Reviews

How to Build a Girl, by Caitlin Moran

nicky_brierley's review against another edition

1.0

What an awful protagonist. Dull as dishwater. A 14 year old teenager who speaks like a 60 year old woman, telling jokes that nobody in their right mind would find funny.
I read 100 pages of it and all I really discovered about Johanna is that she likes to masturbate A LOT in bed next to her 6 year old brother... WTF?
I'm abandoning it here because I can't get on with this book at all. I hate it

thatpatti's review against another edition

5.0

Seems like a lot of people didn't like this, but I just ate it up.

erinmcentegart's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Lacked development on the points I found most interesting (family home life, esp. krissi and the mum) to instead focus in minute detail on some v cringy scenes, but still overall a very fun time and was a v engaging audiobook experience. (Although there is a n-word bomb when discussing N.W.A as part of the punchline to a joke, which was very 😬)

Was NOT a fan of the John Kite romance though, could have forgone that entirely, but the book made me laugh so it has to get brownie points for that. You know where it’s going from the outset and it’s nothing revolutionary but it’s very good to clean the house to!

hazelwitch's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jarvvis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

So.

• I liked this well enough, it got me into Skinny Puppy, so that’s one point in its favour. 
• Its genuinely funny and I’m a sucker for people talking about music. 
• But there’s a lack of any real substance that weakens it. Every meaning and revelation is surface-level and explicitly stated. 
• I wish that future Dolly stopped coming in to explain subtext, or, if Caitlin was really married to that idea, double down and make it an obviously retrospective novel. 
• It also got a bit tiresome at times, partly because Dolly is the only consistently present character in the whole thing. Her family, her situationship with John Kite and her coworkers only appear intermittently, and I found myself wanting for them (especially her gay older brother, Krissi, who I would have read a whole other book about). 

How To Build A Girl is something of a one woman show, but by page 250 of 340, I felt like I had plumbed the depths of both Johanna Morrigan and Dolly Wilde. I’d recommend The Buddha of Suburbia and some Pulp over this but it did give me a giggle.

nbrickman's review against another edition

3.0

I laughed out loud at some parts and the other times it was a bit too much for me. A very interesting read but didn't quite make it to where I found personal connection or meaning. I think that's more personal preference than a lack of ability on the authors part though.

guuran62's review against another edition

4.0

https://boklaadan.wordpress.com/2015/12/27/konsten-att-skapa-en-tjej/

courthompson's review against another edition

2.0

This was kind of a crass book and I found myself cringing through a lot of it. I'm bumping it up to two stars (from just one) because it was very easy to read, and the last like ten pages were heartwarming. But most of the book was just a stream of consciousness from a sexually frustrated fourteen year old girl, which is insanely awkward and uncomfortable to read.

exercise_read_repeat's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. It is definitely a disappointment....

cemilygreen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

made me quite uncomfortable all the way through. I understand why people love this book but it’s not for me