Amandine

by Adele Griffin

From the first moment of their meeting, Delia Blaine is fascinated by Amandine, who never fails to astonish with her bold, thrilling antics. As the games Amandine invents and the lies she tells become cruel and disturbing, Delia begins to fear her new friend. But breaking away from Amandine comes at a cost much greater than Delia ever could have imagined.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Friendship, Coming Of Age

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

I'm on Goodreads a lot as a reader-- my author bio has always been a copy-paste of my Wikipedia. But now it seems like the right time and place to delete the old 3rd person official bio and add some backstory on my upcoming book FIRST LOVE LAST LOVE. (It's out November 3, and available now on NetGalley.)

Growing up in a single-parent home in Rhode Island, I was often in my mother's Toyota Corolla as she juggled work with bank and grocery errands, plus three kids' dentist appointments and after-school activities. A lot of car time! Her go-to calm was music, so her glove box stacked with cassette tapes, including Dan Fogelberg's The Innocent Age. There was this one particular song about an old romance meetup-- years later in a grocery story on a winter night-- that absolutely gutted her. My little brothers and I never would have asked, but we knew this song was Not making her think about our dad. And every time she played it, she was lost to private old memories. I was probably writing that romance in my head even then.

What happens when the great love of your life suddenly returns? How much of that first love is about the person, and how much of it is about who you used to be? And if that old song comes calling, do you stay inside the life you've carefully built, the one that makes sense, or risk it for the possibility of another self, another life?

This story belongs to Vida and Elijah, but I think the pull of these choices belongs to everyone. Writing the book certainly made me think all about ambition and motherhood and marriage and regret, and all the younger selves we have to leave behind-- and I think that's one of the the things I enjoy most about writing-- you begin somewhere that feels so real and known, and then by the end, you've made something so unexpected, and a whole different space from where you began.
xA.

website: www.adelegriffin.com


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Open Road Media interview
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Reviews

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm genuinely surprised that this book had such low reviews. This was one of the more interesting, complicated and sophisticated young adult books that I've read. I like that things weren't over-explained and that the ending was somewhat ambiguous, because that's life. Delia was a disenchanted teen who fell under the spell of a (possibly) crazy girl who tested her boundaries. A chilling book that felt very real.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quirky dark tale about a girl, Delia, who tries to adjust at a new school. Delia is overweight, shy and kind of weird, so she doesn't sail into popularity. She meets Amandine, another girl who clearly marches to her own drummer, but Amandine isn't as affected by what other kids think. Delia is drawn to Amandine as much out of curiosity as gratitude for not being left to fend for herself in the battlefield that is high school.

But Delia soon realizes that Amandine is...off...somehow. Even though high school seems like the seventh circle of hell, Delia figures she's probably better off without Amandine. But trying to unfriend Delia poses problems of its own.

I liked this. It was creepy and kind of spooky. It was unnerving to see just how far Amandine would go. But ultimately, that's what was disappointing about the story. I felt like Griffin just scratched the surface, but never really truly explored Amandine's psychosis or Delia's self-destructiveness. this story could have been a real thriller, but just didnt go far enough.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a creepy book and the ending doesn't really satisfy, but then in real life not all the loose ends get tied up conveniently. One of the things I liked about this story is the fact that it was real, it didn't have a happily-ever-after ending. It leaves you with more questions than answers. Delia meets Amandine after she moves to a new town. It's obvious that Amandine is mentally unstable and why Delia allows herself to get sucked into the relationship is the most engaging part of this sad tale. Delia's loneliness, lack of self-confidence, lack of family grounding, and inability to really see her own motivations may make this tale all too familiar to some teens. Once Delia sees Amandine as she is she tries to end the relationship; Amandine's revenge is as shocking as it is cruel. This is a powerful story of the importance of choosing friends and the power of "one little" lie.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Review to come...

