novels in the past two months. Loved four of them. Really, really, really didn't like this one. I wouldn't go so far as to say hate because hate is a strong word. It doesn't change my opinion of Lockhart or her skills as a writer. I still think she's fantastic. But...that doesn't mean that I can recommend this book to anyone, either.

I'll break it down a little.

So she's still got the sassy female front-runner. Only this time she wasn't...more Well, it had to happen sometime. I've read five E. Lockhart novels in the past two months. Loved four of them. Really, really, really didn't like this one. I wouldn't go so far as to say hate because hate is a strong word. It doesn't change my opinion of Lockhart or her skills as a writer. I still think she's fantastic. But...that doesn't mean that I can recommend this book to anyone, either.

I'll break it down a little.

So she's still got the sassy female front-runner. Only this time she wasn't really sassy so much. She was more just plain old vanilla and boring. I suppose that was because she was underdeveloped? I don't know.

The premise goes thusly: girl learning about Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Girl wishes she could be a fly on the boy's locker room wall. Girl goes to sleep. Girl finds herself waking up with six legs, some wings and compound eyes. Yup. She's a fly on the wall of the boy's locker room. Perhaps that is a spoiler, but hello, read the title. I don't think I'm giving away the farm here, people.

And what should ensue. This is why I give the book one star. She talks a lot about male nudity and male parts. And it's really offensive, and I skipped huge sections of the novel because frankly, what the what? I really didn't think that was at all necessary. It doesn't really advance the point of the story.

However, girl does learn some things. Girl learns that males can be just as insecure as females. They might have body issues, or issues about being cool, or issues about being accepted by their male counterparts. They may be intimidated by the alpha males, just like girls are intimidated by the queen bees. They may be afraid of telling their inner secrets because they might be made fun of by their friends. In other words, maybe the sexes aren't soooooo different after all. It just felt a little contrived an unoriginal.

Not to mention that I've read The Metamorphosis and just thinking about it creeps me out because who wants to wake up as a huge cockroach? No one, that's who. I don't dismiss Kafka's ingenious story, but just eeeeewe! It's creepy. That and the point of Kafka's story is a bit more cerebral than all this battle of the sexes stuff.

Anyway, all that life lesson mumbo-jumbo is fine and well, but I don't think any sort of discussion that entails highly private details about the male anatomy is ever appropriate and most certainly not for teenagers. And so I must say skip this. (less)

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Oct 02, 2010 Leanna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gretchen Yee, in E. Lockhart’s Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything, is a sophomore at the Manhattan School for Art and Music. When she wishes she were a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room, she never expects her wish will come true in such a dramatic way.

Gretchen isn’t exactly an average teenage girl, so some readers might have difficultly relating to her. She attends a special high school for artistic students in New York City and spends her time reading and illustrating comic boo...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2010/03/26/review-...

Summary: 16-year-old Gretchen doesn’t fit in at The Manhattan School for Art and Music, something weird is going on between her parents, and her best friend seems to be avoiding her.

Review: This one was just okay for me.

I was liking the story until about halfway through when the action slowed way down. I’m not spoiling anything you can’t get from the Amazon description—and maybe I’m outing myself as a jaded old married lady—but in particular...more

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Nov 20, 2009 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-literature

This book was brought to my attention by a parent who thought it was inappropriate for a middle school library so I read it. The jury is still out. I enjoyed the story line, which is a girl named Gretchen who goes to an artsy school. She doesn't understand boys and makes a wish to be a fly on the wall in the boys locker room. For whatever reason it comes true. She spends a week as a fly and sees and hears a lot of things. She talks about what the boys look like (she likes to refer to their parts...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Sydney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 10th-grade

How would you feel if you were suddenly given the opportunity to learn everything you've always wanted in secret, hidden in the deep corners of a locker room? Well hey, this is what exactly happens to Gretchen Yee in Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart in a Manhattan Arts High School. Everyone is different and unique in her high school and it's pretty annoying to her because she's just a plain old girl who likes art. Everyone in her school almost tries to be too different and Gretchen just seems to...more How would you feel if you were suddenly given the opportunity to learn everything you've always wanted in secret, hidden in the deep corners of a locker room? Well hey, this is what exactly happens to Gretchen Yee in Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart in a Manhattan Arts High School. Everyone is different and unique in her high school and it's pretty annoying to her because she's just a plain old girl who likes art. Everyone in her school almost tries to be too different and Gretchen just seems to disappear in the background. Her favorite pass time as she sits alone during lunch is to draw comics and one of her favorite heroes is spider man. Even her best friend Katya has ditched her. Gretchen thinks her life is a boring blur until she wishes something unbelievably weird to happen.

