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Art Girls Are Easy
Fifteen-year-old Indigo Hamlisch is an art prodigy looking forward to her last summer at the Silver Springs Academy for Fine and Performing Arts for Girls. But her BFF Lucy Serrano is a C.I.T. this year, and that means she doesn't have to hang out with Indigo and the other campers she can mingle with the counselors -- including Indigo's scandalous and unrequited crush, paint-splattered art instructor Nick Estep. But it's not like anything is going to happen between Lucy and Nick... right?
As Indy becomes more and more paranoid about what's going on between her best friend and her favorite counselor, Indy's life -- and her work -- spin hilariously out of control. Funny and bold, Art Girls Are Easy is a comedy of errors filtered through the wry, satirical eyes of a girl who's been there, done that, and is just looking for a little inspiration.
As Indy becomes more and more paranoid about what's going on between her best friend and her favorite counselor, Indy's life -- and her work -- spin hilariously out of control. Funny and bold, Art Girls Are Easy is a comedy of errors filtered through the wry, satirical eyes of a girl who's been there, done that, and is just looking for a little inspiration.
234 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 9, 2014
To the shitheel reviewers on here trying to peel this book's skin off and dunk it in acid: go die. This was a first novel. Frikken brilliant hero of America John Green's first novel sucked in exactly the same ways--this is what it looks like when a careful, intelligent author with excellent technical proficiency grapples to find the heart of the material. For Green he oohed and aahed too much at how precious and marvelous girls can be, for Julie she hissed. This woman is going down in the history books, all you dum dums can eat dicks.
June 14, 2013
I had originally rated this (in my head) a solid one-star, but then as the book progressed and the name brand-dropping slowed to a trickle, I didn't loathe it as much as I had and perhaps bumped it up to a 1.5. But then after writing a review it might be a one again.
The story is completely predictable and based on "misunderstandings." You can guess within the first twenty pages what is going to happen, and then you are going to be right. There are no surprises here, none, not one. The only reason I sort of sympathize is that when you're 13/14/15 years old, there IS a lot of drama based on dumb misunderstandings. Because kids don't communicate well, and everything is Super Important to them. But that doesn't make this a good book, and surely there are better books for kids to read than this bullshit. Surely their lives are dramatic and stupid enough that they should be reading things that delight and surprise them.
But then there is the fact that I (Kerry) am not reading this book in order to decide whether to, like, give it to some 13-year-old girl I know. I read it for Book Club, so I sort of read it for me, and it was fucking terrible. (Although I started to feel gleeful about my disdain. I took margin notes! I underlined every name brand, every celebrity!)
And let us get back to those name brands; if you haven't read the book you might think it's a weird thing to harp on, but it was just SO egregious. I started to get offended. I don't even know exactly what I mean by that, but I was. At first I thought she was just painting a picture of wealth, because it's fun to think about being rich -- shit, I will read the SHIT out of a dumb Philippa Gregory novel about Henry VIII's wives because I like reading about the cloth of gold, and the dozens of handmaids, and doing all sorts of things that only disgustingly wealthy royalty/nobility can do. So why do I find it so offensive when it's brought into the present day? I'll have to think a bit more about that and unpack that. For some reason, thinking about being a rich English noblelady with servants five hundred years ago is fun; thinking about being a daughter of a rich finance dude is obnoxious. I guess because it's theoretically attainable, even though it isn't?
So anyway then after a while I started thinking that she was being facetious -- that we're supposed to think it's obnoxious that they're wearing designer white jeans and UGGS whilst eating deep fried tofu and organic whateverthefuck from Trader Joe's. But -- but then the protagonist isn't the heroine. There's no outsider here. She's incredibly rich and (supposedly) incredibly talented. Eventually she starts being self-conscious about her body (again, understandable for a 15-year-old,) (though I could have sworn she was excited about her "new body" in the bus on the ride to camp) but she's the daughter of a rich dude and a kooky "artist" step-mom and is, like, totes the best artist at camp. So . . . I don't know. I feel dizzy.
Also there were factual errors that annoyed the shit out of me. We get a quick story of the founders of the camp, that is then ignored and we're told that a couple of lesbians run the camp. Maybe they bought it from the first couple, but if you're going to give us all this back story, you should connect the two. Also, the protagonist and her "crush" met when she was 11 and he was 17. He was a teacher at 17? The best friend is a CIT at 16 so maybe he was just assisting on a class, but they made it seem like he was a full teacher. If he wasn't a teacher it should have been mentioned, it doesn't make sense that it wasn't. I'll bet dollars to donuts he was originally supposed to be, like, 25 or 26, but that was deemed to be too squicky so they aged him down. (It's still squicky for a 21 year old to kick it to a 15-year-old, but I buy that a 15-year-old wouldn't think that.)
