Status
Available
Publication
New York : Random House, 2016.
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML:An unforgettable cast of characters is unleashed into a realm known for its crueltyâ??the American high schoolâ??in this captivating debut novel. The wealthy enclaves north of San Francisco are not the paradise they appear to be, and nobody knows this better than the students of a local high school. Despite being raised with all the opportunities money can buy, these vulnerable kids are navigating a treacherous adolescence in which every action, every rumor, every feeling, is potentially postable, shareable, viral. Lindsey Lee Johnsonâ??s kaleidoscopic narrative exposes at every turn the real human beings beneath the high school stereotypes. Abigail Cress is ticking off the boxes toward the Ivy League when she makes the first impulsive decision of her life: entering into an inappropriate relationship with a teacher. Dave Chu, who knows himself at heart to be a typical B student, takes desperate measures to live up to his parentsâ?? crushing expectations. Emma Fleed, a gifted dancer, balances rigorous rehearsals with wild weekends. Damon Flintov returns from a stint at rehab looking to prove that heâ??s not an irredeemable screwup. And Calista Broderick, once part of the popular crowd, chooses, for reasons of her own, to become a hippie outcast. Into this complicated web, an idealistic young English teacher arrives from a poorer, scruffier part of California. Molly Nicoll strives to connect with her studentsâ??without understanding the middle school tragedy that played out online and has continued to reverberate in different ways for all of them. Written with the rare talent capable of turning teenage drama into urgent, adult fiction, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual, but rich with sorrow, passion, and humanity. Praise for The Most Dangerous Place on Earth â??Alarming, compelling . . . Hereâ??s high school life in all its madness.â?â??The New York Times â??Unputdownable.â?â??Elle â??Impossibly funny and achingly sad . . . [Lindsey Lee] Johnson cracks open adolescent angst with adult sensibility and sensitivity.â?â??San Francisco Chronicle â??[A] piercing debut . . . Johnson proves herself a master of the coming-of-age story.â?â??The Boston Globe â??Entrancing . . . Johnsonâ??s novel possesses a propulsive quality. . . . Hard to put down.â?â??Chicago Tribune â??Readers may find themselves so swept up in this enthralling novel that they finish it in… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member flourgirl49
Drinking, drugs, sex, cyber bullying - it's just a typical day at a high school in Mill Valley, CA, which mostly entitled kids attend. I'm glad I grew up during much simpler times, where the most egregious examples of bad behavior were smoking (cigarettes!) on school grounds or a girl becoming
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pregnant. Besides telling the stories of several of these snotty kids, there is also an extremely naive teacher who starts out with starry eyes and ends up chastised and disillusioned. It's a scary world out there - I wonder how these kids will survive and succeed in life with a beginning like this. Show Less
LibraryThing member karmabodhi
After reading this novel, I feel like it's been a century since the 5th grade, (which was when I started reading YA books, and I quickly moved on to adult books after that - there was not much offered at that time for young adults). I was shocked by the subject matter (these are still children that
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are reading this), didn't understand most of the slang (although I've always been out of the loop on that one), and just plain bewildered by this novel that showcases little tiny cutouts of each teenager's life as if that were deep enough to encapsulate and explain each one's state of being and beliefs, feelings, etc. I did, in fact, enjoy the novel, it was just so shocking that this was a teenager's book it took me by surprise. I liked how the tiny cutouts showed each character a little deeper under the surface (the "important" ones anyway) and from that I could somewhat extrapolate who they were and why they acted how they did. I think Ms. Johnson could have delved much deeper into each character though; I found myself wanted to know more about each character after each tiny cutout of their lives. Therefore, since I was left wanting to know more, I consider the book a success but not extraordinary, and certainly better than the crap I found as a child in the YA section. Show Less
LibraryThing member pennyvert
If this is what teenagers are about today, I am glad my children are grown.I am sure this is a heartfelt attempt to profile young people and all the challenges they face. The setting is Mill Valley, Ca, an extremely affluent area. Unfortunately, parents make brief appearances, indicating their
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total ignorance or inability to provide any guidance to their children. These kids make their own way through middle and high school basically relying on their own resources. There is tragedy, bullying, sex, drugs and all of that. I think if teenagers actually read books they may get something out of this one. I visited Mill Valley in my teens many years ago. It is a beautiful area but I was saddened by this story. I choose to have more hope for the future than this offers. Show Less
LibraryThing member AngelaFries
The concept of this book was great. Who doesn't love a book about all the dramas of high school, especially after you've left that little piece of hell. However, there were just so many point of views that the book was written from that it actually became rather confusing to figure out. Overall it
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was a good book, just poorly written Show Less
LibraryThing member teachlz
First of all I would like to thank First to Read and the publisher for the ARC of "The Most Dangerous Place on Earth" by Lindsey Lee Johnson. I enjoyed this complex and conflicting novel and would highly recommend it. Lindsey Lee Johnson writes a novel dealing with a cast of characters in an