She's Got Books on Her Mind

You know who's my new friend? Adele Griffin. After reading Amandine I am more than ready to read more. She crafts the tale of Delia, our main character, who just moved into town. Delia's a loner, overweight, and has a secret that can come and bite her back if she isn't too careful. The story is told in the past tense. Delia is trying to come to terms with how things turned out all messed up. She starts her story off with her meeting a strange girl with a lab coat and ballet shoes asking her if she wanted to see a journal she keeps of all of her ugliest things. The girl's name is Amandine and she likes to shock people. She likes to be noticed to which is evident based on her clothing. She also likes to manipulate you into staying her friend after you realize that even if she's very different from everyone else and she seems like a ton of fun to be with, in reality she's very harsh and will do anything to get what she wants even if it means trying to hurt you.

I loved the way the story was told in past tense. Delia has one of those wise, I've-seen-everything type of voices. It was easy to slip into her world because of that. I don't know how but Delia just got to me right away. I cared about her and could never think of seeing her as someone in the wrong. She may have played games with Amandine but she never meant anything to go to far. Amandine had a way of making her feel like she was in the wrong by putting others against her. And everyone just adored Amandine because she was so casually... her. She just does everything so overdramtically. She's one person and then she's another. Nice, sweet, the perfect daughter that her parents could hope for. But, she was so... pushy and mean. The lives of others were just a game to her. I couldn't help be fascinated just like Delia was by how she interacted with people and swayed them onto her side.

"I did not think she could tell I was staring at her, but she knew. It was something I learned about her, later. That Amandine was always aware of her audience."

Delia's secret was an interesting one. I think by Amandine trying to hold it over her head she made the situation worse for herself. Sometimes enough is enough but then Amandine of course had another trump card. The story was basically showing how things can spiral out of control. How if you don't take a hold of what makes you you there just may be a chance that someone will come up and give you a new identity, a new way of being. It shows you how easily the world can change you and one person can mess up what you percieved the world and people to be. It also about learning from your mistakes. Really what I thought about the message of the story was to choose your friends wisely and make sure they aren't crazy people... But, no really is was a great story with great messages. It was haunting and it was beautiful.

"Ah, nobody learns anything from being happy."

Overall: Absolutely loved this book. It made me think. It's characters were fascinating. I loved this story so so much. I loved everything about it and more. And of course I loved it because how can I not be a fan of someone who's a fan of another great author - my favorite author - Robert Cormier - the genius.

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overweight, socially awkward Delia, the new girl in school is befriended by the troubled AMANDINE in this quick read by Adele Griffin geared toward younger YA readers.

Mostly AMANDINE is a missed opportunity. By not more deeply exploring these very interesting characters, Griffin turns what could have been a truly enthralling story into an average one.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amandine is a troubled person who reeks havoc in the life of an already insecure young woman and her family. I suspect that Amandine seeks out such people so as to feel powerful. Fortunately, Delia does find a few other people--her age and key adults, who help her find her way. It is a nice discovery story, but one filled with pain because of the havoc Amandine causes. Even the adults, normally portrayed as absent or indifferent in young adult fiction, become targets and must deal with Amandine. This is an interesting variation. Approach this story with caution. It is a little troubling.

[SR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this, and I liked reading it, and promptly forgot everything about the book.

[Valerie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adele Griffin did an amazing job with this topic that she wrote about and is a really good author. Because she is such a good author she made something that could be true in real life seem like it actually happened. This, again, is true in her book Amandine. For me as a student this has showed me how to get out of drama situations. I don’t think I had ever read something with so much drama involved in it. I felt like I was involved just as much as everyone else in the story, it felt like every time someone else's opinion was called out my mind had changed from one to another. Amandine does open up many times about how the characters feel and think about each other on whether they think if that person is doing the right thing.

I have only read one book by Adele Griffin so I couldn’t tell you that I am a fan of her books but I definitely liked this book. Out of all the books I have read so far this is my absolute favorite I have read yet. She makes perfect details throughout the story, and chooses at the right time when each character should give their opinion to get you to think a little differently about the other characters. You can really tell when something bad or good might happen whether that’s when Amandine says something horrible to someone or when Delia meets a new friend and they have a sleepover. To top it all off, Adele Griffin maneges to keep the reader hooked to the story with only a few pages left of the story.

