Scan barcode
stefhyena's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.75
It wasn't quite what I expected. I thought the title would be more tongue in cheek and the book shake things up more. The blurb says "thoroughly modern" though to be fair that was back in 2006.
But still the traces of conservatism were a bit strange. It was that sort of liberal feminist "girl is independent by sleeping with a lot of men and being resilient when they all turn out to be shit" thing that I tried to like at the time but didn't quite manage it even then. That hasn't aged well. You could be just as sex positive but mix things up more. But also sex is just sex. Quite a lot of the women/girls in the book were punished one way or another, hence I suppose the "cautionary" but I wasn't really sure what the message was apart from "it's shit to be a woman" but I don't think the author thought she was saying that.
I'll be honest I had to push myself through it. What I did really love was the traces of Australia in a few of the chapters. It was definitely an Australian book despite being not about that. And that was nice.
Also let's be fair I have a few times shown that I don't always "get" short stories.
But still the traces of conservatism were a bit strange. It was that sort of liberal feminist "girl is independent by sleeping with a lot of men and being resilient when they all turn out to be shit" thing that I tried to like at the time but didn't quite manage it even then. That hasn't aged well. You could be just as sex positive but mix things up more. But also sex is just sex. Quite a lot of the women/girls in the book were punished one way or another, hence I suppose the "cautionary" but I wasn't really sure what the message was apart from "it's shit to be a woman" but I don't think the author thought she was saying that.
I'll be honest I had to push myself through it. What I did really love was the traces of Australia in a few of the chapters. It was definitely an Australian book despite being not about that. And that was nice.
Also let's be fair I have a few times shown that I don't always "get" short stories.
radiali's review against another edition
important commentary but finding writing style doesn't match my reading preferences
michellel123's review
3.0
Set up like a series of short stories that offer 'advice' for young women. The first one was a bit risque for me and I almost stopped there, but I really enjoyed them. Kept finding myself sad when each chapter ended, as I wanted to know more about each character and situation.
amwatt226's review
3.0
This is a quick, fun read. I received the book from a friend and enjoyed it tremendously. The stories are all fast paced and clever.
heathernj9's review
4.0
I picked up this book purely on the cover. I know you're not supposed to that but it a gorgeous design. It's a collection of short stories by an Australian author, all told by Rosie Little. Some our things she has experienced herself, and others are connected to her in various ways. I found the stories to be charming, almost like fairytales, but there were also some very sad stories in there as well. I liked her metaphors, especially in the story about the clothes (you all know how I love clothes!).
A light read, but it was perfect as I've been too distracted with other things to read anything heavy right now.
A light read, but it was perfect as I've been too distracted with other things to read anything heavy right now.
juniperb23's review
4.0
Collection of short stories about growing up as a woman. It deals with major life events such as longing, self worth, love, etc. Interspersed with snarky, Miss Manners-seque tips.
booksdogsandjess's review against another edition
3.0
An Australian collection of short stories with lessons built in sort of modern day Aesop tales but for girls with modern day issues like date rape, abusive relationships,psycho dudes, and much more. But really funny.
Did Jessi just say the date rape story was funny? I did! To be clear date rape is not funny (obvs.)but these are cautionary tales and in this story Rosie goes to a party at 14 yrs old and ends up losing her virginity after getting severely intoxicated by the date-rapeiest (this is not a word to my knowledge but I say it a lot) looking guy ever, no one wins in this situation, but Rosie learns an important lesson.
My favourite in this collection of stories is
"Rosie Little in The Mother Country" this has Rosie going to England to stay with godparents she has never met before and experience all the "Mother County" has to offer. It does not go well and the godfather turns out to be a bit of a creeper, Rosie's inner thoughts on this are some of the funniest bits in the book. While in England she meets a boy, falls in love and they decide to have sex. When the boy asks if she has ever done this before she thinks about the party in the previous story and says very sweetly
"Technically, yes. Effectively, no. What about you?
The girls got spunk and I like it.
Not all the stories are winners, but there were a few gems.
Did Jessi just say the date rape story was funny? I did! To be clear date rape is not funny (obvs.)but these are cautionary tales and in this story Rosie goes to a party at 14 yrs old and ends up losing her virginity after getting severely intoxicated by the date-rapeiest (this is not a word to my knowledge but I say it a lot) looking guy ever, no one wins in this situation, but Rosie learns an important lesson.
My favourite in this collection of stories is
"Rosie Little in The Mother Country" this has Rosie going to England to stay with godparents she has never met before and experience all the "Mother County" has to offer. It does not go well and the godfather turns out to be a bit of a creeper, Rosie's inner thoughts on this are some of the funniest bits in the book. While in England she meets a boy, falls in love and they decide to have sex. When the boy asks if she has ever done this before she thinks about the party in the previous story and says very sweetly
"Technically, yes. Effectively, no. What about you?
The girls got spunk and I like it.
Not all the stories are winners, but there were a few gems.
larrys's review
Some clever turns of phrase.
Overall, I didn't identify with this kind of feminism or this kind of humour, or both.
Overall, I didn't identify with this kind of feminism or this kind of humour, or both.
raerei's review
4.0
Okay, I really did enjoy this book. The episodic nature of the book made it easy to pause or keep reading without feeling overly invested in the book. That didn't make Rosie's story shallow, and I liked how not all the episodes tied directly into her life - that other people's love stories were told as well - and by LOVE stories I really mean LIFE stories.
Great ending, great storytelling.
Great ending, great storytelling.
booksdogsandjess's review
3.0
An Australian collection of short stories with lessons built in sort of modern day Aesop tales but for girls with modern day issues like date rape, abusive relationships,psycho dudes, and much more. But really funny.
Did Jessi just say the date rape story was funny? I did! To be clear date rape is not funny (obvs.)but these are cautionary tales and in this story Rosie goes to a party at 14 yrs old and ends up losing her virginity after getting severely intoxicated by the date-rapeiest (this is not a word to my knowledge but I say it a lot) looking guy ever, no one wins in this situation, but Rosie learns an important lesson.
My favourite in this collection of stories is
"Rosie Little in The Mother Country" this has Rosie going to England to stay with godparents she has never met before and experience all the "Mother County" has to offer. It does not go well and the godfather turns out to be a bit of a creeper, Rosie's inner thoughts on this are some of the funniest bits in the book. While in England she meets a boy, falls in love and they decide to have sex. When the boy asks if she has ever done this before she thinks about the party in the previous story and says very sweetly
"Technically, yes. Effectively, no. What about you?
The girls got spunk and I like it.
Not all the stories are winners, but there were a few gems.
Did Jessi just say the date rape story was funny? I did! To be clear date rape is not funny (obvs.)but these are cautionary tales and in this story Rosie goes to a party at 14 yrs old and ends up losing her virginity after getting severely intoxicated by the date-rapeiest (this is not a word to my knowledge but I say it a lot) looking guy ever, no one wins in this situation, but Rosie learns an important lesson.
My favourite in this collection of stories is
"Rosie Little in The Mother Country" this has Rosie going to England to stay with godparents she has never met before and experience all the "Mother County" has to offer. It does not go well and the godfather turns out to be a bit of a creeper, Rosie's inner thoughts on this are some of the funniest bits in the book. While in England she meets a boy, falls in love and they decide to have sex. When the boy asks if she has ever done this before she thinks about the party in the previous story and says very sweetly
"Technically, yes. Effectively, no. What about you?
The girls got spunk and I like it.
Not all the stories are winners, but there were a few gems.
More...