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on 25 March 2017
This book is so well written and hilarious. I would highly recommend, especially for those who love a bit of British music history.
on 21 May 2017
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Best book I've ever read. If you were a 90's girl like me all's the better tho I would recommend to anyone as a binge read. Keep em coming Caitlin!
on 24 March 2017
Loved this book. Definite similarities to how to be a woman. Lots of laugh out loud parts but also very poignant at times.
on 16 April 2016
There is a temptation to assume this is intensely autobiographical and bearing in mind the similarities to Caitlin's own carer that doesn't seem a big jump, perhaps there is a lot of of "detached" funny stuff added in that we'd all like to say at the time but only manage after the event. Anyway I am a fan, Caitlin manages to walk a fine line between hilarious and poignant which makes this a very funny read but with some underlying commentary about growing up during the 90's/00's. I particularly liked how the main protagonist matured and realised that destruction and cynicism was easy but ultimately harmful. Oh, and the sex stuff was hilarious, even for a man to read!
Having looked down the reviews (I only do this after I've written mine), why do so few men read this literature? I must be weird, I've read and enjoyed all Caitlin's books.
Having looked down the reviews (I only do this after I've written mine), why do so few men read this literature? I must be weird, I've read and enjoyed all Caitlin's books.
on 1 November 2015
How to Build a Girl. Where do I start? This is a story we're all familiar with: coming of age, the question of who we are and where we belong in the world, the pursuit of self-discovery. This is the tale of a fourteen-year-old girl's whimsical odyssey from Johanna Morrigan, the lonely, poverty-stricken, desperate virgin, to Dolly Wilde (inspired by Oscar Wilde's scandalous alcoholic niece), a rebellious, gothic, legendary music critic and "full-time Lady Sex Adventurer".
A rather blunt and at times shocking account of adolescence, How to Build a Girl is full of wit, adventure, and a lot of masturbation. (At times, a little too much!)
However, beneath the humorously written story of youth and self-reinvention, lies a deeper exploration of social classes, the place of women in 1990s society and the issue of double standards. Johanna is branded as "filthy", and a "massive slag" by one of her numerous, selfish sex partners, who refers to her as his "bit of rough". After overhearing this, Johanna resolves to listen to, respect and prioritise her own desires more often, to have sex with "more me in it".
I admired this novel for how daring it was, and while at times it was certainly a little shocking, I loved that Moran was so open and honest in contrast to a lot of overly flowery and unrealistic coming of age novels. Life is never perfect and Moran certainly didn't depict it that way. She didn't hold back for fear of seeming "controversial" or vulgar and I feel that deserves respect. I thought this was a hugely entertaining portrayal of youth. Johanna was such a typical teenage girl and a truly hilarious protagonist. I'm filled with zest & a desire to read more of Moran's work!
A rather blunt and at times shocking account of adolescence, How to Build a Girl is full of wit, adventure, and a lot of masturbation. (At times, a little too much!)
However, beneath the humorously written story of youth and self-reinvention, lies a deeper exploration of social classes, the place of women in 1990s society and the issue of double standards. Johanna is branded as "filthy", and a "massive slag" by one of her numerous, selfish sex partners, who refers to her as his "bit of rough". After overhearing this, Johanna resolves to listen to, respect and prioritise her own desires more often, to have sex with "more me in it".
I admired this novel for how daring it was, and while at times it was certainly a little shocking, I loved that Moran was so open and honest in contrast to a lot of overly flowery and unrealistic coming of age novels. Life is never perfect and Moran certainly didn't depict it that way. She didn't hold back for fear of seeming "controversial" or vulgar and I feel that deserves respect. I thought this was a hugely entertaining portrayal of youth. Johanna was such a typical teenage girl and a truly hilarious protagonist. I'm filled with zest & a desire to read more of Moran's work!
TOP 1000 REVIEWERon 25 June 2016
I had this book recommended to me but I was a bit wary after reading the reviews. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and glad I bought it!
The book is a coming of age novel and explores everything from your first love to the first taste of alcohol and explores what it’s like to be teenaged girl. It’s funny, rude and well written. It’s quite explicit and Moran does not hold back!
This is the first time I’ve read Moran’s work but I’ll be venturing out into some of her other works now.
The book is a coming of age novel and explores everything from your first love to the first taste of alcohol and explores what it’s like to be teenaged girl. It’s funny, rude and well written. It’s quite explicit and Moran does not hold back!
This is the first time I’ve read Moran’s work but I’ll be venturing out into some of her other works now.
on 25 September 2016
★★★★★ from Michelle M. on 25 September 2016
Blah, blah, blah. 'It's How to Be a Woman all over again.' No s***, Sherlock. The similiarities are obvious and perhaps this is because in both you are getting the complete this-is-what-it's-like-to-be-a-sexually-oppressed-poor-girl experience.
I've read both 'How's and I'm not going to say there's a huge difference (hint: there isn't) but what my fellow reviewers seem to be forgetting is that this book is so quintessentially Caitlin Moran it has a white streak of hair and winged eye liner and isn't that why we wanted to read this just as much as the first?
The fact that old ground is covered, albeit through the veil of fiction rather than autobiography, is a blessing. Double the stories of furious encounters with puberty and disappointing love affairs? Hardly seems like an issue to me.
What this book offers is a frank insight into teenage identity issues and trying to find yourself in a world that just doesn't seem to fit. Moran should be appaulded for whichever way she makes that happen; whether How to be a Woman or How to be a Girl.
Long live Queen Caitlin.
Blah, blah, blah. 'It's How to Be a Woman all over again.' No s***, Sherlock. The similiarities are obvious and perhaps this is because in both you are getting the complete this-is-what-it's-like-to-be-a-sexually-oppressed-poor-girl experience.
I've read both 'How's and I'm not going to say there's a huge difference (hint: there isn't) but what my fellow reviewers seem to be forgetting is that this book is so quintessentially Caitlin Moran it has a white streak of hair and winged eye liner and isn't that why we wanted to read this just as much as the first?
The fact that old ground is covered, albeit through the veil of fiction rather than autobiography, is a blessing. Double the stories of furious encounters with puberty and disappointing love affairs? Hardly seems like an issue to me.
What this book offers is a frank insight into teenage identity issues and trying to find yourself in a world that just doesn't seem to fit. Moran should be appaulded for whichever way she makes that happen; whether How to be a Woman or How to be a Girl.
Long live Queen Caitlin.
