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A review by hshipl
PG by Courtney Summers
4.0
3.5 stars rounded to 4***
“And Norah knows the reason why she likes to play: she loves standing victorious at the end of the day because it’s a beautiful act of defiance, owning her body.”
“That made her want to dress to code just to escape it until she made a promise to herself: she couldn’t under any circumstance let the old man win.”
i am not one to put short stories on here, mainly because i feel like it is “cheating” in terms of my reading challenge. but i really enjoyed this story and honestly... i just wanted to have 30 books completed on my reading challenge, it’s more satisfying than 29 (i realize that i JUST said that i consider that “cheating.”)
as a girl at the same age as the protagonist, this short story made me feel all kinds of different things. now, i don’t necessarily participate in stuff that the main character does, (i think the fact that i have the app goodreads on my phone says enough), but everything is so realistic for people my age. during your teenage years you start experimenting, especially during your earlier ones. people will change themselves for romantic attention. now what does this cause? misogyny. and creepy men.
misogyny— this is literally shown throughout the entire story that i am willing to bet money that if you read only a few paragraphs you’d know it. like, the whole “The boys are walking uniform infractions, their shirts perpetually untucked and unbuttoned, ties loose around their necks.” and then if the girls show one inch too much of skin: OH NO!! they must be punished!!!!!
creepy men— mr. arbor is probably a registered sex offender, let’s just be honest here.
bottom line:
- if you identify as a woman, you’ll relate to this short story one way or another.
- if you’re in need of a book to finish your reading challenge, here’s one. it takes minutes to read and is enjoyable.
“And Norah knows the reason why she likes to play: she loves standing victorious at the end of the day because it’s a beautiful act of defiance, owning her body.”
“That made her want to dress to code just to escape it until she made a promise to herself: she couldn’t under any circumstance let the old man win.”
i am not one to put short stories on here, mainly because i feel like it is “cheating” in terms of my reading challenge. but i really enjoyed this story and honestly... i just wanted to have 30 books completed on my reading challenge, it’s more satisfying than 29 (i realize that i JUST said that i consider that “cheating.”)
as a girl at the same age as the protagonist, this short story made me feel all kinds of different things. now, i don’t necessarily participate in stuff that the main character does, (i think the fact that i have the app goodreads on my phone says enough), but everything is so realistic for people my age. during your teenage years you start experimenting, especially during your earlier ones. people will change themselves for romantic attention. now what does this cause? misogyny. and creepy men.
misogyny— this is literally shown throughout the entire story that i am willing to bet money that if you read only a few paragraphs you’d know it. like, the whole “The boys are walking uniform infractions, their shirts perpetually untucked and unbuttoned, ties loose around their necks.” and then if the girls show one inch too much of skin: OH NO!! they must be punished!!!!!
creepy men— mr. arbor is probably a registered sex offender, let’s just be honest here.
bottom line:
- if you identify as a woman, you’ll relate to this short story one way or another.
- if you’re in need of a book to finish your reading challenge, here’s one. it takes minutes to read and is enjoyable.