At the time I requested this book I was very interested in it. Obviously, it has been a few years since I requested this and I am no longer interested in it now. It doesn't match my current reading tastes and I apologize that I didn't read it and thank you for the kindness you showed offering it to me.

I didn't even try to finish this -- considering I got this before I really, truly read the synopsis and I don't know how I managed to drag myself into this mess. Too many red flags. There shouldn't be any kind of redemption for some of these characters/arcs.

This book was not what I expected. It felt really forced and a little too cliche for me. Don’t get me wrong, it had some really good points and some strong sections, but something was just off. There were definitely lessons learned by both Cassie and her Frat brothers which I appreciated. All in all not the best read, but also not the worst.

Was thoroughly disenchanted by this title, which read like a younger teen novel while dealing with much more mature issues. The main character's internal characterization and dialogue is too immature to sound convincing as a college freshmen, but it deals with themes that, in my humble opinion, make it beyond the age range it seems to be written for. Will wait on this one.

I received an advance ecopy of this title via NetGalley. My heartfelt thanks.


I admit I went into this book a bit wary. I thoroughly enjoyed my years of Greek life in college and am a big believer in "it's not four years - it's for life." And I've for sure seen a lot of books, movies, and TV shows degrade Greek life - and the true-life stories don't do anything but fan the flames.

But Ms. Roache, you surprised me, and pleasantly so.

What could have been either a one-sided crap-fest on Greek life or a never-ending feminist lecture instead blossomed into a beautiful tale of growth, change, and the magic of open minds. Cassie is a strong, smart heroine, but she is also beautifully flawed and weighed down by her own prejudices and beliefs.

The only small downside to this book was the excessive use of questions in the narrative. A writing teacher once told me "don't ask your readers questions unless you want them to stop reading to come up with an answer." I did have to remind myself that the questions were usually Cassie's thoughts and ruminations, but it did take conscious effort to keep reading.

If you're a re-reader like me, Cassie's questions will make for a very deep and thought-provoking second read. People in support of feminism as well as people in opposition of it often spend so much of their time yelling about why the other side is wrong that they fail to notice their own shortcomings. Frat Girl gives equal opportunity to both and shows the growth and growing empathy from both sides. Cassie has to come to terms with her own judgements a couple of times, and those moments are some of the purest and most believable moments.

Thank you Ms. Roache for making your readers think.

I wanted to like this book a lot, considering that I have a lot of background in higher ed and fraternity/sorority life. Couldn't get past the stereotypical partying and slang used to depict the culture and characters. Could be just me, but the story did have promise. Would read this author again.

Content warning for sexual assault and sexism. The book’s antagonist also uses a homophobic slur.

One of my favorite things about the college I got my B.A. from is that it has no Greek row or Greek housing. Another favorite thing: no community/hall bathrooms, every dorm suite has its own. Hurrah for colleges so modern that they’re literally a single year older than I am! It’s a small college with just under 15,000 enrolled students and very little crime, but of course things happened–like a frat brother being expelled from both his frat and the university when he raped two women and tried to rape a third.

What Frat Girl wants to do is bring some nuance to that idea of frats as groups rife with sexism, heavy drinking, sexual violence, and hazing. What it does instead is come off as unabashedly pro-frat, anti-sorority, ignorant, and protective of both abusive parents and out-of-control frat boys.

Cassandra Davis has the money to attend her dream college solely thanks to the tech billionaire-funded scholarship known as the Stevenson Award. In order to nail that scholarship, she proposed a two-pronged project: pledging a fraternity that’s on probation due to sexism in order to report “undercover” about how bad things are in a modern frat house and conducting a single-blind survey-type study of other students related to their experiences with fraternities and sexual assault. As an ardent feminist, Cass isn’t expecting to be surprised. And yeeeeeeet…

But right off the bat, I’ll let you know Cass is a white feminist and it’s not because she’s white. It’s because she’s exactly the narrow-minded, exclusionary feminist who makes the entire movement hostile to women of color (and to Black women in particular). When she’s not appropriating AAVE slang (which is never addressed), she’s sneering at sorority girls for being shallow dolls.

To be fair, Cass does get her rear handed to her over her internalized sexism, but things get cancelled out when Cass fails to learn anything from being schooled by the same women she’s mistreating. It takes Cass half the book to so much as consider that sorority girls are more layered than she thought, but she continues stereotyping them. About a hundred pages later, a Black sorority girl outright calls her a white feminist and reads Cass the well-deserved riot act!