I would strongly recommend Amandine to people who are really into drama I feel like these types of people would get sucked in. I feel like those types of people who enjoy Drama should experience this type of drama filled book. There were definitely huge parts at the James Dewolf High School and even at home that I think that if you are into stuff with a lot a girl drama that this would be the right book for you.

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I reread this book to revisit a book I liked in middle school.

While unsettling and creepy, this book is not a successful psychological thriller, because it's hard to believe the unreliable narrator. While she accuses Amandine of theatrical lying, there's not a lot of evidence that this is true. Except perhaps when Amandine blatantly lies to their mutual friend Mary about Delia's involvement in a cruel joke Amandine orchestrated against her. Ironically, Delia seems to be more of a proven liar than the villain of the story. Mostly I find the ending problematic because I only want books to promote a culture of believing survivors. I find the ending incredibly misogynistic and also harmful.

I read an article on Vulture recently called "Let's Celebrate the Stinky Heroines of Repulsive Realist Fiction" recently: https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/halle... In this article it celebrated books where heroines "rebel against the packaging of femininity and the oppression of the lacquered image." In Griffin's characterization of Amandine I found some of the trappings of this new subgenre of literature, but ultimately since you are ultimately supposed to side with the narrator of the book and reject Amandine, the book reinforces tropes about femininity.

The actual writing was very descriptive and fluid and I think that's originally what drew me to this book. The characters are complex, and have rich emotional lives which give a reality to the characters that is really refreshing. And I feel like this is a book that hits on relevant middle school themes such as belonging, friendship, and feeling alone.

Ultimately I would not recommend the book because I feel like it's content could give a harmful message to teens and tweens.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok but wasn't as deep or compelling as I'd expected. While Amandine is certainly strange and a luttle disturbing, I was honestly more concerned with how awful Delia's parents were to her, especially when in a later chapter, we hear the story of her mom telling her how welcomed she was as a baby and how miraculous she was to them... maybe as a baby but they are very emotionally distant and neglectful and it made me so mad. They make her eat a sad diet meal early but Mom waits to eat until Dad comes home so they can enjoy a romantic meal together.
But, while Delia clearly states that there is a lot of hurt from her parents and she talks around how alone and neglected and unloved she feels, the story just mostly ignores it in favor of Amandine.
And the story foreshadows Amandine's horribleness so much that I expected someone to be dead by the end of it. Her actual revenge is pretty horrid but also just, so... casually addressed? It is like 3 pages of build up and then like 3 paragraphs of resolution, and there wasn't enough emotion written in any of the characters. It isn't a bad book but it is not gripping or compelling either. Just, ok...

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This book just randomly appeared on my shelf, and I still can't quite remember where it came from. Of course, this made me think that I was "meant" to read it and that I would learn some important lesson from it. I can't say that was the case, but I still liked it. This was a short, focused, and slightly creepy YA novel about toxic friendship, and the weird ways in which our friends can influence us. Amandine is a fascinating character, and there was a surprising amount in here worth thinking about.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delia doesn't make friends easily and even the first time she meets Amandine, she's not sure she wants a friend that badly. After all, she's drawing a picture of the ugliest thing she's ever seen. But Amadine kind of insinuates herself into Delia's life. At first, it's kind of thrilling - she's so odd - but when Delia starts to see through some of the lies she realizes that Amandine could be a very dangerous person to cross.

[Crystal ✬ Lost in Storyland]

The story is hard to follow because scenes are short and time moves quickly. It felt like one moment Delia was new and lost; the next, she was already friends with Amandine. Sometimes, time moves backwards, and Delia narrates events that have already taken place. I think this book deals with important topics, however: toxic friendship, the effect when parents don't understand and contribute unwittingly to the problem.

[Natalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird little story about two girls and their brief friendship. A dark story - teaches you to be careful with people you don’t know well and not entrust your secrets to just anyone. Some people are just mean and weird and you should stay away. Overall, this was a strange book and I have mixed feelings about it. I got it in a book sale and going to donate it to a library. I don’t feel I will ever want to read it again.

