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loukitsune's review
2.0
Listened to the audiobook narrated by Paris, loved the Nottinghamshire vernacular and the early 2000’s nostalgia. The book started off so funny and enjoyable but I found most of it depressing yet light on substance, even though she was sharing honest/raw/traumatic experiences. I really like Paris, follow her on Instagram, I think I expected more self reflection not descriptions of people and nights out. Maybe I’m being harsh? I was really looking forward to this book but just didn’t enjoy it.
giselleg's review
2.0
Writing in a dialect put the book in a time and place, but for me it made it an extra hurdle to reading the book which at often times was repetitive. Amazing to see how she turned her life around, but for me I feel this story could have been told better In a long read form.
ggmuso's review
2.0
Writing in a dialect put the book in a time and place, but for me it made it an extra hurdle to reading the book which at often times was repetitive. Amazing to see how she turned her life around, but for me I feel this story could have been told better In a long read form.
awhittz's review
4.0
Tough read this. It took me a while to get into the dialect, and some of the content is pretty bleak. But over the course of the book Paris creates such a strong sense of a place, time, and feeling (helped by some top 90s/00s song title chapter headings). It’s an extraordinary book which I’m so pleased to have read.
adamskiboy528491's review
4.0
What It Feels Like For A Girl by Paris Lees is an original and surprising memoir that focuses on hot topics within our current society. Lees leads you on a beautiful path of discovery and understanding of how life can unfold.
Lees was born in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire to a family with often tricky dynamics, and her memoir is about her teenage years, reckless rebellions and close friendships, and her first moments of living as a girl. Entirely written in an East Midlands dialect, she must have wrestled the spellcheck function to the floor to type the manuscript.
You get to feel/see her growth and change throughout the book as coming from a Hucknall council estate in the early 2000s; someone isn’t going to be aware of right/wrong in some situations. Her acknowledgement of this and active change due to these incidents and a candid account are very raw and honest to see.
bobthebookerer's review
4.0
A really bold, punchy, funny and tender memoir that details Paris Lees in her younger days, her growing understanding of her gender and sexuality, and how she manages to skirt trouble, up until she first goes to university.
Paris Lees manages to make her memoir feel like a novel, to the extent that you occasionally snap back into remembering that it is real, and that the woman writing the story not only endured, but survived, everything in its pages.
The most noticeable thing about the book is something that hits you within the first few words- it is all written in accented dialect. In the hands of a less confident writer, it could come off hackneyed and gimmicky, and I was nervous when I first saw it, but Paris Lees uses it as a strength, it carrying a strange and endearing charm throughout the book.
The sections about her burgeoning sexuality and gender identity are powerfully done- she is almost casual at talking about sex work, realising she is a woman and finding herself, and it feels liberating and profound. It almost feels that, if she had written about it in a typical way (somewhat more sentimental or declaratory), it would not have fit. For me, the power of the voice in this book is what drives it to be such a thrilling and thoughtful read.
I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Paris Lees manages to make her memoir feel like a novel, to the extent that you occasionally snap back into remembering that it is real, and that the woman writing the story not only endured, but survived, everything in its pages.
The most noticeable thing about the book is something that hits you within the first few words- it is all written in accented dialect. In the hands of a less confident writer, it could come off hackneyed and gimmicky, and I was nervous when I first saw it, but Paris Lees uses it as a strength, it carrying a strange and endearing charm throughout the book.
The sections about her burgeoning sexuality and gender identity are powerfully done- she is almost casual at talking about sex work, realising she is a woman and finding herself, and it feels liberating and profound. It almost feels that, if she had written about it in a typical way (somewhat more sentimental or declaratory), it would not have fit. For me, the power of the voice in this book is what drives it to be such a thrilling and thoughtful read.
I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.