Stands on its own

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rebecca Avatar

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I don't have any particular attachment to The Outsiders- I didn't read the book in school, and read it for the first and only time within the last ten years, and I've never seen the movie. For me, the draw of this book was more due to the author than the retelling aspect- I adored Moxie and looked forward to seeing what kind of story Jennifer Mathieu would craft with this one.
The characters in Bad Girls Never Say Die are wrestling not only with issues of class and their lack of access to resources, but with the the challenges of being female and having few options. Each of the girls in the group has a tough exterior- a necessity given all that they are coping with- but slowly we get to see the depth of their connections to each other and who they are, and I found the ending of this story moving. I don't think you need to have an intense familiarity with The Outsiders to enjoy this, but knowing the source material helps with the context.