anka.trini reviewed Girlhood by Melissa Febos
Review of 'Girlhood' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
3.5 stars
Some of the essays featured in this collection were first published elsewhere. That's probably why the first few felt so different from the others. If I hadn't read in another review that you should push through the first couple of essays, I would have quickly abandoned Girlhood after reading the first one. The language and the themes just didn't appeal to me. Thus far, I only liked the beautiful illustrations by Forsyth Harmon that are featured in this edition.
"Intrusions", the fifth essay (if you count the prologue), was the first one I actually enjoyed. And with that essay something just clicked for me. I loved everything from then on. Those essays left the akward and flowery language behind and felt very real to me. Even though my own experiences are vastly different from Febos's I could relate to so much.
The longest essay "Thank you for taking …
3.5 stars
Some of the essays featured in this collection were first published elsewhere. That's probably why the first few felt so different from the others. If I hadn't read in another review that you should push through the first couple of essays, I would have quickly abandoned Girlhood after reading the first one. The language and the themes just didn't appeal to me. Thus far, I only liked the beautiful illustrations by Forsyth Harmon that are featured in this edition.
"Intrusions", the fifth essay (if you count the prologue), was the first one I actually enjoyed. And with that essay something just clicked for me. I loved everything from then on. Those essays left the akward and flowery language behind and felt very real to me. Even though my own experiences are vastly different from Febos's I could relate to so much.
The longest essay "Thank you for taking care of yourself" was especially inspiring and gave me much food for thought. It made me remember things I hadn't thought of for ages. Like that one time, I was on a youth holiday in France with a school friend. There was this guy who kind of bullied me and made it a difficult fortnight away from home for me. When we landed back at the airport, everyone hugged and said goodbye. That guy then came up to me and wanted to hug me, too. I refused. He shrugged, mumbled something and went away. On the car ride home I asked my friend if he had wanted to hug her, too. And she said no, that he didn't even come near her. I know that this is a very tame example, considering the experiences Febos talks about in that essay. But I feel like I understand that interaction from years ago a lot better now.. Thank you, younger me, for taking care of yourself.
