“Girls Like Us” by Randi Pink was heartfelt, poignant, haunting, and inspiring. Definitely recommend!

I loved this book. It was so meaningful in the wake of the Supreme Court appointments under the current administration. The girls in the book were so sweet and likable and I loved Pearline, the woman who took care of them. I wish I had been able to read this book sooner!

Well written, insightful and heartbreaking - Girls Like Us explores what teen pregnancy means in 1972, and in a variety of different backgrounds. Narrated by each of the teenagers, this is a hard hitting and needed tale.

However, the blurb discusses a timely tale, and the girls ultimately give in to the pressures and seem to do what is expected of them. I really felt this would be much more powerful if the author had pushed the envelope just a bit more, and truly explored that aspect of it.

Loved this one. It was a relatable story that I feel a lot of young girls can connect with, even though it takes place in the 70s.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the sisterhood and feminist vibes that it had. A very good book for Young Adults to read. Maybe a bit to young for me, but meanings I'm the mother of a teenage girl, I still found it easy to relate too.

This is an important and timely story about four girls dealing with the same situation that accurately illustrates how the same situation can impact people in very different ways depending on their life circumstances. It was interesting and would be powerful for young adults to consider how their circumstances change the way they interact with the world.

This is a book that humanizes the girls (that’s right, girls not women) who are often the targets of both pro-choice and pro-life “advocates”. These are girls who are in love, who were raped, who made choices that they thought were the right one and then it turned out it wasn’t. As someone who is pro-life but also extremely against the demonizing of girls and women who feel like they have no other choice (or are given no other choice by their parents/spouses/lovers), I had a hard time starting this book. The marketing of this book made it sound like this is a pro-legal abortion novel. But the way the book was written, it was difficult to see the political stance of the author until the end and the footnotes. The last chapter of the book in my opinion didn’t need to be there. It came out of no where and felt like a throwaway “keep abortion legal” poster. I mean I understand it was an attempt at showing the difference between not having a choice and then having the option of abortion only to take it away but I felt like it cheapened the stories of the other girls, especially with how most of their lives ended up. I would recommend this novel to both sides of the abortion debate, because at the end of the day, it’s real people’s lives being affected. And real people who feel backed into a corner.

The real reason behind this book was revealed in the last chapter, which I read at 2am this morning and it hit me like a sledgehammer. Set in 1972, it's the story of 4 girls, told in each of their voices, going through unwanted pregnancies. In the 70's, young girls were sent away to have their babies, usually so no one actually knew they were pregnant and they could come home 'unscathed' after putting their child up for adoption. Some decided to keep them, and that usually came with strings, like being forced into a loveless marriage. One girl was raped by an uncle, one was a carefree rich girl, one was a silly, poor girl from Alabama whose sister was trying to help her 'get rid of it'. It told of the friendships made, the fears of these girls, and the difficult decisions they had to make when they were just kids having kids. It's a look at where we've come from as a country and where we can possibly return to, and a window into what happens to a woman who doesn't have a choice.

What a gut punch of a book. So heartwrenching and timely and beautiful. The writing was a little young, but several of the main characters were 14-15, so it made sense. I was so emotionally invested in Ola and Izella and Missippi and Sue's stories.

I’ll start out by saying that Girls Like Us by Randi Pink is not my typical read. I’m usually a fantasy or sci-fi girl. Realistic, historical fiction is not really my cup of tea. Still, I found myself drawn to the book and the issues it deals with, because even in 2019, a lot of it is still relevant.

Right from the start of the novel, you’re really thrust into the world due to the stylistic writing and authentic character voices. I was originally intimidated by this and struggled to relate to the characters with a very different lifestyle than me, but as I continued to read, I fell in love with the characters. Mississippi, or “Sippi” as she was known was probably my favorite, as she was a sweet character who definitely went through something she didn’t deserve. All of the girls were relatable in their own ways, even Ola and Izella’s desperate, secretive actions. Even in the drier, 3rd person POV I could really understand these characters and empathize with them. The novel really shows off the expectations and harsh realities of the time period, which both contrast and overlap with modern society.

While this book is YA, it didn’t really feel like a typical YA book. Maybe it was the writing style, but it some ways it reminded me more of literary fiction pieces along the lines of Their Eyes Were Watching God or Beloved (albeit far less stylistic.) This isn’t a bad thing at all, and I think that the tone might actually help it stick more as an important literary piece that could be included in classroom discussions.

I think that my main issue was the ending. I won’t spoil it, but it’s set in modern times, and while it does do well to connect the issues presented earlier in the book to the present, I felt that it wasn’t necessary and turned this beautifully written piece into more of a political message. (Don’t get me wrong, the politics were there all along, but the final chapter felt very direct and forced.)

