"Sad Girls" by Lang Leav

Author: Lang Leav 
"A lot of literature is about struggle. But I don't think all writers `are sad. I think it's the other way around - all sad people write. It's a form of catharsis, a way of working through things that feel unresolved, like undoing a knot. People are who are prone to sadness are more likely to pick up a pen." (Leav, 141-142) 

Sad Girls is the first full length novel by Lang Leav. Lang Leave is an  International Bestselling Author of the following works of poetry Love and Misadventures, Lullabies, The Universe `of Us, and Memories. Some people may see the title "Sad Girls" and immediately assume the negative connotation of being a drama queen and if they did they would be wrong. When you read Sad Girls, International Bestseller Lang Leav you come to realize that the title refers to those girls who are affected by life tragedies yet, learn from them to understand and find themselves.  

Through the eyes of Audrey the story is about her Lucy, Candela, and Ana who has committed suicide at the start of the book. The three of them are part of the "Sad Girls" club. After Ana's death, they all go through an evaluation of life and they transition from high school to being an adult. All three are deeply affected by more tragedy by the end of the book.

Audrey is a writer so the reader is taken into her journey of finding out who she is through her journey as a writer. This includes a high school romance that Audrey's outgrows as she grows into an adult.

"Salt has that power to completely transform a dish. I think sadness has the same transformative effect in literature." (Leav, 140)

Through a relationship that Audrey has with Rad,  Ana's old boyfriend, Audrey finds inspiration, true love, and who she is by the ending. Rad is also a writer and their love or bond is that they both inspire each others writing. 

"Your first love isn't the first person you give your heart to- it's the first one who breaks it" (Leav, 261)

Although their path together goes through beginnings and endings, break-ups and an eventual reuniting they have a chemistry neither one can deny.  The connection between them is also pivotal to the overall plot of the story. 

Heartache and loss are no strangers to these young women on their journey as the reader is hit with another tragedy that affects Lucy, Candela, and Audrey towards the end of the novel.  Like life, just when we think or hope tragedy has ended we experience another.

"Writing is a conduit. It opens up a passageway into the past.  Not just for the writer, but for the reader too. Both readers and writers are linked by the commonality of human experience." (Leav, 143)

Reading Sad Girls is more than just a reading a coming of age story. It describes how some girls are affected by tragedy and how some people respond to it. Sad Girls is about the human experience. These girls are particularly self-aware and emotional yet, all eventually achieve their own version of a "happily ever after". 

"The author has this idea of where the story line is going, and she sets up her characters accordingly. But it changes has goes, right?! All of a sudden, it's the second draft, and you're stuck with a different name and a whole other backstory." (Leav, 23)

All the characters in the novel suffer depression and anxiety that they have to come to terms with and yet, it is the theme of writing that pervades the story.  Books The story seems to suggest that we are characters in a story written by an author who knows our destiny. Can we determine our fate? 

The story of each character's journey in Sad Girls seem to suggest that we can determine our fate. In the end, this book may be titled "Sad Girls" but what the author Lang Leav really means by sadness is because of tragedy they or rather we, gain wisdom. ;D