Gretchen wishes she were a fly on the wall on the boys locker room, and you've guessed it she got her wish. As she gets up from her bed one day she is completely confused about her pentagon shaped vision. She thinks to herself, "How could this happen?" and realizes that she wished it upon her self to become a fly. As she is in the boys locker room she hears deep dark secrets about boys lives, and even finds information out about her secret crush. Gretchen realizes that boys lives are just as complicated as girls lives and they both go through similar things. Gretchen suddenly realizes that her life isn't as bad as it seems.

This book was a quick read and very interesting. The way the book is written is in the first person and you are able to read through Gretchen's thoughts about her being trapped in a fly's body. Gretchen being inconspicuous to the human eye in the dressing room allows her to venture out of her own world. The story line is also a pretty relateable topic because sometimes we feel like stepping out of our own shoes into into someone else's. This book is also a funny read and some of the things Gretchen says are sure to have you laugh.

I would definitely recommend Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart to anyone who is looking to read something entertaining, quick, and fun. The storyline on it's own is very unique and the descriptions in the story are very vivid and clear. Definitely pick this book up because it just may fly away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (less)

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May 06, 2013 Michelle Arrow rated it 4 of 5 stars

This has been sitting in my bookshelf for a while now, and when I saw that John Green loved this book, I knew that I had to read it, NOW.

I adored "The Boyfriend List" series by E. Lockhart, so I knew that I would also like this one as well. Who wouldn't? The plot sounds very captivating and girly at the same time.

Okay, so as much as I love short novels, sometimes I think that they should be a little longer, and in this case, this is the main problem. I liked it a lot, and then, it just ende...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Kristen "Kirby" rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: march-2010, reviews, ya

Fly on the Wall starts with 15 year old Gretchen Yee. At first I thought her story was basically one of teen angst, but it's much more than that. It teaches acceptance and love in one's self. It gives girls a peek into the world of men, their relationships, their feelings.

The fly chapter, weird as it sounds, actually ended up being my favorite section of the book. At first I was like, "wow. this reads like a children's novel minus the language.", but her transformation became tolerable. The sto...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Ceecee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-welcome-diversion, coming-of-age, 3-star, books-i-own

This was exactly the kind of light reading I needed while I sludged through the grand book that is Dune.

Meet Gretchen Yee, a relatively ordinary girl in a school where everyone is "different" and everyone is "special". She eats lunch mostly alone now, since her best friend is always busy hanging out with the Art Rats, also she doesn't have the nerve to talk to her crush, Titus. One day she wishes she was a fly in the wall of the boy's locker room, then literally becomes one, and the fun ensues.

I...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Rach rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, challenge-10-spring, nerdfighters

A quick, fun story about a girl getting what goes on behind closed doors of the boys locker room. Believe it or not, she ends up realizing that her life isn't as horrible as she thought it was, and everyone else isn't as perfect as she thought they were. Gretchen is a sympathetic character who is likable despite having a woe-is-me attitude in the beginning. Her life isn't perfect, but neither is anyone else's. What's important is you go for what you want and stay open to change. I'm not sure the...more

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Oct 02, 2009 Nicole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: good (13 year old) girls wanting to be bad

Shelves: fantasy-undragon-such, ya

It's obvious in hindsight that a book whose premise is a girl-turned-fly watching the scene from the ceiling of the boys locker room would be all about sex. But I was still taken aback, especially since all the lustiness came out of nowhere. The first half of the book is character exposition, meet poor awkward comics-obsessed Gretchen. She turns into a fly, sees her first naked male classmate, and WHAM! Lusty lustfullness. Naked, naked, naked.

