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shoshin's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Slow to start. I almost gave up on it because Nina seemed like she had no personality aside from her obsession with her boyfriend. But it's a slow burn and Elana K. Arnold was, once again, making some very important points about women's experiences and lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Body horror, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit
hey_yall's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
My favorite part of this book is the “Author’s Note”.
ktbkitten's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
johnnymacaroni's review
5.0
Wow. I have never read a more honest book in my life, adult books included. I wish I had read something like this as a teenager. I pretty much read it in one sitting with a brief sleep period in between (hello 4AM for no reason!) -it is just that compelling. In the author's note she says Nina may not be likable but I F-ing loved Nina! She is thoughtful and thoughtless and messy and stupid and smart - she is a real human girl! And honestly what she did ... wasn't so bad if you compare it to some of the mean things real life people do. Nina, you are going to be OK.
heathbc's review
5.0
I so wish I read this book when I went through my first heartbreak in high school. I really related to the discussion on what women will do to try to "earn" a guy's love. And Arnold's afterward on this book was the perfect addition. Even now as a 26 year-old, I learned the value of being active in your own life rather than passively waiting for things to happen to you. It's a value you do see in books aimed towards young people, but for some reason, the way this novel expressed that value really reached me.
libreroaming's review
4.0
A much stronger story than "Infandous" that deals with the same vicious tackling of female sexuality, identity, and the pitfalls of the gender complex. Raw and unpleasant and intended to be so.
moonaby's review
DNF’d at 48%.
I wanted to like this book, I really did, but the messages about girlhood that the author was trying to convey felt too bleak and lacked nuance, like she was spelling out her viewpoint on the female experience to the audience. And despite how I’m also a teenage girl of the same age as Nina, I couldn’t connect with her because she had zero depth as a character.
I have no problems with “unlikeable” characters so long as they’re interesting, but Nina was not. She didn’t have a single redeeming quality about her and her flaws weren’t explored enough for me to empathize with them. Perhaps they are in the second half of the book, but from the first half that I’ve read, she’s not a compelling character and neither are any of the other characters.
The biggest problem I think this book suffers from is the author’s attempts to write universal truths about the female experience instead of focusing on the intricacies of Nina’s experiences with girlhood. That should’ve been left to subtext. Moreover, I didn’t care for Nina’s obsession with Seth or her shitty relationship with him.
Being a girl isn’t always fun or easy, but there’s a beauty to it as well, and it rubs me the wrong way that the author displays this in such a colourless manner. This story is missing the highs and lows of growing up and instead settles for consistent emptiness.
I wanted to like this book, I really did, but the messages about girlhood that the author was trying to convey felt too bleak and lacked nuance, like she was spelling out her viewpoint on the female experience to the audience. And despite how I’m also a teenage girl of the same age as Nina, I couldn’t connect with her because she had zero depth as a character.
I have no problems with “unlikeable” characters so long as they’re interesting, but Nina was not. She didn’t have a single redeeming quality about her and her flaws weren’t explored enough for me to empathize with them. Perhaps they are in the second half of the book, but from the first half that I’ve read, she’s not a compelling character and neither are any of the other characters.
The biggest problem I think this book suffers from is the author’s attempts to write universal truths about the female experience instead of focusing on the intricacies of Nina’s experiences with girlhood. That should’ve been left to subtext. Moreover, I didn’t care for Nina’s obsession with Seth or her shitty relationship with him.
Being a girl isn’t always fun or easy, but there’s a beauty to it as well, and it rubs me the wrong way that the author displays this in such a colourless manner. This story is missing the highs and lows of growing up and instead settles for consistent emptiness.
k_paul's review
5.0
To be completely honest, this book was third on my list of want-to-reads for the national book award category. I liked the summary, but I was more interested in reading the other two and so when those other options weren't available, I read this one. I'm glad I did. It had a great narrative that didn't shy away from important topics.
I am a bit on the fence on if this book should be taught in schools. The author does a great job of being sensitive about certain topics while still emphasizing their importance and the need for them to be addressed. What concerns me is if the maturity level will be there. I know the book is written for teens, but in a public setting teens aren't always the most mature when it comes to topics like sex.
Warnings: drugs (weed, cigarettes, drinking), sex (graphic descriptions of sex, sex in a public place, orgasms, masturbation, unprotected sex, mention of sex dolls, vibrator given as a gift), R&R (love is conditional, miscarriages, planned parenthood, description of pap smear appointment, sexually active teens, realities of animal shelters and euthanizing dogs, premature birth, pessimistic outlook on life and love, gaslighting, mentions of cheating, first period, teenage pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, graphic descriptions of medically-induced abortion, supplying minor with alcohol), language (mild swearing, derogatory terms used as insults), violence (mythological stories of men torturing and killing women, abortion, torture museums in Italy, mentions of physical abuse, an allusion to rape)
I am a bit on the fence on if this book should be taught in schools. The author does a great job of being sensitive about certain topics while still emphasizing their importance and the need for them to be addressed. What concerns me is if the maturity level will be there. I know the book is written for teens, but in a public setting teens aren't always the most mature when it comes to topics like sex.
Warnings: drugs (weed, cigarettes, drinking), sex (graphic descriptions of sex, sex in a public place, orgasms, masturbation, unprotected sex, mention of sex dolls, vibrator given as a gift), R&R (love is conditional, miscarriages, planned parenthood, description of pap smear appointment, sexually active teens, realities of animal shelters and euthanizing dogs, premature birth, pessimistic outlook on life and love, gaslighting, mentions of cheating, first period, teenage pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, graphic descriptions of medically-induced abortion, supplying minor with alcohol), language (mild swearing, derogatory terms used as insults), violence (mythological stories of men torturing and killing women, abortion, torture museums in Italy, mentions of physical abuse, an allusion to rape)