And yet we don’t get to see any change in Cass’s behavior because that’s the last time she really interacts with any sorority girls. Why can’t Cass get as close with the members of Delta Tau Chi’s sorority matchup as she does with her frat brothers, learning about the two groups’ dependence on one another and the problems of the sorority system along the way? Cass’s own preconceived notions and her lacking friendships with other women leave Frat Girl feeling deeply lopsided.

Cass is downright unbelievable and inconsistent in her characterization. The one time sexual assault comes up in the novel, a participant in Cass’s study details how she was sexually assaulted at a frat party. Though it compromises the study and nearly screws everything over for her, Cass reveals herself to comfort the woman. Even after that one-scene character’s painful story, Cass never considers keeping an eye on the drinks or looking out for other girls during Delta Tau Chi’s parties. You wanna tell me someone like Cass wouldn’t think of that from the very beginning? Sure, whatever. I’ll call you what you are: a liar.

Her romance was fellow pledge and resident Ken doll Jordan Louis is cute for a while, but then he revealed he “can get down to some Ayn Rand” as a fan of challenging books and it all went wrong. Suddenly, he acquired Paul Ryan’s face and it refused to go away. Say no to fans of Ayn Rand books, y’all! It’s a red flag on someone’s character if they read her books and don’t object to the crock of crap she called “objectivism.”

And don’t get me started on the hot mess that is Cass’s undercover study! Where in the world was the IRB? At best, that study unintentionally highlights the need for scientists to be just as educated in the humanities as they are in the science of their choice so they better consider the feelings of their human subjects.

Cass also comes out alarmingly soft on the boys of Delta Tau Chi. She basks in their hypermasculinity when it suits her and after some initial objections to the rampant abuse of alcohol, she soon joins her brothers in laughing it off and getting drunk herself. A guy gets blackout drunk so often that half of a couch is soaked in pee? Ha, funny! But we do need to talk about the relationship between Greek life and alcohol abuse. Let’s start like this:

For God’s sake, more hazing incidents than not involve alcohol and it’s repeatedly gotten downright fatal! Florida State University flat-out suspended all Greek organizations after two frat brothers got arrested on drug charges and a third died with a blood alcohol level of .447! You get a DUI if driving at .08 and .30 is where it starts getting fatal. If you get to a .40+ BAC level and manage to not die of alcohol poisoning, you become a factoid someone can find when Googling “highest BAC level survived.”

Just to top things off, Cass’s dad expresses his dislike of her frat membership by saying she’s “living with a bunch of boys like a cheap hooker” after refusing to speak to her for days. When Cass is understandably infuriated at her verbally abusive father, he demands she get out of his house and she declares it’s the last time she’ll be home for break. Cass’s best friend Alex, who had been the Voice of Reason thus far as one of the only people aware of Cass’s project, tells Cass she–not the straightforwardly bigoted father–was wrong and shouldn’t say she’ll never be back because faaaaaaaaamily. She frames it as Cass thinking she’s too good for her own parents and humble beginnings when it’s very clearly about Cass not wanting someone who treats her like garbage in her life.

NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I do not accept apologia for abusive family members here. You are not required to keep a bad human being in your life just because that person is your parent or sibling. Just cut them out if that’s what you need to do for your own well-being. At the time I’m writing this, I’ve gone a month and a half without speaking to my brother and plan to continue that for the foreseeable future, including when I eventually move out. We live in the same house.

Don’t read Frat Girl. Especially don’t read Frat Girl if the Kavanaugh things have left you heinously furious. I am three kinds of exhausted after having to re-experience the book via my notes to get this review written. You can do so much better for yourself and read other college-set YA books like Gloria Chao’s American Panda instead.

When I first heard about Frat Girl, I was on the fence about whether I wanted to read it. When I saw the cover reveal, I settled more firmly on that fence (this color scheme, really?). When it went up on NetGalley, I had the feeling I probably shouldn’t request it, but I’m me so I went ahead and did so anyway. Frat Girl‘s a tough read at times, but it was a thought-provoking one, and I’m glad that I did give Roache’s debut a shot.


