Reviews

Watching Women & Girls by Danielle Pender

idahol7221's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

cellamar's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

thisamtheplace's review against another edition

2.5

I’m super fussy with short story collections, and have only ever been genuinely impressed with a few; unfortunately this wasn’t one of them. I was immediately intrigued by the title, which is named not for one of the stories but the overarching theme across the collection - the stories explore how women and girls are perceived and exist in their familial, romantic, sexual and workplace relationships and within their day-to-day interactions with strangers and animals. Across the collection we see women as mothers, children, lovers, friends, enemies, and most often as ‘opportunities’ for others.

 The highlights of the collection for me were Paper Dolls, Junction 64 and Next Gen.

Despite the breadth of the collection, I didn’t feel like Pender really delved beneath the surface of our expectations. When scratching beneath the surface we are met by more stereotypes and cliches, albeit supposedly positive and empowering ones. Whilst Pender tries to tackle some diverse perspectives in here, to me they didn’t read as very authentic and instead leaned toward being tokenistic. 

I also noticed a few small inconsistencies within some of the stories that left me a bit disappointed and feeling as though the stories hadn’t been constructed with as much care as I would have liked. 

Whilst the writing was engaging and easy to read, it wasn’t my favourite, with a lot of small details that felt tacked on and unnecessary and took me out of the story. 

I think this will probably work for some people as an easy read around themes of girlhood and the female experience, but it’s not going to give you an in-depth character study or deliver anything you haven’t read before.  

ellieml's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

silvereads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

susanavieira15's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

megdelaney's review against another edition

3.0

I really loved the idea and the different perspectives but it would have been better to focus on less stories more independently because some weren’t very impactful. But the ones that were I loved!

kittym130's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ozzie2398's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

amber_tke's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75