Happy Easter Monday my bookish friends. Hope your all well and had a lovely weekend in the sunshine. I read so much including the book for this blog tour. Today I’m so excited to be part of the blog tour for Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Cotugno. I will be sharing my review as well as championing one of my favourite feminist reads. Catch that after my review, you probably won’t be surprised. Before that, here is a little bit more about this book…

Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell, Katie Cotugno
Published by Macmillan Children's Books on April 7, 2020
Genres: Contemporary
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Goodreads

It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl. . . .
Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright―and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her.
But when “Bex” takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she’s shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault?
When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. She’s forced to face Bex in class every day. Except now, he has an ax to grind.
But Marin isn’t about to back down. She uses the school newspaper to fight back and she starts a feminist book club at school. She finds allies in the most unexpected people, like “slutty” Gray Kendall, who she’d always dismissed as just another lacrosse bro. As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and write her own rules.

MY REVIEW

This book took me just over a day and a half to read it. By my standards that’s pretty fast for me, although I do have slightly more time than usual these days. But I can assure you that if you loved books by Holly Bourne or Sara Barnard then you really need to pick this book up instantly.

Marin is your Grade A students with aspirations of going to Brown. She’s editor of the school newspaper, but when her English teacher gets a bit ‘too friendly’ with her, chatting in Starbucks, talking too casually to her, not like a student. It isn’t until he kisses her that things turn sour. He brushes it off, Marin is lost. She dumps her boyfriend, her so called best friend blows it off, and then she suddenly has thing fire in her. She’s writes an article in the newspaper on ‘the rules for being a girl’ how we should, act, talk and be, how we have to pass judgement and not be ourselves. She’s starts a feminist bookclub and realises how very gender typical this school really is and she wants to change that. She’ll fight every time someone brings her down, because girls have their own rights to protect.

What I loved about this book was how addictive it is. You just keep turning the page, to know what happens next. But also angry and disgusted you feel. I hated her best friend Chloe, she is someone I really wanted to slap. I always wanted shove the whistle of the headmaster somewhere where the sun don’t shine as well. Marin had school politics against her, they are the worst, they also have the power to pull her down. But it’s the power of believing, truth and support of family, who were rocks and friends that gives her that fire to fight for her own stories and those of many others.

I’ve read 99 Days by Katie Cotugno and I do love the odd episode of Sex and the City, and together they really compliments each of their writing styles. It has a part of them which works so well, there is humour as well as the love interest, you can’t resist. This book also reminded me of an old favourite, The DUFF by Kody Keplinger with fighting for who you are and no doubt through a newspaper article. In once sense, it kind of lacked a bit of originality, but books like these that you will simply devour if it’s a compelling storyline like this one, influenced by #MeToo Movement and learning to be a feminist to who you are.

Oh I do love a book that’s get me fired up, feminist books, bringing the patriarchy down, love it all! It makes me come out of my shell I think sometimes. In a way I wish we had more of this of when I was at school. But working in a school and making sure this book goes into the many hands of my students will be my part. All girls need this book out there, it’s rife with power and fighting for your own voice. Cracking read!

Championing Feminist Books

Marin run’s a feminist bookclub, I loved this idea as that’s where she met Grey who I just adored. Loved him so much. He joined the club, I’ll admit for college apps, but he did believe in feminism and more importantly believed in Marin.

My choice is…

What’s a Girl Gotta Do? by Holly Bourne

Shock horror! Ha. One of my favourite feminist writers, I couldn’t not champion Holly’s Spinster Club series. This follow’s Lottie, after being trapped by two guys at college, she wanted to fight so she shouted about every sexist thing in school using a clown horn. She wanted to start a feminist revolution, thus starting a youtube channel revolutionising gender equality and believing in yourself.

Holly’s books are a phenomenal reality of the life of teenage girls but also the awareness of feminism and standing up for your own rights. Books like Rules for Being a Girl and What’s a Girl Gotta Do? made me realise that every day there is some elements of feminism that needs to be fought for.

What are your favourite feminist reads?