The Bitch Posse: A Novel

oh my gosh, but this book was raw and intense! this book just left me shaking my head for hours on end after i had finished it. it is the tale of three troubled girls with a horrible incident in their past. however, the bitch posse is a book that is not for everyone. you can see here, the book was responded to quite positively by some, and others simply despised it. so what i would say to someone considering purchasing or borrowing this book, is this: 1) if you are looking for a raw, emotional book that explores deep and disturbing issues of addiction, self injury, sexual deviation and violence (some of us do like this sort of thing... call me twisted if you like) then try this one out. 2) if you are upset by this type of material, or find it unrealistic (maybe you grew up in june cleaver's home), then please don't read it. it will just frustrate you. give it to your little sister who's in recovery or something. this is one of those books you either get it or you don't. if you like: stephen elliott, joyce carole oates, craig clevenger or mary gaitskill--- you may like this one. if you like: danielle steele, nora roberts, long boring so called 'literary' books that don't go anywhere--maybe you won't like this one so much. that's my advice! personally i really liked it and so did my two best friends from high school! (we were kind of a bitch posse ourselves. but then, none of us were ever pom-pom girls, student council reps, or sports figures! we were your typical miscast misfits. so sue us!)

My sister sent me this book as a gift, telling me that I would love it. We're usually on the same page, so I gave it a shot. The intensity of this book is amazing! I couldn't put the book down, I HAD to know what happened. I identified with one of the characters in particular and stopped reading several times, thinking, "How did Martha O'Connor KNOW that???" She really has a good grip on women, the issues they face growing up and as adults and the reality of life. I highly recommend this book.

I just loved this book. It managed to be a page-turner, while still being a wonderful character study of some very troubled people. It's about three girls who are very dysfunctional in high school and get mixed up in a dark and violent event. Some reviewers complained about the book being dark. The darkness of the book is what makes it work, in my opinion. And call me crazy, but I could definitely see a gleam of hope at the end. Yes, there are young girls like these characters (I teach some of them) and it would behoove all of us adults with whom they're in contact to read a book like this. Another book that might be on the same topic is PREP, but to me this book moved much more quickly. It also could lend itself to some really fascinating discussions about the ethics of friendship. In all honesty, I couldn't assign this in my class due to the subject matter (I know my students would love it though), but I think it is a great book for adults and teens to read together, so the heavier and more disturbing topics can be discussed. In closing, this was one of my favorite books of the summer along with EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, THE WHORES ON THE HILL, and THE KITE RUNNER.

I bought this book today at about 3:30 in the afternoon. It's now 2:15 AM and I just finished it. I have not gone through a book like that in ages. This book is just... Incredible. It's intense. It goes to a place that few authors allow themselves to go. It's not flowery or pretty or fairy-tale-like. It's real and it's gritty and it's brought back so man feelings and memories that I was moved to to tears. For anyone who's ever felt like they were less than perfect in any way this is an absolute must read. I am truly thankful to Martha O'Connor for writing this amazing novel and I hope that she will continue to come out with literature that can touch people and rock them down to their cores like The Bitch Posse can.