Sidenote: And yet, even with all this nudity, male g...more It's obvious in hindsight that a book whose premise is a girl-turned-fly watching the scene from the ceiling of the boys locker room would be all about sex. But I was still taken aback, especially since all the lustiness came out of nowhere. The first half of the book is character exposition, meet poor awkward comics-obsessed Gretchen. She turns into a fly, sees her first naked male classmate, and WHAM! Lusty lustfullness. Naked, naked, naked.

Sidenote: And yet, even with all this nudity, male genitalia is referred to only as "gherkin". Yeah, right. How many teenagers do you know who refer to "it" as a gherkin? Not only that, but females were endowed with "biscuits". Seriously. I spent the first several chapters wondering what crispy British cookies had to do with anything. Want some gravy with that? I was almost impressed with Lockhart's ability to describe in detail the MANY variations on the male form without once using either anatomical descriptions or street slang euphemisms...almost. But on the flip side, there was a sh*tload of cursing. Every word you can think of, including maternal insults. So where were the dicks and boobs? (Can I say dick on goodreads if it's not capitalized? Guess I'm going to find out...)

Back to the naked lusty locker rooms- I was tolerating all this hormone-induced oggling until Gretchen started assigning letter grades to various "booties". (Oh that's right, no one had an ass but there was plenty of booty bopping around.) She lost me at letter grades.

For all my harsh criticisms, the book has its finer points. I appreciated that for once it was a girl oggling the boys. And Gretchen fully admitted that she'd be pissed if a boy was watching her shower but that she just couldn't help herself. Who among us would be able to resist, especially as a 16 year old? I also liked the situation with Titus and his dad (about which I am being purposefully vague). The homophobia was rampant in the book and I was starting to get pissed off, but it all served a purpose eventually, so rock on Titus. The so-happy-together ending was cheesy but I accepted it only because Gretchen was freaking finally assertive and became the change she wanted to see in the world.

This was clearly an (almost) first book by a young author attempting to write a book that teenagers would relate to. For what it is, it's fine. A sort of diamond in the rough because you can see the potential under all the gherkins, booties, and biscuits.

And for what it's worth, I highly encourage you to read this book and then call me because I could keep going here. There is a lot that is problematic in a really wonderful discussion-inducing sort of way!(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-comtemporary

The blurb of this book doesn't do a god job of telling you what this book is about (or how great it is). I'm hiding the rest of my review behind a spoiler tag but what I'm going to include should've just been included in the blurb imo. So not *really* spoilery, but if you like going into reading books like Jon Snow goes through life...then stop now.

(view spoiler)...more

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Oct 13, 2009 Lauren Cam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-semester

Book Review: Fly on the Wall (182 pages)

Boys are impossible to understand. You may try to understand them many different ways. You could ask them whats on their mind, figure out what/who they like, or observe how they act in public. These probably help, but what they do in secret, who they are when no one's watching, that would be the key to the boy code. In the book Fly on the Wall, Gretchen is searching for answers. Author E. Lockhart strives to provide them for girls a whole lot like her--th...more Book Review: Fly on the Wall (182 pages)

Boys are impossible to understand. You may try to understand them many different ways. You could ask them whats on their mind, figure out what/who they like, or observe how they act in public. These probably help, but what they do in secret, who they are when no one's watching, that would be the key to the boy code. In the book Fly on the Wall, Gretchen is searching for answers. Author E. Lockhart strives to provide them for girls a whole lot like her--the confused ones.

In Fly on the Wall the main character's name is Gretchen Yee. She is a sophomore in high-school who attends an art school for the talented (well, mostly). In a normal school, people would all strive to fit in. In hers, the more different you are, the more you are displaying your personality, making you unique and cool. Different is in; normal is plain boring. One thing Gretchen does to try to "fit-in-by-standing-out" is dye her hair fire truck red. She definitely becomes noticed for a while, but besides that, it does nothing for her. Her friend Katya still seems distant. What is coming between them? Her ex-boyfriend pays her the same amount of attention (about 2%). Why isn't he begging for her back? Her new love interest from drawing class is friendly. Why isn't he in love with her and wanting to be more than friends? Finally, her parents are still getting divorced. Did they not freak and work together to set her on the straight and narrow? Don't they care enough?
When the world seems to be a confusing place, what is a girl to do? Naturally, she will want to understand it better. After Gretchen experiences the results of a wish-gone-wrong, she has a deeper understanding of what it means to not only be a boy, but also to be a human.