From the start, I knew I would be finishing Roache’s debut. The writing is solid, and I was drawn into Cassie Davis’ story and curious to see how it would play out. The first few chapters flew by and the last 150 or so pages flew by, but I did slow down in the middle. I’m not sure if there was an actual pacing issue or if the content was just too much for me to bear in large doses in the middle part of the book.

As you might expect from the concept, the content can be tough to take. I knew I was in for a rough ride when Cassie’s roommate told her that she couldn’t put a sign proclaiming herself a feminist on the door of their dorm room. It gets worse from there, obviously, with the hazing and constant -isms at the frat. All kinds of offensive things get said and done, but they are done to raise a point and a discussion. That said, this book absolutely will not be for everyone, and you need to decide if the slut-shaming, sexism, homophobia, rape, etc are things that you can handle/want to read about.

Cassie, as part of a research project that will pay her tuition to Warren, a fictional VERY GOOD school in California, rushes the most popular/most offensive frat on campus, the one currently on probation. She’s aiming to write an exposé of frat culture beyond what anyone has done before. The premise does have a couple of believability issues. For one, I found it pretty ridiculous that this college would have such a strong Greek system and so many conservatives, considering that it’s in California. Other aspects of the campus (the mixed-gender dorms and lit “frats”) seemed very liberal and forward-thinking; it reminded me, outside of the Greek stuff, of Oberlin, where part of the campus tour pointed out the two conservatives on campus. I didn’t mind too much, because I do think this stuff is real, but I don’t think the setting choice really worked for the concept.

Another issue is that the study itself doesn’t seem realistic. Not only that, the way that it plays out doesn’t remotely make sense. Cassie absolutely would not still have her scholarship, even if it did work the way that the book puts forward.

However, I do think the book does an interesting job of raising most of the issues with Greek life. Be warned though that it doesn’t actually come up with a solution or a real decision about the Greek system. It’s more a method of getting people thinking than an attempt to drive an opinion.

The frat Cassie joins reminded me heavily of a frat on my college campus, the Betas (Phi Beta Kappa, I think), which actually got shut down after my sophomore year for too many infractions and too low grades. When the frat closed, the Betas got moved into the dorms with the general population and hate crimes increased on campus. So, with that knowledge, I do have some agreement with the complexity of the situation: just disbanding frats won’t fix anything until we fix the culture.

There are some really charming moments of Cassie interacting with the guys in her frat, especially the scene where she teaches them about women’s bodies and sex and periods. Cassie’s arc is primarily realizing that she has judged frat guys as a whole (and to a much lesser degree sorority girls) unfairly, even though the horrible bullshit is absolutely real. I found that myself when I interacted with frat guys on my campus: individually, they could be really nice and funny, but in a group, they sucked.

The romance weighs things down, I think. The book really didn’t need a “forbidden romance” plot, and there’s not enough time spent on it to make it super shippy either, so it mostly feels like a distraction from the important stuff that’s being handled. I did like when they were messaging back and forth about Netflix over the break, but I’m just not sure if having it in here made much of a point. Ordinarily that might be fine, but this novel is so much about making a point and highlighting systemic problems.

Though I’d maybe have liked the book to take a bit more of a decisive stand, I do think that Frat Girl‘s an interesting and well-crafted read. It does achieve its goals; by the end, I wasn’t sure how I felt either, when I came in with a decided opinion. There are constant call-outs to all kind of shitty behavior, both by Cassie and done by Cassie, and it’s full of important ideas to consider. It’s a good read for teens and adults alike, as we consider how to deal with the toxic masculinity and all the -isms of American culture.

I was a little leery of reading Frat Girl at first. I was afraid it would come across as “preachy” or would totally exonerate the titular fraternity from all wrong doing because Cassie became one of them and was totally into the whole frat life.

This book ended up being really enjoyable and there were a number of moments when I laughed out loud. I felt that this book did an excellent job in exploring the misogynistic environments that fraternities can be as well as creating opportunities for the characters to grow, change, and learn from one another.

I enjoyed this one! I think getting to look into the events that happen in a fraternity as well as Cassandra's influence/views about the derogitory and mysoginistic viewpoints of men in these Frats but how they could eventually change into being better. Thanks for the opportunity!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

I love feminist lit, so when I heard about "Frat Girl" I immediately wanted to read it. A young woman going into a frat to report on sexist behaviour? Sign me up.