Anyway . . . yes. There it is. I am looking forward to Book Club so that I can complain about it. Oh also it was so very rarely funny. Also I thought it was weird how casually the under-age drinking was handled. Maybe I don't have a good perspective since I only got drunk twice (2ce) in high school, but -- I know kids in high school drink or whatever, but to be that casual about it at 15? Really? I dunno. Oh and also that one chick was drinking Campari?? Yeah right! That shit is gross! Although what do I know, I drank Kool-Aid and gin in college because of Soul Coughing. That's disgusting too.
POST-SCRIPT: There's more to add, but I just remembered how the book vilifies a girl with an eating disorder, makes fun of her for having it, and basically says that she's a terrible person, and her ED is a good example of that. I was appalled. Not that an eating disorder is anything to be glorified, of course, (and again, WHAT DO I KNOW, I don't have one) but the lack of compassion was pretty offensive to me. This is what we're doing now? Making fun of ballerina girls with anorexia, but girls who cut are okay? Whatever.
The story is completely predictable and based on "misunderstandings." You can guess within the first twenty pages what is going to happen, and then you are going to be right. There are no surprises here, none, not one. The only reason I sort of sympathize is that when you're 13/14/15 years old, there IS a lot of drama based on dumb misunderstandings. Because kids don't communicate well, and everything is Super Important to them. But that doesn't make this a good book, and surely there are better books for kids to read than this bullshit. Surely their lives are dramatic and stupid enough that they should be reading things that delight and surprise them.
But then there is the fact that I (Kerry) am not reading this book in order to decide whether to, like, give it to some 13-year-old girl I know. I read it for Book Club, so I sort of read it for me, and it was fucking terrible. (Although I started to feel gleeful about my disdain. I took margin notes! I underlined every name brand, every celebrity!)
And let us get back to those name brands; if you haven't read the book you might think it's a weird thing to harp on, but it was just SO egregious. I started to get offended. I don't even know exactly what I mean by that, but I was. At first I thought she was just painting a picture of wealth, because it's fun to think about being rich -- shit, I will read the SHIT out of a dumb Philippa Gregory novel about Henry VIII's wives because I like reading about the cloth of gold, and the dozens of handmaids, and doing all sorts of things that only disgustingly wealthy royalty/nobility can do. So why do I find it so offensive when it's brought into the present day? I'll have to think a bit more about that and unpack that. For some reason, thinking about being a rich English noblelady with servants five hundred years ago is fun; thinking about being a daughter of a rich finance dude is obnoxious. I guess because it's theoretically attainable, even though it isn't?
So anyway then after a while I started thinking that she was being facetious -- that we're supposed to think it's obnoxious that they're wearing designer white jeans and UGGS whilst eating deep fried tofu and organic whateverthefuck from Trader Joe's. But -- but then the protagonist isn't the heroine. There's no outsider here. She's incredibly rich and (supposedly) incredibly talented. Eventually she starts being self-conscious about her body (again, understandable for a 15-year-old,) (though I could have sworn she was excited about her "new body" in the bus on the ride to camp) but she's the daughter of a rich dude and a kooky "artist" step-mom and is, like, totes the best artist at camp. So . . . I don't know. I feel dizzy.
Also there were factual errors that annoyed the shit out of me. We get a quick story of the founders of the camp, that is then ignored and we're told that a couple of lesbians run the camp. Maybe they bought it from the first couple, but if you're going to give us all this back story, you should connect the two. Also, the protagonist and her "crush" met when she was 11 and he was 17. He was a teacher at 17? The best friend is a CIT at 16 so maybe he was just assisting on a class, but they made it seem like he was a full teacher. If he wasn't a teacher it should have been mentioned, it doesn't make sense that it wasn't. I'll bet dollars to donuts he was originally supposed to be, like, 25 or 26, but that was deemed to be too squicky so they aged him down. (It's still squicky for a 21 year old to kick it to a 15-year-old, but I buy that a 15-year-old wouldn't think that.)
Anyway . . . yes. There it is. I am looking forward to Book Club so that I can complain about it. Oh also it was so very rarely funny. Also I thought it was weird how casually the under-age drinking was handled. Maybe I don't have a good perspective since I only got drunk twice (2ce) in high school, but -- I know kids in high school drink or whatever, but to be that casual about it at 15? Really? I dunno. Oh and also that one chick was drinking Campari?? Yeah right! That shit is gross! Although what do I know, I drank Kool-Aid and gin in college because of Soul Coughing. That's disgusting too.
