A review by molly_dettmann
Mean by Myriam Gurba

5.0

A sophomore read this for her memoir lit circle choice and raved about it. She said it was the best book she had ever read and she really saw herself in it. She did warn me it was a “little mature.” Yep! This one sure is! We open with a particularly violent episode that is seemingly unrelated to Gurba’s story, but when that part comes back around and the connections are made, whew! I just loved the writing. I loved how each vignette is filled with such snark and anger and meanness, and how it worked so well in telling her story. Gurba’s use of language is all over the place as her memoir is almost like seemingly random bits of her life thrown together, but yet it creates such a captivating look inside her life. There is a lot of language and mention of sexual assault. I think it’d be interesting to go back and pull passages to explore in a higher level English class.