quietjenn 's review for:

Notes to Boys by Pamela Ribon

3.0

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I'm not convinced that printing up a collection of one's juvenilia is ever a very good idea, even with (especially with?) snarky commentary by your adult self. But here we are and I have such residual affection for Ribon, from Early Internet days and her first few books. I had to read this one really slowly, as too much time with it led to lots of annoyance. It's easy to find her voice - both the adolescent and adult one - exhausting. And, perhaps ironically, the best parts were the ones that weren't just "Oh, here's a boy I liked when I was 15, isn't that hilarious and sad and cringeworthy" and instead actually focused on experiences and didn't try to be super funny about them.