POST-SCRIPT: There's more to add, but I just remembered how the book vilifies a girl with an eating disorder, makes fun of her for having it, and basically says that she's a terrible person, and her ED is a good example of that. I was appalled. Not that an eating disorder is anything to be glorified, of course, (and again, WHAT DO I KNOW, I don't have one) but the lack of compassion was pretty offensive to me. This is what we're doing now? Making fun of ballerina girls with anorexia, but girls who cut are okay? Whatever.
May 14, 2013
The first line of this book reads: “Indigo Hamlisch stared out of the window of her father’s gray Mercedes Coupe and thought about sex.”
Personally I find this opening tasteless, like it’s attempting to be shocking and edgy but failing miserably, kind of like the wannabe screaming vulgar things at an intimate concert in an attempt to be cool and being met with dead silence by the much classier crowd. However, after suffering through the whole book, I duly acknowledge the utter appropriateness of this opening line: it perfectly represents how unsuccessfully the book attempts to discuss issues of sexuality, body image, friendship, art, inspiration, and privilege. On top of that, ART GIRLS ARE EASY had a jumbled plot and weak character development. All in all, a hot mess.
ART GIRLS ARE EASY wants to be cool. It wants to be the hip new thing that people are talking about, the story that owns criticism and commerciality, the trend that turns people’s thinking upside-down. Unfortunately, it had no idea where to begin doing so. What is the focus of this book, anyway? The jacket synopsis claims that it’s about Indigo and Lucy’s changing best-friendship, but the complexities of this new chapter in their lives hardly appear. Every once in a while, Lucy deigns to come find Indy, they exchange sweet nothings for a few lines, and then Lucy dashes off, leaving Indy behind to feel inferior and insecure. In theory this is what friends drifting apart is like—but the drifting apart needs to be apparent in the harmful way they interact with each other, to show an unhealthy relationship. This book is so confused about whether or not Lucy is the villain that it tries to do a little of everything, with (predictably) poor results: for 90% of the book, we’re led to believe that Lucy is the bad and selfish friend who is just using the less attractive Indy to bolster her own self-esteem, but then apparently their misunderstandings are cleared up in a matter of a few pages at the end, Lucy’s attractiveness is balanced out by Indy’s far superior artistic talent, and Lucy and Indy go skipping off into the sunset. Huh? This is a fine ending ideally, but little exists in the book to convince readers of the strength and veracity of their friendship.
In fact, Indy and Lucy’s friendship rollercoaster takes a side-seat to the main spectacle that is Indy falling apart due to her insecurities. Scenes of Indy eating her feelings, lashing out at others, and even hurting herself could’ve been a moving reflection on adolescent self-esteem. I mean, this is serious stuff! But apparently Indy’s behavior is invalid because her perfect best friend never wavered in her loyalty. Um, what? Are we not going to discuss how, sadly, too many wonderful girls like Indigo will also have body image issues and thoughts of self-mutilation? Are you really going to send the message that as long as the insecure girl is loved by her attractive, nice, and perfect best friend, everything is going to be fine?
But perhaps most infuriating of all—if such a thing can be decided from the myriad choices we have—is how ART GIRLS ARE EASY makes no acknowledgment of the way privilege works in the characters’ lives. Silver Springs is a summer art camp that will make your university look like an overpriced homeless shelter. Throughout the book, characters continuously flaunt their privilege to get their way. They discuss how they’ll use their parents’ money to get the camp to fire a teacher, their parents’ connections to nab them a starring role in such-and-such production alongside Meryl Streep. They acknowledge how they only go to camp in order to make the connections that will get them the careers they want. It’s like Harvard for artsy high schoolers, and the book does not even try to comment on the disgusting excess that is the privilege here. No character is immune from the benefits of privilege—including Indigo. The most the book says about the glutton of privilege that exists in the book is a throwaway passage at the end:
That’s it. No lesson learned about privilege. The book totally passed on the opportunity to open readers’ eyes up to the existence of privilege in our lives and the extreme social stratification that results.
The very fact that ART GIRLS ARE EASY so desperately tries to be cool upends any promise it had of being a halfway decent story. Its faux-edginess is only outdone by its inexcusable misunderstanding of teenage thoughts and feelings. And its unquestioning attitude towards privilege—unacceptable in today’s socioeconomic situation—is the rotten cherry on top of a shapeless, flavorless cake with all the nutritional content of a vat of high fructose corn syrup.
