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Jun 17, 2007

Syd rated it:

Or best friends for life on speed and punk rock. This sums up Pretty Little Dirty by Amanda Boyden. Taglines of a novel that falls short in the way of genius, but is at least entertaining.

Boyden’s main character, Lisa, is self-loathing, short tempered and short-sighted. She worships her best friend—which I can understand being prone to best friend worship myself—but fails to recognize the love she receives back. It is an error in perception that she also inflicts upon her More...

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Aug 03, 2008

Sherri rated it:

Surprising ending. I really enjoyed this book. I felt the happiness. I felt the pain. But while I enjoyed it, I can imagine this book isn't for everyone.

Lisa sees the life of her gorgeous best friend, Celeste Diamond, as just about perfect: she has a gigantic house, two older sisters to coach her through the hazards of high school, and loving, lively parents. As Lisa's own home has long been a place devoid of joyful noise, she joins the Diamond household, slipping into their routine More...

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Mar 11, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Wow. This book very much mirrors my life as a teenager/young adult although these girls overachieved more than I did and also fell further. I know some people will bristle at the "poor little rich girl" element of it but I felt it really showed what it's like when you're trying to break away from unrealistic pressures and expectations. Boyden really captured the way that teenage girls are when they are stretching their world view and exploring their sexuality. I could really relate More...

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Mar 23, 2010

Missy rated it:

From Amazon: Lisa sees the life of her gorgeous best friend Celeste as just about perfect: she has a gigantic house, two older sisters to coach her through the hazards of high school, and loving, lively parents. As Lisa's own home has long been a place devoid of joyful noise—her mother has shut herself off in her bedroom for years—Lisa joins the Diamond household, slipping into their routine of sit-down suppers and soaking in the delicious normalcy of Diamond family life. But what begins as the More...

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Oct 05, 2009

Jeni rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 28, 2007

Lisa rated it:

This book talks about a childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood that doesn't match mine at all, but while reading it I feel like it could have been mine. There's an intensity to it that I really love.

It's the story of two girls who are best friends from sixth grade to the first year in college. They're smart and yet they're ultimate bad girls.

I will definitely re-read this.

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Apr 16, 2009

Shyla rated it:

Just finished this book a few day ago and it is still weighing on my mind.
Lisa starts her narration at the age of 12 when she first meets her best friend and partner in crime (literally!). Both girls are very gifted, smart and attractive although Lisa only see's these qualities in Celeste and has rather low self esteem herself. The main part of the book is all about their lives from the age of 12 through high school and thier very special freindship. However this book is not the warm fuzz More...

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Mar 08, 2010

Maria rated it:

Compelling, harsh, sexy book about the love and attachment between two best friends as they grow from adolescent high achievers to experimenting adventurers to burned-out punks. The narrator was kind of alienating but the language and the way the story plays out are great. Fast read. Loosely based on the cupid and psyche myth.

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Apr 23, 2008

Beth rated it:

2 best friends who grow up together... both are ridiculously smart and attractive... are bored with provincial life, have affairs with inappropriate men, get really into the hard core scene, and do too many drugs, which proves fatal for one of them. (Spoiler! Sorry!!)

See? Now you don't have to read it...

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Jul 11, 2009

Rosa rated it:

Pretty Little Dirty is the debut novel by Amanda Boyden. The book, which seems loosely based on Boyden's life, was wonderfully written. It tells the story of two best friends, Lisa and Celeste, and follows them from the time they meet in sixth grade, through their mid-20s. Not only does the book follow their friendship, it also portrays the idea of two young women trying to find themselves, all the while getting lost. The book starts in Missouri and follows the girls into college in Wisconsin an More...

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Jun 07, 2007

Lori rated it:

As a mom, this book terrified me. As a reader, it enthralled me. I read so much that I don't recommend that many books to my husband. This is one I insisted he read.

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Jul 14, 2010

John rated it:

This book, which is a coming of age tale of two young women in the seventies, may have been a "gutsy debut" work, but I couldn't find any coherence in the story's events. The "scandalous" or "erotic" events which apparently shape these girls' lives seem of no real use other than to shock the audience -- this, to me, is not art.

There were, however, instances of good descriptive language, both objective and subjective, with interchange and balance between t More...

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Dec 22, 2010

Annie rated it:

lost potential is a bitter pill for me to swallow (when i start falling in love with a book i really resist falling out of love with it) but, alas, lost potential is exactly the situation of "pretty little dirty" -- a tale of two best friends growing up in kansas city during the late 70's and 80's. their dynamic together is endearing -- one friend (celeste) is a kind-hearted beauty while the other friend (lisa, also the narrator) is a witty adventure-seeker. both girls have issues at h More...