All-in-all, I would definitely recommend this book! People with interest in realistic, historical fiction and interest in abortion rights will enjoy this novel. I would give it 4/5 stars for being a bit dry at times and for the ending, but in general I did enjoy it enough to finish it in less than a day!

Such a moving and powerful story of four women during the Vietnam war who have to deal with teen pregnancy and fighting for the rights to their own bodies. Women should have control over what they do with their reproductive systems, not men who scratch their balls and was brought into this world by a woman. From the mind of Randi Pink, LETS CHANGE THE F**KING WORLD GIRLS!!!

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

Welcome Back!


I know it's been a little while, I know what my posting goals were, however, I took a small break for a few reasons. First, due to mental health, I was feeling a bit down and I just needed some time to work through some things and second because of the holidays. So I took part of the week before Thanksgiving and the entire week of Thanksgiving to kind of collect myself and treat myself. I am in a much better headspace now and have been able to resolve the things that were bothering me most. Additionally, I also spent some quality time reading and that means as part of my Blogmas I will have lots of reviews going up! Now I may not stick to the normal reviewing schedule during blogmas because there are lots of different seasonal posts I have planned but I am hoping to still get my reviews posted and out there! During my break from blogging one of the books I was finally able to read was Girls Like Us. So without further ado let's talk about this awesome book.


SPOILERS AHEAD


Following four very different girls in the summer of 1972 we get to see each one's life experiencing and how they handle unplanned teenage pregnancy during a time when having a child out of wedlock was not socially accepted at all. We have Ola and Izella, sisters, and older sister Ola is expecting. She has a boyfriend, Walter, who is back from the war and a mother who is very dedicated to the church. Her sister Izella wants to try to help her out of this situation but they both know their mother can never find out. There is also a girl down the street who is much younger than the sisters, Missippi who is pregnant, her mother passed a long time ago and her father works on the road as a trucker coming home as much as he can. However, he has no idea who his daughter might have been seeing or how she could have become pregnant and she refuses to tell him. Missippi's father would like to do what is best for her so he sends her to Chicago to give birth to a woman who runs a home for young unwed pregnant women. Here she meets Susan, the daughter of a politician as well as many other girls. Here we learn more about Missippi's story as well as Susan's. Two girls who are very different but become fast best friends and have to make decisions about their lives that will last forever.


Honestly, I was surprised by how much I loved this story. I was so engaged and interested in each girl's story and wanting to see where each one of their lives was going to go. I think the author handled each individual story wonderfully and overall created a beautiful story. I loved Susan and Missippi's fast friendship and I loved Ola and Izella's story despite the immense amount of heartbreak it contains. I am giving this book 4.25 stars on Goodreads and I will definitely read it again.


**I was given an e-book ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Randi Pink

Book Series: Standalone.

Rating: 3.5/5

Publication Date: October 29, 2019

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Recommended Age: 16+ (pregnancy, sex)

Synopsis: Set in the summer of 1972, this moving YA historical novel is narrated by teen girls from different backgrounds with one thing in common: Each girl is dealing with pregnancy.
Four teenage girls. Four different stories. What they all have in common is that they’re dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

In rural Georgia, Izella is wise beyond her years, but burdened with the responsibility of her older sister, Ola, who has found out she’s pregnant. Their young neighbor, Missippi, is also pregnant, but doesn’t fully understand the extent of her predicament. When her father sends her to Chicago to give birth, she meets the final narrator, Susan, who is white and the daughter of an anti-choice senator.

Randi Pink masterfully weaves four lives into a larger story – as timely as ever – about a woman’s right to choose her future.

Review: I loved the message that the book tried to present and I think the writing was really good. The book was good and the characters were enduring.

However, I didn’t like that the girls didn’t really do anything more than what was expected of them. I didn’t like that not one of them defied the norm. The book is touching, but I expected better.

Verdict: It’s good but I think they should have done better.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley, Feiwel & Friends, and RockStar Book Tours for this free copy.

So I read one of my friend’s reviews before I started this book, and she said that it was a pretty tough book emotionally to read. Not in those words specifically, but that’s pretty much the vibe I got from her review.

Well I wasn’t freaking ready for it.

This book really gave me similar feelings to what I had reading All the Bad Apples, but more instantly. From the get go, we know that this book deals with unplanned pregnancies, and from the get go, we know that not all of these girls are going to have a perfect ending to this journey. Now, this isn’t really a spoiler because of the time period that this book takes place in.

