I read this a loooooong time ago, but I always recommend it bc it’s not usually a book people have heard of. They know it was a movie and they know the movie wasn’t great. The actors were phenomenal but you just can’t tell this story in a 2-hour-ish movie. There are far too many details and storylines that can’t be left out.
I think the book is incredible. The characters are so raw and unfiltered. The story is heartbreaking but very strong. I fell in love with Astrid who had to grow up way too soon. And I love how it all comes full circle in the end.
For anyone who has read it, would you agree? Or am I alone on this one?
by Seriously-417
28 Comments
I loved the book. I think I’m one of the few that enjoyed that movie. I thought the lead in it would be in more films afterwards but she disappeared. Have you read Eleanor and Park? It’s not as dark as white oleander but i just read it last week and reminded me of it a bit.
oh wow, this brings back memories of raiding my mother’s bookshelf. i would read her books constantly. it was white oleander, girl interrupted, and flowers in the attic on repeat.
Loved it. Read it multiple times.
So good!
one of my comfort books! I love it. have maybe read it 10
times over 10 years
I LOVE this book!!!! I reread it every year. Wasn’t a big fan of Fitch’s other work though. :/
I loved it so much when I read it about 10 years ago. Been thinking about picking it up again.
I love this book! It’s one of few that doesn’t get rotated into store. Paint It Black, by the same author, is amazing as well.
It’s a great book and the movie was awful. Read Paint it Black by the same author. It’s pretty good too.
It’s been many years, but I remember enjoying both the book and the film.
Love this book. It’s one that really sucked me into the story. I also liked the movie but I agree it wasn’t as good as the book.
It’s been years since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it. There was some fantastic imagery. I didn’t know there was a movie though. I’ll have to check it out.
I recently reread it and I love how it’s written. I think the movie was okay, but it was really well cast.
Thanks for reminding me of this book! It has been long on my TBR from back when I had a hand written list and still lived in Los Angeles and then fell off when I moved to Goodreads or maybe Seattle. As soon as I saw the title here I added it back on for when I’m in the mood for something like this.
I mean, I read it at an absurdly young age (which is an absurdly long time ago 🥲) but I remember loving it.
Omg this is one of my all time favorite books. I had to annotate the crap out of it for an AP class & I fell in love with her writing.
Omg yes. Paint it black was also incredible
Oh man, I stole this one from my mother’s shelf and devoured it. It was the black hardcover edition. Read it countless times. It influenced me as a writer so much 🥹 I should reread soon.
i’ve reread this book so many times!
sometimes i’d gravitate to a certain section, depending on what was going on in my life
i last read it after moving to the hollywood hills and finding it in a lending library down the street. it was fun to reread it after having a better understanding of LA geography
when i think of books with beautiful similes, this one is always top of mind
I think I gave this one 4 stars, I found it to be very well written but at the same time verging on trauma porn – I could believe that any one of these terrible things could happen to someone (and probably has), but for all of them to happen to the same person in the course of a couple of years felt a bit like the author was pushing their luck.
“Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow.” This quote has lived on in my mind forever since I read the book. An absolutely phenomenal read.
White oleander is my all time favorite book! We had to read it in school (i was doing like an art high school kind of thing so i think our teacher just thought we would like it) and i read it again every other year or so.
I was obsessed with this book when I read it as a young 20-something. I haven’t thought of it in years and am now wondering if I’ll still like it. I felt equally obsessed with The Secret History at that time. So good.
Antiheroines on YouTube has a great analysis of the movie
sapphics getting summoned
Love love love this book. Will always love this book. I’ve read it 3 times now and who knows how many more I will. This one hits you right in the heart, especially if you have mommy issues.
Read it forever ago. It was ok. It felt like something that was intended for the cool girls with, like, super dark lives full of sexual tragedy. I couldn’t relate.
The one line that stuck was me was the one about despair not being a welcome guest, that you shouldn’t invite despair in and put on its favorite music.
I watched the movie as a teenager and was hooked so I read the book first in German and then, after my English improved, I read it in English. I love it to this very day.