April 19, 2021
Ackerman (The Perpetual Motion Machine) follows the travails of a group of five high school freshman girls named Brittany in this heartfelt if flat story. The two closest Brittanys, Brittany Jensen and the narrator, are tumbling through adolescence—dyeing their hair for Halloween, wearing Victoria’s Secret push-up bras, carrying trendy Coach purses—but as the narrator explores her developing sexuality, Brittany Jensen accuses her of being boy crazy. Now without her best friend, the narrator dips into the dating pool, seeing one boy who neglects to say he has a girlfriend and another too timid to kiss her. When Brittany’s birthday comes around and none of the other Brittanys participate in the celebration, the narrator begins to wonder if losing one’s childhood friends is an inevitable part of growing up. Unfortunately, only the two main Brittanys receive more than surface-level treatment, and sections told from a later-in-life perspective add little to the story. Though the skimpy plot reads as true to life and the elements of nostalgia are spot-on, the narrative fails to get off the ground. Fans of coming-of-age novels will have seen better.