Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Rules for Being a Girl

Firstly, I feel like this book was directed at a younger audience. The writing was a bit rushed and rather simple. The story has a very good message, but there were also parts that felt a bit forced. Another part I hated was that there are so many scenes where the main character doesn’t stick up for herself, and just complied with what everyone else tells her. It just keeps happening. But I really like the message it sent about Marin and Bex. I think a lot of people need to hear it, and that no matter what Marin did, it was still his fault, not hers.

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laheath's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Told from the perspective of a high school girl who develops what she believes is a great working relationship with her English teacher, the story focuses on how the school and her friends fail her when he crosses the line. It makes her question herself, since she and so many of her friends had crushes on him, but ultimately makes her question society's expectations of girls and the double standards between teenage boys and girls. In exploring different options for taking action, she gets an introduction to feminism and finds sources of support. I thought this was a great exploration of an issue that is unfortunately, a relatively common experience with teenage girls, with some trusted adult in their lives, and it was addressed with appropriate seriousness and sensitivity while ultimately giving the victim back some power and control. The side story of her grandmother battling dementia but sharing memories of her days protesting for various causes was especially poignant.

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mybookishlife2's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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janneke2302's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I really love this book. It's incredibly well written and made me very emotional. Now I'm not really going to give any spoilers about what happens, but I will talk about my feelings on the ending, so spoiler warning.

On the one hand I wish everything got tied up neatly into a bow and Marin had her happily ever after, on the other hand I recognise that that's not what would have happened. So I love and appreciate the ending we got a lot. It is still a happy ending, even if it does feel bitter sweet, but instead of the fantasy-wrapped-up-in-a-bow type of happy ending, it's a more realistic version of what a happy ending in this situation would look like. That doesn't mean it didn't nearly make me cry though.

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jainnyreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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