Reviews - Rules for Being a Girl

632 reviews for:

Rules for Being a Girl

Katie Cotugno, Candace Bushnell

4.0 AVERAGE

emp15's review

3.75

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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: No

leah_ruth's review against another edition

4.25

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

nike13's review against another edition

3.0

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

allzen_nochill's review

4.0

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Honestly really really enjoyed this one. I love watching a character's coming-to-reality moments and boy did Marin deliver. This gives me hope for other young women's feminist awakenings, because this character found things that I didn't find until college. Also loved Gray as a template for "How to Not Be A Shirty White Guy," bros, take note. This book deals with difficult subject matter in a way that is so compassionate, I really hope we get more works like this.

sommer's review against another edition

3.75

hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

sommer's review

3.75

hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense 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: No

Content Warnings

salixa's review against another edition

3.0

Rules for Being a Girl takes a little while to sink into. It was very barebones at the beginning in a way that made it so that characters and relationships weren't fully fleshed out. If you push past that (roughly the first quarter) the book settles into its style and story.

We follow Marin as she navigates her last year of high school, her advanced classes, extracurriculars, her boyfriend and then, being kissed by a teacher. She struggles with what to do, her rage and confusion and doubt. It affects a number of her personal relationships (which have been better defined by now) and her schoolwork.

Marin then decides to do something about it, a number of somethings, many of which blow up in her face but along the way she becomes a more informed woman, more confident of herself and her place in the world. Things don't finish up the way she had hoped, due to said to teacher being a scumbag, but she comes out the other end knowing she's done the right thing. Including having helped a number of other girls who have been preyed on by the same teacher feel confident in coming forward.

The great things this book does include:
- not shying away from the fact that reporting sexual assault will have repercussions
- gets our protagonist to investigate her own feelings about the world around her, including her own internalised misogyny
- gets our protagonist to realise the sexism of the world around her
- doesn't pretend the outcome will be golden and rosy
- but does say that being more confident in and of yourself, and being more aware, are valuable lessons

All in all, this would perhaps have been a stronger book in the hands of another writer but the messages it gets across are vital for the time we live in.

reads_a_lot_reads_a_lini's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jing_en's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

3.75

emotional inspiring reflective 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

This book had a lot good things going for it! I really enjoyed the message and Marin's character growth and inner turmoil was also handled really well. I think the simple writing style really makes this book accessible for people of all ages and skill levels and I really enjoyed the commentary and reflection on the expectations society has for girls at Marin's age.

What kept me from giving this book 4 stars was that I felt that a lot of the pop culture references that the author's made during the story were a bit outdated and weren't necessary to the plot at all. I also felt like the end was a bit too neat and tidy, but honestly it doesn't bother me that much since I think we deserve more happy endings anyways. Overall, this was a really good and I would definitely recommend it to people who want to learn more about feminism and the teenage girl experience in high school.

Content Warnings

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