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jang's review
4.0
Visceral, unforgiving and unflinchingly raw in its manifestation of what broken, young girls go through.
I know why feminists are very rabid about their views regarding the characterization of the main character. Her being possessive towards her boyfriend is bordering on obsession but I'm pretty sure there isn't a single female soul who read this book that hasn't at least related or went back to that time in their not-quite-ripe, adolescent life. We all have gone through that.
The decision she made towards the end, FOR ME, redeemed her character. She did what could be the best decision for her and for everyone around her.
This book is painful yet very enlightening. I'm sure most girls who read this shed a few tears just looking back to all those times when you thought confusion has become a permanent fixture in your life, and when you felt like there's just no way out.
I know why feminists are very rabid about their views regarding the characterization of the main character. Her being possessive towards her boyfriend is bordering on obsession but I'm pretty sure there isn't a single female soul who read this book that hasn't at least related or went back to that time in their not-quite-ripe, adolescent life. We all have gone through that.
The decision she made towards the end, FOR ME, redeemed her character. She did what could be the best decision for her and for everyone around her.
This book is painful yet very enlightening. I'm sure most girls who read this shed a few tears just looking back to all those times when you thought confusion has become a permanent fixture in your life, and when you felt like there's just no way out.
cgreens's review
2.0
Eh, this reads more like a series of young adult magazine articles than a novel. Like even the very positive reviews mention, Nina "explains" a lot of important things, but her explanations are more like essays, going through clinical step-by-steps, basically like rewriting a Wikipedia article on a topic "in your own words" for a school assignment. Both this and the book I read right before, I Stop Somewhere, center on the topic of what it means to be a girl and even both mention and ruminate on the "sugar and spice" nursery rhyme. For me that book springs to life and stays with me much more than this one. Nina comes off as a very obvious empty vessel for the topics the author wanted to write about in clinical detail. I agree with the review that says this is a great book for younger girls who want to feel like they're reading about topics they're not supposed to, so maybe this is true Young Adult Fiction and not at all enjoyable for adults reading YA.
courtneyleeeann114's review
4.0
“As long as there have been women,” mom told me, “there have been ways to punish them for being women.”
Here’s the thing. Nina is not a likable character and that’s okay. She’s real. She is perhaps the most honest female character I’ve ever come across in a book portraying how it feels to be a teenage girl. So, yeah, that means that she made bad decisions and was codependent. That she was needy and selfish. She was weak and dramatic. But, weren’t we all? I found myself relating to Nina throughout so many parts of her narrative—though honestly, I wish I didn’t in some instances. However, It is through this honest portrayal that the message is able to shine so brightly—we are not a sum of our bad decisions and weaknesses; we get to become so much more. Girls are made of so much more than their ability to be sexy and visually appealing. They are so much more than objects to be gawked at and played with. Girls are messy and brave. They are broken and beautiful. They are selfish and compassionate. They are fearless and determined. They are whoever the hell they want to be, conditions need not apply, and it’s time we realized that. There aren’t conditions for which they should be loved. They are not to be owned, but rather should own themselves for who and what they are. This book, in telling Nina’s story both very explicitly and subtly, but very poignantly portrayed that message. That girls are made of so much more than they believe.
Here’s the thing. Nina is not a likable character and that’s okay. She’s real. She is perhaps the most honest female character I’ve ever come across in a book portraying how it feels to be a teenage girl. So, yeah, that means that she made bad decisions and was codependent. That she was needy and selfish. She was weak and dramatic. But, weren’t we all? I found myself relating to Nina throughout so many parts of her narrative—though honestly, I wish I didn’t in some instances. However, It is through this honest portrayal that the message is able to shine so brightly—we are not a sum of our bad decisions and weaknesses; we get to become so much more. Girls are made of so much more than their ability to be sexy and visually appealing. They are so much more than objects to be gawked at and played with. Girls are messy and brave. They are broken and beautiful. They are selfish and compassionate. They are fearless and determined. They are whoever the hell they want to be, conditions need not apply, and it’s time we realized that. There aren’t conditions for which they should be loved. They are not to be owned, but rather should own themselves for who and what they are. This book, in telling Nina’s story both very explicitly and subtly, but very poignantly portrayed that message. That girls are made of so much more than they believe.
brittanycope1307's review
Nothing too interesting. Just simple everyday girly stuff happening. Nothing dramatic.
tissas1's review
4.0
I checked this book out of the library as a blind date with a book thing they had going on for Valentine’s Day and let’s just say, this book is not what I expected it to be. That’s not a bad thing though. Some of the things in this book are things that I’m not used to reading about in YA fiction and it kind of took me by surprise. But it was real and it was raw and I loved how the author just laid it all out for the reader.
piperhudsburn's review
4.0
"Our girls are both the platter and the meal, and we eat them up--we eat their meat, we lap up their sweetness, we covet and control and consume.”
Last year, I had to write a long paper on the plays of Hrosvitha and depictions of saints and holy woman in the 10th Century. It was so interesting to see how women were viewed during that time. In What Girls Are Made Of, through redrawn tales about female saints and body parts, we learn not much has changed.
The main character- Nina Faye- is a thinker. She thinks hard on the nature of love and death, her parents' relationship, and her place- as a woman in the world. While the plot of the story was easy to follow, it was her observations that kept me reading. I have seen people describe this book as gross or discomforting and I admit I disagree. Nina's thoughts are personal yet very common. Her experiences with abortion, sex, and affection were realistic and thought provoking.
“That's who unconditional love is for - dogs and their masters, fools and their gods.”
In the past view years it has been "on trend" to write about "dangerous" teenage girls who are unafraid to explore their sexuality, rebel against their suburban town's established order, and piss off their superiors. I appreciated how Nina's revolution was more subtle here. Instead of changing her world, she changes her mind, and readers will fair better for it.
While the book is far too short, it is still an interesting discussion on the pros and cons of growing up in California, hagiography, and the choice to have an abortion. I look forward to more books by Arnold in the future.
edenjson's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a quotable and thought provoking book. I didn't know what I was expecting when I picked this up at work but holy cow was it completely different and surpassed my expectations.
melindagallagher's review
4.0
This book is for MATURE AUDIENCES only! The book has a powerful message for girls, but it is full of descriptive scenes of sex, oral sex, orgasms, etc. Nina is 16 and thinks she is in love with Seth, thinks that she has to have a boyfriend, and thinks that she has to have sex with him to keep him. She has a very strange view of Virgin Martyr Saints after a trip to Italy and a very dysfunctional relationship with her parents. She believes her mother when she tells her that there is no such thing as unconditional love - that anyone can stop loving her at any time. It really is a sad realization for many young ladies that they think they need a boyfriend and that they have to make decisions that they are not ready to make. Be careful with this one, but it is the right book for some students.