This was such a good, fun, and even at times, educational read. I loved Cassie Davis and her motley crew of frat brothers. The writing was superb, the plot was humorous (with a dash of romance), and I loved most of the characters. While I would say this book leans a little more towards mindless fun than deep and insightful, it has heavy themes of feminism that you learn right along with the characters.

Overall, I left this book feeling content, happy, and enjoyed every moment of it. Highly recommend.

It's a cute idea, but I had trouble getting into it. I'm not sure that living in a frat house is safe for anyone, let alone an undercover young woman.

Author: Kiley Roache

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 384

Release Date: March 27, 2018

2.8 out of 5 stars

*I received this as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*



Hello I’m back with another review!! I don’t know how I feel about this book, like I can’t describe the feeling I had while reading this. I was excited because the whole premise of this book was about feminism and empowering women, but also talking about important topics like how all genders should be on the same equal level. I just felt like at some points, this narrative was pushed SO much, I am an Inter-sectional feminist myself, and I felt like dialogue at some points was really pushing super hard to be relatable, which made it hard to be relatable to a character that I so desperately wanted to relate to.

I will say that a lot of things in this book are sooooooo accurate, like the depiction of frat boys is the most accurate thing I have ever read, I go to college and have attended frat parties and they are exactly as described physically and emotionally. I thought it was a stereotype in high school, but I for sure was proven wrong. Yes there are still good frats and I am not dissing them all!! I’m just saying that there are some shady ones.

I also felt like I needed a lot more backstory for the secondary characters like when the main character Cassandra moved into the frat house she immediately had like 2 really close friends and there was no backstory why. Same thing with her best friends from home, and with the one girl that she met at college, I felt like their stories are so rushed and not descriptive enough. I alsooooo felt that the whole relationship with the Cassandra and one of the frat boys that she fell for. It literally came out of nowhere and suddenly they were so in love and I was just like ???????

There’s a word for this, Instalove. It literally felt like they had no backstory at all and no connection so it was just kinda bland for me, like a cookie cutter relationship and I just felt so meh about the whole thing.

I will say that this book is incredibly addictive, I kept wanting to read more and more, and I finished it in like 2 days. I just kept inhaling the words and wanted to read more and more until I was finished. So I will say that it is super addictive to read, and I also love the cover, It’s very aesthetically pleasing to me to look at to be honest.

Overall I think that I’m going to read this book again after the release date to try and reread to see if I read things differently then I would like it more.

Congrats to the author!!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarlequinTEEN for the ARC! Cassie’s voice is compulsively readable and super relatable—and not just because she’s also from Indy. She gets that feminism is simple yet complex, and author Kiley Roache does a great job of untangling what can sometimes seem like an unending web of opinions. Bonus: there’s a line about the way anxiety and depression intermingle that might be the most spot-on thing I’ve ever read.

FRAT GIRL by Kiley Roache is a YA novel with an intriguing concept: Cassie cannot afford to attend college unless she receives a scholarship. To do so, she proposes living in a fraternity to document the misogynist behavior of its members. Overall, I liked the characters, but not the living situation. There was an element of danger and some fear that Cassie would be physically abused (beyond the pledging activities which were cruel), perhaps even raped. I also wonder about the rather stereotypical minor characters (like the detached professor and the sleazy scholarship coordinator). It seemed as though Cassie’s friends saw her more clearly that she saw herself; who would continue with this project if they truly were a feminist? Wasn’t there another tack she could take and still maintain her scholarship? My biggest concern, though, is that FRAT GIRL contained WAY too much emphasis on alcohol and sex. I recognize that these situations exist, as we know from news reports about Yale and Stanford (where author Roache attended). However, I would rather hand students Missoula or The Hunting Ground (which our Senior advisories just watched) in order to prompt a discussion on this important topic.

Additional info:
https://www.stanforddaily.com/2016/07/26/stanford-students-get-book-deals/

Cassie Davis never would’ve been able to afford college if she hadn’t been chosen for the prestigious Stevenson scholarship, which provides funding for groundbreaking research. Cassie’s project is on the problematic nature of fraternities and she plans to research it by going undercover as the first female pledge in Delta Tau Chi’s history. DTC is the most troublesome of all campus frats, having been in the news for their offensive and sexist practices, so this is sure to be some story.

Okay, so I have some mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved the writing. I found it easy to read, I thought it flowed really well, and I connected with the characters. On the flip side, the beginning feels more like a crash course on feminism than a YA contemporary about college life and while I didn’t necessarily have a problem with that, I can see it alienating some readers.

Anyway, I love that more YA is heading toward the college experience. I think it’s important to remember that 18-to-22-year-olds (college students) are still technically young adults and there’s a definite absence of literature that tackles their specific experience. Sure, there’s a lot of new adult set in college, but NA tends to focus more strongly on sex and relationship drama whereas YA is usually more focused on the big picture.

That said, I actually loved the little side romance. I thought it was adorable! It broke up what could have easily been a very heavy book about misogyny and sexism. I loved that Jordan was a frat boy who was also a legitimately good guy. I also really appreciated that a book that focuses on feminism included this little side romance because, for some reason, a lot of people are under the impression that feminism is inherently anti-male. Feminists are allowed to get crushes and flirt and have boyfriends, so thank you, Kiley Roache!

This book is a little long for contemporary YA (~450 pages) but I actually ended up wanting more! I would’ve loved to see more interaction with Cassie’s advisor since a lot of the time it seemed like this 18-year-old girl was just dumped in the wilderness of a fraternity and left to fend for herself. I also would’ve liked to see the Stevenson people play a bigger role since they really only seemed to pop up to create drama.

Another thing that I would have liked -- and other reviewers have brought this up as well -- is for Cassie to have tackled typical hazing practices on top of the sexism. Cassie is rightfully upset by the sexism inherent in Greek life and she does her part to call it out when she sees it, but she goes along with the hazing rituals of binge drinking and humiliation without batting an eye.

I’m almost done with this review, but I just wanted to mention the side characters for a second. I already mentioned that I really connected with Cassie and thought Jordan was adorable, but there are also other really great side characters! Duncan acted as Cassie’s unofficial older brother/bodyguard in the frat and he was such a great guy. Cassie’s best friend, Alex, was a great character even when her actions were so frustrating. And Peter, the president of the frat, actually ended up being one of my favorite characters. We only got to see little glimpses of him but I would love to read a whole book about him.

Overall, I thought that Frat Girl was a great debut -- and a great all-around book -- from an inspiring author who’s still in college! The book kept me on the edge of my seat as I wondered how and when Cassie would be found out. I both loved and hated this since it created drama and kept me interested but it stressed me out so much! Let’s just say that it didn’t go the way I thought it would and Roache kept me on my toes for the whole book. Highly recommended.

I have mixed feelings about Frat Girl. Roache's writing is refreshingly intelligent, and discusses divisive feminist and societal issues from several perspectives. The book is based on women's and gender studies notions, but sometimes strays. The books discusses hazing (as expected in a book about fraternities) but doesn't delve into the horror and ubiquity of them. This book is a great way to jump start important conversations about extremely timely issues.

Kind of disappointed in this book.

I was hoping for an interesting look at life in the frat house but that is not what this is.

The writing style is overly long, which means that getting to any type of event takes forever.

I just could not engage.