[Alexy L-S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oye, this book is a suspense, is artistic, and is
kinda a variety of things. It is kinda underrated.
When I read it, many years ago, I had to wonder
a little, cause it was unlike anything I evuh read.
Amandine had a grotesque, and artistic personality.
I do not recommend any girl, to be influenced by
her bad sides, haha. It's fine to be a nice artist. Chao.

[Kali Burks-Mosier · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a surprisingly quick read, with a constantly creepy tone. I will say it was a bit anti-climatic in this day and age of disturbia and gore, plus there seemed to be an added flair of drama that wasn't completely hashed out. Overall, a decent read!

[Jessica Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago. I remember it being short, but riveting. I related so much to the main character and her experiences.

Other people probably won’t feel the same connection to this book that I do, but I still recommend it.

[Amanda Klitsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one I read as a middle schooler and continuously think back to. Great obscure young adult lit.

[Payton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this book was interesting but a little bit creepy. The things that Amandine does to Delia after Delia tries to unfriend her are crazy. I just couldn't believe the twist of the book.

[Mckenzie Newsom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insanely boring plot. Was difficult to make it through the whole book.

[Lisa Aboudan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this in my bookcase probably from a book sale.. It’s for 10-14 years old. I couldn’t put it down.

[lauryn :)]

This is the book I just tweeted about. I read this in middle school (I think). Apparently I liked it enough that I bought it on my Apple Books app!

[Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of Adele Griffin’s Tighter and so when I saw a title of hers on NetGalley I knew I had to snatch it up. Adele’s writing is very dark, tackling heavy issues always, but without exploiting them, or turning them into some freak show. This can be said about Amandine but I did feel like it was lacking in a few areas.

On the surface, Amandine is one hell of a story. Delia, a loner who has moved quite a few times in her childhood, further and further from New York City each time, is just starting high school when the book begins. She makes a friend in her first week, eccentric and strange Amandine, who wears a new costume every day – a lab coat, a flamenco dancer, an Old Hollywood starlet, you name it, she’s worn it. At first, Amandine is wonderful, a totally new and shiny experience for Delia. Amandine is charming, a ballet dancer, a lover of opera. She woos Delia’s parents easily. But under the surface, Delia can sense an darkness in Amandine that is only intensified the longer she is exposed to her. Soon after the two meet, Amandine builds a web of lies surrounding herself and finally the whole thing crescendos and explodes – and nearly everyone around the girls is hurt in the aftermath.

Delia was a very interesting character, even though I’m not her biggest fan. She stands out amongst today’s YA protagonists: she’s overweight, a real loner, with some dark secrets of her own. She is quite the unreliable narrator, and the entire time I wasn’t really sure if I could believe her or not. I’ll let you read the book yourselves and decide on your own.

Now, the real reason I rated this two stars is because I felt that it was underdeveloped. Amandine was really short – according to my Nook, it was only 95 pages, which means it’s probably somewhere around 200 pages in print. Because of how short it was I thought there was a lot lacking. I know I said Amandine was intense, but I never really felt it escalate and take over the entire book. The mood of the story was very bland and the narrative almost clinical.

I also felt that it was written a little young. There was so much potential in the story of a girl who was obviously troubled and surrounded herself in a cocoon of lies. There were small hints that the grotesque mind of Amandine, but not enough to really impact the reader. I felt that Griffin had a lot of room to really push the limits with this one, and let all the goriness and grit show.

So, in all, I was pretty disappointed with this one. The story itself is very Griffin – dark and gritty with an unreliable narrator and a very thin line between perception and reality. But the writing was lacking, and I felt that the story and the characters were tragically underdeveloped. If you’re looking for something along these lines, though, I would definitely recommend her newer works, Tighter and All You Never Wanted.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

My copy was provided to me by Netgalley.