This book is such a captivating read. Because Cassandra joins the frat, we see her constantly exposed to sexism and misogyny not only from the frat brothers but also from women. To read about what she goes through fired me up, and also had me saying, ‘yes yes that is so accurate’. While this book is interested in talking about how frats often do no respect women and aren’t usually held accountable, the book is also interested in showing how some men are willing to change for the better. I liked that hopeful message. I think it’s important.

I also liked the romance and the female friendships Cassandra has (though they are not without their faults). Cassandra has her faults, as does every character in the book. They aren’t always likeable, but they are human and flawed.

What detracted from my enjoyment of the book is mainly that Cassandra claims to be a feminist and yet she often judges other women based upon sexism and stereotypes. I’m not quite sure if it truly fit with her character, since this didn’t become apparent until well into the book. Aside from that, the fact that she doesn’t realize she has internalized misogyny until someone tells her is fine if it weren’t for the fact that she doesn’t seem to soul search following this wake up call.

"Frat Girl" is an important book about sexism, accountability, feminism, and teaching men so that women are treated better (by teaching men to respect women, the anatomy of the female body, etc.).

An occasionally crass story that can also make you think. This raised some interesting questions about what feminism means in general and also in a college campus context. Every frat stereotype is played out in detail (drinking, drugs, demeaning language, hazing, sexual double standards, etc.) Early on, the abrasive main character sometimes made it difficult to push through and keep reading, but the secondary characters and the end of the story made me happy I pressed on.

Frat Girl tells the tale of Cassie - a feministed minded and intelligent young woman anxious to get out of her small-minded town. When a full ride scholarship to an esteemed California college presents itself due to a impassioned project proposal to pledge a campus fraternity and take on the boys’ club and their misogynistic behavior, Cassie finds herself on a journey that not only provides exit from her small town but also entry into a whole new world.

With a writing style that’s addictive, Frat Girl is a sure thing when it comes to enjoyable reads. The plot is multilayered and interesting with a main character who is well fleshed out and relatable. I loved the feminist ideologies and history weaved throughout the story as well as the fun “undercover” frat experience that consumed much of the plot. Although supporting characters like Duncan and Bambi are standouts, I found the character of Jordan and the romantic relationship somewhat stale. I wanted someone more complex for Cassie, someone with greater depth and less “golden god” typical. Overall, a solid read that is sure to engage equity minded YA readers.

This is the kind of book I’d recommend to feminists and non-feminists alike. A lot of it was heavy-handed in the messages and would have maybe made more sense in the journal entries instead of internal dialogue, but the content itself was good. (More on that later.)

I definitely figured that her study wasn’t going to be all black and white, and the really positive moments were so heartwarming. I loved the relationships that were developed between her and the guys, and one particular night where a few boys really stepped up to help. I didn’t do the Greek thing in college but this was a fairly accurate portrayal of a lot of the college experience in general; it felt real, which was refreshing.

Bambi, Duncan, and Jordan were so great. The characters made me laugh and smile so much more than expected for “just dumb frat boys” (what the MC seems to think heading into the book). I think I would have liked more depth to Cassie’s character (and even a few other side characters, including her family). She came across as very preachy at times and it was hard to connect with her. I liked how she started to learn from her mistakes, and tried to grow from her existing biases as well. Some people calling her out made her realize she was working from a very “white feminist” angle instead of thinking of the bigger picture (her mentor talks about this early in the book and I liked the points she made though). I feel like there are so many things to unpack and I wish I was back in my Women Studies class to keep going with it.

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I'm going to say with 100 percent certainty that I found this entertaining as hell. And such a fantastic change to have a story that matters take place in university instead of high school.

This was an interesting look into feminism, sexism, and the balance that needs to be found between the two in order for it to work. I did find this to be a little watered down in its delivery, but in the same breath it is *so* nice to read a feminism story that still gets the point of equality across without needing to burn bras and run around with hairy armpits. This could technically also be considered an educational book as it does explain fairly well many themes. Just so we're clear, I myself am a feminist, so most of this was already a refresher. But for someone new to the concept of equality, this is a decent starting point.

