Even the first person stories lack the chaotic urgency of a teenager relating something traumatic that happened to them. There is an omniscience and distance from the events themselves that feels more adult.
Many of the stories are told from – and feel like they’re told from – an adult perspective. In the end, this is probably a story collection best read with long breaks in between each story. And while no one story feels over the top, all together it kind of does. There is violence, sex, drug use, guns, death. These are young girls with a lot of life experience.
Which isn’t to say that they don’t ring true but by the time I got to the end of the collection, it felt like the intensity of the stories as a whole was a bit artificial. The stories are compelling and readable and not at all familiar with my experience of being a teenage girl. This collection of short stories focuses primarily on adolescent girls.
How to Breathe Underwater – Julie Orringer
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