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Summary: Groupie Wanna-be Speaks
Review: Andrea Marr is a 16-year-old wanna-be Holden Caulfield. She's your typical teenage girl trapped into the world of grunge and punk bands when her life is changed and she becomes rebellion. Born, suburban and splenderous, Andrea fears away hoping she can still be cool with her new friends. I think this book has a lot of good, very good points yet, Andrea sounds really vapid and does a lot of stupid sexual things like just let guys do it to her. I don't get it. I mean, I'm no girl or anything, like the author, but I still wouldn't make someone who's supposed to be so-called rebellous just a total tease and [easy] for gitty musicians and gullible boys. Not all girls are [easy]. Either way, this book is a good book and deserves a look from it's stupid cover (no offense to company who took the picture).
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Summary: 10 years and still going strong
Review: I first read this book 10 years ago, when I was 15 years old. I just finished it again for the 21st time. Yes that is right, I have read Girl, by Blake Nelson 2 times a year for 10 years. When I started reading this book I instantly felt like someone finally understood me. I was young, dating an older musician and going to night clubs instead of school dances. Yet at the same time there was a part of me that wanted to be like everyone else, studying, joining school clubs, getting ready for college. Andrea Marr completely encapsulates the most common teenage fears and desires. The desire to find love, to be different yet accepted. To find freedom from both your parents and school. The desire to figure out WHO you are, by constantly changing. When you read Girl you will find that it is not like reading a book, it is like you are reading 3 years worth of a teenagers diary. Boyfriends, break ups, friendships fading and changing. Surprizingly honest and heartfelt. By the end you will feel like Andrea Marr is your best friend. I am amazed at how well Blake Nelson takes on the voice of a 16 year old teenage girl. I only wish he had written a sequel, because I would love to know what Andrea is up to now.
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Summary: Good book & good movie
Review: I had just broken up w/ my boyfriend, so I had plenty of time to watch every movie in the local movie rental store. I came across "Girl" and love Sean Patrick Flannery, so I watched it.
It reminded me so much of myself that I cried at the end. A friend told me if I liked that so much, I would really love the book. I found a copy and read the whole thing and couldn't put it down. It goes into more detail than the movie. It was really good. I would definately recommend it!
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Summary: HOW DID BLAKE NELSON GET INTO MY HEAD???!
Review: I have read this book no less than 10 times. There is not one instance where Blake Nelson is not dead-on. Absolutely everything about Andrea Marr is correct. How did he do this? How does he know those exact teenage girl feelings? How does he KNOW almost the EXACT story of my life (local rock star and all!)? Andrea reacts the same way I would have, does the same things I did, the similarities are uncanny, so of course this is my favorite novel of all time. And yes, I am a college graduate with a degree in Metaphysics. The ending, when Andrea goes away to college and says, "..But that's not what happened...Not even close", has me hoping and praying that there is a sequel in the works. "Exile" was good, but good at best. "Girl" is my bible.
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Summary: worth every minute
Review: I read Girl, by Blake Nelson, over a month ago and I find its scenes still playing in my head. I hate reviews that give away important plot points, so I won't get specific. I grew up in Cleveland, where the club scene isn't as great, so I'm a little jealous of Andrea. But I can see it, I've known people like her. Her actions, her thoughts really ring true. Trying to grow up and keep up with what's cool, and doubting success. All the intrique of that age. I read this book in one sitting: it's one of those books, "I'll just read a couple more pages, and then put it down" that never gets put down. There was always a reason to keep reading just a little bit longer. I'm not a girl and almost not a teenager, but this just seemed so real, so like the life my friends and I wanted to lead in high school (Shallow? Who cares?). It's on that short list of books I intend to reread, probably more than once.
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Summary: still the best
Review: I read this book when I was in high school and i liked it a lot and then i wanted to read more books like it and I read a lot of different books and guess what, none of them are as good. I just reread it again seven years later and it is still the best. It is a classic. Thank you blake.
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Summary: Excellent read for all ages
Review: I received "Girl" as a chance encounter and could not put it down from the moment I first picked it up. I found the characters to be as real and interesting as any I have read about. Andrea is a very believeable character and the whole book has a very somber feel to it. I truly hope that the author will give us a part two to the novel so we can continue to enjoy the adventrues of Andrea as she enters college. By the way using a Krokus song in the novel really took me back as they were one of my favorite bands in high school.
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Summary: Just one thing I'd like to know
Review: I was not around for the grunge/thrift scene but I loved this book. and I'm not even in high school yet !
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Summary: EVERYONE should read GIRL
Review: I'm so amazed that a grown man can capture a teenage girl's thoughts so perfectly. Andrea Marr's high school experience is so familiar to my own I feel like I've lived this book. Blake Nelson portrays Andrea as any teenage girl, confused and unsure about where she is going. A friendly word of warning: the movie (starring domonique swain) does a horrible job of capturing the true message of the book and turns the confused heroine into an annoyingly whiney little girl. I hope he writes a sequel so we can all know about Andrea's adventures in college and beyond.
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Summary: Genuine, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking
Review: The central premise of "Girl" is as old as storytelling itself: young person comes of age. That Nelson could have done so much to make it fresh and original is a genuine tribute to his skills as a writer, particularly when one realizes that this is his first book. Our main character and diary-style narrator, Andrea, leads us by the hand through a tangle of botched romances, unrequited love, sexual identity crises, and the Portland, Oregon underground music scene. The narration is in turns hillarious, terrifying, heart-rending, torrid, achingly beautiful, and frantic. By the end, one can't help feel like Andrea's older brother, wanting to put an arm around her and tell her that she's good people with a bright future and a fulfilling social life -- but, by the time we are truly tempted to do it, we also know her well enough to know that she'd step away from our arm and say something gen-X'er like "Oh, puh-LEASE," anyway. It's a great read.
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