Cassandra Davis is a brave soul for doing what she did, even if it was based on lies and deceit. And while I did like Cassie, and approved of her end goal, I did take issue with her mindset at times. As I said, this is not a burn your bra and never shave feminism tale. That said, there were several instances where Cassie lost me in her ... preachiness. Being judgmental. Falling victim to that stereotype where you believe so strongly in what you're doing that your delivery makes people not take you seriously. So many of her internal thoughts seemed to copied and pasted from some feminist handbook from the 1970's. By her third reference of husband hunting and popping out kids, I was near being done with Cassie. However, I am pleased to say that another character sets her straight, and it really was a great turning point in the book. Just like feminism is about getting what men have in terms of work and pay and respect, if she wants to be a housewife and raise a family, then she can do that too. She is making a choice for herself based on what *she* wants, and that doesn't make her any less a woman *or* a feminist. Brava!

As I mentioned, this was entertaining as hell to read. The characters were great, especially the frat boys. You've got the stereotypical dicks, the jocks and prep boys, but weirdly each was refreshing. You wanted to strangle half of them and hug the rest. This mix of characters was really what made the story fun and drove the plot to where it needed to be. To be honest, I do wish there were some more female characters. Aside from Cassie, there was her best friend Alex, who kind of rubbed me wrong. Then there was Jacquie and an ex-roommate whose name I can't even remember, both of whom the author seemed to have forgotten about throughout most of the book until it was convenient. The dynamic between Cassie and her mid-western traditional family was good to see. It really provoked sympathy from me for Cassie and helped humanize her in the same way that the ex-roommate knocked her down a peg by saying husband hunting is what *I* want. My only complaint with this story is that at around 75% it became less a story of bringing down a frat, and more about 'they're not that bad, guys' and a forbidden romance—that admittedly was hella cute and so satisfying.

As a final remark, the American college scene confuses and fascinates and horrifies me. I don't understand the appeal and the lure around the whole system. The book opens with Cassie saying a $60,000 scholarship will cover a year of tuition. A *YEAR*? I went to both college and university in Vancouver for almost 6 years, and one year never cost more than six grand! True, I lived at home and commuted via bus, but good God! How is that the case at all? And the activities that come with Greek society. I have never understood it. The hazing, the abuse both physical and mental. Is the end result really worth it? Plus that stigma with having as much sex as you can in a week. The way it's portrayed here and in films and on TV, it's a miracle half of university students ever graduate at all. My university didn't have greek houses and no one suffered for it. Then there's the under-age drinking to the point where people black out. And how is it that more kids aren't busted for it? The legal drinking age in Canada is 19, so it's not a big deal at all and it's out of so many peoples systems by the time they get there. Sigh, end rant.

4/5

I was really excited to read this book because as a feminist, this book sounded like the perfect book for me! Sadly, this book missed the mark for me. I felt like this book was having an identity crisis of sorts. In the beginning, this book felt like it was trying to be a story about teaching men about the importance of equality. However, later in the book, it felt like it was just a rom-com about a girl who was cool enough to be a bro. I was hoping this was more of a feminist book with a side of romance, but it didn't quite accomplish that. The feminist in me was so disappointed.



One big issue I had with this book was the way feminism was presented. The main character, Cassie, made it a point to describe how much of a feminist she is. The first few chapters of this book really drove home the idea Cassie was a die-hard feminist. However, I felt like Cassie wasn't actually the feminist she claimed to be. Cassie belittled other women and judged them without knowing them! She constantly would tear other women just because they were in a sorority or dressed differently than she did. Cassie would call other women catty or judge them for what they were wearing. It really annoyed me to read about Cassie judging other women in the same way she criticized men for doing!!! IT DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE!!! FEMINISM ISN'T ABOUT DRAGGING OTHER WOMEN DOWN!!!



I will say that I appreciated that the author really pushed the idea that not all frat guys are bad! Throughout the story Cassie learned that not all men are sexist pigs, which was a nice lesson for Cassie to learn. It was also nice to see that Cassie did have a positive impact on some of the guys in the frat, as they did change their views on women. However, I still would have liked to see MORE of the frat guys change their minds and become more feminist. The idea of educating the frat guys about feminism and equality seemed to really fall on the back-burner early in the book, which was disappointing.

