About the Book
-
Author:
- Adrienne Kisner
- Genre:
- Contemporary
Cover Story: Don’t Call Us Cute
BFF Charm: Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor
Talky Talk: Damn the Man
Bonus Factors: LGBTQ+, Mock Trial, Knitting
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: I’ll Be an Alternate
Cover Story: Don’t Call Us Cute
These are some seriously badass looking ladies, and I love the diversity among them. However, I need a key as to who’s who, if they’re supposed to match the characters in the book. I spent more than a few moments while reading trying to match them to descriptions in the book.
The Deal:
Raina Petree’s boyfriend has just broken up with her, and she’s struggling to keep it together, especially in drama class. Her whole life since middle school has revolved around acting, but she’s not so sure if that’s because she wanted to do it or because her ex told her she should.
Emilia “Millie” Goodwin’s excited for what her senior year in Mock Trial will bring with it—hopefully a win at nationals—but her all-male teammates are less so. When she’s voted out of the club, she feels like the floor’s fallen out from under her.
A chance encounter in the school bathroom sees the two girls forming an all-female Mock Trial team and helping each other out of their respective dump slumps.
BFF Charm: Mixed Bag
Although Raina’s and Mille’s are the only POVs we read, we get to know the rest of the young women on their Mock Trial team as well as some additional peripheral characters. They’re delightfully different and unique, and together they create an awesome group of young women who are as flawed as they are perfect—such wonderful depictions of high schoolers, some of whom I would have absolutely been friends with in high school. (Others, not so much, but that’s to be expected when you have such a variety of people!)
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Two of the girls on the trial team take a shine to each other, but it takes a backseat to the main plot. There is a super adorable date scene, however, that put hearts in my eyes.
Talky Talk: Damn the Man
Although a high school Mock Trial team might not seem like the most likely place to take a feminist stand, Six Angry Girls makes it clear that there is no wrong place (or time) to stand up to the patriarchy. The book isn’t super heavy, but feminist stories don’t always need to be; Kisner’s prose is lighthearted but has a lot of heart. Her characters are nuanced and real, and the various plot points that early on seem disparate all work together to come to a satisfying conclusion. And—I’ve mentioned this above—the girls are absolutely people you’d want to hang out with, even now as an adult! They’re the kind of young women who will do great things and make waves in the world. It’s so exciting to think that real young women like the characters will read this and feel empowered to do the same.
Bonus Factor: LGTBQ+ Representation
There’s a lot of really great queer representation in Six Angry Girls. There are lesbian, bisexual (I think), transgender and asexual characters, and there might be more that I missed or wasn’t front and center to the story. It’s a great melting pot of sexual identity that, thankfully, never feels forced.
Bonus Factor: Mock Trial
My creative outlets in high school were limited to show choir and a couple of drama performances when my drama friends needed bodies, but I love the idea of Mock Trial. And all of the girls in this book are so good at it. I might not have been on the team, especially because I was never good at speech/debate and my fear of public speaking was even worse back then, but I 100% would have been their biggest fan. (Can Mock Trial have fans? Doesn’t matter—I would have done it anyway.)
Bonus Factor: Knitting
I’m not a knitter—my brain only seems to be able to hold the ability to do one fiber art well, and that’s crocheting—but I think it’s a highly skilled art form. And certainly theraputic, which is the main reason Raina gets involved with it in the first place. But it turns delightfully subversive, and is a great means to an end!
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Millie’s dad isn’t physically harmful, but I wanted to punch him multiple times throughout the book. He treated Millie more like a servant than a daughter and was unbelievably ignorant of his shitty behavior. Thankfully, Millie realized this and (eventually) did something about it. (Kind of a spoiler, but if it helps the flames on the side of someone’s face lessen earlier than the ones on mine did, I’m OK with that.)
Relationship Status: I’ll Be an Alternate
I know you’ve got a full team already, Book, but I’d love to be an alternate just to be able to hang out again on the reg. Or a research gopher. Or a water girl. Do they have those for Mock Trial? (I said I know nothing about it!) Doesn’t matter! I’m there, whatever the need might be.
Literary Matchmaking
David Levithan’s Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is another novel about drama (queens) and breakups.
Lauren Morrill’s The Trouble With Destiny features the same kind of passion for extracurriculars.
The main character of Jamie Pacton’s The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly has equal passion about her after-school job (jousting) that’s overrun with dudes.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Feiwel & Friends, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Six Angry Girls is available now.
