I loved this one and thought it would make a great recommendation for a reader on my podcast, What Should I Read Next?!

ROAR is the book I needed to read. It is such a wonderful collection of vignettes about women's lives. Though I didn't have to read them all at once, I was compelled to. Ahern gives her readers a smart, witty, and candid look into what women go through by weaving together these masterful tales. Simply...wonderful.

I normally love short stories, whimsical stories, and I really love a great feminist theme, but this book just didn’t work for me. I get and appreciate what the author was trying to do with this collection, but it was too outlandish and ridiculous, and I feel like that overshadowed the message because I just couldn’t take it seriously. I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t.

A collection of short stories where each story revolves around a woman. Some of the stories had an interesting magical realism bit to them and some felt super feminist, it was a wide range and there were some that I liked and some that were just ok and a few that I didn't care for. It was an interesting collection that I am glad to pass on to a girlfriend who needs to be reminded of all the cool aspects of being a woman!

What I loved about this collection is it seemed that every kind of woman was represented. I am a married, working woman with no kids and a squad of dogs and I felt represented. I have a sister who is a stay at home mom to three kids and I could see her in this collection and my mother is a grandmother, mother and wife entering the retirement years and I could see her in this collection. I loved that any woman could pick up this collection and find a bit of themself in at least a story or two. I think she did a great job of representing the entire broad landscape of women.

I love short story collections to live on my nightstand for night time reading where you can read just a short story or two before bed. They are perfect to read alongside your other books.

I've become an even bigger fan of short stories in the last couple of years, so I was excited when I heard Cecelia Ahern was straying from her typical novel form to write this collection. The concept of 30 stories from 30 different women had me hooked, and I was hoping for something in the vein of Curtis Sittenfeld's You Think It I'll Say It. While I enjoyed quite a few of the stories, I found them to be fairly inconsistent. All of the stories can be read within just a few minutes, so it was a good book to have in my bag to pull out whenever I was waiting in line or early for an appointment. If you're looking for a quick and engaging collection, give this one a try.

Roar is a solid book about feminism. The book is a compilation of short stories that use metaphors to explain the plights of women. Since feminism can sometimes be criticized for only fighting for white women's rights, I liked that Ahern's stories addressed the issues faced not just by women as a whole, but also those specific issues that affect certain races and/or classes of women. The metaphorical stories are bit superficial - it doesn't take much to figure out what she's trying to get at, but if you're looking for an entertaining read about feminism and how it intersects with race and class, I highly recommend Roar.

Thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Cecelia Ahern. I'm a big fan of Ahern's novels - this one is very different but quite thought-provoking.

This book is a series of 30 small chapters - each one about women in various normal roles that Ahern turns into a magical story. Each one features "the woman" - unnamed so that you can possibly picture yourself or someone you know in the role. These stories make you think - there is The Woman Who Returned and Exchanged Her Husband. Who couldn't relate to being frustrated by all those quirks and habits that our partner has? If you had the opportunity, would you exchange your husband for one more suited to you? And what happens afterwards? Or the woman who disappears to everyone after a certain age. Just a few examples - very creative and gives you lots to ponder!

ROAR is definitely a departure from Cecelia Ahearn's RomCom novels. I hope you read the synopsis, as it's so well described. Stories about and for women. As in any short story collection, there are some stories I enjoyed more than others, but on the whole I would say the percentages favored this entertaining collection. Yes, the topics/lessons can be a little pointed toward emphasis on empowerment, but I thought you could substitute the female characters for almost any minority and have the same outcome. I think ROAR might make an excellent book discussion selection.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This is such an unusual book with very deep meaning to me. I don’t believe us women still have everyone hearing us roar, but we are getting there. Cecelia writes short stories (quick to read too) about women barriers in their own home, work and life in general in a non-threatening way. Very much enjoyed it.

The nameless women who inhabit these feminist fables reveal sharp contrasts: self-reliant, furious, forgiving, anxious, optimistic, oppressed, invisible, triumphant. There’s the refugee who faces petty social slights that fuel her anger, and her wings, and the working mom, consumed by guilt and covered in mysterious bites. Like Helen Reddy’s anthem to feminine power, these magical tales inspire.

Unique concept, but in the execution it got a bit tiresome after I got about halfway through. Some of the stories I absolutely loved: The Woman Who Forgot Her Name, The Woman who Was Swallowed up by the Floor and Who Met Lots of Other People Down There, The Woman Who Slowly Disappeared and The Woman Who Grew Wings. There were a couple that I absolutely hated (the one about gonads was horrible because I felt like it was totally off the mark of what it was trying to say).
In general, this book isn't really meant to be read all in one sitting. It's much more meaningful to be consumed in small pieces over time. Some stories will be more meaningful to one woman vs. another based on life experience and issues that she might be going through. And I say woman because I don't know of any men this book would appeal to, it's about women's identity and issues women experience. Worth reading, but definitely not my favorite Ahern book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Cecelia Ahern for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Like:
- Really enjoyed and absolutely related to all of the short stories, except for a few
- Let’s hear all the women Roar!

Love:
- Wasn’t sure if I would like the magical realism aspect, but it ended up making the stories perfect
- The stories share a common theme of feminism and women’s daily experiences but each is very unique
- Loved the explorations of women’s role in our society and cultural expectations of us
- Contains great life advice that I was implementing immediately

Dislike: —

Wish that:
- There is a sequel

Overall, I would highly recommend Roar to anyone and everyone. I don’t usually read much magical realism or short stories but this was amazing!

This is definitely an experimental book. It did not work for me, and I strongly suggest that you read at least a chapter or two of the book before purchasing, because I suspect this book won't be for the average reader.

