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jesikasbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Slug - the blend of personal reflections/essays and poetry works brilliantly. Hollie has a very powerful and articulate voice and it is wonderful to spend time feeling luke you're both learning from her and having a chat with her.
I messaged my friends about so, so many parts of this book - from polling our WhatsApp chat on what we were taught to call our vulva to messaging a friend with some absolutely beautiful information about the DNA of a child remaining in the mother's body.
I'm not a mum, so the motherhood elements were ones I could appreciate not powerfully feel, but all the sections that I could powerfully feel were ones that made me sit back and really reflect on my life.
A beautiful and very needed book.
I messaged my friends about so, so many parts of this book - from polling our WhatsApp chat on what we were taught to call our vulva to messaging a friend with some absolutely beautiful information about the DNA of a child remaining in the mother's body.
I'm not a mum, so the motherhood elements were ones I could appreciate not powerfully feel, but all the sections that I could powerfully feel were ones that made me sit back and really reflect on my life.
A beautiful and very needed book.
clomble's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lizzy_balmain's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
bookish_spoonie's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
3.5 Stars
I read Hollie's previous book Slug and rated it 4 Stars, so was excited to read Lobster and read more of her interesting thoughts and quirky poems. Although I did love many aspects of this book, for me it was quite mixed and some sections I didn't really enjoy at all and then others I absolutely loved.
I think the final quarter of the book was generally my favourite part when Hollie is discussing friends and motherhood. For me, her way of thinking, discussing and then writing these subjects into poems is brilliant and I loved many parts of this book thanks to her intelligence and no nonsense ways of discussing things that matter.
I also love the sections where Hollie is fighting against beliefs or stigma about sex and the female body in general. In many of these paragraphs I was mentally cheering her on and loving her bravery when it comes to speaking out on such subjects. For instance, why can't people just say Vulva?! Why do they say "down there" or "lady bits"?! Hollie always hits the nail on the head in subjects like this.
On the other hand I am afraid there were quite a few chapters that I just didn't gel with or really enjoy. I found the chapter Motherland to be a little repetitive and wasn't a huge fan of its contents. Then in other chapters is was random sections that I just didn't find as interesting or funny as Hollie's usual work.
Overall, an interesting, emotional and funny book generally filled with prose and poetry that really makes you think and often smile and laugh. It wasn't my favourite book by Hollie but I still recommend it as I think different people will enjoy different parts and that is the joy in books like this, noone will take away the same response.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read Hollie's previous book Slug and rated it 4 Stars, so was excited to read Lobster and read more of her interesting thoughts and quirky poems. Although I did love many aspects of this book, for me it was quite mixed and some sections I didn't really enjoy at all and then others I absolutely loved.
I think the final quarter of the book was generally my favourite part when Hollie is discussing friends and motherhood. For me, her way of thinking, discussing and then writing these subjects into poems is brilliant and I loved many parts of this book thanks to her intelligence and no nonsense ways of discussing things that matter.
I also love the sections where Hollie is fighting against beliefs or stigma about sex and the female body in general. In many of these paragraphs I was mentally cheering her on and loving her bravery when it comes to speaking out on such subjects. For instance, why can't people just say Vulva?! Why do they say "down there" or "lady bits"?! Hollie always hits the nail on the head in subjects like this.
On the other hand I am afraid there were quite a few chapters that I just didn't gel with or really enjoy. I found the chapter Motherland to be a little repetitive and wasn't a huge fan of its contents. Then in other chapters is was random sections that I just didn't find as interesting or funny as Hollie's usual work.
Overall, an interesting, emotional and funny book generally filled with prose and poetry that really makes you think and often smile and laugh. It wasn't my favourite book by Hollie but I still recommend it as I think different people will enjoy different parts and that is the joy in books like this, noone will take away the same response.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.