Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
Descriptions
The fact that Ivy wasn't conventionally beautiful made it worse. Power you get from being beautiful is cheap. But Ivy's appeal just came from the her of her. p19
"Being in love is a painful nightmare," he'd told me once. p31
She's been the only one of her siblings to visit regularly. I knew she resented it, but she also seemed to secretly like it, too, because it confirmed her belief about how selfish they were. My mother likes to be right, even about bad things. Maybe about bad things especially. p43-44
It felt like he was playing the role of boyfriend on a TV show. Xavier remembered how to do all the things he was supposed to do, but he wasn't sure how to feel. p120
All Xavier could think was that, yes, he is incredibly handsome and good-looking and seemingly full of energy and love for life, but he was missing something, some spark. His view of the world was exactly what deodorant ads and car-insurance commercials said it should be. He thought all the normal things and no weird ones, which didn't seem right for Sasha. p124
It had been hot all day, the air thick and heavy and still, like the whole world existed inside somebody's mouth. p131
The faraway monster always looks different than the monster in front of you, in your arms, in your heart. When someone you cherish does something incomprehensible, you will find reasons to decide they are the exception. You will cling to the details, tell yourself, but this is different. But it never is. p234
Micro-aggression
"You girls sure do have fun" is what Marc had said once. Girls, both of us. [regarding Sasha and her mom. Marc is mom's boyfriend.] p43
The stuff Ivy had said about her had kind of sparked something-- that was the problem with words, even if you didn't mean them, once they were out there they did things. They did things, just floating around in the air like that. p120
Discrimination
"About how she's a total jerk?" Big Mike said. He turned to me. "My sister said that insults shouldn't be related to gender. So that's why I didn't call her a bitch." p71
Signs of abuse/ relationship problems
Sasha chapter from p 79-83
And Xavier reminded himself that there were many things about Ivy that he really did adore, and if he didn't feel connected to her every second of every day, that was fine, wasn't it? p122
p124-127 scene in an Xavier chapter
Creative Writing
I would definitely discuss how Weingarten uses the italicized chapters to distract and mislead about who the narrator is in these places. Such an interesting move. Also, the choices of all of the ALL CAPS words throughout. They also feel very Poe-like to me. Like when he has narrators who try to prove to us how not crazy they are, but only serve to show us how very crazy they actually are.
Also, the decision to make Sasha's chapters first person point of view and Xavier's 3rd is very interesting and worthy of discussion.
Interesting Lines
I am just a realistic person who is not too scared to admit that that is what all of life is: a bunch of activities we do in a row to pass the time until there is no more time for us to pass. p105
She said to me you do not need to feel sad to be depressed. p106
The fact that Ivy wasn't conventionally beautiful made it worse. Power you get from being beautiful is cheap. But Ivy's appeal just came from the her of her. p19
"Being in love is a painful nightmare," he'd told me once. p31
She's been the only one of her siblings to visit regularly. I knew she resented it, but she also seemed to secretly like it, too, because it confirmed her belief about how selfish they were. My mother likes to be right, even about bad things. Maybe about bad things especially. p43-44
It felt like he was playing the role of boyfriend on a TV show. Xavier remembered how to do all the things he was supposed to do, but he wasn't sure how to feel. p120
All Xavier could think was that, yes, he is incredibly handsome and good-looking and seemingly full of energy and love for life, but he was missing something, some spark. His view of the world was exactly what deodorant ads and car-insurance commercials said it should be. He thought all the normal things and no weird ones, which didn't seem right for Sasha. p124
It had been hot all day, the air thick and heavy and still, like the whole world existed inside somebody's mouth. p131
The faraway monster always looks different than the monster in front of you, in your arms, in your heart. When someone you cherish does something incomprehensible, you will find reasons to decide they are the exception. You will cling to the details, tell yourself, but this is different. But it never is. p234
Micro-aggression
"You girls sure do have fun" is what Marc had said once. Girls, both of us. [regarding Sasha and her mom. Marc is mom's boyfriend.] p43
The stuff Ivy had said about her had kind of sparked something-- that was the problem with words, even if you didn't mean them, once they were out there they did things. They did things, just floating around in the air like that. p120
Discrimination
"About how she's a total jerk?" Big Mike said. He turned to me. "My sister said that insults shouldn't be related to gender. So that's why I didn't call her a bitch." p71
Signs of abuse/ relationship problems
Sasha chapter from p 79-83
And Xavier reminded himself that there were many things about Ivy that he really did adore, and if he didn't feel connected to her every second of every day, that was fine, wasn't it? p122
p124-127 scene in an Xavier chapter
Creative Writing
I would definitely discuss how Weingarten uses the italicized chapters to distract and mislead about who the narrator is in these places. Such an interesting move. Also, the choices of all of the ALL CAPS words throughout. They also feel very Poe-like to me. Like when he has narrators who try to prove to us how not crazy they are, but only serve to show us how very crazy they actually are.
Also, the decision to make Sasha's chapters first person point of view and Xavier's 3rd is very interesting and worthy of discussion.
Interesting Lines
I am just a realistic person who is not too scared to admit that that is what all of life is: a bunch of activities we do in a row to pass the time until there is no more time for us to pass. p105
She said to me you do not need to feel sad to be depressed. p106
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