Book Review :: Laurinda, by Alice Pung
Laurinda by Alice Pung ISBN: 1863956921
Published by Black Inc. Books
on November 2014
Pages: 352
Goodreads
Laurinda is an exclusive school for girls. At its hidden centre of power is The Cabinet, a triangle of girls who wield power over their classmates – and some of their teachers.
Entering this world of wealth and secrets is Lucy Lam, a scholarship girl with sharp eyes and a shaky sense of self. As she watches The Cabinet in action, and is courted by them – as she learns about power and repression – Lucy finds herself in a battle for her identity and integrity.
Last updated on 6 April 2022
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What is Laurinda about?
Laurinda tells the story of Lucy as she moves to a different school, winning a scholarship to do so. Laurinda is poncey and flash and has a clear hierarchy. It’s everything her previous school isn’t.
Lucy manages to get herself into some powerful situations that would never have happened back in her old school. Laurinda is about being a teenager, about finding out who you are and learning to accept that. It’s about family and working hard, and friendship, real and fake.
My thoughts Laurinda
This book was a little bit average for me. Told in first person, in almost letter-form format, with Lucy talking about the events and her life to someone, I wasn’t really surprised to find out just who ‘you’ was in the story.
I was okay with Lucy as a main character, as she was just a teenager trying to find her way. It didn’t grip me though. I didn’t care too much about the characters, and it really could have been any story, about any teenager, in any city. There was nothing that really jumped out at me and made me think about it after I had finished it. In fact, I had completely forgotten that I had read this until I saw it on my Goodreads 2015 reading challenge list and realised I hadn’t written a review yet.
Ah well. If you’re after a short, no-brainer, no-thinking book about teens in high school, give it a go. Don’t ever let someone else’s meh opinion of a book get you down. If it sounds like your kind of thing, fantastic! Let me know why you liked it!
Have you already read Laurinda? What did you think?
Anjali Kay
Anjali Kay is an Aotearoa New Zealand-based blogger and book lover sharing travel inspiration, bookish posts, the occasional creative project, and a lot of practical blogging tips here at This Splendid Shambles. Based in Auckland, she's been writing book reviews and travel posts, sharing creative projects and blogging tips since she started her first blog in 2009. When she's not working on her own blog, Anjali also offers blog coaching and support for bloggers who want real guidance from someone who's actually done the work, and is a few chapters ahead of them.
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