ARC Review: Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno
10:00
Series: None
Author: Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno
Published April 16th 2020 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
From Katie Cotugno and author of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell comes this fierce and feisty exploration of feminism: standing up, speaking out and rewriting the rules.
Don’t be easy. Don’t give it up. Don’t be a prude. Don’t be cold. Don’t put him in the friendzone. Don’t act desperate. Don’t let things go too far. Don’t give him the wrong idea. Don’t blame him for trying. Don’t walk alone at night. But calm down! Don’t worry so much. Smile!
Marin is a smart, driven, popular girl – she's headed for Brown when she graduates and has a brilliant career as a journalist ahead of her. Especially in the eyes of English teacher Mr Beckett. He spends a lot of time around Marin, and she thinks it's harmless . . . until he kisses her.
No one believes Marin when she tells them what happened, so she does the only thing she can: she writes an article called 'Rules for Being a Girl' for the school paper to point out the misogyny and sexism that girls face every day. As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and rewrite her own rules.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
High school senior Marin knows what she wants in life. She's going to go to Brown for college, before becoming a journalist, and can't imagine that anything will derail that. However, her friendship with her AP English teacher, and school paper advisor, Mr Beckett, soon turns dangerous, and he's driving her home, and then kisses her. Marin can't understand what's happened, and when she tells her best friend, she is blamed for misreading the situation. Marin starts to realise that for a girl, the rules are different, and she's had enough. So, she writes an article called 'Rules for Being a Girl', starts up a feminist book club, and becomes friends with new guy, Gray, who believes her story, and encourages her to tell her parents, and the school administration. In a perfect world, Mr Beckett would be fired, but he's not, and his partial suspension aggravates the others students who turn on Marin completely. Will Marin be able to turn the tide of hatred against her, and finally have someone believe her?
This book was so good, and such an important story. Honestly, I think everyone, but especially teenage girls, need to read this story. Marin is a normal girl - very bright, very happy, and set on what she wants in life. When her teacher - who was a massive creep - starts to pay a little more attention to her, she's flattered, and thinks nothing of it. Not even when he sits with her in a Starbucks for a couple of hours, or offers to drive her home. Why would she think anything of it? She's done nothing wrong. But, Mr Beckett, or Bex, takes it too far, and abuses her trust and kisses her in his home, and then turns against her when it's clear she's no longer comfortable in class, or around him. She's alone, and needs an outlet, and she uses her editor role of the school paper for this, with her editorial on the 'Rules for Being a Girl'. This both helps her, but also causes her to lose things she couldn't imagine. Really, her actions were undeniably right, and she was left down by those around her who should've cared for her and safeguarded her - especially the school administration. I loved seeing her and Gray's friendship - and then relationship - though it didn't detract from the important feminist message of the whole book. I read it in one day, and couldn't wait to finish it and see Marin finally be believed and supported. A perfect book for those living through the #MeToo movement.
Dates Read:
Rating
4 Stars
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