The novel of a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl from Metz is the loudest debut, a sensation in French literature in recent years. A novel about peers. About the thirst for power, cynical and cruel. About the thirst for freedom, sometimes just as cruel and merciless. About a passionate friendship that develops into slavish obedience, and about a rebellion that ends in murder. And most importantly, about the merciless struggle of two individuals, two psychologies, which lasts several years and ends tragically.

The charm of the book lies in the contrast of the acuteness of the main character’s experiences and the laconic style of the leisurely narrative chosen by the author. There is no language of choking emotions, the confused syntax of gasps, or the immediate slips of a youthful diary. Memories flow evenly and seemingly unhurriedly. And this even breathing of the story serves as the key to the image of the main character. The weak will be stronger than the strong. The slave will become free, although she will pay a terrible price for this freedom. The one who was choking will be able to say: “I am breathing!”