Personally I find this opening tasteless, like it’s attempting to be shocking and edgy but failing miserably, kind of like the wannabe screaming vulgar things at an intimate concert in an attempt to be cool and being met with dead silence by the much classier crowd. However, after suffering through the whole book, I duly acknowledge the utter appropriateness of this opening line: it perfectly represents how unsuccessfully the book attempts to discuss issues of sexuality, body image, friendship, art, inspiration, and privilege. On top of that, ART GIRLS ARE EASY had a jumbled plot and weak character development. All in all, a hot mess.
ART GIRLS ARE EASY wants to be cool. It wants to be the hip new thing that people are talking about, the story that owns criticism and commerciality, the trend that turns people’s thinking upside-down. Unfortunately, it had no idea where to begin doing so. What is the focus of this book, anyway? The jacket synopsis claims that it’s about Indigo and Lucy’s changing best-friendship, but the complexities of this new chapter in their lives hardly appear. Every once in a while, Lucy deigns to come find Indy, they exchange sweet nothings for a few lines, and then Lucy dashes off, leaving Indy behind to feel inferior and insecure. In theory this is what friends drifting apart is like—but the drifting apart needs to be apparent in the harmful way they interact with each other, to show an unhealthy relationship. This book is so confused about whether or not Lucy is the villain that it tries to do a little of everything, with (predictably) poor results: for 90% of the book, we’re led to believe that Lucy is the bad and selfish friend who is just using the less attractive Indy to bolster her own self-esteem, but then apparently their misunderstandings are cleared up in a matter of a few pages at the end, Lucy’s attractiveness is balanced out by Indy’s far superior artistic talent, and Lucy and Indy go skipping off into the sunset. Huh? This is a fine ending ideally, but little exists in the book to convince readers of the strength and veracity of their friendship.
In fact, Indy and Lucy’s friendship rollercoaster takes a side-seat to the main spectacle that is Indy falling apart due to her insecurities. Scenes of Indy eating her feelings, lashing out at others, and even hurting herself could’ve been a moving reflection on adolescent self-esteem. I mean, this is serious stuff! But apparently Indy’s behavior is invalid because her perfect best friend never wavered in her loyalty. Um, what? Are we not going to discuss how, sadly, too many wonderful girls like Indigo will also have body image issues and thoughts of self-mutilation? Are you really going to send the message that as long as the insecure girl is loved by her attractive, nice, and perfect best friend, everything is going to be fine?
But perhaps most infuriating of all—if such a thing can be decided from the myriad choices we have—is how ART GIRLS ARE EASY makes no acknowledgment of the way privilege works in the characters’ lives. Silver Springs is a summer art camp that will make your university look like an overpriced homeless shelter. Throughout the book, characters continuously flaunt their privilege to get their way. They discuss how they’ll use their parents’ money to get the camp to fire a teacher, their parents’ connections to nab them a starring role in such-and-such production alongside Meryl Streep. They acknowledge how they only go to camp in order to make the connections that will get them the careers they want. It’s like Harvard for artsy high schoolers, and the book does not even try to comment on the disgusting excess that is the privilege here. No character is immune from the benefits of privilege—including Indigo. The most the book says about the glutton of privilege that exists in the book is a throwaway passage at the end:
“In no way did [Indigo’s] dad’s money talk negate the sense of accomplishment she felt around her piece. But, she figured, his donation was probably relevant to her Fairness Committee verdict. For the first time, she felt she had a better insight into the machine that kept this place running. This odd, terrible, wonderful place.”
That’s it. No lesson learned about privilege. The book totally passed on the opportunity to open readers’ eyes up to the existence of privilege in our lives and the extreme social stratification that results.
The very fact that ART GIRLS ARE EASY so desperately tries to be cool upends any promise it had of being a halfway decent story. Its faux-edginess is only outdone by its inexcusable misunderstanding of teenage thoughts and feelings. And its unquestioning attitude towards privilege—unacceptable in today’s socioeconomic situation—is the rotten cherry on top of a shapeless, flavorless cake with all the nutritional content of a vat of high fructose corn syrup.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2014
I read this book because I really really like Julie Klausner. I feel like I sort of forgot that it was a YOUNG ADULT novel, which was why it made me shudder a few times. Had I read the book 14 years ago, I would have loved it and it would have inspired me. It was truly written for it's audience, which means as grown ups we probably shouldn't love it 100% because 15 year olds are mostly gross and weird, however rating it one star just because it's below our reading and emotional maturity level isn't exactly fair. You haters out there should give her another chance, read I Don't Care About Your Band and listen to Julie's podcast and keep your eyes out for her new TV show produced by Amy Poehler.
August 12, 2015
Stopped at: 7%
I will read any and all books that deal with summer camps because I have never been to summer camp in my life. I never knew about it when I was younger and by the time I learned what they were, we couldn’t afford it. So when I first got the chance to read this book, I was incredibly excited. The cover was gorgeous and the summary was great and lets not forget the art bit. What I got, on the other hand, was a pretentious, annoying fifteen-year-old rich girl who was more interested in older men because she’d read Lolita (what?!).
