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rainbow_reader's review against another edition
This is a true diary of a girl who was bullied in middle school and slut-shamed. Let me start with saying that I absolutely support the author's movement. However, I did end up DNF-ing this book. It was just a case of wrong person and wrong time. I do think others, especially those that can relate to the author, can gain a lot from reading this. I, however, just found myself annnoyed at having to look at the world through the perspective of a 13-year old with no insightful adult commentary.
jmmeyer's review against another edition
2.0
This turned into a skimmer. The concept is great, the set is up good, and the stuff in the back is helpful and needed - the execution didn't work for me though. The "adult insights" were not very done. In fact, I wouldn't qualify them as insights, more just random thoughts that sometimes feel unreliable. I commend Emily Lindin for taking on such an important project and think some teens will enjoy this but it's lacking...the powerful insights and wisdom I would hope to share with kids going through similarly horrible situations.
kkschick's review against another edition
5.0
In awe of and grateful to "Emily" for her bravery in sharing these intensely personal diary entries.
cmgonsalves's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
ahhh I want to love this, but I have so many thoughts. First, I think it was an important read. It made me realize exactly how slut-shamey I was in middle school. Seeing Emily present herself as both victim and bully, often at the same time, without making the connection that she was being victimized or in turn victimizing others, made me reflect on a lot, and for that I'm grateful. However, parts of this book simply don't sit well with me. Older Emily interjects a lot to expand on the diary entries, which doesn't typically bother me, but some of her comments are too harsh. She calls her eleven/twelve year old self dramatic for (kind of spoiler but not really because this is mentioned in the intro) for self harming as a result of bullying and sexual assault. Older Emily continually makes hateful comments toward her middle school self, claiming that most of what she did was for attention. This book certainly gave me a lot to think about.
ahhh I want to love this, but I have so many thoughts. First, I think it was an important read. It made me realize exactly how slut-shamey I was in middle school. Seeing Emily present herself as both victim and bully, often at the same time, without making the connection that she was being victimized or in turn victimizing others, made me reflect on a lot, and for that I'm grateful. However, parts of this book simply don't sit well with me. Older Emily interjects a lot to expand on the diary entries, which doesn't typically bother me, but some of her comments are too harsh. She calls her eleven/twelve year old self dramatic for (kind of spoiler but not really because this is mentioned in the intro) for self harming as a result of bullying and sexual assault. Older Emily continually makes hateful comments toward her middle school self, claiming that most of what she did was for attention. This book certainly gave me a lot to think about.
infiniteviolette's review against another edition
4.0
This book rang SO close to home for me. It reminded me of how awful being Middle School-age was. At times it got a bit repetitive but the author's commentary on her entries kept things in perspective. I breezed through this one.
mcallima's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this book is powerful. The idea of combating the culture of victim blaming and slut shaming with a "real world" example and now looking back with experience and hindsight to provide narrative is fantastic. I just think it fell short. The "insights" provided were lacking for me. This was an opportunity to provide powerful and meaningful insight and guidance to young women going through this today, and it was more a narrative of favorite beverages and left me disappointed. To me it showed a lack of maturity.
An example of this is when her boyfriend at the time hinted at sending naked pictures. This is before the time of texting, but in the commentary, she touches on this topic briefly- but only today it's before widespread texting and social media. I felt this was a great opportunity to discuss the ramifications of sending nude photos. While there may be a time a place for it, it's certainly not 11 years old with a boy you really don't know. It was a great opportunity to talk about trust in romantic relationships, and maturity. I felt several times, that the commentary was a let down and opportunities were missed.
Another example is the issue of self harm. While she discusses her own experience with self harm to some degree, I think it would be helpful for readers, especially young women, to know how she overcame that. I feel like another opportunity was missed to speak about healing and the process for overcoming that. For a young woman who might be in the middle of a similar situation, I think it would be beneficial and hopeful to hear that it is possible to overcome.
I did appreciate that in speaking of suicide she acknowledge that at 11-13 years old, she didn't really understand what a permanent solution that is to temporary problems. I think when you're in middle school and self-centered developmentally speaking, you can't see any other solutions. But as you gain experience and self confidence, you can see that things do get better.
An example of this is when her boyfriend at the time hinted at sending naked pictures. This is before the time of texting, but in the commentary, she touches on this topic briefly- but only today it's before widespread texting and social media. I felt this was a great opportunity to discuss the ramifications of sending nude photos. While there may be a time a place for it, it's certainly not 11 years old with a boy you really don't know. It was a great opportunity to talk about trust in romantic relationships, and maturity. I felt several times, that the commentary was a let down and opportunities were missed.
