A good friend was tired of me whinging about having nothing to read and grabbed this book from her bookshelf Smashed Growing Up A Drunk Girl by Koren Zailckas
This book is a bit of a self help memoir by a girl Koren who takes her first drink at 14 and stops by her mid 20s because she doesn't like who she is when she drinks. She says she's not an alcoholic but she also can't function without a drink either, each time she trys she caves and it's all or nothing with her she can't drink in moderation.
The book speaks about how kids from mid school onwards can't function without drinking - they don't have anything in common when they stop drinking or even like one another (or themselves for that matter) without being under the influence of alcohol. It covers a lot of statistics of American schools and has become a bit of a topic of conversation which is a good thing getting it out in the open. This book did put me off alcohol for a few days so I guess the point of it worked.
I found it hard to relate to the main character Koren because she didn't really drop her guard and share about herself as a person, it was all about the booze and drinking and her self hate. The writing style was a bit clunky and I noticed a few times it had already repeated itself, something the editor didn't pick up on perhaps.
I would recommend this book for tweens to maybe scare them into not drinking for a while or give them a heads up on what choices you have coming into the adult world - you can choose to drink yourself stupid or learn how to have fun moderately. Everyone has a choice. I give this book 2 stars.
Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read
[Image via Randomhouse]
Love book reviews, especially from someone I trust! This is totally the type of book that I would have bought based on the cover and title alone:)
ReplyDeleteJessica
stayathomeista.com
I agree with Jessica. I would have bought this based on the title and cover. There is one by Marion Keyes I LOVE which is fictional but is about a woman who is a drug addict and alcoholic but all through the book she doesn't realise it ... it's very well written ... and then when she gets to therapy she starts to remember the previous events in the book differently ... I love it! It's called "Rachel's Holiday". When I saw the title of your book I hoped it might be similar ...
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