De Gramont seems to have mastered the art of using few words to say a great deal. Her economy with language and the beauty of her writing were, at least for me, the best parts of this book.

Set in swanky boarding schools in the 1980s and populated with spoiled rich kids who do a lot of coke, have a lot of sex, and engage in generally scandalous behavior, Gossip of the Starlings feels like Bret Easton Ellis meets Gossip Girl. The characters are dramatic and worldly and convinced that, at the ripe old age of seventeen, they have seen and done it all; the title refers to Shel Silverstein’s poem “Forgotten Language,” implying a loss of innocence and childish wonder. De Gramont describes Catherine and Skye and their friends with such spot-on details that, by the end of the book, you feel like you would recognize them if you passed them on the street.

The desperate, tenuous, angsty nature of the girls’ relationships with each other, their boyfriends, and families felt familiar and easy to relate to and made the characters seem less untouchable than their upper class boarding school status might imply. When it comes to adolescent experiences and teenage relationships, De Gramont nails it.

Read my full Book Club Breakdown at The Book Lady's Blog. ( )

A refreshing, updated (though set in the 1980s) look at rich girls at a boarding school. The themes are kind of tired but Ms. de Gramont's writing brings them back to life -- Language is poetic but not overly dense. I was transported back to 16 years old while reading due to Gramont's excellent job of reminding us what teen feels like: friendships that are dearer than family ties, sense of self that is entangled in others, and above all that desperate need to fulfill one's desires, whatever they may be, and whomever must be hurt in the process. Written for adults, but a teen would like it - mature themes (coke, sex, etc.) ( )

This is a book that I got from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I didn't really enjoy this book. I found that I really just couldn't get into it and then eventually I put aside and never bothered to finish it. ( )

Didn't always relate to the sophistication of Catherine's self-analysis, I certainly wasn't that intuitive at her age, but really liked the writing and most of the time, the plot. Would definitely recommend it. ( )

Catherine Morrow, a student at Esther Percy School for Girls, a boarding school in Vermont, is befriended by Skye Butterfield, the beautiful daughter of a Massachusetts senator. Catherine’s closest friends, Suzannah and John Paul, feel crowded out by Skye’s presence. This situation is menacingly aggravated by this group of friends’ pranks and drug use.

At first, I felt that I couldn’t relate to the story. After all, it was a story about wealthy, risk-taking, drug-abusing high school students. The story from the outset seemed unsettling. It was the author’s beautiful and intelligent prose, however, which engaged me. I realized that there was more to this story than my first impression. Having been drawn in especially by its psychology, the story presented a picture of something ominous. Throughout reading the entire book, that feeling remained. Moving through the story, I began to see a deeper layer of narration. I was taken in by a story of teenagers’ travails – dealing with parents, accepting authority, setting priorities, learning about friendship, and developing one’s own moral place in the world. These are all universal themes to which anyone can relate.

As I allowed myself to accept the characters as they were, I was rewarded with the feeling that I really knew them despite their shortcomings. This made the story much richer for me and engaged me emotionally to the end.

I definitely like the author’s writing style and would recommend this book to others. I think this story would be especially interesting to people who’ve already enjoyed such books as John Green’s Looking for Alaska or Curtis Settenfield’s Prep. ( )