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36 reviews for:
Undiscovered Gyrl: The Novel That Inspired the Movie Ask Me Anything
Allison Burnett
3.64 AVERAGE
36 reviews for:
Undiscovered Gyrl: The Novel That Inspired the Movie Ask Me Anything
Allison Burnett
3.64 AVERAGE
'Ask Me Anything' was on tv not long ago, and I found myself watching the whole thing. After finishing the movie, I bought the book. Color me pleasantly surprised.
Allison Burnett does a really fantastic job writing this angsty, teenage girl. Let's be real- the character of Katie is hopelessly selfish and nearly impossible to really and truly care about. That said, reading this book was kind of like being a fly on the wall watching someone self destruct and it is a hell of a ride. Burnett manages to capture the vibe and language of your basic teenage girl on the verge of entering into adulthood, but she does it in a way that isn't pretentious or completely unbelievable like many other teenage girls are written. She's not well spoken, witty, or articulate. She isn't particularly intelligent. None of these are necessarily negative traits, they're just more realistic and more on par with real life.
I really like the blog entry style of the book, and Burnett does a good job of weaving characters in and out.
Allison Burnett does a really fantastic job writing this angsty, teenage girl. Let's be real- the character of Katie is hopelessly selfish and nearly impossible to really and truly care about. That said, reading this book was kind of like being a fly on the wall watching someone self destruct and it is a hell of a ride. Burnett manages to capture the vibe and language of your basic teenage girl on the verge of entering into adulthood, but she does it in a way that isn't pretentious or completely unbelievable like many other teenage girls are written. She's not well spoken, witty, or articulate. She isn't particularly intelligent. None of these are necessarily negative traits, they're just more realistic and more on par with real life.
I really like the blog entry style of the book, and Burnett does a good job of weaving characters in and out.
This is a quick and easy read that I felt almost guilty about reading. The main character is a self-absorbed teenagers (we can all relate, even if we don't want to admit it) that can justify even her worst behavior. She writes this blog of her exploits that are bad but by no means the worst we have read. I was completely engaged in her story, it was easy to be, she was so self-destructive without being tragic. And then the end. I can't tell you but in the final 10 pages everything changes and I looked at the book in an entirely different way. This book gave me such food for thought as a parent of teens in the age of electronic communication. How do we know what is real or imagined? Or who is reading and playing a role in the real life drama? This book is much more than I originally gave it credit for. Read it.
About 1/4 of the way through this, I was becoming frustrated. It felt like there was so much possibility and promise that was remaining untapped. I would find segments of this brilliant, and then I would become so overwhelmingly annoyed at Katie, or something in the narrative, that I'd nearly put it down.
...but then there was the one line that sucked me into the story completely. "Only on the Internet can you be lonely and popular." I understood it.
When you've finished the book, and you're staring at the last words on the last page, thinking, "No, wait, that can't be it, can it?" remember that, and remember how starving and desperate for attention Katie is. It all makes sense, and it makes everything in this book mean so much more.
She's playing to an audience, and she knows it, and she knows her readers know it, too. When she reveals, early on, that she changed some of the details to protect herself, you have to stop and think about what she is telling us. By the end, there's so much unraveling. She wanted to give her blog readers a happy ending for her, because she knew, for some reason, she wouldn't have one of her own.
It's easy to think that she's a terrible person, and what a crappy narrator and "ew, she has sex with all these men," but look beyond what's immediately apparent. It'll make the reading experience even better.
...but then there was the one line that sucked me into the story completely. "Only on the Internet can you be lonely and popular." I understood it.
When you've finished the book, and you're staring at the last words on the last page, thinking, "No, wait, that can't be it, can it?" remember that, and remember how starving and desperate for attention Katie is. It all makes sense, and it makes everything in this book mean so much more.
She's playing to an audience, and she knows it, and she knows her readers know it, too. When she reveals, early on, that she changed some of the details to protect herself, you have to stop and think about what she is telling us. By the end, there's so much unraveling. She wanted to give her blog readers a happy ending for her, because she knew, for some reason, she wouldn't have one of her own.
