Title: What's A Girl Gotta Do?Author: Holly Bourne
Published by: Usborne
Publication date: 1st August 2016
Pages: 421
Genres: YA Contemporary/Feminism
Format: Paperback
Source: Review copy from the publisher.
Lottie is starting a supersonic feminist experiment. For one month she's going to call out every instance of sexism she sees. But when her project hits the headlines, the trolls come out to play – and they are VICIOUS. Lottie's not a quitter, but best friends Evie and Amber are worried. What if Lottie's heading for burnout... or worse?
Am I Normal Yet? saw Evie struggling with an OCD relapse. How Hard Can Love Be? focused on Amber dealing with family issues as well as love and acceptance. What's A Girl Gotta Do? is Lottie's story, where she fights for equality no matter how many hurdles she faces in the process.
I loved those books, and I loved this one, too. Holly Bourne captures the teenage voice perfectly every single time, and the attention to detail never fails to blow me away. I've said it before and I'll say it again: she just gets it. How a friendship can disappear in the blink of an eye. How sometimes the only thing you can do is retire to bed with a pile of snacks. How saving the world is even more difficult when you've got exams to think about, but that with determination, you can make a change. How you can 100% aim to do it all, but also that it's okay to take a break and put yourself first.
Out of all Bourne's books, I think What's A Girl Gotta Do? has the heaviest focus on sexism. Being completely honest, Lottie used to be my least favourite character, but I soon warmed to her and admired her ambition. I also loved catching up with Evie and Amber. Especially Amber, whose dialogue was hilarious and on point, once again. It must be an Amber thing.
But back focusing on the feminism aspect... I read a review a while ago that didn't like that the characters occasionally slip-up and do things that aren't typically feminist. However, that's one of the things I like most about these books. No one is the perfect feminist. Not even Emma Watson. The thing is, it's more realistic this way - and it's not like they don't realise their mistakes or learn from them, because they do. We've had so many crap ideas forced on us by society from birth. That's going to take a while to filter out of the population, but we're making progress, slowly but surely.
Do I recommend this? OF COURSE. You know it's a good book when you find yourself smiling throughout. This whole trilogy is well worth reading. (And it's not over just yet, because there's a Spinster Club novella coming in November - woop!)
And here's my video with the author herself!
