I'm a girl, interrupted too...
935419
Sanity is something most people cling to like a security blanket. They think the "insane" people of the world don't cling to it also, but in the memoir of Susanna Kaysen, you see that she does.
All she wanted was to be a normal girl, but when normality abandoned her, she had to check herself into McLean hospital to figure out how to regain it. After spending a year and a half in the hospital, she left with no great advice to give on how to live her life or with a realization of what the meaning of life is. This doesn't mean that she learned nothing. Far from that. She learned more than almost anyone else did.
She learned how to survive. Not how to live, but how to survive. No one can be taught in a hospital about how to live, because the whole essence of the hospital prevents the person from living their life.
When the money ran out, she was kicked out of the hospital. This, sadly, is how the system works. Of course, she'd only expected to be in there for a couple of weeks. Weeks had turned into months and months into years, and by the time she was released, she thought she was a forever patient.
She made friends with the other members of the ward, because all of them had been doomed to longer than expected stays. They were a tight group. A group of people who cared for one another, took care of one another, but also aggrivated each other in so many ways.
I wanted to read this book for two reasons:
1.) I loved the movie it was based on. It's a bit different. Some of the scenes are the same, and if you've already seen the movie, you'll be picturing the characters doing certain things as you read about them in the book.
2.) Susanna was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, which is my diagnosis. I wanted to see how she (at the same age) handled the diagnosis. I see many similarities in the diagnosis, as well as differences. I also saw many differences/similarities in our psych hospital experiences.
I love this book, and I think it is very well-written. I am glad that Susanna decided to share her story with everyone. Maybe a book like this will better help more people to understand mental illness.
4892231
As the single mother of four who had to play both roles, I would have loved to speak like this at least most of the time. Talk about a time saver! The world now spends so much time on trying to be politically correct that the truth and meaning of a message gets lost in translation. Yeah it's a lot of cursing, I don't like taking the Lord's name in vain, so for me that piece would look different.  The clear message of family and its importance; you and your importance and life with those elements in it couldn't be missed. Laughed out loud so much my dog started barking at me. Now that's a good read.
774978
I'm having a heck of a time deciding how many stars to give this book.  I absolutely love her writing style!  I feel like I'm right there experiencing what she's describing.  I laugh out loud and I cry freely as I'm reading.

The problem is, I thought I was reading a prologue and that we were going to get to some of the stories about the girls that she wanted them to remember.  There were a few but I felt like more should have been coming and they never did.  It's like there needs to be a part 2 because I wanted more and it ended way too soon.
348673
...by which I mean I was sucked in immediately and sharply sliced off far too soon. How completely unfair that the remainder of this book is not immediately available because I truly do not know what to do with myself now. Having been seeking something new, something DIFFERENT, I found this gem. The author hooked me so deeply that I smell the smoke in my own hair, feel the scrape of the chair legs as I take up a seat in the shotgun kitchen, hear the crunch of the iceberg lettuce at the roadside restaurant. I have become a companion on this journey, crammed knees-to-chin in the nonexistent back seat of their subcompact car.

The quick oneupmanship of the dialog reinforced that kindred spirit the main character claims - that delight in pushing one another higher, faster, and the pride-swallowing moment of realizing you cannot top the last zinger of your chum-cum-protagonist. For all these reasons and in a mere 15 pages, I love this story. I cared about this friendship, I sensed the possibility for divide and reunification. I find myself obsessing, needing to know at what windmills these ladies will tilt. If the full book is the all-you-can-eat salad bar buffet, this was just the fruit plate... and I'm starving. Susan Petrone, please publish fully so my curiosity can be sated!
449860
I have to constant repeat myself, when I listen to music, ask Alexia to turn up the volume, it doesn't..
447127
Ball cap pulled down low to eye level..  Long hair pulled into a ponytail.  Baggy, ill fitting hoodie & cargo pants.  But yeah, you can see it.  Anatomically female at birth.  Now living in two worlds.  Trying to pass as another gender by presenting in masculine clothing.