It's easy to think that she's a terrible person, and what a crappy narrator and "ew, she has sex with all these men," but look beyond what's immediately apparent. It'll make the reading experience even better.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol
oh good golly gosh. this may be the first book i give up on. it's forcing me to make faces of disgust on public transit. so far it's not quite rivaling the terrible movie I watched last night (THE KATE LOGAN AFFAIR, avoid at all costs), but it's getting close.
Alright, I gave up. My first book ever. Perhaps I'm giving up too soon, as many of the reviews I have read are quite good. I refuse to go back to it though. I will give it this much... it does a great job of mimicking a teenage blog. Is that really a compliment though? I guess as it was the objective, it is a compliment, but I think that's part of the reason I gave up on it. I can't even stand reading my own blog from when I was a teenager, let alone someone far more spoiled, lazy and conceited. (not to say that i didn't have my moments) I found it hard to relate or like anything about the main character, so how do you push forward and read the inner thoughts of a character you despise?
The answer... you don't.
Alright, I gave up. My first book ever. Perhaps I'm giving up too soon, as many of the reviews I have read are quite good. I refuse to go back to it though. I will give it this much... it does a great job of mimicking a teenage blog. Is that really a compliment though? I guess as it was the objective, it is a compliment, but I think that's part of the reason I gave up on it. I can't even stand reading my own blog from when I was a teenager, let alone someone far more spoiled, lazy and conceited. (not to say that i didn't have my moments) I found it hard to relate or like anything about the main character, so how do you push forward and read the inner thoughts of a character you despise?
The answer... you don't.
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I got this from ShelfAwareness. It was an easy read - breezed through it in a day. I understand that the movie rights have already been sold & they are making a movie of this with Miley Cyrus in the lead role which seems appropriate.
This is a series of blog entries which on the surface sounds like it might be something different & cool, but in reality reads just like any other book done in diary form. The story is pretty basic & the characters are fairly stereotypical. I didn't really find anything surprising or disturbing about this book - it all seemed pretty predictable to me with behavior that felt about normal for teenagers at the end of or just outside of high school. Maybe I ran with a fast crowd.
In any event, I think this has been done before & better. I kept thinking of [b:Go Ask Alice|46799|Go Ask Alice|Beatrice Sparks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170343599s/46799.jpg|2115708] (which ran through my middle school like a bad case of food poisoning) or the more recent [b:Beauty Queen|283316|Beauty Queen|Linda Glovach|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173404007s/283316.jpg|274847]. Both of these are filled with teen angst, disaffection, disillusion, & confusion combined with risky behavior & poor decisions in both the life & sexual arenas. This seemed like the PG-rated version of these two books & wasn't as well-written.
Ultimately, I wanted this book to be more transgressive than it was so it gets a mildly entertaining but not much to it review from me.
This is a series of blog entries which on the surface sounds like it might be something different & cool, but in reality reads just like any other book done in diary form. The story is pretty basic & the characters are fairly stereotypical. I didn't really find anything surprising or disturbing about this book - it all seemed pretty predictable to me with behavior that felt about normal for teenagers at the end of or just outside of high school. Maybe I ran with a fast crowd.
In any event, I think this has been done before & better. I kept thinking of [b:Go Ask Alice|46799|Go Ask Alice|Beatrice Sparks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170343599s/46799.jpg|2115708] (which ran through my middle school like a bad case of food poisoning) or the more recent [b:Beauty Queen|283316|Beauty Queen|Linda Glovach|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173404007s/283316.jpg|274847]. Both of these are filled with teen angst, disaffection, disillusion, & confusion combined with risky behavior & poor decisions in both the life & sexual arenas. This seemed like the PG-rated version of these two books & wasn't as well-written.
Ultimately, I wanted this book to be more transgressive than it was so it gets a mildly entertaining but not much to it review from me.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite having seen the film before reading the book, it was a joy to get to know the main character on a deeper level and re-experience her relationships with the supporting characters. The writing style of a 2007 teenager was believable and so immersive.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
The ending makes you question everything that happened prior. What a fantastic read and commentary on internet culture. You can never really tell who is on the other side of that screen.
Undiscovered Gyrl - RESEÑA
Si seguís nuestro Instagram, puede que sepáis que elegí este libro como mi favorito de 2020 y ahora voy a (intentar) explicar por qué.
