Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

26 reviews

kmacdo23's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

8675309mp's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

americattt's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

Felt so very personal and yet so encompassing of feelings and experiences I’m sure every girl has lived.

“What is a sea storm as a child? How does an earthquake begin to know itself? That first rumble you hear and think: me. Our power may be innate, but we learn its meaning from others. No one is born knowing the difference between a sea god and a sea monster. What if no one told you that you were a Hecatoncheire? ”
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

joensign's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

madelinedalton's review

Go to review page

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0

Like most essay collections, some essays were phenomenal and some were just okay. Unfortunately, I found the first and last essays to be underwhelming, which is a bit of a bummer. That said, “Thank You for Taking Care of Yourself” was SO profound that I have to give this 4 stars. 

I went into this book expecting a lot of essays that are broadly relatable to women. Instead, I got essays that were about one woman’s very interesting life that were sometimes applicable to the things we all go through. This is not at all a bad thing! I think I just felt a bit let down by the book because it wasn’t what I was hoping to read, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad writing choice at all. Melissa Febos has really interesting and powerful stories to share. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

meaglovesbooks's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carriepond's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Girlhood by Melissa Febos is an essay collection about growing up in a female body that I picked up after reading two essay collections where Febos's essays were among my favorites. I am so glad I did because I consider this essay collection a must-read. 

Reading these essays was cathartic and made me feel seen deeply-- there were so many times that Febos articulated an experience or feeling that I had so perfectly that it was as if she had pulled it from deep within me and then voiced it better than I ever could. The pages of my copy are full of underlining, of sentiments that resonated, or were beautifully put, or that I wanted to return to again. I will be thinking about my favorite essays, "The Mirror Test," "Thesmorphia," and "Thank You for Taking Care of Yourself," for a long time, but the entire collection is truly wonderful.

I highly recommend this book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

avasbookmark's review

Go to review page

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

3.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

snowiceblackfruit77's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bashsbooks's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.5

A great collection of essays on Being (Perceived As) A Woman Under Patriarchy and all the fucky wucky stuff that comes along with that. A little more binary than what I usually prefer, but Febos' level of nuance makes up for the generalizations. The tagline on my copy of the book suggests that it's a good read for women of all kinds - mothers, daughters, sisters - but I think men would benefit a lot by reading it as well.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings