Scan barcode
joannavaught's review against another edition
3.0
if i had to choose a moment from this book that i think sums up how incredibly underwhelmed i was by both its message and her writing style, i'd say it was the chapter where she repeats her grandmother's godawful advice, "let the baby adapt to you," over and over again like a mantra.
also: we get it. you want your vagina to remain tight after giving birth. you can say that once. you don't need to bring it up every twenty pages or so like a nauseating leitmotif.
also: we get it. you want your vagina to remain tight after giving birth. you can say that once. you don't need to bring it up every twenty pages or so like a nauseating leitmotif.
wlkrmlss's review against another edition
5.0
I'm completely in love with this book! It was amazing to read a book that I could almost completely relate to. I was 23 when I had my first child and so many of Rebecca's experiences were very similar to mine. She's an amazing writer and very real. The feeling that she put into this book brought out so many of the feelings that I had forgotten from the first couple years of my oldest daughter's life.
leilatre's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm. I agree with the other reviewers who noted that this book reads like a blog. Which, of course, makes sense given the author's popularity as a blogger. I guess when it comes to an entire book, reading like a blog is not necessarily a good thing. My reactions to the observations and writing style were uneven. At times I really related to her experiences (despite not being a mother myself) and times when the style (and/or content) grated. Oddly the tone was sometimes sort of sanctimonious, despite the point generally being that she was learning stuff off-the-cuff. If the chapters were blog entries, I would have skipped those entries that annoyed me.
As others have noted, there really isn't much in the way of "wild" in the book. So be ready for mainly "child". On the plus side, there are some funny stories and the book is a quick easy read. Decent light summer fare. Just be prepared to skip the blog entries, er, chapters that are particularly judgmental of other mothers or that are overly repetitive or schlocky.
As others have noted, there really isn't much in the way of "wild" in the book. So be ready for mainly "child". On the plus side, there are some funny stories and the book is a quick easy read. Decent light summer fare. Just be prepared to skip the blog entries, er, chapters that are particularly judgmental of other mothers or that are overly repetitive or schlocky.
mrsthrift's review against another edition
2.0
In this fumbling, fish-out-of-water memoir, Rebecca Woolf, a self-proclaimed "party girl" leading a "rock and roll lifestyle" finds herself shockingly! pregnant! with her boyfriend of only a few months at the actually-not-that-young age of 23. I read Rebecca's blog and I like it, mostly, so I disregarded my previous experiences (wherein I dislike books written by bloggers very nearly 100% of the time) and picked it up. This book is really earnest and some people might relate strongly to it. I mean, I can see that. I just didn't.
The author's voice in this book is so self-centered, self-righteous, lost and misdirected. I threw the book down several times to complain about it. Yes, she's young and going through this major unplanned life change. She never went to college and she has really struggled with being a thin, beautiful girl with moneyed, supportive parents in Los Angeles for her entire life, but I wanted the transformation to have some grace and self-awareness. Her Writerly Writing is peppered with flowery Insightful Insights & Indignation and her desire for Uniqueness and Independence. It didn't seem that different from live journals I read ten years ago. That style is perfectly adequate for an online diary, but I'd hoped for a higher level of writing if someone is going to bother publishing it on paper. She is such a special, unique snowflake. I know that is a material fact because she told me eleventy hundred times in <300 pages.
So, in a nutshell, I did not enjoy this book. The material and voice that make captivating bloggers does not always (or even often) translate well to a full-length book, especially once you remove all the adorable photos of babies that make writerly rambling seem poignant. I wish I could be more generous and compassionate toward this book, recognizing that the author was quite young and had a limited world view, but I found it impossible to drill a well of patience that deep in my dark, cold, feminist heart.
The author's voice in this book is so self-centered, self-righteous, lost and misdirected. I threw the book down several times to complain about it. Yes, she's young and going through this major unplanned life change. She never went to college and she has really struggled with being a thin, beautiful girl with moneyed, supportive parents in Los Angeles for her entire life, but I wanted the transformation to have some grace and self-awareness. Her Writerly Writing is peppered with flowery Insightful Insights & Indignation and her desire for Uniqueness and Independence. It didn't seem that different from live journals I read ten years ago. That style is perfectly adequate for an online diary, but I'd hoped for a higher level of writing if someone is going to bother publishing it on paper. She is such a special, unique snowflake. I know that is a material fact because she told me eleventy hundred times in <300 pages.
So, in a nutshell, I did not enjoy this book. The material and voice that make captivating bloggers does not always (or even often) translate well to a full-length book, especially once you remove all the adorable photos of babies that make writerly rambling seem poignant. I wish I could be more generous and compassionate toward this book, recognizing that the author was quite young and had a limited world view, but I found it impossible to drill a well of patience that deep in my dark, cold, feminist heart.
somewhatvoluble's review against another edition
4.0
I adore Rebecca Woolf. This story is beautiful.
klb72's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic account of motherhood, so different from my own experience, but so inspiring. Would recommend to any parent, anyone really. Loved Rebecca.
survivalisinsufficient's review against another edition
3.0
Her writing works better as a blog, I think.
wendydarling's review against another edition
5.0
This book reminded me of my own life. Pregnant first, then married, being broke, having a hard time finding mommy friends you click with.
ahsimlibrarian's review
4.0
I am addicted to the Girl's Gone Child blog. Not only does she have one of the cutest kids ever, Rebecca Woolf writes with a passion and a clarity of thought on a number of issues related to parenting, motherhood, sexuality, and life itself. Her book was good, but left me wanting more. While I don't agree on everything she has to say re: parenting, nor do I relate to all of her issues (she is ten years younger than me and many of her preoccupations are of a twenty-something woman, not that there's anything wrong with that), I cannot wait to hear what she has to say. Here's to more memoirs and books in general (not to mention blog posts) from Ms. Woolf.
satyridae's review
2.0
Interesting, blog-like dispatch from the front lines of accidental young motherhood. As the former mother of a tiny wunderkind, I can safely say that the landscape looks much as I remember it. Suffers a bit, I think, from the author's belief in her terminal uniqueness. Yes, yes, we get it, you are not a suburban soccer mom and your child is special. I may be too old and cranky to read mommy memoirs, or perhaps having a surly adolescent makes [b:looking backward|296977|Looking Backward (Signet Classics)|Edward Bellamy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173488024s/296977.jpg|803]s too much at the moment. Either way, I found myself rolling my eyes as often as I nodded my head. Recommended for young mothers with more tattoos than I have.
More...