Honestly, I didn't really like this book. Delia is a girl with no friends, no one she connects to. She's all alone in the world. Even her mother wishes she was someone else, someone who matters. But when Delia meets Amandine, she finds someone who cares. The problem is that Amandine cares too much. For once in her life, Delia has someone who cares what she thinks, someone who listens to her when she speaks. Amandine is the girl Delia has always wanted to be. And Amandine can be anyone she wants to be. She can be an actress, a singer, anyone.

But her imagination is too much. When Amandine's lies become too much, Delia's life falls apart and Delia must learn who her true friends are and what the consequences of a little white lie can be.

Amandine annoyed me. I hate how people who lie all the time turn on you and make it seem like you're the one who's been lying the whole time. It frustrates me to much!

Amandine had so many warning signs, but Delia still wanted to be her friend. Couldn't Delia see that Amandine's skits were her way of making new, elaborate lies? That Amandine's fantastical tales were just fantasy?

Even when Amandine's true self is shown, there was a part of Delia that wanted to be friends with Amandine still, a part of her that worshipped Amandine.

I didn't like the ending. It wrapped up too nicely and it made it seem like to fix your problems, instead of confronting them, you should just run away from them. I also didn't like how Amandine brought Delia's family into it and destroyed both Delia's and her parents' reputation.

This book was a quick, predictable read that does demonstrate the important lesson that lies just build up and up until they all explode, resulting in terrible consequences.

[Lisa Calvert]

in a sentence: Lonely Delia moves with her loving parents to a new town, again, and on her desperate search for a friend is picked up by the dramatic Amandine whose friendship goes from weird, to worse.

This novel is slathered with anxiety and the overwhelming feeling of discomfort through and through. Delia is awkward, overweight, and self-conscious. She is noticed by the overly confident, underweight, and bizarre Amandine. Perhaps it's her desperation to find a friend, or that Delia is just intrigued by Amandines 'stage presence' that she allows their friendship to continue despite red flags all over the place. The reader feels for Delia and her frustrations. She has great parents, they just lack a little in the compassion and understanding department. No matter how great her life may be at home, her relationship with Amandine is rocky and unhealthy, and a total thrill ride for her and for the reader.

I am still in awe of how Adele Griffin was able to completely capture the angst of Delia in a caring and real way. The young adult reader in me feels for Delia, while the adult reader feels bad for Delia. The line is thin, and is walked very well. Amandine's character is outrageous, but believable in context of a teenage girl with social issues. This was an incredibly quick read, and the fact that it's hard to put down makes it that much quicker. The young adult reader within me was completely absorbed in the subtle drama and tense emotions from all of the characters. The dialogue reflects the angst in Delia, and the reader is always guessing as to what is going to happen, when the turning point is, etc. The biggest shortcoming of this novel is that I feel it could potentially only reach out to young adult women will be unable to stand the test of time

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordinary, overweight and lonely Delia meets Amandine on the last day of her first week at her new high school. Amandine is an artist, actress and ballerina — She’s exciting, extraordinary and bold. She’s nothing like anyone in their small town. But this innocent-seeming girl is also dark, controlling and dangerous. And she tells lies. Terrified of loneliness, 14-year-old Delia clings to Amandine. Before she knows it, Amandine has sucked her into a toxic friendship.

Adele Griffin is most definitely a great storyteller. She’s captured the inner workings of the adolescent mind, as well as the ineffectual communication between Delia and her parents. I sympathized with Delia from the start. There’s many layers to her insecurities, her character and her good heart.

More than anything, I understand her loneliness. Better a less-than-friendly friend than no friends. I was like Delia, terrified of loneliness. And unfortunately, toxic friendships are very common among adolescent girls. In middle school, I myself might have befriended an Amandine or two of my own — though not quite this extreme.

Amandine was a nice read. The ending is a bit rushed — I feel like there could have been more exploration of Delia’s inner demons. Nonetheless, the novel ends on a positive note (though it’s too much “telling” rather than “showing” for my tastes) and I feel sure that Delia will be just fine. She will grow into her own person. She’ll brave the wobbly years of adolescence… After all, fourteen doesn’t last forever.

***ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review


Review originally appeared on my blog

[Sarah S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She had been making me uneasy all day. First showing up for school that morning in a full black-and-white striped skirt, large gold hoop earrings, and red lipstick. Then ignoring me. Yet I still thought Amandine had a strange radiance.”

Amandine by Adele Griffin is a dramatic realistic fiction about a teenage girl, Delia Blaine, and her new acquaintance Amandine, who’s hiding her true colors from Delia.

From the first moment they met, Delia Blaine was fascinated by Amandine. An artist, a dancer, and an actress, Amandine never fails to astonish Delia. With her skits and stories pulling Delia in and making the school day fun and unpredictable, Amandine gains control. As the games she plays and the lies she tell get more disturbing and harsh, Delia begins to fear Amandine. When Delia finally builds up the strength to break off the relationship, she realizes just how tightly Amandine has pulled her in, and how much it will cost her to get her freedom back.

This dramatic novel about friendship, revenge, and the darker side of human nature will leave you to think about life and some of the people you are around more closely. It takes you on a typical teenager’s rollercoaster of friendship, breaking it off, and dealing with the sweet sweet revenge. This book is definitely a must have and a great book for teenagers.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only good part of this book was that it was short and a quick read. I didn't like anything about this book. The characters were poorly developed and they felt like strangers to me. The plot just kept going around in circles and things were not explained until far along the road. For example Delia making up a brother, you realize in the last ten pages that prior to her birth Delia's mom was pregnant and miscarried and I feel that this is how the younger sibling dealt with the brother she never new. The main charcter is a bully who is mean to everyone and makes up these harsh lies and never suffers any consequences. There were so many topics that this book could have went to make it better for example a troubled teen, a teen friendship and how peer pressure relates to our choices and stealing to name a few. To me this felt like something someone wrote when they were bored to pass time. While reading this book you keep waiting for something to happen thinking it has to and just when you think you are at the plot climax nope nothing. I did like the ending though of how the other main charcter focuses on a talent that she does have and puts it to good use by helping others.

[Bella D · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book Amandine by Adele Griffen, a girl named Deliah is starting high school and wants to meet new friends but a girl named Amandine has her locked into her friendship so Deliah becomes friends with a girl named Mary who is also friends with Amandine. Deliah starts realizing that Amandine is a bad influence and has a wild, mean imagination. Everyday Amandine wants to do mean skits making fun of people with Deliah, but they start getting nasty and hurtful to people. After a long time being friends Amadine "adopts" Mary into their friendship. Amandine starts thinking that Mary is to "prissy" and wants her out of their friendship. To get her back for something she said to Amandine, Amandine wants to play some nasty joke on Mary. Amandine draws a picture of mary and titles it "The Ugliest Thing." In the picture she adds eyeballs that Amandine drew and signed, but just for fun not to hurt someone. When Mary gets the picture she "defriends" Amandine and Deliah. After talking it out Deliah and Mary make up. Amandine then becomes jealous of them and comes up with somethig to hurt Deliah and her family. She tells her mom that Deliah's father sexually harassed her. Deliah and her family end up moving back to Boston and Amandine is forgotten about.

[I'd So Rather Be Reading {Nat} · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a unique read. It really took me back to a terrifying time in my life: being a teenager and the constant fight for acceptance. When you're in that situation, you think that you're looking for acceptance from your peers. But what the fight is really about is self-acceptance. And the journey to self-acceptance is what Amandine was about for me.

Delia is enthralled with her new friend Amandine, who is totally different from anyone else and does things no one else would do. At first, they have a lot of fun together; but then, Amandine's games and lies become cruel. Delia has to decide what to do: stop being friends with Amandine and suffer the consequences, or continue the friendship at the cost of her morals and beliefs.

I've read Adele Griffin before, and enjoy her work. I like her writing style and characterization. I also like how her books have a subtle message. While I felt like Amandine was a little young for me, it was still a great read and I would definitely recommend it for the younger YA audience.