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affluent community in a high school setting. This brings many memories of my high school experience, the social and academic pressures, great memories, and sad ones. Lindsey Lee Johnson starts weaving her tale in eighth grade, where we meet a group of young students, that have been growing up together and formed friendships. In my opinion we see the start of bullying, dysfunctional friendships, peer pressures, and lack of maturity.As the students adapt to high school, we now add the internet, social networking, cell phones, and various media. Bullying is now more serious via the modern internet, and the recording of students events at its worst plays out.Drugs, paying for higher test scores, alcohol, lack of respect and motivation is evident, as is the issue of entitlement. The teachers in this setting deal with their own insecurities, and flaws. The parents are depicted as not involved or too involved in their children's progress. Often there seem to be no boundaries set either in the high school or at home. There are some tragic events. In the search for self worth , there is much pain.In my opinion some characters show more growth and are aware of consequences. The author has me questioning and re-thinking many of our modern day problems. (less) Show Less
LibraryThing member TaraCucc
An interesting and fast read. This book brought back memories of how horrible middle school and high school could be at times. The parts about bullying were hard to read because of my own experiences growing up. There were many separate stories in this book, each a glimpse into a student or
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teacher's life. Sometimes the book was hard to follow because of the many different narratives and many of the characters were just not likable and annoying. I found that I really didn't care what happened to most of them. Show Less
LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
Set in a privileged California high school, this book revolves around a horrific bullying incident that took place in 8th grade that had repercussions for years to come. We jump to the junior and senior years of a number of students at this school and see what happens to these students as they
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become adults. The link in all of this is a high school English teacher who starts her career full of idealism, wanting to help and make a difference, but instead becomes just another English teacher. It was a fascinating look at life through the eyes of some fairly typical teenagers. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jen_Bartels
This book was very different than what I was expecting. It was very heavy and very dark, which I knew might be the case, but I had no idea just how much. The Most Dangerous Place from the title references high school. We know kids are cruel, adolescence is hard and grown ups just don't understand.
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What we don't know is just how true all of those things are. We have a student bullied to his breaking point, we have a student/teacher affair, we have a party gone terribly out of control, we have a teacher that means well but is unclear about boundaries. With all of that said, I now it sounds like I didn't enjoy it, but that's not true, I really did like this book. Due to it's heavy nature and my wanting to bury my head in the sand, it took me a long time to read it. The writing was terrific, the plot points were spot on and flowed nicely into each other. I just had such a hard time returning to these kids and their lives and their attitudes and their drama because it was so heavy and sometimes just evil. I do recommend this book, especially to teachers and to parents that are having troubles "getting" their teens, it may shed some light? Show Less
LibraryThing member colleentw
This book focuses in on a group of kids in eighth grade and then skips forward to junior and senior years of high school. The kids are wealthy and spoiled, and their parents are mostly absent as the book is primarily a story told in relation to school. A tragedy happens in eighth grade as a result
The book is very much told from the perspective of this group of kids, as the narrative circulates among them to tell their part of the story. It is very effective as I cared for each kid, despite the fact that he or she engaged in not just destructive behavior but bad and mean behavior. Mean girls are such a cliché that there is a movie by the same name, but this book has boys behaving just as badly. The behavior of some teachers was awful too. I thought the book gave an honest portrayal of the indecision and uncertainty underlying the actions of all of the characters. People did things that they knew were not right, but did them anyway. While the kids seem to act without a conscience, there is a self-awareness that seems to be struggling to come through by senior year.
I enjoyed this book very much and read it quickly as I was rooting for a happy ending for everyone. Well that didnât happen, but it is a triumph for the author to make me hope for a happy ending for kids that donât necessarily deserve one.
I purchased this book.
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of something that one of the students puts into motion. She feels guilty about it, and the effect of that action plays in her background throughout the book. However, the other kids involved seemed to have brushed the whole incident off. By the time these kids are juniors in high school every one of them is a mess.The book is very much told from the perspective of this group of kids, as the narrative circulates among them to tell their part of the story. It is very effective as I cared for each kid, despite the fact that he or she engaged in not just destructive behavior but bad and mean behavior. Mean girls are such a cliché that there is a movie by the same name, but this book has boys behaving just as badly. The behavior of some teachers was awful too. I thought the book gave an honest portrayal of the indecision and uncertainty underlying the actions of all of the characters. People did things that they knew were not right, but did them anyway. While the kids seem to act without a conscience, there is a self-awareness that seems to be struggling to come through by senior year.
I enjoyed this book very much and read it quickly as I was rooting for a happy ending for everyone. Well that didnât happen, but it is a triumph for the author to make me hope for a happy ending for kids that donât necessarily deserve one.
I purchased this book.
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LibraryThing member chrisblocker
There is some really vivid and powerful writing on display in Lindsey Lee Johnson's The Most Dangerous Place on Earth. Passages unfold with layers of beautifully constructed sentences that left me in awe. The opening chapter that is the impetus for the entire story that followsâwow. Tristan
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is an unsettling tale. It rotates through the lives of half-a-dozen over-privileged high school students (and one somewhat out-of-place teacher), each with a unique take on life. In this way, it has a sort of Breakfast Club feel to it. Set in the modern age of cyber-bullying, it carries a much darker tone than such a description implies. Although the students' individual stories gel into one cohesive novel, they could easily stand alone.