Another thing I had a hard time understanding was the acceptance of hazing. As someone who was in a sorority, it PAINED me to see hazing so normalized. I can't even fathom the idea of hazing! There was zero tolerance for hazing in the Greek life at my school, so it was hard for me to stomach all the hazing scenes. I know frat life is different, but I just didn't understand how Cassie was so accepting of the hazing? The number of hazing scenes in this book was EXCESSIVE and those moments were never really discussed in a negative way. I wish it would have been addressed how activities like forced drinking and holding someone under water is NEVER OKAY. Hazing was just brushed to the side throughout this book, and I wish Cassie would have tried to help end the hazing culture.

The characters in this book were all interesting characters. Each character felt like a very realistic portrayal of the different types of people in college. There were a lot of times when I got frustrated with the characters, but they were still all interesting overall. Also, the romance Cassie had in this story was super cute. I thought the author did a great job at developing a sweet and believable romance! I loved all the little romantic moments throughout this book!

Overall, this book just didn't do it for me. There were some positive moments in this story, but I just felt like there were too many things that didn't sit well with me that made this book less enjoyable.

2.5 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

I have really been enjoying all these YA-goes-to college books lately, and I was really curious to see what Roache had planned for us with Frat Girl. I will say, I was nervous when I first started reading this book, but then, I was pleasantly surprised by Roache's approach to many of the issues addressed in the story.

•Pro: What really won my heart were all the wonderfully drawn characters in this book. When I was first introduced to some of them, I thought they were going to be one dimensional stereotypical characters, but they weren't. In fact, many of them often surprised me, and Roache also allowed them to experience some growth over the course of the story.

•Pro: Speaking of characters that never stopped surprising me - Peter! He was definitely the best character in the book, and it was because he was so multifaceted and kept surprising me again and again.

•Pro: This story was really political, and again, I was worried, because it seemed to only be showing one side of every issue, but as I read further, that did change. I appreciated how Roache tried to show the issue from multiple points of view, and even acknowledged that there are grey areas, that good and bad can co-exist.

•Pro: This idea that grey areas exist and was acknowledged by Cassie was the real coming-of-age part of the story for me. That moving from seeing the world as purely black and white showed her growth.

•Con: As a sorority woman, I felt the depiction of sorority women was entirely movie/TV stereotypical. Maybe it's because I went to school in the northeast and not California, but my chapter had diversity, and I remember my pledge class being read the riot act, because our GPAs needed to be higher. I also got to spend 3 1/2 years with some of the most intelligent women, who were also campus leaders, and are now featured and honored as leaders in their fields. #IAmASororityWoman.

•Con: With that said, I wish there had been a look at greek organizations that did not ascribe to the Animal House mentality. Like with everything, there's a spectrum.

•Pro: Here it comes - I really enjoyed the romance in this book. It was sweet and honest and I could not have asked for a better romantic interest for Cassie.

•Pro: Roache did a great job with her treatment of the college setting in the book. Usually, we see mostly parties and classes are in the background, but she really brought us into that tricky balancing act that successful college students must master.

•Pro: This could serve as a jumping off point for some great discussions or inspire someone to learn more about some of the issues regarding different feminist movements and sexism. Though a little heavy handed at times, there are many ideas presented that made me think.

Overall: A fun look at college life, which also tackled some relevant issues.

For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist—the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.

With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.

But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank top wearing “bro” Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.

Ok so I was pretty excited. A feminist female lead infiltrating a sexist male frat house and spreading the good word of feminism is what every fellow feminist would absolutely love to read. It sounded ideal until our lead ends up being a sexist jerk herself.

I found it a bit wrong how she lumped all guys into the "men are awful category". Then when she gets to the frat she sees a picture of all of them and calls them "fuckbois" and states that picture is "lipstick on a pig". Her viewpoint on guys was absolutely disgusting at this point in the book. How are you going to be mad at a guy for saying awful things about females, then you go and do the same?

I feel like this book could have been better if the main character wasn't a stereotypical, bad feminist.

There's no denying that Frat Girl is an addictive read. A girl rushes a fraternity at an elite university in order to unearth their secrets? I couldn't hit "request" on NetGalley fast enough. As I predicted, Frat Girl left me reeling in many different ways, both positively and negatively, but I can't deny that Kiley Roache's writing style and ideas are right up my alley as a reader who puts the "adult" in "young adult."

