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A review by theverbalthing
Geek Girls Don't Cry: Real-Life Lessons from Fictional Female Characters by Andrea Towers
4.0
I received an advanced copy of Geek Girls Don't Cry from Sterling Publishers in exchange for an honest review on The Beat. You can read my full review by clicking here, or check out an excerpt below!
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Quick! Name three fictional characters with whom you identify. Now consider: what do they have in common? In Andrea Towers‘ debut book, Geek Girls Don’t Cry, she explores connecting threads between some of the most iconic female characters in fiction. From Diana of Themyscira to General Leia Organa to Barbara Gordon to Hermione Granger to Ellie from The Last of Us, Towers examines the various traumas that force these women to build their emotional, mental and physical strength to push forward in the face of overwhelming trauma. She also talks to real women about their own relationships to fictional characters and interviews mental health experts about the potential impacts of these characters’ experiences, as well as how those ripples manifest in their stories.
Geek Girls Don’t Cry is as much a history as it is a confessional, not just for Towers but for the real-life women she interviews, including Kelly Sue DeConnick and Catrina Dennis. The book is divided into sections, exploring topics like: trauma, grief, adversity, depression and isolation. Towers pulls examples from all over pop culture, including comic books, television, video games and even webseries like Critical Role. Throughout the book, Towers attempts to examine intersections of oppression, noting how marginalized people have a different relationship to mental health than those who come from privilege.
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In Geek Girls Don’t Cry, Towers centers women and their stories. She explores the importance of seeing ourselves represented in fiction. She even explores these characters’ coping mechanisms and encourages readers to find healthy routines that work for them, whether they have the benefit of professional, therapeutic help or not. Geek Girls Don’t Cry isn’t a self-help book, but it will definitely help someone. It may even help you.
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Quick! Name three fictional characters with whom you identify. Now consider: what do they have in common? In Andrea Towers‘ debut book, Geek Girls Don’t Cry, she explores connecting threads between some of the most iconic female characters in fiction. From Diana of Themyscira to General Leia Organa to Barbara Gordon to Hermione Granger to Ellie from The Last of Us, Towers examines the various traumas that force these women to build their emotional, mental and physical strength to push forward in the face of overwhelming trauma. She also talks to real women about their own relationships to fictional characters and interviews mental health experts about the potential impacts of these characters’ experiences, as well as how those ripples manifest in their stories.
Geek Girls Don’t Cry is as much a history as it is a confessional, not just for Towers but for the real-life women she interviews, including Kelly Sue DeConnick and Catrina Dennis. The book is divided into sections, exploring topics like: trauma, grief, adversity, depression and isolation. Towers pulls examples from all over pop culture, including comic books, television, video games and even webseries like Critical Role. Throughout the book, Towers attempts to examine intersections of oppression, noting how marginalized people have a different relationship to mental health than those who come from privilege.
...
In Geek Girls Don’t Cry, Towers centers women and their stories. She explores the importance of seeing ourselves represented in fiction. She even explores these characters’ coping mechanisms and encourages readers to find healthy routines that work for them, whether they have the benefit of professional, therapeutic help or not. Geek Girls Don’t Cry isn’t a self-help book, but it will definitely help someone. It may even help you.