Overall, I really liked the writing and the storyline, but I did struggle a bit with some of the characters and their actions. The most glaring example occurs during one of those âonly in the moviesâ parties where everyone's drinking, making out, dancing on tables. The problem is, everyone is at this party. Everyone. Outside of small town America, I can't imagine this happening in the real world. Not every kid in high school is going to want to go to such a party and they're certainly not going to be invited or allowed in the door. So why was Dave there? Or Cally? Or Cally's friends? There were moments like this that distracted me, but when I was able to ignore the absurdity of such moments, I was pulled right back into the story.
In some ways, it seemed Johnson was horribly out of touch with the complete high school experience. And yet, in others, she seemed to understand it better than any of us ever could. She really gets into the minds of these adolescent characters. If she fails sometimes with the social constructs, she makes up for it in her understanding of the psychology. It is for these moments that The Most Dangerous Place on Earth elicits the highest praise.
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Bloch's journey will stay with me for some time.The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is an unsettling tale. It rotates through the lives of half-a-dozen over-privileged high school students (and one somewhat out-of-place teacher), each with a unique take on life. In this way, it has a sort of Breakfast Club feel to it. Set in the modern age of cyber-bullying, it carries a much darker tone than such a description implies. Although the students' individual stories gel into one cohesive novel, they could easily stand alone.
Overall, I really liked the writing and the storyline, but I did struggle a bit with some of the characters and their actions. The most glaring example occurs during one of those âonly in the moviesâ parties where everyone's drinking, making out, dancing on tables. The problem is, everyone is at this party. Everyone. Outside of small town America, I can't imagine this happening in the real world. Not every kid in high school is going to want to go to such a party and they're certainly not going to be invited or allowed in the door. So why was Dave there? Or Cally? Or Cally's friends? There were moments like this that distracted me, but when I was able to ignore the absurdity of such moments, I was pulled right back into the story.
In some ways, it seemed Johnson was horribly out of touch with the complete high school experience. And yet, in others, she seemed to understand it better than any of us ever could. She really gets into the minds of these adolescent characters. If she fails sometimes with the social constructs, she makes up for it in her understanding of the psychology. It is for these moments that The Most Dangerous Place on Earth elicits the highest praise.
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LibraryThing member musichick52
I read this novel in one slurp. For an irrational reason, I had thought that school kids in California were somehow different from my roots on the east coast. Apparently, not so, although these young people are certainly privileged, compared to my experience, the same emotions and actions are on
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display. Casual sex and drinking and drugs are regular parts of their days, as is goofing off in class, ignoring homework assignments, the pressure from helicopter parents, the dreaded cell phonathon, and suicidal thoughts. Ms. Johnson uses phrases that I don't recognize as teen talk, so I must have crossed the line into old age. Social media is not their friend and the teacher that does care, is instructed not to do so. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy. Show Less
LibraryThing member VioletBramble
This story follows eight students from an affluent California community. In 8th grade seven of these students cyber-bullied another classmate, Tristan Bloch. Tristan had sent a love letter to Calista Broderick and it was posted to Facebook by another student. One day instead of going to school
Johnson does a great job of giving each character a different voice. She writes really well and I found this a quick read. I pretty much hated all the kids except Tristan and Elizabeth. The rest were all selfish entitled jackasses. Oh, and I'm so happy I didn't go to school in the time of social media and cyber-bullying. What a nightmare.
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Tristan committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The story then jumps ahead to 11th grade. Each of the eight students gets a POV chapter that describes them and their life now. Calista is the only one whose life was changed by Tristan's suicide. The eighth student, Elizabeth, didn't bully Tristan. She is incredibly shy and has no friends. Everyone thinks she is stuck up. She only seems to exist in the story to 1) be the only nice person, and 2) be tricked into giving a party that the entire school attends, bringing all the characters together in one place for one more tragic event. Johnson does a great job of giving each character a different voice. She writes really well and I found this a quick read. I pretty much hated all the kids except Tristan and Elizabeth. The rest were all selfish entitled jackasses. Oh, and I'm so happy I didn't go to school in the time of social media and cyber-bullying. What a nightmare.
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LibraryThing member melaniehope
I was in no hurry to start reading this book, but once I did, wow, I wish I had started it sooner. The book is divided into many different chapters. Each chapter highlights a certain teacher or student. Often, the author would come back to the same character.
The book begins with eighth grade and
The book begins with eighth grade and
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the suicide of a student who is being bullied. The following chapters take us through high school and the various students affected by this initial incident. The high school is in a very wealthy community. The students are privileged and yet seem to be more unable to cope than the average student in different socioeconomic areas. It was a compelling read and one that I thought about long after it ended. I received a complimentary e-book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Show Less
LibraryThing member Wickabod
"Teachers . . . were always encouraging hopeless kids . . . to inject themselves into the social scene with ridiculous gestures . . . as if middle school were a safe haven in which to conduct these experiments, when in fact it was the most dangerous place on Earth."
