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sarahbotreads's review
4.0
I liked this collection of essays on women and their relationships with their physical selves - it's interesting to read about how other womens' perceptions of their looks color their lives and their interactions with others.
lanikei's review
2.0
Meh. I need to remember that books of essays mean a lot of weak with a couple of 'huh' thought-provokers, and a couple I can relate to.
I struggle with my interactions with mirrors, I hate them, but I also see sides of myself in a mirror that never seems to be captured in photos. I was curious about other women's "reflections" and how my own feelings compared.
Unfortunately I felt like a lot of the book was pretty people crying about being pretty, or aging after they were pretty. I know that I personally struggle with acknowledging both the privilege and the consequences of beauty, and I can't relate to the problems that pretty girls have. I can conceptually understand the issues, but I can never muster up much sympathy for them. Based on my own hangups, some of the essays annoyed me rather than eliciting the reactions I think they were aiming for.
At any rate, the book tries to offer a wide range of perspectives, though I felt like it got repetitive by the end of the book. It's an interesting idea, but I didn't find any essays to be stellar or compelling, though of course there were highlights.
I struggle with my interactions with mirrors, I hate them, but I also see sides of myself in a mirror that never seems to be captured in photos. I was curious about other women's "reflections" and how my own feelings compared.
Unfortunately I felt like a lot of the book was pretty people crying about being pretty, or aging after they were pretty. I know that I personally struggle with acknowledging both the privilege and the consequences of beauty, and I can't relate to the problems that pretty girls have. I can conceptually understand the issues, but I can never muster up much sympathy for them. Based on my own hangups, some of the essays annoyed me rather than eliciting the reactions I think they were aiming for.
At any rate, the book tries to offer a wide range of perspectives, though I felt like it got repetitive by the end of the book. It's an interesting idea, but I didn't find any essays to be stellar or compelling, though of course there were highlights.
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