7/10
The Girl Who Says Sorry does a great job at highlighting the ridiculous double standards girls are held to, the contradictory information they have to navigate every day and how guilt and apologising are used to oppress women and girls. It encourages girls to stop apologising and be themselves, which is a message they need to hear so much more!
It could be better, however. The character realises that apologising so much is 'very silly'. Having the character berate themselves for behaving the way they were expected to is not helpful and adds to the problem. Additionally, the main point of the book is 'I will not apologise for actions that don't hurt anyone else' and I think this is too abstract. What counts as an action that hurts someone else? This is difficult to work out even as an adult! Much of the oppression of women and girls is based on the fact that they hurt men's feelings, by for example being too assertive. If a girl tells a boy he's being silly and he cries, how is she supposed to work out that she didn't really hurt him? So in fact saying 'I will not apologise for actions that don't hurt anyone else' still leaves the lines blurred and doesn't help. It should have given some concrete examples of what she shouldn't have to apologise for, for example 'I won't apologise for wearing what I want,' 'I won't apologise for eating what I want' or 'I won't apologise for speaking up.'
Overall, this is definitely a step in the right direction and we need more books that reinforce this message!