Lindsey Lee Johnson's take on
I was intrigued by the promise of this book, but it fell very flat for me. I was hoping for at least a bit of the wit and cleverness of Tom Perrotta's darkly hilarious "Election," or the heartbreaking sadness of Celeste Ng's "Everything I Never Told You." Alas, Johnson's novel was bland and obvious, populated by cliched characters doing cliched things. There's little substance or complexity. Nothing in this novel felt fresh, and I don't feel like I gained much insight into the modern high school world.
Many reviewers have commented on whether the events are "believable" or not. To me, that mostly misses the point. If the characters are cardboard cutouts, who cares about the plot and whether the events are realistic? I have a teenager who finished high school a year ago, and this novel seemed like a reasonable depiction to me, albeit one that's exaggerated and over the top. The parents and teachers are mostly clueless or awful. I suppose that's partly the point she's trying to make. Fair enough, but the lack of complexity undermines that too. Ultimately, it's hard to work up interest and empathy for characters that don't feel real and true.
To take just one example, there's the Asian-American student from the driven family with high expectations. Dave Chu and his parents never rise above easy and tired stereotypes. Compare that to the sensitive and nuanced portrait of a similar family in the Celeste Ng novel mentioned above. That is what separates fiction that is good, honest, and affecting . . . from fiction that is not.
(Thanks to Random House for an advance e-galley. Receiving a free copy did not affect the content of my review.)
Lindsey Lee Johnson's take on
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growing up in the wealthy northern California enclave of Mill Valley begins with a cyber-bullying episode in middle school that leads to a tragic outcome. She then fast-forwards into high school to explore its lingering effects on the students, teachers, and community. It's a book that wants to show us the implications of the modern social-media world our kids live in, while at the same time showing us the timelessness of the high school experience.I was intrigued by the promise of this book, but it fell very flat for me. I was hoping for at least a bit of the wit and cleverness of Tom Perrotta's darkly hilarious "Election," or the heartbreaking sadness of Celeste Ng's "Everything I Never Told You." Alas, Johnson's novel was bland and obvious, populated by cliched characters doing cliched things. There's little substance or complexity. Nothing in this novel felt fresh, and I don't feel like I gained much insight into the modern high school world.
Many reviewers have commented on whether the events are "believable" or not. To me, that mostly misses the point. If the characters are cardboard cutouts, who cares about the plot and whether the events are realistic? I have a teenager who finished high school a year ago, and this novel seemed like a reasonable depiction to me, albeit one that's exaggerated and over the top. The parents and teachers are mostly clueless or awful. I suppose that's partly the point she's trying to make. Fair enough, but the lack of complexity undermines that too. Ultimately, it's hard to work up interest and empathy for characters that don't feel real and true.
To take just one example, there's the Asian-American student from the driven family with high expectations. Dave Chu and his parents never rise above easy and tired stereotypes. Compare that to the sensitive and nuanced portrait of a similar family in the Celeste Ng novel mentioned above. That is what separates fiction that is good, honest, and affecting . . . from fiction that is not.
(Thanks to Random House for an advance e-galley. Receiving a free copy did not affect the content of my review.)
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LibraryThing member anissaannalise
This close look in at a group of financially privileged students who attend a high school in Mill Valley CA & their teachers was pretty lush. All the characters were written with brilliant insights and equally stunning blindness. The teens were given so much but not enough. They didn't have enough
The dichotomy of being a teenager isn't just what's lain out here, it's that of being a human being in this modern age. A world where feverish online interaction of likes & friending has never equated to a real life true friends. Where caprice can amplify words & reposts on a screen carry over into the real world where real feelings are felt. Where a litany of posts of care & love don't even translate to a real world visit when you've almost died. These teenagers were like gladiators hurting and trying not to be hurt at every turn. It took the majority of them to learn over the course of years what Tristan Bloch learnt from them earlier on. That insecure & thoughtless people aren't to be trusted with hearts. They don't know what to do with them so will likely mistreat and break them, so put down that silver tray upon which you were about to offer yours up to them.
Each chapter is from the POV of a character so here they are ( students only but I'm not telling you their names so as not to spoil):
The Note- The one who broke my heart early on. Done in by a cruelty he didn't understand & wasn't equipped to parse or deal with.
The Pretty Boy. The predator who eventually becomes prey.
The Sleeping Woman. The catalyst, then a virtual ghost who in the end awakens to likely reinvent herself yet again at some uni on the East Coast. The one who wants to repent and atone but doesn't know how or to whom.
The Lover. The over-achiever who hits all the marks from academics to sports and still can't get her parents' attention but does get attention from another adult.
The Dime. The beautiful one with no friends, as her silence is perceived as loftiness & arrogance.
The Striver. The over-managed one who, in a final gambit to make his parents' dreams for him come true goes to illegal and wholly understandable lengths.
The Dancer. The soaring bird streaking across the sky that doesn't realize until she's fallen that gravity applies to her too.
The Ride. The slacker who realizes too late that while he was earnestly in ennui everyone else is probably going to not just pass him by but leave him behind.
