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A review by bobthebookerer
What It Feels Like for a Girl by Paris Lees
4.0
A really bold, punchy, funny and tender memoir that details Paris Lees in her younger days, her growing understanding of her gender and sexuality, and how she manages to skirt trouble, up until she first goes to university.
Paris Lees manages to make her memoir feel like a novel, to the extent that you occasionally snap back into remembering that it is real, and that the woman writing the story not only endured, but survived, everything in its pages.
The most noticeable thing about the book is something that hits you within the first few words- it is all written in accented dialect. In the hands of a less confident writer, it could come off hackneyed and gimmicky, and I was nervous when I first saw it, but Paris Lees uses it as a strength, it carrying a strange and endearing charm throughout the book.
The sections about her burgeoning sexuality and gender identity are powerfully done- she is almost casual at talking about sex work, realising she is a woman and finding herself, and it feels liberating and profound. It almost feels that, if she had written about it in a typical way (somewhat more sentimental or declaratory), it would not have fit. For me, the power of the voice in this book is what drives it to be such a thrilling and thoughtful read.
I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Paris Lees manages to make her memoir feel like a novel, to the extent that you occasionally snap back into remembering that it is real, and that the woman writing the story not only endured, but survived, everything in its pages.
The most noticeable thing about the book is something that hits you within the first few words- it is all written in accented dialect. In the hands of a less confident writer, it could come off hackneyed and gimmicky, and I was nervous when I first saw it, but Paris Lees uses it as a strength, it carrying a strange and endearing charm throughout the book.
The sections about her burgeoning sexuality and gender identity are powerfully done- she is almost casual at talking about sex work, realising she is a woman and finding herself, and it feels liberating and profound. It almost feels that, if she had written about it in a typical way (somewhat more sentimental or declaratory), it would not have fit. For me, the power of the voice in this book is what drives it to be such a thrilling and thoughtful read.
I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.