A review by heylancie
Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson

2.0

This review features spoilers!!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ R E V I E W
< P O S I T I V E S > :
○ I like that Magda concluded her appearance does not equate to her having to tolerate sexual assault.
○ I think this book was very graphic and in-depth of the mindset of disordered eating, extreme fatness and thinness, which gives readers a raw insight.
○ Zoë thinking everyone was 'conspiring' against her was very realistic.
○ I weirdly found Ellie finding out her art teacher was pregnant, and then Ellie's stepmother thinking Ellie was pregnant amusing(?).
○ I think Ellie's weight never being directly stated was intentional - and a good move! It means no-one reading who has a eating disorder will compare themselves to her in terms of numbers.

< N E G A T I V E S > :
○ This book had jarringly American English - 'damn', 'lousy', 'sucks', 'guy', 'regular' and 'your place', considering I would've expected British English from this author.
○ This book had jarringly old fashioned language - 'shall', 'goodness', 'sour old bats!', 'natter', 'ladies room (public toilet)', 'loll (not LOL!)' and 'ought', coming from 13/14 year olds in the late 1990s.
○ This book had jarringly explicit language - r***, b****, s*** multiple times, and a 13/14 year old described her friend of the same age as 'seriously sexy and attractive'. Because of these three points about language, I think this book should have a 13+, if not 15+ age rating on the back.
○ There was an atrocious 'joke' about two male characters being described as being in a romantic relationship which simply did not make sense and was purely for 'comedic effect' from my interpretation.
○ Why did Gail come to a stranger's (Ellie's) house? Why did a teacher reveal to Ellie Zoë had collapsed and was in hospital? What about privacy? Why did a nurse say death is 'inevitable' for anorexic people when their body begins burning fat, to Ellie, who was visiting a friend with anorexia!?


< N E U T R A L > :
○ n/a



˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ D E T A I L S
○ WRITTEN ON: G120223
TRANSCRIBED ON: G110623

○ HOURS TAKEN TO READ: 6 hours, 48 minutes
RATING: ☆ ☆