Not That Kind of Girl Review
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham is book of essays pieced together into a memoir of Dunham's life. Separated into sections about love, sex, the body, friendship, work and the big picture, Dunham's book captures the thoughts and emotions of a less-than-perfect woman who is doing her best to get along on her own.
Dunham's book is sprinkled with advice and the kind of honesty that is shunned in other memoirs. Quotes like "It's simple: don't put yourself in situations you'd like to run away from" and "when someone shows you how little you mean to them and you keep coming back for more, before you know it you start to mean less to yourself," capture how Dunham's transparency about her own struggles can truly teach some valuable lessons to readers.
If you have ever seen Dunham's HBO creation Girls than you have probably heard a lot of the stories she discusses in her memoir portrayed in the show. I understand she based her character Hannah off of herself but the parallels can become a tad annoying. Dunham has OCD, so her character Hannah has OCD. Dunham had a friend who danced on the promenade in rain boots and a bikini, so does Hannah. They tend to be little but they're sprinkled throughout the series and easily recognizable to those who have read the memoir.
I really enjoyed this book but I was starting to become sick of Dunham's voice by the end. She has a way of saying things that can border on obnoxious and it's easy to start to skim through passages where the only purpose is to illustrate how unusual and different Dunham is from the average person. Too much "I'm so weird and interesting, don't you just love me?" can wear on any reader.
I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads because although it was enjoyable, there can only be so much quirky and relatable someone can squeeze into 265 pages.
Photo Credit: Goodreads.com
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