Brutes

Title: Brutes

Author: Dizz Tate

Publisher: Catapult

Release Date: 2.7.23

Publisher’s Summary 

The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project in this wildly original debut--a coming-of-age story about the crucible of girlhood, from a writer of rare and startling talent

We would not be born out of sweetness, we were born out of rage, we felt it in our bones.

In Falls Landing, Florida--a place built of theme parks, swampy lakes, and scorched bougainvillea flowers--something sinister lurks in the deep. A gang of thirteen-year-old girls obsessively orbit around the local preacher's daughter, Sammy. She is mesmerizing, older, and in love with Eddie. But suddenly, Sammy goes missing. Where is she? Watching from a distance, they edge ever closer to discovering a dark secret about their fame-hungry town and the cruel cost of a ticket out. What they see will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Through a darkly beautiful and brutally compelling lens, Dizz Tate captures the violence, horrors, and manic joys of girlhood. Brutes is a novel about the seemingly unbreakable bonds in the we of young friendship, and the moment it is broken forever.

My Review

If you've read any reviews of this one you know that it is a headscratcher. 

It's unsettling and experimental, so that is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I love when a book can do that. I really liked the focus on the girls' inner world because I love when teen girls are portrayed in ways I identify with. These girls are a bit feral, looking for some sort of excitement in their bleak world, and so interdependent that they are almost a single organism. This aspect of the book I absolutely loved, especially the section where they tell us why they are called brutes. However, there are several other storylines/themes that are added in but are so vague as to make me wonder if they should have been cut or expanded upon. The "missing girl" storyline is almost lost with at least 3 other main storylines (in addition to the constant details of the girls' daily lives) and I ended up wanting either more or less--but I don't know which.

I read this in a single evening and would only recommend it to someone who likes Megan Abbott, Sophie Macintosh, and Karen Russell-types of books.  

Have you read this? I'd love to discuss.