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Aug 24, 2011

Wendy Darling rated it:

Eerily beautiful and incredibly disturbing, Imaginary Girls is a novel unlike any other I've ever read. As the story begins, Chloe is coaxed into swimming across a reservoir at night by her magnetic and beautiful older sister, Ruby. A dangerous and illegal activity, made all the more frightening because Chloe would be swimming over the lost town of Olive, which was flooded to make room for the reservoir. The idea of swimming over a ghost towns in the dark of night, with the possibility of " More...

103 comments like (86 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2011

Lisa O. rated it:

2.5 stars

This is the first time that I've considered NOT rating a book. I felt, and still feel, like whatever number of stars I might give are not going to truly reflect my opinion nor do Imaginary Girls any justice.
So keep in mind that my rating in this case is just the result of a mathematical addition of factors, of things I liked and didn't like.

The story is, in a nutshell, a mystery. It's difficult for me to give you a synopsis of the plot, but suffice it to sa More...

23 comments like (36 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2011

Cillian rated it:

Oh boy.
Now I know why Wendy took so long to review this.

And now it appears to be my turn, because Wendy demanded it, and she's like my own personal Ruby.
Wendy said.

Nova Ren Suma is an eminent Salieri Complex-inspiring author; her writing is so exquisite and perfect I would completely understand if a group of authors banded together to plot her murder.
She fucked them over big time.
And I'm not even talking about shitty authors with atrocious prose *c More...

39 comments like (35 people liked it)

Nov 26, 2011

Courtney added it

AT LAST, I can finally sit down and write my thoughts on this beautiful book properly. I got to read early drafts of it (lucky me brag brag) and each draft was like perfecting perfection until the final version completely blew me away. I do not know how Nova Ren Suma sits down at her laptop and makes this book magic happen only that she sits down at her laptop and makes magic like this book happen. The girl is Talent with a capital T.

I won't give a rundown on the plot because I ca More...

3 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2011

Kate rated it:

3.5 stars
Imaginary Girls tells the story of two sisters, who live in a small town and find their lives complicated after the death of a local girl.

I have a big half sister. (we are 10 years apart) I suspect Nova Ren Suma does as well. Because I felt that she wrote this story about two sisters beautifully, perfectly, well. I identified so much with Chloe (the little sister). How she looked up to her sister despite her many faults and just saw something beautiful, powerful, sma More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

Plus an extra star for the cover.

Interesting premise, but it failed for me in large part for one reason: I hated Ruby. And this is a novel that needs you to believe in the beautiful magic of the most narcissistic, vicious character I have ever read. Suma spends so much time in the beginning "telling" me all about how wonderful Ruby is instead of "showing" me anything, that the more Chloe went on about how charming her sister was, the more I couldn't wait for her to More...

5 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

prettybooks rated it:

I have an odd relationship with young adult realistic fiction. I keep on reading it although I often cannot relate to it. I think that, the majority of the time, teenage lives are portrayed best (but not necessarily more accurately) on television (e.g. Gilmore Girls, The OC, One Tree Hill… I do love American teen dramas). Imaginary Girls is the complete opposite in this respect and I think this is mainly because of the writing (and not necessarily the plot itself). I can't imagine that televisio More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Karen rated it:

This review is spoiler free!

Here it is folks! My long overdue review of Imaginary Girls ~~don’t blame me, blame uh… um… someone else~~.

This review is dedicated to the lovely Wendy Darling.

Imaginary Girls is, without a doubt, one of best books published in 2011. Although it didn’t get five stars it’s still one of my all-time favorites. It’s not like all the other YA books out there. It doesn’t have stock type characters, a predictable storyline or any half f More...

23 comments like (9 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Alyssa rated it:

IMAGINARY GIRLS isn’t worth any Printz, but it certainly brought something fresh to YA, something that kept me up at night, checking the shadowy corners of my room to make sure I wasn’t being watched by some random, beautiful girl <spoiler>who could make the entire world go round if she wanted, who lived in a world based of her imagination</spoiler>.

A summary won’t do this book justice, but I’m also not attempting one because I don’t actually know how to describe this b More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Unfortunately, the beauty of the language, the wonderful specificity of details that made it so lyrical and visual couldn't account for the lack of characterization or plot resolution. Ruby and Chloe's sister relationship never came alive or seemed real to me, though there were hints that it could rise to the occassion once they started hiding secrets from one another. London was the most interesting character. And the girls mom should have either More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Laura rated it:

I was tempted to give this a 3, but the fact that I know the town in which this book takes place quite well (it's Woodstock NY) and the author seriously changed some of the places (Olive, which does/did exist, is on the other side of the Ashokan Reservoir, not part of Woodstock), which really bothered me. Arbitrary? Definitely. But that's what all ratings are.