I am certain the theme intended by author E. Lockhart is be comfortable in your own skin. People everywhere struggle with who they are. They don't want to put the real thing out there, whether it be on the inside or the out. Why do people want to change themselves to something different than what they have? What's wrong with you that needs to be changed? I think the main character Gretchen is good at questioning society and how it treats the "image" of teenagers. There should be no ideal, because (as I learned in World History from Greco-Roman art) the human form is not perfect, and the being inside is not perfect. So what makes everyone strive to squeeze into a mold that is IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER FIT US?!?! A great question to ask, if you ask me.

The story takes place in New York City; all of the characters seem to be culturally diverse and live in different areas due to different ways of life. New York is so huge, and I have never been, but I see a slight connection to Batesville in subtle ways. Batesville has nice neighborhoods with large houses where people better off than others live; Batesville has larger neighborhoods where the houses are very close together and normal families or single people live there. New York is apparently the same way, only, you must throw in many apartment complexes. Gretchen herself lives in a small apartment near china town. I've noticed that when the city is larger, the size of space that people have to live in decreases immensely.

This book was a quick read (because it was short page-wise and it was a page turner). I feel the same way as Gretchen at times! I want to get inside someone else's head, or at least be unnoticed as they are their true selves. I really enjoyed reading Fly on the Wall, and I believe it changed the way I thought about the opposite sex. I think it made me a more secure person. The one problem I had with the book was the cursing; E. Lockhart sure loves her some wordy-dirds. I guess I don't cuss like the characters do, and it bothered me a tid bit.

Any person who feels alone or "out" should read this book. It will change your perspective on that subject. Also, it has some crude humor that is really hilarious. I would advise you NOT to read Fly on the Wall if you don't want to hear at least five cuss words per page (I know, that's a bunch) or if you are a boy. Let's face it, this is all about how girls feel towards boys and some parts may make a guy reader uncomfortable. Enough said, to be a fly on the wall of a boy's room could be every girl's dream or every girl's nightmare; only the readers can decide. (less)

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May 12, 2010 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, 2010

Easy to read and funny. I liked E. Lockhart's choice of using the terms "gherkin" and "biscuits" for basic boy/girl body part terms and she never strayed from that formula. It was simply what EVERYBODY said and that made it more teen realistic once it became part of the book vocabulary for me.

I also liked that she used the story "The Metamorphesis" by Kafka (they are reading it for literature class) as a vague foreshadowing of Gretchen's eventual predicament of wishing for and then actually beco...more

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Oct 27, 2009 Maritza rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hated-it, jul-aug-sep-09, young-adult, j-k-l

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I picked this book up because it had an interesting premise: girl turns into fly and is literally a 'fly' on the wall but besides that there were no real redeeming quilities about this book. Half the time I was waiting for her to turn back into a person already, because all the ogling of the boys in the locker room was getting really annoying. I noticed that this author tends to use the same lines over and over again like we have miniscule attention spans and would have forgotten this fact from...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Elaine Joyce rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, i-borrowed, review

Before I even picked up the book, I was told that I won't like it. But since I have no other books in my shelf, I tried reading it. Even sped through it. The only reason I wasn't able to finish it right away was because I was lamenting over my acads.

Nonetheless, my opinion is the same as the person who lent it to me. The book is outright weird. Setting aside the fact that the characters study in art an school where people are expected to be a little out of place, I find it really really weird. T...more

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Jun 01, 2012 kit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally posted here: http://bibliotekit.blogspot.co.uk/201...

Fly On The Wall could have gone horribly wrong. I was actually reading this at the same time as Meg Cabot's Avalon High, which also has a literary underpinning translated to a high school setting. The Cabot book I am still struggling with. This, on the other hand - a kind of high-schooled Metamorphosis - was a delight.

Gretchen Yee is an ordinary, awkward teenager who attends a prestigious school for the arts in New York, where she p...more Originally posted here: http://bibliotekit.blogspot.co.uk/201...