The Artist. The smooth dealer who hides his intellect from others and uses it to run cons and criminal entrepreneurial endeavours.
This book also made me think about teachers in a way I never had before. I'm more impressed and confused than ever about this group of people who choose to spend their lives in the pursuit of pedagogy & mentoring in a place that most people couldn't wait to escape and never look back. They don't remain there after they graduate, they willingly return to this place & it isn't because the pay is great. Madness. Sublime and beautiful madness. Beth was a tertiary figure but was I thought the best drawn of the bunch here. I felt her portrayal was believable and expressed all the pathos that I didn't get from Molly or Doug's.
While there's plenty to engage with here, there isn't a lot in the way of rootable characters or happy endings (the only two who have them were the least objectionable or culpable in the initial incident) & I thought that was a positive. I did like all of the endings or not and they varied on level of bleakness or hopefulness. This book gave me anxiety and a nervousness that made me all the more glad it was my treadmill book so that I could burn it off. The heights and depths of teenage viciousness is obvious but this also highlights the damage they do to themselves with those acts. This book also has interesting things to say about social media and from what I've seen in the book and real life, teenagers are not the only ones doing it wrong.
In some ways this reminded me of last year's Those Girls by Lauren Saft. Just like that book, people don't necessarily become better people after they do bad things, they just come out on the other side and it's on to the next thing. Real. Definitely recommended.
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expected of them yet caved and wilted under the enormous expectations of them. The parents and teachers were either absent or too close in the wrong ways. Everyone's true lives and selves were excruciatingly on display yet obscured. They all burn bright and are tight black holes where light can't penetrate. The dichotomy of being a teenager isn't just what's lain out here, it's that of being a human being in this modern age. A world where feverish online interaction of likes & friending has never equated to a real life true friends. Where caprice can amplify words & reposts on a screen carry over into the real world where real feelings are felt. Where a litany of posts of care & love don't even translate to a real world visit when you've almost died. These teenagers were like gladiators hurting and trying not to be hurt at every turn. It took the majority of them to learn over the course of years what Tristan Bloch learnt from them earlier on. That insecure & thoughtless people aren't to be trusted with hearts. They don't know what to do with them so will likely mistreat and break them, so put down that silver tray upon which you were about to offer yours up to them.
Each chapter is from the POV of a character so here they are ( students only but I'm not telling you their names so as not to spoil):
The Note- The one who broke my heart early on. Done in by a cruelty he didn't understand & wasn't equipped to parse or deal with.
The Pretty Boy. The predator who eventually becomes prey.
The Sleeping Woman. The catalyst, then a virtual ghost who in the end awakens to likely reinvent herself yet again at some uni on the East Coast. The one who wants to repent and atone but doesn't know how or to whom.
The Lover. The over-achiever who hits all the marks from academics to sports and still can't get her parents' attention but does get attention from another adult.
The Dime. The beautiful one with no friends, as her silence is perceived as loftiness & arrogance.
The Striver. The over-managed one who, in a final gambit to make his parents' dreams for him come true goes to illegal and wholly understandable lengths.
The Dancer. The soaring bird streaking across the sky that doesn't realize until she's fallen that gravity applies to her too.
The Ride. The slacker who realizes too late that while he was earnestly in ennui everyone else is probably going to not just pass him by but leave him behind.
The Artist. The smooth dealer who hides his intellect from others and uses it to run cons and criminal entrepreneurial endeavours.
This book also made me think about teachers in a way I never had before. I'm more impressed and confused than ever about this group of people who choose to spend their lives in the pursuit of pedagogy & mentoring in a place that most people couldn't wait to escape and never look back. They don't remain there after they graduate, they willingly return to this place & it isn't because the pay is great. Madness. Sublime and beautiful madness. Beth was a tertiary figure but was I thought the best drawn of the bunch here. I felt her portrayal was believable and expressed all the pathos that I didn't get from Molly or Doug's.
While there's plenty to engage with here, there isn't a lot in the way of rootable characters or happy endings (the only two who have them were the least objectionable or culpable in the initial incident) & I thought that was a positive. I did like all of the endings or not and they varied on level of bleakness or hopefulness. This book gave me anxiety and a nervousness that made me all the more glad it was my treadmill book so that I could burn it off. The heights and depths of teenage viciousness is obvious but this also highlights the damage they do to themselves with those acts. This book also has interesting things to say about social media and from what I've seen in the book and real life, teenagers are not the only ones doing it wrong.
In some ways this reminded me of last year's Those Girls by Lauren Saft. Just like that book, people don't necessarily become better people after they do bad things, they just come out on the other side and it's on to the next thing. Real. Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member heike6
I kept hoping it would get better, because I really love alternating viewpoints. But really, it was boring.
LibraryThing member zmagic69
I donât know, I guess I expected more from this book. I get that it is fiction, and Yes I get that the kids are ultra privileged, intensely narcissistic, many exhibit behaviors bordering on those associated with sociopaths and psychopaths, they have no concept of money, and their entire world is
Then there were the teachers in the book, who were afraid of both the kids and the parents so they also didnât care what happened to these kids. Except the new teacher who thought she could âconnect with the teenage monsters, and of course this desire blows up in her face.