Each chapter is a different story told in 2nd person. The woman is anonymous, just a 'she' or 'her'. Since each chapter is a unique story, all of them are short and to the point. Unfortunately, it leaves a lot of the tales rather abrupt and far too devoid of detail. The stories are also not exactly subtle. Like the story that has the theme of the woman feeling like she's on the shelf takes place in a scene with a literal shelf. It's a bit too on the nose for me, but I'm sure there are people out there who would like to read a book so different.

I tried. I really did. Having loved PS I Love You (the book, not the movie) I have always wanted to read more of her works. But the two I have, I just could not get into.

This book is listed as a feminist short story collection of women's lives blended with "magical realism." It is meant to show you how women "navigate the world today." To me, it just felt like a bunch of stereotypes with a dash of suspending reality - the first story tells the tale of a woman who is disappearing due to her age and is trying to have people see her again.

I couldn't finish this one.

<em>Roar</em> is a collection of fantastical stories, rooted in the real world, in which the unnamed women at the heart of the different tales experience life through a series of metaphors that have somehow become reality.

The titles of these 30 stories all begin with the words <em>The Woman Who</em>. Each focuses on a woman experiencing some sort of literal manifestation of the types of issues we all encounter more figuratively in our worlds.

The collection opens strong with <em>The Woman Who Slowly Disappeared</em>. The premise is very reminiscent of the season 1 Buffy episode <em>Out of Mind, Out of Sight</em>, about a high school girl whose peers never seem to notice her, and who ends up becoming invisible. In this story, the main character is a woman in her 50s who has gradually faded, becoming less seen over time as she ages, becoming unnoteworthy to the crowds of people around her:
<blockquote>On the worst days, she would go home feeling completely overwhelmed and desperate. She would look in the mirror just to make sure she was still there, to keep reminding herself of that fact; she even took to carrying a pocket mirror for those moments on the subway when she was sure she had vanished.</blockquote>
After fading away to just a glimmer, the woman finally finds hope in the care of a doctor who provides a diagnosis and treatment plan:
<blockquote>"Women need to see women, too," Professor Montgomery says. "If we don't see each other, if we don't see ourselves, how can we expect anybody else to?"</blockquote>
In <em>The Woman Who Was Kept on a Shelf</em>, a woman's husband builds her a shelf where he can display and admire her, but over the years of her marriage, she finds the shelf keeps her on the sidelines of the life around her.
<blockquote>She's spent so many years sitting up here representing an extension of  Ronald, of his achievements, that she no longer has any idea what she represents to herself.</blockquote>
Other favorites of mine are the stories <em>The Woman Who Walked in Her Husband's Shoes</em>, <em>The Woman Who Was a Featherbrain</em>, and the <em>The Woman Who Was Pigeonholed</em>. But really, they're all terrific. The tales are simple. You might at first glance find the premise a little obvious, but really, taken as a whole, these fables illustrated different aspects of what it means to be a woman, how we are defined by society, ourselves, and each other, and how perception and awareness can change everything. There's a lightness and humor in many stories, even as the situations, taken to their logical (or illogical) conclusion can be nightmarish.

In <em>The Woman Who Wore Pink</em>, there's an actual Gender Police that issues warnings and fines as people step outside their prescribed gender roles, with all of one's interactions -- even down to the daily Starbucks order, being identified as either "penis" or "vagina". It takes the woman's six-year-old daughter's angry argument, "If I"m not me, who else am I supposed to be?" for the woman to open her eyes and consider the pointlessness of separating all habits and options into either penis or vagina categories. There's a particularly funny episode after the daughter is denied the "penis" Happy Meal that comes with a dinosaur, as the woman starts to question why dinosaurs are considered boy-appropriate only:
<blockquote>"I'm just saying. I mean, there were female dinosaurs, too, you know, and I don't think any of them were pink."</blockquote>
I ended up loving this entire collection. The thirty stories are a mix of far-fetched, grounded in the familiar, comedic, and painful. All are told in a straight-forward manner, where we take the fantastical elements as reality and are faced with considering how our world's definitions of women's lives and women's roles might look if all the euphemisms and catchphrases for the assumptions and barriers facing women became literal parts of the everyday world.

<em>Roar</em> is a fun, thought-provoking set of stories with plenty to chew on. I think it would be a great choice for a book club to discuss. Reading this book made me wish for a group of friends with copies in their hands, so we could each pick a favorite story and compare notes -- and imagine ourselves literally falling through the floor, unraveling, melting down, or discovering our very own strong suit.

Check it out!

Hmmmm. This book is hard to categorize and even harder to review. The premise is interesting; 30 feminist fairytales centering on female empowerment. Unfortunately the execution is simplistic. I cAnnot really think who would enjoy this book. Maybe a teen? Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc. All opinions are honest and my own.

With short story collection, expect a gamut of quality. With Roar, I read more two to three-starred stories, with one, maybe two four-star tales. I appreciate the Feminist angle, however, I felt meh pretty much as I read through the book.

While I cannot recommend this book, I am sure someone will enjoy it more than I.

Cecelia Ahern's latest packs a punch. This collection features 30 short stories, all titled "The Woman Who . . . " and with a fairytale-like tone delves into a specific situation that a woman might find herself. Enraging for the reminder of daily struggles and prejudice, but ultimately uplifting for the empowering messages. I particularly liked "The Woman Who Protected the Gonads" which turns the table on the discussion about female reproductive rights.

Roar, by Cecelia Ahern is brilliant. The stories are witty, creative and poignant. Intending to read just one before lights out, I was unable to put this collection down. This is a thoughtful and terrific read!

This is my first 5 star book of 2019.

Ahern gives us 30 shorts that imagine women's lives and highlights the every day struggles. The collection is inspirational and innovative as Ahern uses magical realism to help break down the walls around the hard conversations for topics like racism, toxic masculinity, self doubt, etc.


’I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.’’