First and foremost, I have to give this book major kudos for being set in college and COMMITTING to the setting. Often times college set YA books (of which there are few) often still have a high school vibe to them, but this really felt like a college setting- from the poor partying decisions and rowdy social life juxtaposed with though provoking academic conversations. It really captures that unique to college feeling of being simultaneously confident in your newfound adulthood and completely unsure of what to do with it. It was also set in the silicon valley (and very clearly based on Stanford University, where the author attends school) and I loved the Northern California setting.

Where I struggle with Frat Girl is my mixed feelings of the portrayal of Greek life in college and the role it plays. As a former Greek myself, I know that many of the stereotypes can both be true and untrue, and are really dictated by which university, house, chapter, etc. you encounter. In the novel, pretty much every house (both fraternity and sorority) is portrayed as a party house. While the protagonist eventually learns over the course of the novel that students who participate in Greek life are more complex and human than she thought, I disliked that there wasn't more discussion surrounding houses that weren't on the verge of probation. Sure, most schools have at least one party heavy organization, but many houses are known for being academically inclined, or athletic, or even gentlemen. Same with sororities- not all are the frat obsessed party girls that many in this novel were painted to be. Some variety would have been nice in the portrayal of what Greek life is. I was also surprised that the book normalized hazing and it was never really addressed as problematic. I'm not naive- I know it happens- but I also know some schools and chapters have very rigid anti-hazing policies and stick to them. I suppose at the end of the day while the extreme partying of the houses in the story served a purpose for the plot, I felt like it gave a very one dimensional portrayal of Greek life.

The problematic Greek life in the story was often counteracted by protagonist Cassie's interest in feminism and gender studies, and while it felt a little heavy handed at times, I liked the awareness it created and how there were times in the story where even the protagonist would be called out for her biases despite how pro-feminism she was, even to the point where the girls who were in the sororities she judged so harshly confronted her (she was saying a lot of judgemental, toxic stuff about many of the sorority women on campus for a self proclaimed feminist). There was a lot of debate among the characters about the impact that Cassie's project was making- was it a great step in exposing sexism, or was it silly and a waste of resources when there are much worse crimes against women being committed around the world than a fraternity being disrespectful? In true college fashion, it causes its readers to think critically and doesn't take a stance on this issue one way or another really, which is what a good academic discussion does- encourages free thought and open discussion.

Though the story focuses heavily on Cassie's undercover project in the fraternity house, it also has a romance element to the plot that I actually enjoyed. It's fun in that it's illicit, but it also just felt like a very sincere courtship for early college- you have so much more agency and autonomy and it's not all holding hands in the hallway and locker kisses, but it's also full of the uncertainties of navigating a relationship where you have so much more power and free will. I really enjoyed the whole courtship and could definitely see the love interest being someone I would have liked in college, and therefore could find myself easily rooting for the relationship. However, there were times where the characters would go off on these weird existential tangents about love (or anxiety or depression) that didn't felt like they fit with the tone of the rest of the book, which was a bit more lighthearted.

At the end of the day Frat Girl is a read that's always going to stand out in my mind because it's not afraid to push the limits in the YA genre, being a true portrayal of college in all aspects from the romance to the partying to the academic discussion. While I did have some problems with the Greek life element, I found it hard to put down, and a lot of the scenes were hilarious yet relevant (like when Cassie teaches a sex-ed class to the guys in her chapter and debunks a lot of boy myths about female anatomy). However I ultimately wish there had been more closure at the end of the book, or more of a resolution as a result of Cassie's project- I felt like the guys didn't really change and become more open-minded so much as they learned to accept Cassie as an individual.

Overall: Frat Girl is a truly authentic college-feeling YA novel, which I'm always thrilled to see more of. While I had mixed feelings on its portrayal of Greek life, I loved the feminist themes and academic discussions in the book. If you're looking to read more YA set in college and want something fast paced and interesting, Frat Girl is definitely a book for you- just make sure you still keep an open mind about Greek life after reading it.

Interesting story line and a quick, easy read. Definitely an interesting glimpse into fraternity life as compared with the role of feminism on college campuses today. That said, I thought the characters were kind of superficial and lacked read depth. The main character Cassie was one in particular that I am not a fan of. She is kind of conceited and arrogant and she treats her family badly. A typical teen I guess. Some humor and overall a decent book with a different kind of story that had a lot of potential for educating others about the Greek system. The characters and writing were a little lacking though.