#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso Review

New York Times bestseller #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso (Founder and CEO of Nasty Gal) was published in 2014 captioned with a quote from Lena Dunham: “#GIRLBOSS is more than a book… #GIRLBOSS is a movement”

I imagine you can sense a theme with the last two reviews and now this one, so I shall tell you how I came to purchase motivational, female empowering, self-help-type-books. I have always been a confident and motivated person but nothing has scared me more than the prospect of being a “grown up” in the “real world”, so just before I left university I bought an array of books to jolt me out of this fear and back into my bubbly, ballsy, sometimes sassy- but never rude- self. Explanation is over. There will be novels and fictional book reviews soon; when Amazon gets a wiggle on.

You’re enticed into believing everything and anything is possible.

Back to the review…

#GIRLBOSS is a rags to riches, anyone can make it, girl power book. It implores its readers to be a #GIRLBOSS and follow their natural instincts. But as you read the dramatic tales of Amoruso’s past lives, which feels like she’s has just about as many lives as a cat, you’re enticed into believing everything and anything is possible. These tales are fuelled by the photo’s that she’s paired with book, as a reminder that these aren’t just stories, they were part of Amoruso’s life; or lives as I like to think she’s led many.

I think it is fair to question what is the difference between Dunham’s book Not That Kind of Girl and #GIRLBOSS as when you see them paired next to each other, as autobiographies of successful women who want to share their message with other women, they could indeed be the same. However, Dunham’s is a personal and self-deprecatingly hilarious autobiography, which is about who you are as a person. Whereas, Amoruso's focus is more about who you want to be, what you aspire to do and how you’re going to do it. There is no messing about with this book. It is lighthearted at points but is sincere in Amoruso’s story of unexpected success.

Follow your dreams because now you feel like you are better equipped to do it.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Autobiographical

Writing style: Beautiful storytelling, uniquely decisive and snappy at points.

Structure: Simple format of 11 Chapters

Ease of reading: It’s a very driven narrative and the stories about her past are often more compelling than the story of her success. But I read it with relative ease in about a week.

Design: Pink and black colour scheme very chic and simple. Bold fully black pages to divide up the chapters was a really nice touch. Illustrations done very boldly in black adding to the cohesivity of the whole design.

Target audience: Similarly to Dunham’s I’d recommend this for 16+. Amoruso targets her audience on the back of her book stating it’s for “outsiders (and insiders) seeking a unique path to success.”

Price: £9.99

Overall:

#GIRLBOSS leaves you wanting to follow your dreams because now you feel like you are better equipped to do it. Amoruso offers some of the best and the worst advice in this book: the best being how she managed to build a multi-million dollar company without stacking up any debt, and the worst being about her hitchhiking and shoplifting experiences. Personally I think Amoruso could make a cracking film out of her life story. Grab a coffee, and enjoy!

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham Review

No. 1 Bestseller Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham published in 2014 captioned with “a young woman tells you what she’s learned”.

Don’t be put off by the hype because I assure you it is entirely worth it!

I started my reconnecting with books journey with this absolute corker. It was a book that I had wanted to read for the longest time after becoming obsessed with Girls: Dunham’s TV show which is on HBO.

There are already so many reviews about this book, so I don’t want to add too much of what’s already been said, however I will say these few things...

This book is for any girl or woman who keeps a diary and likes to read back on what they wrote a few months down the line and laugh, cringe and maybe even cry.

It is a coming of age book of memoirs that as you read you can imagine Dunham’s voice confessionally spurting out these events of her life.

Other reviews have named Dunham the “voice of a generation” (Daisy Wyatt, Independent) and described the book as “one of those rare examples when something hyped deserves its buzz” (New York Post) and I wholeheartedly agree. I wanted to read this book since the moment it was released but never had time. Reading it two years on... the hype was absolutely true to the standard of the book.

Although this book is for the most part hilarious in it’s entirety, it also brings up real issues from sex, dieting, and mental health issues which are written so personally by Dunham. However, don’t let that put you off. When I read the book it finished with this resounding feeling of empowerment that in the face of self-doubt, embarrassment and misfortune you can succeed and be who you want to be.

An excellent book to take on a girls holiday this summer.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Memoir/Autobiographical

Writing style: Sharp, engaging, comic and poignant.

Structure: It’s broken down into sections of topics for example the first section is titled “Love & Sex” and then within that section is a series of chapters of events or anecdotes from Dunham’s experiences. What is particularly enjoyable is that she has chapters called “15 things…” which are lighthearted anecdotes or reflections.

Ease of reading: I found this very easy to read. I got through it in about a week of reading it for 1-2 hours a day.

Design: The cover has Dunham on the front of it with a stack of books on a table with a cup and saucer (clearly Dunham loves coffee as much as I do). It’s bright and vibrant. The pop of the pink really stands out with the black on the front and along the seam of the book. Back of the book is plain but filled with captions of the reviews she’s received. Inside the book the illustrations (by Joana Avillez) pose themselves to be doodles but are ornately beautiful, they relate directly to the writing, and form their own comic personality.

Target audience: I would recommend this for people 16+ as it does hold some more adult content and require a level of maturity; as even Dunham states on the back of her book “I am not a sexpert, a psychologist, or a dietician” so don’t take her words as gospel regarding the more sensitive themes.

Cost: £8.99- Although I’d always advise going on Amazon for the best deals.

Overall:

It’s reputation precedes this book. Don’t be put off by the hype because I assure you it is entirely worth it. An excellent book to take on a girls holiday this summer. It was a No. 1 Bestseller for a reason. Go grab a coffee. And start reading it. I doubt you’ll be able to put it down.