As for the story, Ruby's power over the town and the people in it seemed extreme. At first I thought that this was how Chlo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 08, 2011

Book Sp(l)ot rated it:

I'd pick this up just for that cover!!

Review:

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma is worth reading if only to experience the author's way with words. Chloe’s older sister Ruby is the girl everyone knows of, knows about. Ruby is the girl everyone wants to please, wants to be like, wants to be liked by. Boys will drive hours in the middle of the night to buy her the simplest thing; shop girls will give her things practically for free from any store.

She’s also the on More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Emilija rated it:

Unforgettable. Imaginary girls was by far the best reading experience of 2011 for me (alongside The Final Empire, of course). It is a beautifully crafted haunting story that made me question it all the way. The book is told from Chloe’s point of view, but the main focus is Ruby – her sister. We are always told so much about her, and yet I never had the slightest clue of who this Ruby person is.
I absolutely loved the plot, the writing style, the story. Nothing in the book happened, but not More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2011

Rachel rated it:

OK, I think I'm finally ready to review this properly. Deep breath...

I didn't like this book.

I know, I know, it has four stars and may even deserve five, but I didn't LIKE it. It hit too close to home, and I'm having trouble working out a way to discuss that without laying my own crap out all over the internet in gruesome and excessive detail.

I'm going to have to approach this obliquely, I fear.

Long ago, when I was first became a parent, I read a lot of pa More...

3 comments like (19 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Penny rated it:

I started reading this book in June. JUNE! I finally finished reading it last night. Admittedly I liked Imaginary Girls at first--like the first couple of chapters--then almost immediately it was all I could do to finish one page every time I picked this book up. The story is not that interesting. The writing-style is irritating and pretentious. It feels as though author goes out of her way to say things in the most roundabout way, in a way that's meant to be artsy and poetic. I wouldn't More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2011

Lea (YA Book Queen) rated it:

Very unique and intriguing to read. It transcended it's contemporary roots and became almost...supernatural? I liked it, a lot. Full review to come :)

UPDATE
-----------
Review: Imaginary Girls is a haunting tale of two sisters and the power sisterhood can have.

Chloe has always been "Ruby's sister" to everyone in her town. Ruby is magnetic and powerful there, the girl everyone loves and listens to. So much so, Chloe thinks that there isn't anything her More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Ashelynn rated it:

This review also appears on Gypsy Book Reviews.

I finished this book not knowing what happened to my brain. Wow, this book is unique and twisted and brain-mushing. It's such a roller coaster, and whoa, I'd read this book again in a heartbeat. It's a little confusing, and not everything is resolved—hello, cell phone? What's up with that?—but I can see that maybe the author wanted the reader to make an opinion about it. It's the same way with the ending, and it works VERY well for this More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Tonya rated it:

Imaginary Girls can be summed up in two words: "Ruby said." It is the story of Chloe and the bond she shares with her older sister, Ruby. I don't have an older sister (though I am one), but I imagine, on the surface, Chloe's hero worship for and constant attempts to emulate her sister are very common in younger siblings. It seemed especially realistic in Chloe's situation, where Ruby had basically raised her from a very young age.

Chloe believed absolutely in whatever her sis More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 09, 2011

Skye rated it:

This review is also posted on my blog, In The Good Books.

Imaginary Girls was an unsettling read, with the eerie atmosphere getting under your skin and standing the hairs on your arms upright. It was completely compelling and beautifully written.

Ruby has everyone in town tied around her finger. The boys all love her, the girls all want to be her, and things just have this way of leaning in her favour. But her attention is fleeting, she's fickle and spontaneous, and the on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Carolina rated it:

I read IMAGINARY GIRLS almost entirely in one sitting. I was mesmerized by this book. The writing won me over first--so impossibly beautiful and sharp and resonant, every line leaving its mark on you long after you've moved on to the next and the next. But closely tied is the voice, which grabs hold of you from word one and just doesn't let go, not even after you close the book. Chloe is perhaps one of the strongest, most vivid narrators I've had a chance to read, insecure and awkward, flawed a More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Medeia rated it:

Chloe comes from a broken home, but she can always lean on her older sister Ruby. Ruby is a beguiling, manipulative young lady who uses others, but she'll do anything for her sister. They live in a small town in New York, where a mysterious reservoir lies. One night, when she swims across the reservoir on a dare, Chloe almost drowns until she finds a boat to hold onto. Inside the boat is the corpse of her classmate, London Hayes.