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Sep 18, 2010

Laura Ashlee rated it:

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. When I began the book, I loved Lisa and Celeste. They reminded me a lot of my high school years. My best friend and I had the same sort of relationship and our own rebellious streak (though it was nowhere near as bad as some of the things these girls do). As the story progressed I became a little detatched from them because they had become so wild. Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't affect me too much. with these two, it boethered me be More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 30, 2009

Christoph rated it:

I had the occasion to meet the author, Mrs. Boyden, one memorable evening at Handsome Willy's in New Orleans the night of the Saints/Bears game to decide who would go to the Super Bowl in 2007. Sitting at the bar I and the entire bar were reveling in a rare opportunity. Mrs. Boyden was on my left while her husband, Mr. Boyden, also a writer, shmoozed in the crowd. As we were obviously both routing for the same team, in a town like New Orleans where pretension is truly non-existent, we had a v More...

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Mar 29, 2010

Lindsay rated it:

I didn't think this one was quite what it advertised itself to be. I don't think the writing was bad, but the whole thing seemed like kind of a sloppy first draft to me. There wasn't enough tension and building leading up to the climax, although you sort of know all along where the book is headed; it was more like "This is what happened the first year," and "This is what happened the second year," and so on and so on till college, when it was as though the author realized she More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Heather rated it:

Coming-of-age books are my favorite (how many times have I said this?), so I judge these types of books way more harshly. I've read two beautifully written coming-of-age books this year. Pretty Little Dirty isn't one of them. Was this book horrible? No. However, it was one of those books that took me way too long to read due to lack of enthusiasm on my part. Any book that turns you off of reading for awhile doesn't deserve much praise, even if the book isn't the worst you've ever read. This book More...

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Sep 22, 2011

Jayna rated it:

The first half of this novel is outstanding. Celeste and Lisa have a friendship that outshines even the best aspects of this book. It transfers the reader back in time forty years and shoots us straight into the plot.
I loved the voice and emotion.
The second half, though remaining in its clear voice and character, almost turns into literotica. Though I realize the teenage years are full of pornographic things, the sudden turn toward literotica ruined the book for me.

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Sep 09, 2009

Amber rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 07, 2011

Ron rated it:

While I'm not going to call this great literature, my heart always goes out to the punk rock girls of the late 70s and early 80s, and Boyden paints an authentic picture of disaffected suburban youth from California. The pace never lags, the story is always compelling, and the characters exhibit the growth that is so rare in other literature (and it certainly isn't chick lit that ever descends into the worst excesses of that tired trope).

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Oct 25, 2011

Michele rated it:

Sometimes you start a book with the feeling you might not like it or that somehow it's just another book of rich teens and their angst. But then the writer creates a story that pulls you in and makes you care against your wishes, against your better judgement. This book has done this to me. A story of two friends navigating their own sense of rebellion in the late 70's/early 80's, a story of best friends and a meditation of beauty and its impact on their world.

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Jul 11, 2011

Amelia the Strange rated it:

I read this while in college so I am a little hazy on fhe details. I know it is a book I would never recommend to say, my mother as it is full of drugs and really graphic sex. However, I did appreciate how the book paints a great picture of how a life of beauty can so quickly spiral out of control.

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Sep 30, 2010

DoctorM rated it:

My friend Ginny at McGill always says that when she reads a novel or sees a film about train-wrecky, doom-haunted girls she always asks herself a question: would DoctorM date these girls? In this case--- Celeste and Lisa, the heroines of Amanda Boyden's "Pretty Little Dirty", the answer is clearly Yes. Both of them. Instantly.

"Pretty Little Dirty" is a dark, funny, sexy, scary coming-of-age noir novel that follows the two heroines from a posh Kansas suburb to earl More...

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Apr 12, 2010

Jaime rated it:

Enjoyable read. I liked the book and got sucked in by the characters, but can't say I loved it and I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to a friend. I didn't care for the end (in regard to Celeste). A fun read though, one that I think anyone who was once a teenager (especially a teenage girl!) could enjoy.

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Jan 14, 2010

Jessica rated it:

I really enjoyed this book - It was a bit graphic, and hard to read at times, but it brought out a wide range of emotions while reading it. All and all, I thought it was a worthwile read and I look forward to future books by Amanda Boyden.

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Jan 07, 2009

BookActivist rated it:

This was kind of a harder read. It was written very well. Was hard to spike my interest. But once I got into the book, it was worth it. Made me relive my teenage years. Would suggest for teenagers but nobody other than that.

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May 18, 2011

Saundra rated it:

A quick read that was sad and quirky. The characters so quickly careen out of control you want to reach through the pages and shake them. Very raw and unglamorous coming of age story about a life of drugs and promiscuity.

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Aug 02, 2011

Megan added it

Really good. I have a similar friendship thing and it totally related, besides I'm not on speed and cocaine all the time. The book was good. Slow in some parts but very good read.

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Feb 10, 2009

Lauren rated it:

quick, easy, mindless read. if you like summer sisters by judy blume, definitely read this book.

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Dec 04, 2008

Nora rated it:

One that needs more than five stars, for sure. I can't believe people can write like this!

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