The City Girls is a modern-day Madeline without the charm. The girls line up, they go out into the city where they see and do things. Yet, sadly, this book did not speak to me the way I hoped. It is very busy. Each page is overcrowded. You get the feeling of the city, but you cannot necessarily enjoy it. However, whomever the right reader is will enjoy learning about things that happen in the city. You would just have to take your time going through it; because this is not a “rush through it” read. You could read one-on-one, but I would think it would be difficult to read in a group setting.
The part that might be interesting (and I did like what I was able to pick up on) was seeing a few things that are familiar to the reader. Especially if you are from the city or have visited a large city. But at the same time one can learn about things they do not necessarily have around them. Also, there will be items and actions that are universal no matter where you go.
Yet, something is missing. Maybe it is the fact the pages are crowded. Maybe it is because it reads like a translation (and while nothing is wrong with that, sometimes a translation and my readers ear do not mesh). Perhaps I was just the wrong reader. If you have read and enjoyed Aki and their titles The Nature Girls and The Weather Girls, I would assume you would like The City Girls. Though as I have not read them, I can only guess these three stories are similar.
What I did like was the girls themselves. They are sweet, cute and the diversity is nice, but not “in the face.” And they seamlessly maneuver in their setting without being the main focus. There is not one thing that is the “main theme” (which creates the crowded images) but multiple areas to see at once.
