The plot was also questionable imo, the "twist" at the end felt like it was inserted as an afterthought and didn't seem to fit with the first 3/4 of the book... Spelling errors irritated me. Maybe it was rushed out for publication or more suited for a younger audience (what is happening to me) This is not the queer affirming book it claims to be. This is a book doused in queer stereotypes and harmful language. As a bisexual woman I found it littered with biphobia and severe problems around identity, femininity, masculinity and many issues catered towards our non binary siblings too.

This author has tried to do something pretty wonderful; use their voice to promote feminism, queerness, bisexuality and show us that social media is detrimental to our health and well-being… and that the world is still controlled by men. Kleine Anmerkung gleich zu Beginn: Vielleicht wäre es hier angebracht gewesen, Triggerwarnungen im Buch zu platzieren. Das hier ist keine einfache, keine lustige Lektüre, zumindest über weite Teile nicht. Es geht hier um Gewalt in der Beziehung, um Depressionen und Missbrauch und Biphobie bzw. Bi-erasure und Queerphobia generell. Bi-erasure bezeichnet die Tendenz von Menschen und Medien, Bisexualität zu verdrängen und als nicht-existent darzustellen. Hier geschieht das zum Beispiel, wenn Eartha es wagt, einen Mann zu küssen. Denn wenn sie einen Mann küsst, dann bezeichnet sie sich offensichtlich ja nur als bi, um Aufmerksamkeit zu bekommen, oder? Also hat sie dafür wohl einen ordentlichen Shitstorm verdient, oder? Nein, Leute, deswegen hier ein kleiner Reminder, auch wenn ich nicht glaube, dass jemand von euch den wirklich braucht: Bisexuell bedeutet, dass eine Person nicht nur ein Geschlecht anziehend findet. Es bedeutet nicht, dass eine Person nie in einer Beziehung sein wird, die hetero auf die Außenwelt wirkt. Eine bi-Person kann daten, wen er:sie:they will und diese Person wird trotzdem bi bleiben. Außer, wenn diese Person entscheidet, dass sie sich nicht mehr als bi bezeichnen möchte. Sexuality is fluid und für manche Menschen ändert sich das im Laufe ihres Lebens. Das bedeutet dann aber nicht unbedingt, dass das vorherige Label falsch oder nur ein Übergangslabel war, sondern nur, dass dieses Label in dem Lebensabschnitt, in dem sich diese Person befindet, grade nicht mehr passt. Erst im Juni habe ich mein erstes Buch der Autorin gelesen, die dafür ja auch sehr gehyped wurde: "Frauen schulden dir gar nichts." "Girlcrush" wiederum hat online weniger Aufmerksamkeit bekommen. Das hängt wahrscheinlich unter anderem mit dem Genrewechsel zusammen, zumindest ist das meine Theorie. "Girlcrush" ist nämlich kein Sachbuch bzw. Ratgeber, sondern ein Roman. Und noch dazu nicht unbedingt der einfachste Roman, den ich je gelesen habe. Was jetzt für mich nicht unbedingt etwas Negatives ist, ist halt einfach nicht mehr für alle Menschen einfach so zugänglich. Florence Given released her first fiction novel, Girl Crush, last week (9th August). And it’s safe to say she probably won’t be hailed as this generation’s Jacqueline Wilson anytime soon.My friends have never spoken to me about their weight. We openly talk about sex we have, we openly talk about masturbation, and we’re very honest about our feelings with one another. We say no when we want to. But it is also because my friends are queer or they’re bisexual. In Given’s debut novel, we follow Eartha on a wild, weird and seductive modern-day exploration as she commences life as an openly bisexual woman whilst also becoming a viral sensation on Wonderland, a social media app where people project their dream selves online.

As a queer woman in the public eye, dating has evolved and changed with her success too. But how much of her own dating experience is mirrored in her new book? “I've had many women ghost me before,” she admits. “You start to protect your ego and identity. For a while I'd almost projected my past onto people that were completely innocent and assumed they were going to do what all of the others did. But I’ve learned to treat people as an individual.” This steers our chat onto the standards we all face every single day and how they can push us into building a ‘close to perfect’ facade online (or at least try to, as after all there’s no such thing as ‘perfect’). “You create a standard for yourself on social media that's above the standards we already have from the patriarchy, and trying to be beautiful to get by in this world,” Florence says thoughtfully. “More people are living this split life [between who you want to be and who you currently are] to the point we don't even question it anymore, we just know that that's the way it is. And still we feel shit about it. We know everything is curated, but it still hurts to see people doing better than us, or who are happier in areas that we aren't.” Shariff, Alysha; Wentworth-Smith, Antoinette (7 February 2018). "Girls, uninterrupted". Artefact . Retrieved 17 February 2020.

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If you’re a millennial or Gen Zer, it’s likely Florence Given needs no introduction – with over half a million followers, she’s well known for her feminist art and activism (and if you’re not amongst that 500,000-strong group, chances are you’ve still come across her colourful and kitsch illustrations at some point in your life). Some of the things I liked about this book were the discussions about the internet and the complexities of being bisexual, even within the very lgbtqia+ community, as the character describes either feeling like people judge her for being too gay or not gay enough. Women Don’t Owe You Pretty was a concise, witty, compassionate guide to navigating feminism. Did it achieve what you wanted it to? Her's Women of the Year 2019: From politics and culture to sport, we raise a glass to the female leaders who have inspired us this year". Her.ie. 30 December 2019 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.

This is the perfect example of someone who is successful in one area believing that that success and skill will translate into others…… and it did not. Basically, Florence uses the “F” slur far too comfortably throughout the novel, when it wasn’t ever a word for queer women to reclaim. Phrases like “d**e daddy” and “a random butch in leather” have pissed people off, too. The general consensus seems to be that Florence – a bisexual woman – has massively reduced her lesbian characters down to stereotypes. I’m grateful to Eli for this thread… and I hate it. Really, really, really hate the way that Given (a bisexual woman) writes about lesbianism She also advises “taking everything with a pinch of salt” when it comes to consuming content and realising it’s not a case of ‘one size fits all’. A few years ago, Florence adopted the catchphrase “It’s a wonderful day to dump him” to remind people that life is too short to stay in toxic relationships that don’t make you happy. But, as she points out, not everyone took it well. “I know I used to shout ‘dump him’ on the internet but what really annoys me about the perception of that is people thought I meant ‘everyone should dump your boyfriend’ – but really it was about saying it so women who stumble across it take it as a sign if they were already thinking about it.”British Podcast Awards 2022 – full winners list announced". Radio Today. 23 July 2022 . Retrieved 19 December 2022. So it's no surprise there's plenty of hype around her debut novel Girlcrush, published on the 9 August and set to be one of the best books of 2022. Girlcrush tells the story of Eartha, who embarks on a journey of sexual exploration as an openly bisexual woman who becomes embroiled in a dangerous online world. I know this is meant to be a story about a messy character, but you're given no reason at all to care about this selfish, awful woman from the start of the novel.