Esta es una de esas historias que no parece nada del otro mundo, pero que cuanto más lees más te envuelve (es como ver un accidente de coche y saber que está pasando algo malo pero no poder apartar la mirada, para que me entendáis).
Conocí este libro porque vi la película con Britt Robertson. No me gustó demasiado pero seguí viéndola y fue una decisión inteligente, porque el final me dejó MUY INTRIGADA. Y luego me enteré de que había un libro y claro… ¡tenía que leerlo! Y aunque tardé un poco en conseguir el libro, mereció la pena.
A través de entradas en un blog vamos conociendo a Katie Kampenfelt (que no es su verdadero nombre), que se ha tomado un año sabático y nos relata sus salidas con su amiga Jade, sus peleas con su madre, con su padre, con su novio, su lío con un profesor universitario o su trabajo en una librería (con un jefe con antecedentes). Todo es bastante caótico y frenético (la chica es un desastre andante, para que nos vamos a engañar, pero por eso precisamente es interesante) en comparación con la perfección de los Spooner, la familia para la que hace de canguro (familia que quizás no es tan perfecta como la hace parecer).
El final me parece lo mejor del libro, sin lugar a duda. No quiero hacer spoiler, pero ya desde el principio nos dicen que “Katie” ha cambiado detalles para que no la reconozca ningún conocido. ¿Pero hasta qué punto se ha distorsionado la realidad? Solo tenemos su versión de los hechos, así que es difícil saber las cosas que son verdad y las que son mentira.
En definitiva, es una historia sin grandes giros dramáticos, simple y plana, sobre una chica que tiene o que crea muchos problemas allá por donde pasa. Pero hay bastantes sorpresas y salseos (sobre todo al final) y por eso no puedes dejar de leerlo. Y cuando llegas al final te quedas con ganas de más.
Hay un segundo libro que me muero por leer porque espero que me aclare alguna cosa que quedó abierta, pero a saber cuándo puedo leerlo… Mientras tanto seguiré recordando lo muuucho que me gusta este primer libro.
-Ali
Si seguís nuestro Instagram, puede que sepáis que elegí este libro como mi favorito de 2020 y ahora voy a (intentar) explicar por qué.
Esta es una de esas historias que no parece nada del otro mundo, pero que cuanto más lees más te envuelve (es como ver un accidente de coche y saber que está pasando algo malo pero no poder apartar la mirada, para que me entendáis).
Conocí este libro porque vi la película con Britt Robertson. No me gustó demasiado pero seguí viéndola y fue una decisión inteligente, porque el final me dejó MUY INTRIGADA. Y luego me enteré de que había un libro y claro… ¡tenía que leerlo! Y aunque tardé un poco en conseguir el libro, mereció la pena.
A través de entradas en un blog vamos conociendo a Katie Kampenfelt (que no es su verdadero nombre), que se ha tomado un año sabático y nos relata sus salidas con su amiga Jade, sus peleas con su madre, con su padre, con su novio, su lío con un profesor universitario o su trabajo en una librería (con un jefe con antecedentes). Todo es bastante caótico y frenético (la chica es un desastre andante, para que nos vamos a engañar, pero por eso precisamente es interesante) en comparación con la perfección de los Spooner, la familia para la que hace de canguro (familia que quizás no es tan perfecta como la hace parecer).
El final me parece lo mejor del libro, sin lugar a duda. No quiero hacer spoiler, pero ya desde el principio nos dicen que “Katie” ha cambiado detalles para que no la reconozca ningún conocido. ¿Pero hasta qué punto se ha distorsionado la realidad? Solo tenemos su versión de los hechos, así que es difícil saber las cosas que son verdad y las que son mentira.
En definitiva, es una historia sin grandes giros dramáticos, simple y plana, sobre una chica que tiene o que crea muchos problemas allá por donde pasa. Pero hay bastantes sorpresas y salseos (sobre todo al final) y por eso no puedes dejar de leerlo. Y cuando llegas al final te quedas con ganas de más.
Hay un segundo libro que me muero por leer porque espero que me aclare alguna cosa que quedó abierta, pero a saber cuándo puedo leerlo… Mientras tanto seguiré recordando lo muuucho que me gusta este primer libro.
-Ali