What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. ArnoldMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"As long as there have been women," Mom told me, "there have been ways to punish them for being women."
"There is no such thing as unconditional love. I could stop loving you at any time.
OK so my feelings on this book went completely topsy turvy from start to finish. Which is actually a pretty impressive feat considering the book is only 183 pages. If I'd been asked to rate the book at 10, 20 100, 115 pages I I'd have probably given Arnold's work a single star and brushed it off a bad but somehow in the last 20% of the book the author manages to tie everything together really well while also eliminating the over the top emo feel that the story seems to take for the first parts of the book.
Arnold bounces the reader wildly through current time and flashbacks, metaphorical stories of chickens and virgin martyrs and conversations with parents and about parents. It's a wild ride but in the end it confronts the beliefs our society instills in the female mind. Why girls are left believing they have to meet someone elses expectation to be worthy of their love. Whether it be a physical expectation, a behavioral expectation, or a completely ambiguous psychological expectation.
Arnold tells a quick but fierce story that demand the reader acknowledge the truth that no one should have to be "sugar, & spice, & everything nice," in order to be lovable or feel good in their own skin.
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