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novelesque_life's review
2.0
RATING: 2 STARS
2018; William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins Canada
(Review Not on Blog)
I was expecting more of feminism in true crime than just feminism and memoir-style in these essays. The essays were okay, but as it was not what I expected I was a bit disappointed. I enjoy feminist writing, and agree with some of what Bolin says in the book I would recommend you read other reviews as they may be better at saying if this book is for you because I was expecting something different.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
2018; William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins Canada
(Review Not on Blog)
I was expecting more of feminism in true crime than just feminism and memoir-style in these essays. The essays were okay, but as it was not what I expected I was a bit disappointed. I enjoy feminist writing, and agree with some of what Bolin says in the book I would recommend you read other reviews as they may be better at saying if this book is for you because I was expecting something different.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
aprilbethp's review
2.0
I wish I had liked this more. The book isn’t quite what it’s titled or marketed as. It’s well-written but strays some from it’s subject.
halisalome's review
3.0
hmmmm
on goodreads, i am usually that oprah meme thats like, "you get *insert whatever she's giving away*" but with four/five star ratings for books, but i had a hard time justifying that next star.
i loved the majority of this book, but someone mentioned in a much better way than i can that one of the fatal flaws in the laura palmer essays is failing to mention fire walk with me. anyone who knows me in real life knows that i am a twin peaks fanatic (i even have a weird twin peaks tattoo that is mostly just a bunch of symbolism and a lot of my work examines laura palmer and trauma) and i feel like omitting this movie is a huge flaw in her argument. a common theme in much lynch's work is the ways in which women can be brutalized and this is true for fire walk with me, but it becomes laura's story. we see the titular dead girl outside of someone else's memories/dreams. we see her walking, talking, breathing and ultimately deciding her own fate. i wish that alice bolin mentioned this because i, like others, have often felt like it was a sort of gift to laura. but it also makes me feel like, did she like most others just not give a fuck about fire walk with me?
however, i loved how she mentioned ginger snaps, and she references an anne carson essay on wolves and women in ancient lit and i was able to find a reference for one of my own essays on that, so thanks alice. there were so many things in this book that i love - her britney spears essays were also perfect - but there was also a sense of something lacking.
overall, some essays are better than others, and i think that is something that is true of most essay collections. i think this review would be higher if it had a different title - it isn't really about dead girls, at least not enough to warrant that title. i read the first few essays without putting my kindle down, but then i slowly started losing my kindle to avoid reading it & that is ultimately why i can't give this another star lol.
ok bye bye
on goodreads, i am usually that oprah meme thats like, "you get *insert whatever she's giving away*" but with four/five star ratings for books, but i had a hard time justifying that next star.
i loved the majority of this book, but someone mentioned in a much better way than i can that one of the fatal flaws in the laura palmer essays is failing to mention fire walk with me. anyone who knows me in real life knows that i am a twin peaks fanatic (i even have a weird twin peaks tattoo that is mostly just a bunch of symbolism and a lot of my work examines laura palmer and trauma) and i feel like omitting this movie is a huge flaw in her argument. a common theme in much lynch's work is the ways in which women can be brutalized and this is true for fire walk with me, but it becomes laura's story. we see the titular dead girl outside of someone else's memories/dreams. we see her walking, talking, breathing and ultimately deciding her own fate. i wish that alice bolin mentioned this because i, like others, have often felt like it was a sort of gift to laura. but it also makes me feel like, did she like most others just not give a fuck about fire walk with me?
however, i loved how she mentioned ginger snaps, and she references an anne carson essay on wolves and women in ancient lit and i was able to find a reference for one of my own essays on that, so thanks alice. there were so many things in this book that i love - her britney spears essays were also perfect - but there was also a sense of something lacking.
overall, some essays are better than others, and i think that is something that is true of most essay collections. i think this review would be higher if it had a different title - it isn't really about dead girls, at least not enough to warrant that title. i read the first few essays without putting my kindle down, but then i slowly started losing my kindle to avoid reading it & that is ultimately why i can't give this another star lol.
ok bye bye
stranger_sights's review
3.0
You can read my full review over on my shiny new blog!
https://sheseatingameatballsub.blogspot.com/2019/06/dead-girls-essays-on-surviving-american.html
Although Dead Girls can be a bit meandering at times, it is a very solid bunch of essays which each explore, to some degree or other, America's obsession with the dead girl. Bolin discusses the prevalence of the trope in televisions and movies, in books, and even in real life. Since this is a cobbled together collection of personal essays, she does stray fairly far beyond her chosen topic from time to time, often straying into various aspects of the story of why/how/when she moved to LA (which honestly, I could have done with significantly less of), she does typically find a connection to Dead Girls.
https://sheseatingameatballsub.blogspot.com/2019/06/dead-girls-essays-on-surviving-american.html
Although Dead Girls can be a bit meandering at times, it is a very solid bunch of essays which each explore, to some degree or other, America's obsession with the dead girl. Bolin discusses the prevalence of the trope in televisions and movies, in books, and even in real life. Since this is a cobbled together collection of personal essays, she does stray fairly far beyond her chosen topic from time to time, often straying into various aspects of the story of why/how/when she moved to LA (which honestly, I could have done with significantly less of), she does typically find a connection to Dead Girls.
shirleenr's review
4.0
3.75/4 tough to grade. Countless insightful sentences. My quibble is missed opportunities to elaborate and develop those sentences into paragraphs. Needed tighter editing to reduce times Bolin repeated bio details not essential to her essays points. A book worth reading. Lastly,while Bolin acknowledges more than once that U.S. and Canada don't pay enough attention to dead girls who aren't white --- the horrific murders of transwomen and murders and kidnappings of indigenous women -- her book would go a long way to make such a woman a center piece or central case study of chapter/essay.
List of favorite chapters and case studies to come:
List of favorite chapters and case studies to come:
More...