When I think of summer camps, I think of cabins with bunk beds and lakes and swimming and bon fires. The camp Indigo does to? They stayed in air-conditioned chalets. And can I mention the name-dropping with all of the brands these kids have? Dolce and Gabbana and Chanel and I don’t really care. In the end, 7% of this book is all I could handle even though I told myself that I would read more of this book before giving up on it. If I’m to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. There are better books I would rather spend my time reading then this one.
Originally reviewed at Life According to a Bibliophile.
I will read any and all books that deal with summer camps because I have never been to summer camp in my life. I never knew about it when I was younger and by the time I learned what they were, we couldn’t afford it. So when I first got the chance to read this book, I was incredibly excited. The cover was gorgeous and the summary was great and lets not forget the art bit. What I got, on the other hand, was a pretentious, annoying fifteen-year-old rich girl who was more interested in older men because she’d read Lolita (what?!).
When I think of summer camps, I think of cabins with bunk beds and lakes and swimming and bon fires. The camp Indigo does to? They stayed in air-conditioned chalets. And can I mention the name-dropping with all of the brands these kids have? Dolce and Gabbana and Chanel and I don’t really care. In the end, 7% of this book is all I could handle even though I told myself that I would read more of this book before giving up on it. If I’m to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. There are better books I would rather spend my time reading then this one.
Originally reviewed at Life According to a Bibliophile.
June 12, 2013
Good books about shallow topics have been written. This does not qualify.
I could rant about a lot of things I disliked: the over reliance on physical description, the 'it's all a great misunderstanding' plot devices, the lack of depth of even the main character... but really it all boils down to the fact that this story, maybe even this type of story is just not my bag. There's not really even enough to rant about.
I could rant about a lot of things I disliked: the over reliance on physical description, the 'it's all a great misunderstanding' plot devices, the lack of depth of even the main character... but really it all boils down to the fact that this story, maybe even this type of story is just not my bag. There's not really even enough to rant about.
Read
July 15, 2013I really loved "I Don't Care About Your Band" so I was excited to read this...but sadly, it was just ok.
October 30, 2013
Sigh, if I had to list everything I disliked about this book...
March 12, 2024
Yes, yes, I realize that I am not the demographic for this book, being that I haven’t been considered a young adult for quite some time… However, this book would’ve been exactly something adolescent Tiffany would’ve gobbled up. It read a lot like Gossip Girl to me (and I genuinely mean that with the deepest of compliments; I was obsessed), especially given it was about a bunch of snooty rich kids living up their rich kid “summer camp” experience that was just over the top. Indigo was a true-blue 15 year old who felt that she was so wise beyond her years, but only because she had been thrusted several times in her life into grown-up situations and never truly helped through them. The poor girl was a little bit rudderless, but she’ll be alright. She’ll figure herself out.
Also, I should note how TRULY grateful I am that the predator was revealed to be a predator. The old trope of the hot, older “teacher” and the young student feels scandalous in all the right ways, but it truly is all of the wrong ways. Taking advantage of young women just because you know you can… sleezeball.
Also, I should note how TRULY grateful I am that the predator was revealed to be a predator. The old trope of the hot, older “teacher” and the young student feels scandalous in all the right ways, but it truly is all of the wrong ways. Taking advantage of young women just because you know you can… sleezeball.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2017
Indigo wins the 'most irritating, self-obsessed, entitled character' award. She's kind of the worst. She is judgmental of everyone she encounters, and even though she doesn't often give voice to all of her critical thoughts, she thinks really rude things about people. She's mean on the inside, where it counts the most. Gross. I hated that she put in one single day of hard work on her art project on the last day of camp and won that big showcase award. The. Worst. Just didn't care for this book at all.
December 22, 2017
While this is by no means a thought provoking, deep read. It is a quick, fun story any one who has ever been 15 year old girl can relate to.
Indy is the every- girl. Torn between pursuing her dreams, and trying to fit in. She experiences heartbreak, and learns the importance of true friendship. The story seems cliche at times, but it is a good reminder of how hard times make us appreciate the good around us.
Indy is the every- girl. Torn between pursuing her dreams, and trying to fit in. She experiences heartbreak, and learns the importance of true friendship. The story seems cliche at times, but it is a good reminder of how hard times make us appreciate the good around us.