Fly On The Wall could have gone horribly wrong. I was actually reading this at the same time as Meg Cabot's Avalon High, which also has a literary underpinning translated to a high school setting. The Cabot book I am still struggling with. This, on the other hand - a kind of high-schooled Metamorphosis - was a delight.

Gretchen Yee is an ordinary, awkward teenager who attends a prestigious school for the arts in New York, where she pursues one of her big loves: drawing. Except her art teacher isn't very impressed with Gretchen's obsession with comic books, her parents are getting a divorce, her mum is making her throw all her collectibles away, and the boy she likes is far too cool to be thinking about Gretchen. Added to that, Gretchen's best friend is avoiding her, and isn't around to help Gretchen decipher the mysteries of boys (or parents).

I warmed to Gretchen as a character immediately. She's funny and geeky and trying desperately to make sense of things around her, even though she feels increasingly on the outside of everything. Lockhart has a knack for writing believable characters struggling with pretty normal things, without either making everything into a drama or belittling those things that in school seem like the most important things in the world.

The solution to Gretchen's problems lies in a daft, never-quite-explained twist that somehow just works. Don't ask me how, it just does. The middle section of the book is given over to events in the boys' locker room, where Gretchen learns a lot of things about the boys she sees everyday. During this period, Gretchen also re-evaluates her attitude towards a lot of things in her life. Essentially, Fly On The Wall is not only about being yourself, but about being confident to be yourself, and by the end of the book Gretchen starts to take on a much more proactive approach to her life.

This is a short read with lots of funny bits and a brilliant main character that holds together an unconventional but inventive plot. Once again, Lockhart weaves a story around boys and all their complications, whilst keeping the female protagonist front and centre as Gretchen begins to piece herself together.

Overall rating: 7/10
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Sep 27, 2010 J.Elle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

However strange/creepy the actual storyline is: a girl turns into a fly overnight and finds herself in the boys locker room at school where she lingers for a week eating garbage and sussing out the boys and then, before her mom gets home from an extended vacation, she magically finds herself back in her bed as a human, none the worse for wear and alot more boy savvy, I liked the book. I liked it because the writing seemed genuine and because the fourteen year old girl in me could totally relate...more

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Sep 19, 2009 Lydia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-lgbt

This is not truly an LGBT book, but does contain a gay element which is crucial to the development of the plot and storyline. Lockhart writes an interesting take on Kafka's "Metamorphosis" involving a teenage girl's ability to become a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room in high school. She almost forces the foreshadowing of the girl-to-fly change, but in a YA book it seems to work. Of most interest is the delicate hand she uses to allow the protagonist to process the meaning of the change....more

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Nov 06, 2011 Rhi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ah-feminism, ya-you-have-my-heart, 3-stars

I have never, in my life, heard of a penis being referred to as a gherkin. Unless this is some kind of New York youth culture thing that skipped me by as a Londoner. The same can be said for 'biscuits' in reference to BOOBIES.

It gives the Gherkin in London an entirely different image, hey! Although not really, because it always has looked like a penis. It looked like a penis when they were making it and it still looks like a penis now.
Maybe all the office workers are sitting around making homop...more

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About E. Lockhart

E. Lockhart is the author of a number of teen novels. She has had nine official boyfriends, if you count the boy who asked her to go with him at a 7th grade dance and then basically never talked to her again. She has never been on a sports team of any kind and got excused from gym class by going to ballet lessons. She has a tattoo, cuts her own hair, and has worn the same perfume since high school...more

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Books by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver, #1)

The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them (Ruby Oliver, #2)

The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon—and me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver, #3)

Real Live Boyfriends: Yes. Boyfriends, Plural. If My Life Weren't Complicated, I Wouldn't Be Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver, #4)

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“I love the idea of the big life - the life that matters, the life that makes a difference. The life where stuff happens, where people take action. The opposite of the life where the girl can't even speak to the boy she likes; the opposite of the life where the friends aren't even good friends, and lots of days are wasted away feeling bored and kind of okay, like nothing matters much.” — 54 people liked it

“People think of hearts when they think of love, but a heart is a bloody organ in the body. It doesn't have any emotions. It's like a metaphor for love that has nothing to do with what love actually is.” — 23 people liked it

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