Very well written, this book felt in many places like a memoir rather than a fictional account. It's a coming of age story with a twist: although told in the first person and the present tense, the narrator's voice is obviously a bit older and wiser than the main character, viewing her own struggles and triumphs with an eye that is sometimes sardonic and sometimes wistful.

This is a great book. I thought it was well-written, and I was truly engaged in the life of the main character. I honestly couldn't put this book down and finished it in a few days. I could relate to all the emotions the character went through--in my past and present. I really loved this book!

I really enjoyed this and felt I could relate to the main character, Lee, on many levels. She's an unusually introverted, sensitive character; that's how she chooses to be. She isn't the butt of school pranks or even a victim of "mean girl" teasing, so don't even think that's what this book is about. Rather, this is just the collective views and thoughts of a midwestern girl trying to graduate from a WASPy New England prep school. Her narration and observations into her rich classmates are spot-on, from the casual way in which they pay $3000 for laundry service to the flowery bedspreads that cover the rich girl's beds. The whole rich vs. poor theme really didn't seem offensive, nor was it overly played. The part that struck me was the reaction of Lee's father, and the way his teasing became increasingly cruel and hurtful.
The end of the book, where there is conflict with Lee giving a scandalous "tell-all" interview to a NYT reporter seemed overly done and out of place. Aside from the ending, the book is quite entertaining.

I had a really hard time finishing this one. The main character was full of teenage angst, but it was more unsettling than it should have been. She was so uncomfortable in her skin that it bothered me. Yes, every one feels that way from time to time, but for 4 years? That was a bit much. If there had been some clues as to WHY she was so filled with angst and unhappy with herself it might have helped. But as it stands, I didn't get any reason for her behaviour and so I didn't understand or care for her in the end.

This was such a great read. I went to a boarding school for high school myself, and it was jaw-dropping at times how Curtis Sittenfield knew the dynamics of teenagers going to school and living in dorms. Loved it!

Having gone to a boarding school myself for high school, I tend to be drawn to stories with characters that share that in common with me. I really enjoyed this book, as I felt it captured the atmosphere of life in a boarding school very well. It was spot on for a fictional story - I almost felt like I was reading a memoir.

Reviewed by Amanda Dissinger for TeensReadToo.com

Walking through the typical young adult section of a bookstore, there are usually five, maybe even ten, books about a teenage girl, perhaps from a small town, who transfers from that wee little town to a prep school.

Typically, this prep school is in Connecticut, or Massachusetts. Typically, the girl starts out struggling, tries to fit in with the popular crowd, misses her hometown, faces many moral problems, and meets a handsome, promising young prep school boy who shows her the ways of love. Seeing the plot of Curtis Sittenfeld's PREP for the first time, a normal reader would write it off as being another cliché prep school book.

There's where they'd be wrong.

PREP is a searing, creative look at the life of one small-town girl, Lee Fiora, who comes from her home in South Bend, Indiana, to Ault, a prep school in Massachusetts. Exposed to many new kinds of ideas and people, Lee stands on the thin line between misery and naivety as she explores all that her new life has to offer.

Sittenfeld writes about teen angst in a way that doesn't try to make it seem petty or unimportant; she embraces it, and fully understands it. This is what sets the book apart from many other titles. Wallowing in loneliness and heartbreak, the reader feels as if Lee is actually a part of them, and that they are experiencing all of the awkward and horrible events that are occurring in the story.

Lee acts as an opposite-gender Holden Caulfield, the main male character in J.D. Salinger's classic novel THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. She takes everything with a grain of salt and a little bit of dry humor while making wise observations well beyond her years. PREP is bound to become a classic, for its brutally honest interpretation of a time that plagues all of us: high school.

I did not care for this book. I didn't like the syle of writing or all of the talk about sex in prep/boarding schools.

I am a gal in my late 30's so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading about the prep school life of teenager. Very enjoyable read - great for the beach or beside the pool!

Slightly overdone, but still an enjoyable story about a girl in a New
England prep school.

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Gossip Girl in prep school. Very entertaining.

The young adults' book "Prep", a novel by Curtis Sittenfeld, has a slow-moving plot and the ending is not that great, but it is an enjoyable book to relax and read and not really have to think about it.

LOVED it! ! !

This book was fantastic and is now on my all-time favorite book list! For years, Catcher In The Rye was my favorite book, and now Sittenfeld has successfully created a modern day female version of Holden Caulfield in her main character Lee Fiora. I think all readers can identify in some way to Lee as she feels her way through the awkwardness of high school and the struggle of whether to conform or remain true to one's unique self. This is a must read!

Fun book to read ~ nothing like I expected so I was pleasantly surprised. A quick read~

Intellectual and painfully truthful recollection of adolescence with wry wit, and very well-written. 9/10.

This book took me forever to get through. It just never captured my attention.

Great book, quick read.

Prep conveys the inner world of an entirely typical teenage girl with remarkable warmth. One of the most tender and accurate portraits of adolescence in recent memory.

Good read.

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