All That Was

Gr 10 Up—Sloane and Piper have always been Sloane-and-Piper: they dress alike and they do everything together, and they always have. Now that they are 17, something is changing. Piper touches her tongue to her lip and flirts with strange men while Sloane continues to stay true to their shared oath: The No-Boyfriend Rule. Piper hooks up with Soup, a boy that Sloane has had a crush on since fourth grade. Piper becomes a woman and cuts off her hair and now it's Sloane's turn, but Sloane isn't ready. Facing increasing pressure from her best and only friend, Sloane hooks up with a guy that Piper introduces her to and has to face the consequences of her actions. How can Sloane still be Sloane-and-Piper when Piper has turned into Piper-and-Soup? How can Sloane live with herself when she still has a crush on Soup? How can Sloane and Soup go on after Piper is killed and her body washes up on the shore? In this long, meandering, and often confusing novel, three teens suffer through the pains of growing up and finding themselves. The central relationship in the novel, Piper and Sloane's, feels toxic, codependent, and self-destructive. Sloane's internal dialogue is rambling, exhausting, and puerile. In the few short chapters told from Soup's point of view, it is difficult to distinguish his voice from Sloane's. The final result is a pseudo-literary novel replete with straw feminism, glorified mental disorders, and privileged teen characters who will push readers away rather than draw them in.