I guess we just have to hope that these kids are the minority, otherwise there is zero hope for the future.
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materialistic. Granted when this describes the people being written about it is hard to be sympathetic to them or anything that happens to them. Oftentimes the behavior of the parents is just as bad, if not worse because they are the ones enabling their kids to behave this way and then are shocked by what degenerates their kids become.Then there were the teachers in the book, who were afraid of both the kids and the parents so they also didnât care what happened to these kids. Except the new teacher who thought she could âconnect with the teenage monsters, and of course this desire blows up in her face.
I guess we just have to hope that these kids are the minority, otherwise there is zero hope for the future.
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LibraryThing member thelibraryladies
Thank you to Random House and LibraryThing for this ARC. In exchange I will be posting an honest review.
I can hear it now. When âThe Most Dangerous Place on Earthâ is officially published, Iâm going to bet that there are going to be people who grouse that itâs either unrealistic, or an
Suffice to say, this book was kind of like a walk down memory lane, the only difference being that in MY day there was no social media to make things that much worse. Thank God. So yes. While it may not reflect the experiences of all teenagers, it sure reflects the experiences of some.
What struck me hardest about âThe Most Dangerous Place on Earthâ was that, while it was kind of a soapy thriller grit lit novel in some ways, it really read more like a character study of a number of privileged kids, and who they turn into after one terrible, avoidable tragedy. I liked that we were given a framework, a moment that has changed the lives of a number of kids (some tragic, some sympathetic, many horrible), and we get to see how this moment has predetermined how they are going to end up, in a way. This character study is seen through the eyes of a new, young, teacher named Miss Nichols. I think that it was a good idea to have her be the thread throughout this novel, a Greek Chorus to tie all of these other stories together, to show how they connect to each other and how they affect each other. But at the same time, much of my frustration was aimed at Miss Nichols, whose decision making skills and naĂŻvetĂ© were a bit hard to fathom at times. It was as if her desire to understand and sympathize with these kids was being punished, which felt pretty cynical. But at the same time, it was kind of refreshing that this wasnât just another âhow do I reach these kids?!â kind of moment, and that these kids canât be reached because they donât want to be reached, and the world has convinced them that they donât have to be. That said, GOSH I wanted to smack Miss Nichols upside the head a few times.
I was far more interested in the perspectives of the kids, because we did get to see how their various lives were being shaped and destroyed by parental coddling/expectations, their wealth, and their seeming ability to be completely untouchable. For me the two most interesting characters we examined were Abigail and Elisabeth, both struggling with their own problems of teenage girlhood. Abigail is an honors student striving for good grades so she can go to a good school, but she has also found herself tangled up in an illicit romance with a teacher, Mr. Ellison. But Abigail was also one of the main instigators of a horrendous bullying episode in eighth grade, whose participation and needling led to the overarching tragedy of the story, and the end of her most important friendship. It was pretty fascinating to get to see all these different angles of Abigail, and while I definitely felt terrible for her in some ways (she is, after all, being manipulated by a sexual predator), she is also absolutely terrible in other ways in how she treats others. Her multifaceted personality was realistic, and a bit more in depth than some of the other awful kids she surrounded herself with. Elisabeth, however, was a surprising character altogether. So much of what we saw of her at first was from the perspective of those around her, from a moment of compassion towards a bullied classmate (with a sad face emoji in the group chat he was being harassed on), to others, including adults, thinking of her as a beautiful girl who is a sex object to all the men and boys around her. But then we find out that her aloofness is hiding her painfully shy personality, and a troubled home life that has pushed her to dark places. Her perspective chapter was the one that hurt the most to read, but in turn she was also the student that I was rooting for the most. It was just so interesting that I as the reader went in with certain expectations about her based on what other characters said, only to find someone completely different, but only when I actually had to listen to/ read about her from her perspective. It was very well played.
So in all, this is an upsetting book, but I do think that there is quite a bit of truth to it. While it shows the dark and disturbing places that high schools, especially those with unlimited access to money and little consequences to their actions, it also shows that things do go on, and that life will keep going after it for those who just hang in there, and learn from their mistakes. And again, as someone who went to a school like this, I found it to be one of the most relatable books about teenagers that Iâve read this year.
I can hear it now. When âThe Most Dangerous Place on Earthâ is officially published, Iâm going to bet that there are going to be people who grouse that itâs either unrealistic, or an
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unfair portrayal of teenagers. But let me tell you. I knew these kids in high school. I basically went to this high school, though mine was in the Midwest and not on the West Coast. I knew kids who were vicious and mean to those who were different to the point that it became sadistic. I knew kids who were under incredible pressure to get into good schools because it was expected of them, and that it nearly broke them. I knew kids with serious drug problems who were shielded by their wealthy parents and faced few repercussions, while kids from less advantaged backgrounds were facing expulsion for not having good enough grades. It wasnât wealthy enough for âCruel Intentionsâ⊠but it was a Minnesota version of âCruel Intentionsâ.Suffice to say, this book was kind of like a walk down memory lane, the only difference being that in MY day there was no social media to make things that much worse. Thank God. So yes. While it may not reflect the experiences of all teenagers, it sure reflects the experiences of some.