March 9, 2018
There's a CosmoGirl sized hole in my heart where I pine for my teenage girl years. There's also a summer camp sized hole in my heart, since my first real kiss was at sleepaway camp. So this novel scratches an itch for me. At some moments it felt like a satire of a YA book, and at others was too densely packed with descriptive writing. But the story is teeming with heart and angst, and that's what won me over at the end.
December 3, 2014
I've been a fan of Julie Klausner since I read her memoir, I Don't Care About Your Band, so I figured I'd pick up her YA novel for a fun afternoon read. Overall, it was an entertaining read with a somewhat disappointing ending. I think the book deals with teen issues (such as sexuality, drug & alcohol use, body image, etc.) in a fairly tactful and realistic manner - not sensationalist or Afterschool Special-y - and I appreciated the themes of female friendship, even if this wasn't always executed well. The art camp setting provides a variety of quirky side characters (though it toes the line between Fabulous Escapist Fantasy Art Camp and Incredibly Pretentious Art Camp For The Annoyingly Privileged) and overall it's pretty relatable to anyone who's been a 15-year-old girl.
That said, it was far from perfect. There are several instances where the tone of the narration belies the themes present in the book - the focus on Eleanor's anorexia contrasts with the later body-posi late night swim, and the portrayal of Jen the adviser as jealous & vindictive is at odds with her actions. On one hand, these depictions are in line with a teenager's perception, but I think there should have been some more resolution. Eleanor does have her redeeming moments, but Jen is still perceived by the narrator as bitchy, petty and unpleasant, making her come across as an expy for some girl the author was jealous of in high school. Lucy's speech at Indy's trial was also totally weird (but perhaps a great display of flawed teen logic?) - it came across as "It's totally okay for Indy to burn things because she's just a great talented artist and artists have mood swings, so it's okay to vandalize things!" I don't think Indy was totally unjustified in torching the painting but uh...not for the reasons Lucy explained. But, like I said, maybe it was intended to be weirdo teen logic.
Then of course, there is the underwhelming ending. If it weren't the ending, it would be a perfectly fine chapter. I liked that Indigo still felt attraction to Nick even after discovering he's a creep, because I think it would be disingenuous to have her years-long crush on him disappear in a flash, and it was important for her to have her "it's time to move on" moment. I just didn't think that was going to be the end. Perhaps the author was trying to avoid an ending where everything wraps up nicely, but it was rushed and unsatisfying. I was hoping that Nick would get his comeuppance, maybe with the help of Jen so she could be redeemed in Indy's eyes (because seriously, she's really just not that awful and could be a great role model). I was also anticipating the reveal that the camper there were "rumors about" with Nick was Eleanor - it seemed to me that was heavily hinted. Maybe it was supposed to be ambiguous, maybe I'm reading too much into it. On the whole, it felt like there was a last chapter that got lost, and I finished the book thinking "...that's it?"
That said, it was far from perfect. There are several instances where the tone of the narration belies the themes present in the book - the focus on Eleanor's anorexia contrasts with the later body-posi late night swim, and the portrayal of Jen the adviser as jealous & vindictive is at odds with her actions. On one hand, these depictions are in line with a teenager's perception, but I think there should have been some more resolution. Eleanor does have her redeeming moments, but Jen is still perceived by the narrator as bitchy, petty and unpleasant, making her come across as an expy for some girl the author was jealous of in high school. Lucy's speech at Indy's trial was also totally weird (but perhaps a great display of flawed teen logic?) - it came across as "It's totally okay for Indy to burn things because she's just a great talented artist and artists have mood swings, so it's okay to vandalize things!" I don't think Indy was totally unjustified in torching the painting but uh...not for the reasons Lucy explained. But, like I said, maybe it was intended to be weirdo teen logic.
Then of course, there is the underwhelming ending. If it weren't the ending, it would be a perfectly fine chapter. I liked that Indigo still felt attraction to Nick even after discovering he's a creep, because I think it would be disingenuous to have her years-long crush on him disappear in a flash, and it was important for her to have her "it's time to move on" moment. I just didn't think that was going to be the end. Perhaps the author was trying to avoid an ending where everything wraps up nicely, but it was rushed and unsatisfying. I was hoping that Nick would get his comeuppance, maybe with the help of Jen so she could be redeemed in Indy's eyes (because seriously, she's really just not that awful and could be a great role model). I was also anticipating the reveal that the camper there were "rumors about" with Nick was Eleanor - it seemed to me that was heavily hinted. Maybe it was supposed to be ambiguous, maybe I'm reading too much into it. On the whole, it felt like there was a last chapter that got lost, and I finished the book thinking "...that's it?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2013
It’s trying to be so many things all at once, but fails so miserably at whatever it was gunning for. Because what was this about really? The blurb says something, something or other on being best friends. So, now we have the best friend but not friends thing that Lucy and Indy are going through. Indy is talented protégé to Lucy’s beautiful girl role.