I guess our clothing, is a uniform of sorts.  It's how we present ourselves to the world.  Fashion is it's own economy.  The idle rich are hard to entertain.  The recent immigrants from Hong Kong carry fake purses.  Most ethnic groups come with job skills, life skills, and culture.

"Car Culture" is still uniquely "American".  In a lot of other countries, the average person is simply too poor to be able to afford a car.  Or in the case of people living on islands, they can't afford to park a car.  Even in The U.S., people in some cities pay over $400 a month for parking......with vehicles leasing at $199.

For some of these recent arrivals, cars are overwhelming.  From being swindled at the dealership because they didn't know that nobody pays sticker, to basic maintenance, to aftermarket upgrades.

My People.  I'm still the "go to" guy for all things American that they don't understand.  These little connectors allow for me to have quick & easy connections, and I can disconnect and replace just about anything with two poles.  I also have the flexibility to insert more than 1 wire, in case I choose to split the signal.

So she had a question.  Very feminine voice.  Up close, I can see the delicate features.  This was not some gender bender.  Simply a woman who does not want attention.  These connectors allowed me to help her hook-up some LED auxiliary lighting.  Piece of cake.  And if she wanted to replace any of the units, or add to them in tandem, we could use the same wiring which I just installed.

"You don't recognize me, do you?"  Um, no.  Should I?  And so the conversation turned, until the sun went down.  And many fantasies were learned, on that day.

My mind was scrambling.  I've down a lot of partying in my time.  Did we hook-up, and I forgot?  That's happened before.  But no.  She makes adult videos.  That is why the incognito look.  Not really mainstream.  More of a specialized fetish market.
3759375
I'm giving this a 3 if you're reading the book, the story itself is probably okay... but I listened to it on audible, and the narrator was teeth gratingly annoying!  I found myself skipping forward, just so I could get through the dramatic parts.... because she felt she needed to shout & screech through 98% of this book, the characters were shouting & whining instead of speaking in regular conversation mode.  The intense parts weren't worth listening too because intensifying the already loud voices was just too obnoxious.  Her regular voice, at then end or with a couple of adults was fine -I wish she would have chosen this voice for the bulk of the book, instead of yelling in an annoying baby voice for hours on end. I bought the 2nd book with the 1st, because I loved Anyone, by Angela Scott and thought these would be good too,  but I'm dreading trying to listen too Desert Flower.  The voice ruined the experience for me
2932412
I enjoyed the story for the most part.  I laughed.  I cried.  I got angry.  But, there were so many places where "I" was used instead of "me".  There was one instance where "I" should have been used, but instead the author used "myself".  Since this is my pet peeve, it made the book less enjoyable.
4215772
I'm at 6% and I have already made several notes in reference to the authors ability (or lack thereof) to keep her thoughts straight and make the story flow smoothly. I guess I'll keep reading and update my review if necessary, but right now, I'm really disappointed
4882556
I don't like how loud the woman's voice is, and the normal sound doesn't get that loud.  The mic works ok.  Once in a while I'll get shocked in my ear :(
4863283
It got my class to stop talking.  :-)  It's a bit "baby-ish" and applies more to parents with young kids.
3942441
I always judge these books by how annoyed I am when I have to put them down to go about my daily activities.  I was really upset when I had to take a break from this one.  Fun, creepy and a quick (maybe too quick) read!
4767427
The female voice is not a match for the story.  I read the book and it's a really good story.  I checked the audio book out from the library yesterday.  I can't finish it.
2972002
Valerie was just being a normal sixteen-year-old, like all the other kids at her school. One weekend her mom went out town. Naturally Valerie and best friend Mimi throw a party for their Mormon and non-practising Mormon friends (though neither girl believes in the faith themselves). It's wild, loud and everyone is having fun. Val starts drinking due to her disappointment of her crush Adam not showing up, everyone's having a great time why can't she?

