Girls Will be Girls

Title: Girls Will be Girls
Author: Emer O'Toole
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10

I was given an egalley of this book by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The fiercest new voice of feminism - Emer O'Toole is the perfect mix of Caitlin Moran, Germaine Greer and Lena Dunham.

Emer O'Toole once caused a media sensation by growing her body hair and singing 'Get Your Pits Out For The Lads' on national TV. You might think she's crazy - but she has lessons for us all. Protesting against the 'makey-uppy-bulls**t' of gender conditioning, Emer takes us on a hilarious, honest and probing journey through her life - from cross-dressing and head shaving, to pube growing and full-body waxing - exploring the performance of femininity to which we are confined.

Funny, provocative and underpinned with rigorous academic intelligence, this book shows us why and how we should all begin gently to break out of gender stereotypes. Read this book, open up your mind and, hopefully, free your body. GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS is a must-read wake-up call for all young women (and men)."

**

Very different from my usual stuff, but this deserves a mention.
Absolutely loved it! Truthful, funny, witty and yet biting.
Pointed out many truths of society, and made for a very entertaining read. The only reason why it took me so long to read was that I kept having to put it down and take some days to think about the views O'Toole presented. Girls Will be Girls is a truly thought-provoking delight to read.
As a student of gender and it's portrayal in literature and how it affects our society, this was not only very interesting to me on an academic level, but also on a more personal level. O'Toole puts into practice what theorists like de Beauvoir and du Plessis talk about, and the resulting stories are both hilarious in the way they are told, and illuminating in what they reveal about society.
Definitely worth a read.

The Immortal Crown

Title: The Immortal Crown (Age of X #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: adult (language), dystopia
Rating: 10/10
Cover: 5/5


Warning: this post contains spoilers. Proceed with caution.

JADFJEBCKJNFKJGHVIUSDHVBFD THAT ENDING! WHAT! *bangs head on desk* dammit, Richelle, you've done it AGAIN.

I'm actually glad I read it on my kindle, because it meant I could go easily check that name, and oh my god. To those of you who didn't have that ease, Porfirio was Mae's ex, the one who tried to rape her when she broke up with up him. I mean, honestly, no pun intended, but OH MY GOD.
She should ship him off to Arcadia and drop a nuclear bomb on all those misogynist pigs. Aimed directly at his head. I mean. OH MY GOD.
But also... Loki! Now I'll forever picture her god as Tom Hiddleston, and I'm not even sorry.
I just... so many motions about this book. I'd forgotten how good a Mead book could be, because the Bloodlines books don't really hold up to the same standard, but ooooh my. I kind of need book 3 right now, but at the same time, I know, I just know that it's gonna hurt. Damn the woman and her #3s.

But, ahem, right. The review.

Astounding, as per usual. Even though you will want to rush ahead and skip Tessa's chapters, stick with the girl, because it all ties together at the end. Plus, Ms Mead is an excellent storyteller, and the slower chapters away from Justin and Mae just help to amp up the excitement and anxiety about what they're doing even more.
As for those two themselves, what can I say? Richelle has a way with characters, making them so fully dimensional, it feels like they're in the room with you. And this is no different, even with the impediment of third person. It was fascinating to see Mae's journey and her development from a stone-faced praetorian to a woman who not only opened up her heart (finally), but also actually showed a deep, caring side of her with the children that I honestly didn't expect from Mae.
Justin... what can I say? He reminds me of Dorian, damnit. Always quick to protect the woman he loves, acting first and asking later, he's another one of her male leads that stole a piece of my heart. At this rate, I'd better hope she doesn't write any new series, or there'll be nothing left, what with all of her characters already vying for attention.
But, arguably the best part of the book was the open damnation of Arcadia. I know the element presented in the book is 100x worse than what we live with every day, but still so much of that is relevant to society today, with women being blamed for "enticing" men to rape them. I felt like the stand was clearly towards a more positive, equal society, where, as someone puts in the book, people realise that the problem isn't with the girls, but with the men who are brought up with a sense of entitlement that they think gives them the right to do as they please with no consequences. Oh, I so wanted Mae to smack some of those assholes around a little.

Confessions of a Book Worm #3

Yesterday, I heard someone on a podcast (I'm not going to name names here, 'cause I don't think that's cool) talk about how they thought Hunger Games was a 'soft' dystopia, for those who didn't have the guts to read the 'real stuff', i.e. Battle Royale, etc. They went on to say how ridiculous it was that 40-year-olds were taking Hunger Games seriously.

Listening to that, I wanted to punch something. It reminded me of why I don't usually listen to podcasts, because stuff like this gets spewed out without real thought of what is being said. First of all, Hunger Games is dystopia, yes. Whether you think children being forced to kill each other brutally due to the government's power is 'soft' or not is, I suppose, up to you, so I'm going to hold judgment on that one. However, saying that it's ridiculous that people (even adults) take the story seriously is a whole new level of ridiculous in and of itself.
The world we live in is in chaos right now. Sure, the news channels are trying to downplay it to stop worldwide fear from coming through, but we have protests in Brazil, Greece, Texas, UK, Russia, Australia... We have people fighting for better education and welfare, and living in fear that their protests will result in a military dictatorship. We have women fighting for the right to own their bodies. It's a continuation of the fight for feminism, yes, but just as serious as the fight for the vote, or for equal rights, because guess what - we're still not equal. No one tells a rapist he needs to become an eunuch because he raped a girl and got her pregnant. And yet men want to tell women what to do with the result of the rape. We have have communities fighting for the right to love who they want to, without being called sinners, or being imprisoned for it.
This is a turning point in so many ways. And Hunger Games tells us all about a turning point that went south. We don't see too much of anti-feminism or anti-LGBT in Hunger Games, but the message about conforming to those in power comes through loud and clear. We see mothers being told what to with their children, wit no options. We see couples being broken up because of the government. We see unfair imprisonment. We see a young girl fighting with all she has for her life, her freedom, and her ability to marry who she wants, when she wants, and not be told she has to by the president.
Sound familiar?
So don't come and tell me that Hunger Games shouldn't be taken seriously. It should be taken very, very seriously. Not only because of the message the books sends about standing up for your individual rights as a human being, but also because what happens if this turning point we're at right now turns south too?
Don't even try telling me that no one would ever think of killing kids as coercion. It's been done before, thousands of times, throughout history, so what's to stop it from happening again? Because if this shit goes bad, it's going to be a free-for-all. Then, my friends, 'may the odds be ever in your favour'.