Another example is the issue of self harm. While she discusses her own experience with self harm to some degree, I think it would be helpful for readers, especially young women, to know how she overcame that. I feel like another opportunity was missed to speak about healing and the process for overcoming that. For a young woman who might be in the middle of a similar situation, I think it would be beneficial and hopeful to hear that it is possible to overcome.
I did appreciate that in speaking of suicide she acknowledge that at 11-13 years old, she didn't really understand what a permanent solution that is to temporary problems. I think when you're in middle school and self-centered developmentally speaking, you can't see any other solutions. But as you gain experience and self confidence, you can see that things do get better.
beorn_101's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really, really interesting. It was compelling to see the thoughts of a 6-8th grader, and have their adult self give context, insight, and embarrassed recognition of pit falls during those years.
The diary hit on so many various concepts, all of which were important and illuminating. The main perspective the author takes is examining the role of slut shaming, which was compelling and tragic. I think we can all remember similar events happening during our teen and pre-teen years. Lindin does an excellent job highlighting how the line between bully and bullied, "slut" and slut shamer are fluid and bounce back and forth, and often people end up being both.
Perhaps most compelling to me was the argument that this sort of an environment existed long before the prevalence of social media.
I also think this diary highlights how mentally and emotionally exhausting the years of puberty are. I work with teens, and this certainly reminded me how much they bounce between emotional extremes.
I also found it extremely compelling how underhandedly homophobic and discriminatory the language and concepts were for these early teens. This is something I myself distinctly remember from middle and high school. Lindin does an amazing job not shying away from her own participation in this language use, but instead highlighting it, mentioning how cringe worthy it is.
I think this book is a must read for anyone who works with teens, finds teen issues interesting, or is wondering how to address issues of sexism and sexual bullying in schools. Well written, great analysis!
The diary hit on so many various concepts, all of which were important and illuminating. The main perspective the author takes is examining the role of slut shaming, which was compelling and tragic. I think we can all remember similar events happening during our teen and pre-teen years. Lindin does an excellent job highlighting how the line between bully and bullied, "slut" and slut shamer are fluid and bounce back and forth, and often people end up being both.
Perhaps most compelling to me was the argument that this sort of an environment existed long before the prevalence of social media.
I also think this diary highlights how mentally and emotionally exhausting the years of puberty are. I work with teens, and this certainly reminded me how much they bounce between emotional extremes.
I also found it extremely compelling how underhandedly homophobic and discriminatory the language and concepts were for these early teens. This is something I myself distinctly remember from middle and high school. Lindin does an amazing job not shying away from her own participation in this language use, but instead highlighting it, mentioning how cringe worthy it is.
I think this book is a must read for anyone who works with teens, finds teen issues interesting, or is wondering how to address issues of sexism and sexual bullying in schools. Well written, great analysis!
josiecelena's review against another edition
2.0
This book was really interesting! it's the diary of a middle school girl who is slut shamed by her peers, annotated by her adult self. It was thought provoking and made me think back on my own experiences with slut shaming, either when it was done to me or through believing rumors about other girls in my grade.
plenilunix's review against another edition
3.0
This book should be required reading for teens. It did bore me a bit, but once I was half way through, I really wanted to finish it, just to confirm what I had already imagined would happen. It did. This is, after all, the journal of a teen, only with amazing footnotes! The author makes very good points, though.
dannafs's review
2.0
I wanted to love Emily Lindin's Unslut, but couldn't. The concept is fabulous and bold; it takes courage to put your diaries out in the world, let alone tween diaries.
My middle school experience was filled with much of the same as Emily's: the long phone calls, friends asking friends out, being labeled a slut based on a developed body rather than behavior.
Why I couldn't finish: the running commentary is distracting and not always beneficial to the reading. I found it hard to keep reading because of the chronic footnotes. I left it for a few days with the hope that coming back to it would help me jump back in, but alas, it made me less committed to finishing than previously.
My middle school experience was filled with much of the same as Emily's: the long phone calls, friends asking friends out, being labeled a slut based on a developed body rather than behavior.
Why I couldn't finish: the running commentary is distracting and not always beneficial to the reading. I found it hard to keep reading because of the chronic footnotes. I left it for a few days with the hope that coming back to it would help me jump back in, but alas, it made me less committed to finishing than previously.