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surlygrrrl's review against another edition
2.0
I tried, really I did, but try as I might I just could not get into this book. Frankly, I think I'm just too old for a teen "memoir."
caramels's review against another edition
1.0
Pointless rambles of a pretentious teenager. I wish I could say “I’m too old for this stuff” but the thing is I probably wouldn’t have liked it even if I had read it ten years ago. I had so many expectations for this book since I’ve been wanting to read it for years, which makes me even more disappointed. Apart from a few decent lines it was a total let down.
kutreen's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think I would've loved to read this in high school, being older it was a bit harder to relate. This book is a great representation of the teenage existential crisis about having to choose/being stuck on a path you're not sure about. I can see it as also resonating strongly with teens trying to understand/accept their queerness and desire for love in general. Very uniquely written as well, and the fact that it's a memoir makes it all the more powerful.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
yung_sch0lar's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book so, so, so many times in middle/high school. I could identify with so much of it. Some of which I can only come to fully recognize and appreciate now as an adult.
stenaros's review against another edition
3.0
This book could go on a Goodreads shelf titled: books written by authors I take Pilates with. However, since Zoe Trope hasn't yet written a second novel and there are no other authors in my Pilates class, it would be a very thin shelf. I've been interested in this book since its release several years ago (Portland setting! Written by actual high school teenager!) but have just now gotten around to reading it. It was tough going the first 50 pages. I almost stopped reading, overwhelmed by the voice that was clearly very smart and clearly very, very disdainful of school. However, I kept going and was rewarded by that disdain fading and leaving some incredibly delightful prose. It's rough and could have used more editing--something that was rejected by the author--but the roughness has its charms and the charms are many. It's also nice to see the difference in acceptance of gay teenagers at the high school level ten years after I graduated from high school.
tsunanisaurus's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book the year it came out and I probably loved it then.
But, it's funny how your perspective changes once you get older, once you learn who the "anonymous" author is and that she wrote about some of your very good friends and said some very untrue things about them.
Zoe Trope (pseudonym, first name is really Zoe, last name is different but I'll grant her the privacy of keeping her anonymity) graduated the same year as many of my friends at a local Oregon high school. She was writing the book while still in school, which she did not graduate early from (as her Wikipedia articles says). A few of the characters in the novel are my friends and they are well aware that it is about them.
I re-read the book last year and couldn't believe how childish it is, which is something it was actually praised for at the time of its release. There are moments of lovely prose and hints of a great author; but she has not produced any books since Please Don't Kill the Freshman's release in late 2003.
But, it's funny how your perspective changes once you get older, once you learn who the "anonymous" author is and that she wrote about some of your very good friends and said some very untrue things about them.
Zoe Trope (pseudonym, first name is really Zoe, last name is different but I'll grant her the privacy of keeping her anonymity) graduated the same year as many of my friends at a local Oregon high school. She was writing the book while still in school, which she did not graduate early from (as her Wikipedia articles says). A few of the characters in the novel are my friends and they are well aware that it is about them.
I re-read the book last year and couldn't believe how childish it is, which is something it was actually praised for at the time of its release. There are moments of lovely prose and hints of a great author; but she has not produced any books since Please Don't Kill the Freshman's release in late 2003.
zooegirlll's review against another edition
3.0
i would’ve LOVED this book in high school. very perks of being a wallflower-esque with a bisexual main character named Zoe who is figuring out herself / her relationships / and all in all, just being a teenager.
25 year old me feels very Meh about it. it reads like a diary, can be super cryptic, and sometimes feels unbearably cringy reading about this girl whine over a lot of things.
25 year old me feels very Meh about it. it reads like a diary, can be super cryptic, and sometimes feels unbearably cringy reading about this girl whine over a lot of things.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
This is the real memoir of a highschool student, and it does read like one -- the same concerns that plagued you when you were in highschool are here and are just as dramatic as they were back then... If you pick this up, I strongly suggest you read at least fifteen pages or so before you decide whether you like it or not -- I admit I kind of hated Zoe for the first five pages, and then I was sucked in entirely. When I finished the book I was left with the feeling that I knew Zoe and her friends intensely, faults and all.