What struck me hardest about âThe Most Dangerous Place on Earthâ was that, while it was kind of a soapy thriller grit lit novel in some ways, it really read more like a character study of a number of privileged kids, and who they turn into after one terrible, avoidable tragedy. I liked that we were given a framework, a moment that has changed the lives of a number of kids (some tragic, some sympathetic, many horrible), and we get to see how this moment has predetermined how they are going to end up, in a way. This character study is seen through the eyes of a new, young, teacher named Miss Nichols. I think that it was a good idea to have her be the thread throughout this novel, a Greek Chorus to tie all of these other stories together, to show how they connect to each other and how they affect each other. But at the same time, much of my frustration was aimed at Miss Nichols, whose decision making skills and naĂŻvetĂ© were a bit hard to fathom at times. It was as if her desire to understand and sympathize with these kids was being punished, which felt pretty cynical. But at the same time, it was kind of refreshing that this wasnât just another âhow do I reach these kids?!â kind of moment, and that these kids canât be reached because they donât want to be reached, and the world has convinced them that they donât have to be. That said, GOSH I wanted to smack Miss Nichols upside the head a few times.
I was far more interested in the perspectives of the kids, because we did get to see how their various lives were being shaped and destroyed by parental coddling/expectations, their wealth, and their seeming ability to be completely untouchable. For me the two most interesting characters we examined were Abigail and Elisabeth, both struggling with their own problems of teenage girlhood. Abigail is an honors student striving for good grades so she can go to a good school, but she has also found herself tangled up in an illicit romance with a teacher, Mr. Ellison. But Abigail was also one of the main instigators of a horrendous bullying episode in eighth grade, whose participation and needling led to the overarching tragedy of the story, and the end of her most important friendship. It was pretty fascinating to get to see all these different angles of Abigail, and while I definitely felt terrible for her in some ways (she is, after all, being manipulated by a sexual predator), she is also absolutely terrible in other ways in how she treats others. Her multifaceted personality was realistic, and a bit more in depth than some of the other awful kids she surrounded herself with. Elisabeth, however, was a surprising character altogether. So much of what we saw of her at first was from the perspective of those around her, from a moment of compassion towards a bullied classmate (with a sad face emoji in the group chat he was being harassed on), to others, including adults, thinking of her as a beautiful girl who is a sex object to all the men and boys around her. But then we find out that her aloofness is hiding her painfully shy personality, and a troubled home life that has pushed her to dark places. Her perspective chapter was the one that hurt the most to read, but in turn she was also the student that I was rooting for the most. It was just so interesting that I as the reader went in with certain expectations about her based on what other characters said, only to find someone completely different, but only when I actually had to listen to/ read about her from her perspective. It was very well played.
So in all, this is an upsetting book, but I do think that there is quite a bit of truth to it. While it shows the dark and disturbing places that high schools, especially those with unlimited access to money and little consequences to their actions, it also shows that things do go on, and that life will keep going after it for those who just hang in there, and learn from their mistakes. And again, as someone who went to a school like this, I found it to be one of the most relatable books about teenagers that Iâve read this year.
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LibraryThing member veeshee
The first story that this novel opens up with is emotionally-charged, and it is what got me into this book. It reminded me a lot of my own middle school and high school days, and every miserably memory that I had from that time. It was powerful and showed the very dark side of adolescence. However,
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the rest of the novel didn't really work for me. Each chapter is like a vignette into a character's life, and reading this novel, it began to feel as if I was reading short stories instead of a cohesive novel. The characters were also a bit too flat for me because they didn't always get enough time in their chapter to be explored and developed; I ended up not really caring about any of them. At one point, I began to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters, which took my attention away from the main message. It's clear from this novel that the author is very passionate about the drama and bullying and difficulties that arise in adolescents who are in high school. And she did a great job of exploring the various issues. That passion is evident throughout the novel and was the force that propelled the plot forward. However, this passion wasn't enough for me to like this novel. If you like novels that deal with these issues, then you should definitely give this one a read. However, I will be giving this novel a 2.5/5 (the 2.5 is for the passion). Show Less
LibraryThing member meganelizabeth
Liked but didn't love. Follows the life of various high schoolers, alternating between different perspectives. I think it would have worked better for me if I had gone in thinking I was reading a book of short stories than a novel, because that's essentially how it's structured.
LibraryThing member Master275
Ugh... I don't really know how to rate this one. On one hand--I just didn't like it. The characters in this book - the privileged kids - were just so annoying and entitled!! The speech used when they were talking to one another made me cringe with embarrassment for them! The teacher came off as so
On the other hand, I recognize that there were are some serious subject matters raised that I don't want to cast off. Bullying, suicide, sex, drugs, alcohol, completely inappropriate adult/adolescent relations, lack of parenting, abuse, and the list goes on. All important topics that should not be ignored. These topics aren't happy or fun-- so maybe you aren't supposed to "like" the book. For that, I give 2.5.
