Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Naked Girl has a compelling, heart-wrenching plot that allows readers to get inside the minds of two very abused, lost children who are doing their best to navigate the life they've been handed.
Prose: The author writes in beautiful, flowing prose that draws the reader in and keeps them engaged in the moments when the plot lags.
Originality: To be motherless children of a drug-selling, cult-leader father in the 1970s is a fascinating enough context, but the author's careful depiction of the complicated extended-family dynamic enhances the novel's world even more. The occasional reference to Great Expectations also adds a layer of interest, as well.
Character/Execution: The novel contains a tapestry of relatable, compelling characters, Nana in particular, which compels the reader forward. Tense and perspective shifts that occur later in the novel (as the siblings get older), while understandable from a narrative perspective, sometimes feel incongruous.
Blurb: Janna Brooke Wallack's Naked Girl, a Novel, tells the sweeping story of Sienna and Siddhartha, the youngest members of a highly-unconventional family helmed by the drug-dealing, cult-leader father.
Date Submitted: April 08, 2024
"Naked Girl by Janna Wallack is a tremendously funny book that I found myself crying into. Each chapter stands so much on its own that you forget you are reading an entire book. It is a lose-track-of-time fictional memoir, it is a sociological examination of the institution of family, it hangs equally on what works and what does not. It is a buddy movie. It is dangerous and it is fraught. Sienna (the protagonist) is written so purely you have to remind yourself you don't know her in real life. I would love to tell you what this book reminds me of but I can't because it is so singular. Writing comedic dialogue is as hard and fraught an exercise as an author can undertake, Wallack owns it. Mixing sarcasm and bone crushing love is perhaps even harder, Wallack makes it look easy. This is a treasure of a book that speaks to everyone, and should be taught in both lit and writing courses. Must read." - John Burton, host of Home From Here
"...Wallack cleverly walks a tightrope in her writing, balancing the horrors with a child’s unwavering imagination and naïve sense of wonder...a distinctive and emotionally rich voice delivering succinct observations...An endearing and fascinating perspective on a uniquely volatile and dangerous childhood." --Kirkus Reviews
"A lyrical and unflinching dive into a radical childhood, Naked Girl by Janna Brooke Wallack is an emotive novel about the meaning of home…Wallack’s prose is alive with the open-eyed curiosity of youth…this revelatory novel is a poignant exploration of the stress and liberation of growing older in a world that never seems to grow up." –Self Publishing Review
"We're calling it. THIS is the book of the summer. A chaotic coming-of-age story with characters you won't be able to stop thinking about. A novel to sink your teeth into. Brava!" --Valley Girls Podcast NY/ Literary Hudson Valley
