Apparently this is one of her earlier books, written around the millennium. Quirky characters, strange conversations and a murder mystery added for good fun. I enjoyed reading it.

Just when things start picking up, it ends. Rather like a cliffhanger episode of a TV show that isn't the season finale. It just seems there should be more to the novel.

This book is like a prototype of Thomas's work to come. Like her later novels, there are many long conversations and an emphasis on characters over plot. In "Bright Young Things," though, the characters never really reach quite the depth that they do in subsequent books, and the conversations aren't quite as ruminative. It's still certainly worth a read, especially if you're interested in watching Thomas's style evolve.

Bonus points if you can find the offhand comment a character makes that later becomes the basis for Thomas's novel "Going Out."

What an odd duck this book is. Great twist at the end, very unexpected and then ends very abruptly. Quite unsatisfying but sometimes I like it when the ends aren't all tied up. A book not easy to put down.

I picked this up on kindle for 20p a while ago and it's the last of Scarlett Thomas's books that I've read. I'm a big fan of her work ever since a friend gave me PopCo a couple of years ago.
This is very different to her later works, and also quite different to her earlier works. My enjoyment of it sits between the two. It is certainly better than the Pascale 'mysteries' but nowhere near as technically, philosophically brilliant as The End of Mr Y or PopCo.
The plot centres around six people waking up on a desert island and the conversations that they have there. I think for me, being of a similar age to the characters at the time the book was written and set, it totally rings true. I relate to the thoughts and feelings they had, the games and shows they talk about, the feeling of wanting to get away from it all and be apart from a broken society. I don't think it has dated especially well, and I can see why some people reading it recently wouldn't like it. But then a book written now with people talking about Miley Cyrus and X Factor probably won't remain current for twenty years either. That's the nature of pop culture. Thomas herself says in her 2012 preface that she can't even remember Another Level now.
It's an easy read and the plot is character driven and not especially taxing. No, they don't discuss great ideas, their analysis of society and gender is mired in their own experiences and not full of insightful solutions to the issues. It's not really supposed to be either. It's an experiment in writing a novel about ordinary people discussing pop culture in real everyday language and that's exactly what it is.
I probably won't re-read this again and again or add it to my list of favourite ever novels, but it's a great study in late-90s 'slacker' culture.

Lets be honest, there's barely any kind of plot going on here, this novel is basically an excuse to get six characters together in a strange isolated situation, talking about little but pop culture. In the introduction, Scarlett herself admits the plot element was basically begrudgingly added at her publisher's behest, and the conclusion barely deserves being recognised as such. Luckily, though, the dialogue flows with the kind of believability, grace and fluidity that Tarantino used to get in his early films, with much less profanity. It's like delving into an episode of Big Brother where the contestants are at least vaguely intelligent and have some kind of character.

All in all, it's just a novel to view characters grow and bond in a strange setting, talking about anything and everything but the situation in which they find themselves. It should feel like a creative writing exercise, but somehow because of the warmth and depth of the protagonists, it transcends that, into a quiet little stage play of a novel about nothing.

The best one of Scarlett Thomas' books that I have read so far. Still not amazing, but okay.

got this book as a birthday present and I've really enjoyed a Scarlett Thomas novel before so was looking forward to this one. To my delight, I couldn't put it down, it was funny and all the pop culture references reminded me of being a teenager! It's a story with a dark side though, I was a bit disappointed with how it ends.

I love everything Scarlett Thomas writes. Her prose is gorgeous, her stories thoughtful, smart, and interesting. I think I've now read all but one of her books, and I can't recommend them enough. This is an earlier work, and it wasn't my favorite of hers, but I still very much enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to her new book.