There’s a change in who they are for each other and the reactions that Lucy has to that change are sad and depressing… with her doing all the wrong things. So where was Lucy in all of this? No where really. There one minute then gone a for a whole long stretch whilst Indy’s manipulated by others, allowed to believe some other things, and the end result? Some pretty destructive things. Yet, opportunity is allowed to slide by here with a conclusion that has their pairing righting itself almost TOO EASILY! Is it that your best friend loves you is enough to gloss over the destructive things a girl is capable of? That seems to be what this book is saying.
Then there are all the things INDY herself wanted to say: from commercialism, to a lack of connection, to knowing what you have to say, and then working whatever that is out for yourself? Again, is it enough that your best friend loves you for these things to resolve themselves? It seems the case here. Except the book doesn’t really “say” anything does it? It wants to… but doesn’t. Not really.
There’s a change in who they are for each other and the reactions that Lucy has to that change are sad and depressing… with her doing all the wrong things. So where was Lucy in all of this? No where really. There one minute then gone a for a whole long stretch whilst Indy’s manipulated by others, allowed to believe some other things, and the end result? Some pretty destructive things. Yet, opportunity is allowed to slide by here with a conclusion that has their pairing righting itself almost TOO EASILY! Is it that your best friend loves you is enough to gloss over the destructive things a girl is capable of? That seems to be what this book is saying.
Then there are all the things INDY herself wanted to say: from commercialism, to a lack of connection, to knowing what you have to say, and then working whatever that is out for yourself? Again, is it enough that your best friend loves you for these things to resolve themselves? It seems the case here. Except the book doesn’t really “say” anything does it? It wants to… but doesn’t. Not really.
October 6, 2014
This is a great example of the difference and significance of a Hipster vs. a person from/part of the community. AGAE is a Hipster. It is doing everything it can to put of this image off cool like talking about sex openly, but without depth. Instead, it's tasteless and annoying. The "substance" of this book is this idea of artsy characters with mystery and originality without any actual story to tell or original thought to share.
Do I think this book could have had some potential? Yes, actually, but the writer needs to step back and just get to know her characters rather than trying to make her characters, her plot, and her book overall sound like it's awesome. Please, please write something I can take something from instead of this lifeless popular kid-book that doesn't offer me anything. I, even, tried to fight for a theme of friendship, but even that, my last thread of hope, fell completely flat.
I could write paragraph after paragraph about everything wrong with this book, but I'll just leave it at this... The title doesn't actually make any sense, the characters are not developed, and the plot will literally have you turning over the book looking for more pages because it goes absoultely no where! Then you realize not only did the plot go no where, but you have wasted your time with the phony, wannabe when you could have in search of an actual great novel.
Do I think this book could have had some potential? Yes, actually, but the writer needs to step back and just get to know her characters rather than trying to make her characters, her plot, and her book overall sound like it's awesome. Please, please write something I can take something from instead of this lifeless popular kid-book that doesn't offer me anything. I, even, tried to fight for a theme of friendship, but even that, my last thread of hope, fell completely flat.
I could write paragraph after paragraph about everything wrong with this book, but I'll just leave it at this... The title doesn't actually make any sense, the characters are not developed, and the plot will literally have you turning over the book looking for more pages because it goes absoultely no where! Then you realize not only did the plot go no where, but you have wasted your time with the phony, wannabe when you could have in search of an actual great novel.
October 15, 2013
Yeah, this book isn't great. In all fairness to Klausner, I think she did a pretty good job of approximating the tone and general themes of young adult fiction -- I asked a friend of mine who is a more avid reader of YA if a key plot point in the book was a common theme in YA, and she confirmed it was -- but there's something really awkward about this particular story.
There is obviously a lot going on in terms of sexuality as a teenager, something that I think Klausner does a decent job of tapping into. Young women as teenagers are just starting to grow into their more adult bodies, and how they navigate the newfound attention their bodies draw from men. Klausner errs on the side of creepy, edging into a crush on an older man that turns into (slightly) more. Plus, there's a lot of backstabbing, which becomes almost confused at many points.
Ultimately, I think Klausner used this book as an experiment to see if YA could be her thing. It was ultimately an unsuccessful experiment, but I don't blame her for trying. The YA trend is hot right now, so she might as well try to strike iron.
There is obviously a lot going on in terms of sexuality as a teenager, something that I think Klausner does a decent job of tapping into. Young women as teenagers are just starting to grow into their more adult bodies, and how they navigate the newfound attention their bodies draw from men. Klausner errs on the side of creepy, edging into a crush on an older man that turns into (slightly) more. Plus, there's a lot of backstabbing, which becomes almost confused at many points.