When Adam shows up, Val is ecstatic, and drunk. They excuse themselves in front of everyone and sneak off to the living room where she proceeds to throw up all over his shoes. Hung over and miserable the next morning, Val struggles to make breakfast for her six-year-old sister Ainsley. She just wants to lie on the couch and sleep off her headache. As she drifts off she realises she isn't alone. Adam is suddenly there, everywhere. Confused over her feelings for Adam and what he has done, Val finds strength to report what's happened. It's only the beginning of her lifelong journey to be more than just the `rape girl'.

I requested this book because I wanted a different kind of YA to read. However, I was sorely disappointed but I am also conflicted with this novella. I think the premise of the book had a lot of potential, but the execution was poor. The story was rushed and there was no time to get to know Valerie, her likes, dislikes, or any kind of personality. Also, every male character except for the brother who's away at college is written as a `villain'.

I understand that this is an important story to tell and that it's also a very personal one for the author. For that Klein has done a stand out job for describing the process of standing up as a rape victim. Even as Valerie fights with her own demons she never steps down for doing the right thing. The few parts that are well written, you can tell that the author knows what she wants for her characters and what she wants to reflect to the reader. When writing about a tender subject, it can be a challenge to follow the delicate line. I praise Klein for tackling such a personal battle, but I wish that more time were spent on the narrative. Make it 300 pages and give us more in depth characters. I was always on Valerie's side, but I knew there was more to her and I was sad to see that.

Many thanks to the publisher Namelos for providing this ARC on Net Galley!
3709036
I am just beginning to listen to this book and am excited about it.  I plan to recommend it to both of my daughters and several nieces.  What I want to know is why, when this book was written by a woman in a society that is struggling to encourage women and girls to excel in science, math and computer science, did you chose to have it narrated by a male voice?  It would have been some much more inspiring if it had been read by a woman.  Please consider publishing this again with a woman reading.  The subliminal message to women and girls by failing to have a female narrator are worth considering don't you think?!!!
2707088
Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl was, for the most part, what I wanted "Girls" to be: A series of stories about the real life learning and reflections of a 20-something woman. Through the 3+ seasons of "Girls" I watched, I desperately wanted ANY of the female characters to reflect and actually grow; I wanted them to be demonstrations of the strong, powerful, and intelligent women I've been fortunate enough to know in my generation, rather than the stereotype of a Millennial as lazy, still living with (or off of) Mom and Dad, immature, and selfish. Sure, Dunham addresses her experiences as that Millennial in her book, but she also reflects and shows growth; she tells of her more confident moments, her feminist views, being a female director and writer who gets invited to give presentations and speeches and wins awards. Dunham's writing is lovely in this book. As she guides her reader from starting college, to losing her virginity, to that time she wasn't sure she had been raped but everybody else tells her she was, to finding out her sister is a lesbian, to entering therapy for OCD and continuing to struggle with it, and to filming and directing her own sex scenes...Dunham's words and experiences make her reader feel. As a 20-something female, I still found some moments to be selfish, underdeveloped, or irritating, but Dunham confesses these things herself right as I begin to think them. She's self-aware, for the most part, though not always.
Here's the real best par though: I got it...most of it. Most of her experiences in some way triggered a memory of my own in some way. Most of them made me feel like she understood. Most of them made me less annoyed that she's been dubbed the voice of our generation. Her moments of anguish and terror over becoming an adult were my moments of anguish and terror over becoming an adult....and sometimes I think I need that. I need to feel like someone is actually feeling this process as roughly as I am, and she does.
Not that Kind of Girl got 3 stars from me because I did just "like it." I felt it didn't quite go far enough for me, though I do think it is an important work, if for no other reason than because of Dunham's realness in describing her own experiences and the fact that it's comforting to know someone's been through similar things. Our society doesn't place enough emphasis or value on the experiences of young woman, and Dunham does.
670744
I enjoyed the "Advice to little girls" . However I was disappointed that the story was only about a page long. bummer  : )