The List

By: Siobhan Vivian

Narrated by: Allison McLemore

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction - and the price that's paid for them. It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

©2012 Siobhan Vivian (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Engaging and Entertaining

I loved The List – a story of eight teenage girls, four named the prettiest in their school and four named the ugliest who have to come to terms with both how they see themselves and how others see them.

The List manages to follow not one but EIGHT different characters all with more depth, poignancy and intricacy then most YA books with a single bland heroine manage.

Every girl has her own unique story and every one somehow manages to get their due in what is a pretty succinct book.

The outcast who wears the UGLY label as a badge of honour for all the wrong reasons.

The popular girl whose attempts to overcome an eating disorder are put into jeopardy when the PRETTY label validates her negative behaviour.

The beautiful cheerleader labelled UGLY, not for what is on her outside but on her inside.

The quiet home-schooled girl suddenly in the spotlight now that she is PRETTY.

I’m amazed she managed to fit so many well-done stories into a single narrative!

I would have liked a little more wrap-up and I’ve have happily read even more from the girls but it was a rare satisfying stand-alone read!

I think this is would be a stellar teenage read but I’ve seen some parents complain about the sex, alcohol and language in other reviews. I personally think it was all handled incredibly well – not preachy, nor exploitive just eerily relatable. Maybe a little too accurate for some?

Still I think the messages of empowerment and acceptance makes The List more than worth a read for teen girls. Older reads though, can definitely enjoy the incredibly well drawn characters too so I highly recommend the list to everyone!

Ending sucks..

The book was good.. but the ending why would anyone end a book like that.. but over all not bad..

pretty good

I FELT this book. It's a very real book on how high school is. The end could have been better. It was too abrupt and didn't really feel like an ending. It isn't entirely unique, though some aspects of it are. There are parts that are almost too similar to the movie "Mean Girls" though.

A nice way to pass some time

Overall the book was enjoyable with well developed characters but the ending was abrupt, confusing and disappointing.

"the list" the new form of cyber bullying?

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

So first of all, the ending (if you could even call it that) was horrible. The last sentence in the book is "It was made of plastic" There was no conclusion to any of the girls stories.

Abby: Abby's story was alright. Pretty girl with an ugly, smart sister. Her story is the only one that had an ending.

Danielle: Danielle's story was okay. I like that she had good friends who didn't let the list cloud their opinion of her. I hated Alex, he had no backbone. Danielle is better off w/o him.

Lauren: I thought Lauren's story was refreshing. I like that she was beautiful but also sweet and caring. I think her mom needed to chill out a bit. She treated Lauren like her BFF and became jealous when Lauren made friends her own age. At the end of the book, Lauren's friends do not like her anymore bc she has "too much" school spirit. Then Lauren gets drunk and misses the dance. We don't know if she is okay, if her mother realizes she snuck out, or if she is really pulling Lauren out of school. NOTHING!

Candace: Candace's story was okay. She was a mean girl who was taught the ultimate lesson, BUT did she learn it? Maybe, we see Candace being "nice" to Lauren when she is drunk. But things go back to normal w her and her friends the minute her friends brush Lauren off. We get no real conclusion here

Bridget: I liked her and Lisa's relationship, although the fight between them remained unresolved. Her eating disorder was a serious issue, but I felt it was lightly touched on. No one noticed or thought it was a problem except Lisa.

Sarah: I thought Sarah was gross, and unnecessarily mean to Milo. The author did a poor job explaining why Sarah was mad at Milo after they had sex. I get she felt intimidated by Annie (especially bc her and Milo remained close), but she should of dealt with her feelings about being called ugly instead of lashing out at her only friend/bf.

Margo: Margo's story was okay, until we find out her secret. She ditched her ugly friend Jennifer before starting HS. She became popular, which is what she wanted. She was named prettiest freshman. She had it all. I think her character had the most growth.

Jennifer: I felt sorry for Jennifer at the beginning. Being called ugly is hurtful, but being called ugly 4 years in a row is cruel. However, at the end we find out that Jennifer made this years list and put herself on the ugly list. What? Seriously? I'm glad that she didn't win homecoming queen. She deserved what she got, in my opinion.

I think the 8 POV was too much of a feat for this book. It needed to be a longer book or a series. We didn't get answers or any resolution

Popularity is just on the surface

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed how "the list" is viewed by girls from both sides of its pages. You get a view beyond their looks and outer appearance, into what makes them who they are, where they come from and where they are most likely going to end up after High school. I did not want the story to end. I really want to know what is going to happen to the girls, as if they were real life people.

Which character – as performed by Allison McLemore – was your favorite?

I enjoyed each of the characters in the book, in their own way, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if their voices were more differentiated.

Good story weird ending.

The narration was good and I enjoyed the story, although it seemed a little overdone at points. The end though... it was so abrupt that I thought for a second that my phone died. It felt like it ended in the middle is a sentence. There was no closure at all.

different

I ended up enjoying this book and wanting a little bit more.
I read another review saying this book was interesting because of the various views it gave into the lives of 8 girls and how the list affected each and every one of them in a different way, and that was exactly what happened.
This book depicts a reality, but instead of a list, there are fashion magazines, television shows and general propaganda that tell what is beautiful and what it's not and that ends up affecting women, and men, into believing that there's a standard that they have to reach in order to feel better about themselves, so they can fit into society and that is wrong, because beauty is not something you can standardize.

Cute and relatable!

The story was cute but seemed like the ending was rushed. I'd've liked to hear more about what happened after homecoming. Sequel maybe?

Enjoyable Read

It was a little challenging at first to remember all the characters. I copied the list and that helped me keep everyone straight. It was a good read, but I felt the end was kinda...meh.