It All Boils Down to a Name: Siobhan Vivian’s The List

Well, there’s definitely no way for someone to say that this book ended happily.

Siobhan Vivian’s The List paints a . . . sad? Realistic? Overly negative? Though provoking? (fill in the blank?) way of looking at the gender standards in high school. And any which way you choose to answer that prompt, the answer lands you somewhere in a not-so-pretty place, at least as far as realistic YA Lit goes.

The List begins with just that: a list. It’s a story told by 8 girls in a high school who are selected as the prettiest and ugliest by grade, spanning the first week of school leading up to the homecoming dance. It is apparently an annual tradition at the school, and those indoctrinated in the history of the school’s social scene know to expect it and do. Even in just hearing the synopsis, one has to expect some of the reactions: obviously anyone named ugliest isn’t going to be happy about it, and anyone named prettiest is going to be really, really happy–indeed, their primary concern is likely to try not to come off as smug. However, what we also see in this book is social stratification within a relatively small school–a school in which people generally know each other, where reputations can spread far and wide because there’ s not too far and not too wide to spread. Interestingly, we also see the diverse ways in which people can respond to such a list, and how that can serve to either solidify their place in it or else cast it (well, or them, depending) in an exceedingly doubtful light altogether.

What I Liked About It:
1. Yeah. People are mean. Anyone saying that a list like this couldn’t actually exist, well, I assume you’ve been out of high school for a long time.

2. The girls all have very different personalities and very different takes on the situation. But here’s what I really liked: none of them are flat. There’s no one bad or good person; all of them are treated as complex individuals and, while I’ve read a few critiques that have suggested that there was just too much happening in the book with so many different narrators, I kind of disagree. I actually think it gave the author room for a lot of different perspectives and a lot of different chances to demonstrate the emotional strain that the list causes, for those on and off it.

3. There are morals involved here without being preachy.

4. The girls aren’t all brainiacs or airheads–there’s a diversification to the list in terms of personality and interests that makes for a more interesting read.

5. The book is super engaging. I was enjoying listening to this on Audible, and found myself walking a little further for a little longer, simply because I wanted to listen to more!

What I Didn’t Like:

1. There’s virtually no diversity to the girls themselves, period. They all seem to be white, some variation of middle class, and all typically heterosexually American. To that end, it does nothing to address greater social issues that would have made for an intriguing layer of meaning to this.

2. The parental and authoritative responses to the list are unrealistic, period. Understanding that political climate is changing in secondary education, it seems that a principal–especially a younger female one–would have taken a far more proactive stance about the list. And though the list is posted everywhere, all over the building, the first day of class, apparently none–exactly not a single one–of the teachers cares? Addresses it? Has issues with it? Does anything about it?

3. The girls are all different, but they do have a habit of being represented as somewhat one-note, even as a static one-note. Which is disappointing, and probably could have been mitigated if a layer of diversity had been added to the girls.

4. The guys are completely unscathed. NO list, NO repercussions for the list, NO repercussions for taking advantage of those on the list, NO problems with girls for their actions in relation to the list. Just . . . nothing. They get away with acting basically however they please and face no consequences.

5. The representations of parents are weird. They represent a variety of parenting styles, but we only catch glimpses of them, with no greater meaning really attached to them and rarely substantial influence by them on the lives of the girls.

6. Quite the twist at the end, even though I was somewhat confused by the responses of the characters involved in it.

Overall:

I really actually enjoyed listening to this book, and it’s only now as I distill my thoughts on it that I realize that there are aspects that I’m not a fan of. However, I think it makes for an interesting read and brings up a social double standard that’s pretty interesting.

This book’s been around for a while, though I just got around to it this week. Anyone out there read and have any thoughts?