....If you're looking for something uplifting--look elsewhere.
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desperate and many of the situations were just so....extreme. Granted, I didn't live a super privileged life in California, so what do I know? What I do know is I didn't like anyone in this book. No child. No adult. No one. was anyone supposed to be liked? There wasn't even a family dog that could bring small ray of sunshine to this horrible group of people....On the other hand, I recognize that there were are some serious subject matters raised that I don't want to cast off. Bullying, suicide, sex, drugs, alcohol, completely inappropriate adult/adolescent relations, lack of parenting, abuse, and the list goes on. All important topics that should not be ignored. These topics aren't happy or fun-- so maybe you aren't supposed to "like" the book. For that, I give 2.5.
....If you're looking for something uplifting--look elsewhere.
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LibraryThing member kbranfield
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson is a bleak portrait of a privileged group of teens and a first year teacher.
Mill Valley is an upscale small town that appears to be quite tranquil. Yet under the idyllic veneer simmers a seething cauldron of dysfunction for the children of
Fast forward to the eleventh grade and several of the friends have gone their separate ways. Yet there is a commonality in their behavior as they continue to make one bad decision after another. The teenagers' parents seem to make guest appearances in their children's lives and none of them are aware of what their kids are up to on line or in real life. The few parents who do take an interest in their children's futures are overbearing with unrealistically high expectations that their kids have no chance of fulfilling.
The overall feel of the novel is that of a collection of short stories since readers only get one chapter from each participants point of view. These chapters are long and somewhat rambling peeks inside their troubled lives. New teacher Molly Nicholl is the only character who narrates more than one chapter and it is quite obvious from the outset she is a little too naive and idealistic to handle her self-destructive students. Like the teenagers she is teaching, Molly does not make the wisest choices as she becomes overly involved in her students' lives.
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is a well-written debut novel with a somewhat dark storyline. Lindsey Lee Johnson offers a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of the decisions made by both teenagers and adults.
Mill Valley is an upscale small town that appears to be quite tranquil. Yet under the idyllic veneer simmers a seething cauldron of dysfunction for the children of
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wealthy parents. Beginning with an eighth grade bullying incident that ends in tragedy, the story follows a group of teens who seemingly have everything going for them. Yet, after their participation in the on line bullying of their classmate, their lives go down very dark and depressing paths.Fast forward to the eleventh grade and several of the friends have gone their separate ways. Yet there is a commonality in their behavior as they continue to make one bad decision after another. The teenagers' parents seem to make guest appearances in their children's lives and none of them are aware of what their kids are up to on line or in real life. The few parents who do take an interest in their children's futures are overbearing with unrealistically high expectations that their kids have no chance of fulfilling.
The overall feel of the novel is that of a collection of short stories since readers only get one chapter from each participants point of view. These chapters are long and somewhat rambling peeks inside their troubled lives. New teacher Molly Nicholl is the only character who narrates more than one chapter and it is quite obvious from the outset she is a little too naive and idealistic to handle her self-destructive students. Like the teenagers she is teaching, Molly does not make the wisest choices as she becomes overly involved in her students' lives.
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is a well-written debut novel with a somewhat dark storyline. Lindsey Lee Johnson offers a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of the decisions made by both teenagers and adults.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
adult fiction (obscene scandals and other crises affecting a number of high schoolers and high school staff).
I got to page 9; not really in the mood for this--sending on to next person on the waitlist at my library.
I got to page 9; not really in the mood for this--sending on to next person on the waitlist at my library.
LibraryThing member Carol420
Having spent 28 years of my life going into public schools and speaking to students from Pre-K to high schools...I have to say that I can both agree and disagree in almost equal measures with this teacher. This is a deep dark look into the hearts and minds of Middle School students and their
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teachers in Californiaâs wealthy Marin County. While this may be the experience of some students...I donât believe that it defines every student's experience or for that matter every parent of this influential county. I am 2,500 miles away from Marin County, California but there are counties and school districts in my state of Michigan that also have school districts with wealthy, above the average income families with children attending a variety of our schools. I believe that with a few exceptions, the parents are trying to raise their children to be well adjusted, contributing members of society...not rich brats spending their weekends getting high at parties, or experimenting with sex with anyone and everyone. Iâm not saying it doesnât happen, but even if half the things that were portrayed in this book are true of this one county...it still seemed like it was highly stereotyped and every above average income parent and child was painted with the same brush. I guess my question is, if the teacher knew so much about the students like Nick, the scam artist and Emma the party girl...who she describes as âboth gifted and brilliantâ...why wasnât her efforts focused more on offering... if nothing else...a face that would listen to them more and condemn them less. I just felt dirty after finishing this.... but perhaps that was the entire idea. Show Less
LibraryThing member olegalCA
The first chapter was the best but the rest of the book did not measure up. The characters were one-dimensional for the most part. The plot was intriguing but ended abruptly.
Awards
Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards (Finalist — 2018)
Language
Original publication date
2016
ISBN
9780812997279
Local notes
fiction