Ultimately, I think Klausner used this book as an experiment to see if YA could be her thing. It was ultimately an unsuccessful experiment, but I don't blame her for trying. The YA trend is hot right now, so she might as well try to strike iron.
July 20, 2016
I saw this book sitting on a shelf at the library and I was immediately drawn to it. The story itself is okay. It's all about misunderstandings, and what happens when you don't trust your friends, and a lesson is learned about not always jumping to conclusions based on what you see.
It has a lot of upper class kids all together at "summer camp", although this version of summer camp includes AC, and no cabins like other camps have. It's an art camp for the rich kids.
I did not feel a strong connection to Indy, though I could sometimes relate about having a crush on teachers in the past. But the book sometimes felt predictable and it almost seemed you could see how things would turn out. I got the impression Nick was kind of a flirt based on some of the things he said.
The books summary says it's a comedy but it felt more like Drama to me. I liked the idea of the book but it's not something I'd read again or buy for myself.
It has a lot of upper class kids all together at "summer camp", although this version of summer camp includes AC, and no cabins like other camps have. It's an art camp for the rich kids.
I did not feel a strong connection to Indy, though I could sometimes relate about having a crush on teachers in the past. But the book sometimes felt predictable and it almost seemed you could see how things would turn out. I got the impression Nick was kind of a flirt based on some of the things he said.
The books summary says it's a comedy but it felt more like Drama to me. I liked the idea of the book but it's not something I'd read again or buy for myself.
May 8, 2013
Why’d I Pick This Book To Read?:
Friends, Art Girls Are Easy by Julie Klausner was SO appealing to me. First, that cover is gorgeous, I love the sunglasses and the fierce lipstick. Second, I love books about characters who have a passion, especially if that passion is art. Third, there is totally not enough summer camp in YA, so that little phrase immediately appealed to me. I loved camp when I went, from cabin rivalries, to bonfires, to color war.
You can find out why I DNFed by clicking here
FYI review link goes live 5/20/13
Friends, Art Girls Are Easy by Julie Klausner was SO appealing to me. First, that cover is gorgeous, I love the sunglasses and the fierce lipstick. Second, I love books about characters who have a passion, especially if that passion is art. Third, there is totally not enough summer camp in YA, so that little phrase immediately appealed to me. I loved camp when I went, from cabin rivalries, to bonfires, to color war.
You can find out why I DNFed by clicking here
FYI review link goes live 5/20/13
May 14, 2013
I'm not the target audience for this one (read: I am old), but I downloaded it based on the preview and was disappointed with it as a whole--it's like it can't decide whether it's a satire or a super earnest coming of age story. I was also turned off by the narrator's constant focus on the body types of all the characters--it was always shoved in our faces that the mean girl is "anorexic" and the unpopular girl is overweight. Tired and disappointing.
October 5, 2013
I love Julie Klausner, and I really wanted to like this, but ... it just wasn't quite there. There's potential, for sure, but I wasn't sure what age the actual intended reader of this book was supposed to be. Like, the entire character of Yvonne? And all the body hate, it was hard to get through. There are good ideas here, but it just doesn't come together.
November 11, 2013
I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. I really enjoyed the honesty in how the authors described the confusion and chaos of being 15 and thinking every move you make is being observed and judged. But on the other hand at times the whole, privileged rich kids at super fancy art camp become heavy and distracting. Overall it was good with maybe a little too wrapped up ending.
November 12, 2013
I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. I really enjoyed the honesty in how the authors described the confusion and chaos of being 15 and thinking every move you make is being observed and judged. But on the other hand at times the whole, privileged rich kids at super fancy art camp become heavy and distracting. Overall it was good with maybe a little too wrapped up ending. (Amanda)
May 18, 2013
I really and truly adore Julie Klausner, but this was a very forgettable read. it almost read like a parody of a YA novel, but not enough to be funny. and certainly didn't feel like her normal voice at all. disappointing
Read
April 29, 2013Hmm, I need to think about this one! Full review to come.
June 4, 2013
ooof.
May 13, 2013
Just in case there is anyone in my life who doesn't already know: I love (or in this case really like) everything Julie Klausner does/says/posts/performs.
May 9, 2013
I'll admit it, I'm a Julie Klausner fangirl.
July 6, 2014
Delightful. Oh, had books like this been around when I was in high school...
September 7, 2014
I appreciate Klausner's humor and writing style. I hope very much that she writes another!
December 27, 2015
Great first outing by my girl Julie Klausner! I'd read a sequel and watch a movie of this book!!
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