Boring Girls

February 16, 2015
“But the girls are friends. And they killed him for a good reason,” 12-year old Rachel says as she looks at Artemesia Gentileschi’s famous and gory painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes—a hint early on that Taylor’s debut novel isn’t going to be your average girl’s coming-of-age story. A bright, artistic teen who doesn’t fit in with the other kids at her school, Rachel finds an escape from the bullying she is suffering at the hands of one of the popular girls when she discovers metal music. Drawn to music that expresses her rage, she finds her way into a scene where she feels like she can fit in, and she finds a friend, Fern. Together, Rachel and Fern start a metal band of their own, Colostomy Hag. But just as their band begins to find some success, the girls are violently attacked by the men in a band they had admired and had gone to meet backstage. Their plan to get revenge sets them on a course that descends further into violence. Anything but boring, Taylor has created a gripping psychological portrait and riveting tale of female friendship and the power of music.

March 15, 2015
In high school, Rachel feels like a misfituntil she finds heavy metal and Fern. Bonding instantly over their taste in music, the girls form a band, Colostomy Hag, with Rachel as singer and lyricist, Fern on guitar, Edgar on bass, and Socks as drummer. From the start, they're up against the male-dominated, misogynistic metal culture, making them all the more determined to prove themselves. Rachel's outrageous behavior at early shows (punching one aggressive man in the audience, vomiting on another) earns plaudits, and the group's skills improve. But what occurs when Rachel and Fern meet members of DED, the band they most admire, changes their lives and incites their desire for revenge. First-novelist Taylor, singer and lyricist (as Chibi) for the band the Birthday Massacre, clearly knows the milieu she portrays. But although narrator Rachel describes herself as a serial and/or mass murderer in the opening pages, this narrativegraphically stomach-turning as it is at timesis less about trauma turning violent and more about the metal scene in general. The appeal here is the frame; this one is for metal fans, who typically have strong stomachs (they eat lizards, don't they?).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)