How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran

I wanted so badly to love this book. To devour it whole and give a glowing review because I really like Caitlin Moran's personality, her style, attitude and ideals. Well, I didn't hate the book but if I'm completely honest I didn't love it and probably only just about liked it. Don't get me wrong the writing was good it was really witty and clever and truthful but the book just wasn't entertaining.

How to Build a Girl is to put it simply a coming of age story. It's a bit more raw than most and probably could be considered a cautionary tale about what not to do when your trying to build yourself.

Johanna Morgan is a sexually charged adolescent hormonal teen from middle working class Woverhamton. Her family are scraping by on benefits and she accidentally divulges information on it to an elderly nieghbour who isn't too impressed that her family are claiming assistance. Terrified that a brown envelope with a letter spelling out the families doom could drop through the letter box anyday. Johanna now sick with worry looks for a way to bring in some money to save her family from the poor house in the event a letter does arrive. She tries a mix of things but is sucessful when she enters a poetry contest and wins. The £250 doesn't go very far but she is to go on TV and read her poem. She's a bit chubby, very witty, creative, bookish and socially awkward. After a 'ground please swallow me up' type of embarrassing moment on local TV Johanna decides to re-invent herself as Dotty Wilde a nod to Oscar Wildes niece Dorothy who was a very witty conversationalist, infamous lesbian and talented writer/story teller who also had a heroine addiction.

So Johanna now Dotty manages to land herself a job as a journalist at a top London based music magazine and much to the chagrin of her mother leaves school to follow her dreams. This all takes place in the 90's when you could actually blag a job by lying about your age, references etc...before all our personal information was but a click away. Let's put it into context Johanna writes her first articles on a commador 64. Need I say anymore?

I could identify with Johanna and maybe that's why I found it so hard to read or maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace but really I think it was a little to close to home for me. I do however think that it's worth reading preferably when you are a teenage girl so you can avoid making the mistakes many of us do while we are trying to build ourselves. Reading it afterwards may make you want curl up into the fetal position rock back and forth and wish for a do-over. Ok maybe that's a little dramatic but it won't make you feel good.

The opening pages are great but the first half of the book drags on a bit and probably could have done with a bigger edit. The second half is much better but you may get a bit bored as I did on the way to it.

How To Build A Girl did make me want to read more about Dorothy Wilde so it wasn't all bad it just wasn't all that enjoyable but then maybe it's not the type of book that longs to bring you comfort but rather teach you a lesson. Anyway decide for yourself.