After the incident Chloe lives elsewhere, but she retu More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Katy rated it:

This book was bizarre in the very best sense of the word. The writing is stunning, one of those where I found myself rereading sentences in hopes of fully absorbing their awesomeness. And the characters… Ruby. Yikes! I hated her fully, but then I was absolutely smitten with her too, very much the way Chloe seemed to feel about her. The premise of this novel is unique, one I hesitate to talk too much about because the unknowing is quite creepy. I will say that it is guaranteed to keep you guessin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

The Short of It

Loyalty to your sister above everything?

The Long of It

“London didn’t know she was supposed to be dead. Anyone who did wouldn’t be laughing so loudly opening her mouth that wide and letting out those sounds. A girl in her grave wouldn’t knock back that Pabst like she didn’t care how it tasted, then smile so sloppy and let the beer dribble down her chin.”

Chloe might not be as beautiful as her older sister, Ruby, but that doesn’t matter. Ruby More...

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2011

Gilbert&Gomez rated it:

I feel bad because I really tried to get into this book, but I couldn't. Every time I picked it up I would lose focus or get busy. Then, when I did have time I couldn't get into the story like I normally do. This book wasn't really my style. Point blank.

I thought I would like it because the synopsis was so good and the cover was REALLY interesting. It seemed like a mystery book with a twist and I love unexpected twist. I mean the story was creepily beautiful and disturbing, but it just More...

0 comments like

Dec 08, 2011

YA Reads rated it:

It has been weeks since I finished reading this. Literally, weeks, and I still have no idea how to explain it? Is it contemporary, or is it paranormal? Or is it a mixture of both? This mess of a masterpiece leaves you thinking, literally, for weeks on end.

Chloe discovers fellow classmate, London’s body in the reservoir and is quickly stowed off to her father’s, leaving her best friend and sister, Ruby behind. Two years later, Chloe is back, and things are very different. So different t More...

0 comments like

Feb 10, 2012

BAYA rated it:

This unique, lyrical book will appeal to teens who are looking for something completely different in the world of YA. This book is so refreshingly different that it does not fit neatly into any genre and does not easily compare to any book I can think of. Central to this book is the relationship between 15-year old narrator Chloe and her seven years older sister Ruby. Ruby and Chloe share the same absent alcoholic mother but different absent faraway fathers, so Chloe has in effect been raised More...

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2012

J.C. rated it:

There are a lot of great aspects to this book. I loved the tone, the magic, the mystery. By the time I was half-way through, the story had me completely hooked and I was reading, reading, reading. But there's one kinda big problem (at least for me) and it's that the main character, Chloe, doesn't drive the plot. She's more of a passenger to her sister, Ruby, who the book is really about (in my opinion.) If Chloe had more of a narrator role, just revealing the story she sees, then I might no More...

0 comments like

Jan 30, 2012

Ghislaine rated it:

I suppose my one big contribution to telling you to read this book goes out to all you anime fans: The protagonist's older sister is basically Suzumiya Haruhi. This was the hook that got me into reading this, no questions asked. This book is a lot about sisters, a bit about ghosts, and a bit about how other people can write themselves into your mind.
<spoiler>
I loved Ruby. Once her ability is revealed, she becomes incredibly more interesting; why shouldn't she hop across the cou More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Emma rated it:

5 stars.

1 star.

3.5, I think.

--

What a bizarre, dismal little book.

Notice that I didn't say bad, because it isn't. Imaginary Girls is really a... not bad book. It's actually quite... well, technically good. It's extremely well-written and haunting and maybe even complex, if not absolutely likable.

But it's not something I'd describe as good. If someone asked me, I wouldn't tell them that it was a good book. I would say that i More...

0 comments like

Jan 15, 2012

Karina rated it:

3.5 stars - recommended

Especially for those drawn to David Lynch-type stuff. The end of this book had me scouring the web, much like I did after Muholland Drive, trying to find some deep meaning I missed in a gorgeously-crafted, yet frustratingly vague, vessel.

What's the story? Read the GR summary. Or, basically, a tagalong sister is obsessed with her perfect older sister Ruby, and visa versa. One day, during a night of drinking at the reservoir, the younger sis goes swi More...

0 comments like

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