Not only does teenage pregnancy get an extremely bad rep during the 70’s, but abortion isn’t legal either. So unless a girl is able to find someone to give her an illegal and probably hella dangerous abortion without people finding out, then she either is shamed by society or sent to some hideaway house where she and a bunch of other girls will have to have their babies in secret. Clearly, this wasn’t only happening in the United States, because All the Bad Apples takes place in Ireland, and that was the same thing going on there.

Looking at the quote that I shared above, you would think that this would apply to sooooooo many people that can see that these girls need help. Need better help than what’s available. And not just our main girls, but so many girls and women during this time period that didn’t want to get pregnant, aren’t ready to be mothers, whatever the case may be. But it’s like that line supposedly only applies to people that are dealing with “noble” reasons, like losing their job because of the war, or whatever else is going on. A girl being pregnant? No, she’s a sinner and a whore and deserves to suffer. Because that’s okay, right?

Ugh this time period seriously pisses me off when it comes to these kinds of thought processes, and that’s why this book was so emotional to me. I could just imagine the women and girls living in the 70’s that risked their lives to get unsanctioned abortions, trying to get their lives back and still get shunned or abandoned by those that are supposed to love them no matter what. All of those feelings of anger, hurt, and frustration came back up while I was reading this, and books like these hurt to read so much because I start to identify with their situations and want to jump into the book and freaking HELP THEM. But I can’t!

This book just took a lot out of me, and I feel like every other page I was shaking my head with the pain that these girls had to go through, the criticism, and the heartache. While I did not enjoy this book in the traditional sense – meaning I wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and smiling while I read this – I felt like this was such an important read, and one that I needed to have in my life. It really made me stop and think, think about the people my mom knew growing up that were in this same situation, what they had to go through, and what would have happened to me if I was in their shoes. How lucky my mom was that her family didn’t disown her, even though she was already 21 and about to graduate from college by the time I was born. She was still young, and that wasn’t something that her family was expecting at all.

This just really gave me a lot of feelings.

Hmmm. This is a hard one to review. I enjoyed a lot of it, but felt like the discussion of "a woman’s right to choose her future" that is promised in the synopsis never really happened. Most of the girls did exactly what was expected of them in that time. I also found the switch at the end to current day abrupt and it went way too quickly. The characters were well fleshed out and I mostly enjoyed reading about them, and some important topics were touched on, but overall it was just okay for me and not exactly the reproductive rights story I was hoping for.

Girls Like Us is very much an unexpected novel , a gem of a novel that should receive much more exposure. Set in 1972, Girls Like Us follows the narrative of 4 young girls as they navigate their lives after 3 of 4 find out that they are pregnant. It is a historical fiction that hits close to home especially when our country is in the process of debating whether a woman has a right to choose what to do with her body. While this book doesn’t necessarily explore the political aspects of Roe V Wade, it does give clear and heartbreaking insight to what happens when women don’t have the ability to choose what happens to their bodies. Please keep in mind that this book has trigger warnings for rape and incest.

"Why had she done this to herself? Handcuffed herslef to the asshole, while letting go of the good one a week before."
This book for me was more about character insight and development than plot development. It is told in four unique perspectives that provided the heart breaking reality of what it was like for women who had no right to decide what happened to their bodies. Instead of talking about character development as a whole it’s divided up based on the perspective.

Izella/Ola

Reading the perspective of these two women was intriguing because it reminded me of the experiences of black women in books like The Color Purple. Their narrative was difficult at times but meaningful because their experience with Ola’s pregnancy is true of many poor black women who not only could not choose what happened to their bodies but also could not afford the luxury of having their babies in private. Wile Izella is constantly angry at Zola for getting pregnant, the reader sees a bond between them that is undeniably beautiful. It just hurt to see such young spirits racked by such dire circumstances.

Mississippi

Mississippi’s character had the most shocking and painful narrative. While I cannot explicitly define her experience, I connected to and felt the most for her character. The innocence she possessed illustrated how there are women who have to face the consequences of pregnancy even when they’re not ready or they’re too young to not only understand the magnitude of its importance, but they can’t even begin to comprehend all that comes with having sex. I believe that this character was chosen to highlight how important it is for a woman to have the right to choose especially when her body has been taken from her without consent. I loved that despite her circumstances Mississippi was able to see a light in everyone no matter how mean or evil they were. She was positive and so sweet to have been going through so much.

Sue

In comparison to the other characters, Sue lived a life of privilege. Wealth and race set her in a different lifestyle then the other 3 characters. Nevertheless, the importance of Sues character was to illustrate that even financial and racial make up doesn’t stop one from feeling the effects of teen pregnancy. Even then, when a woman seems to have better circumstances quite often she does not because she’s still not capable of determining what should and shouldn’t be done with her body. The final decisions that Sue must make in reference to her pregnancy are choices that some women are still forced to make today.

"But I see something different. I see me---an old, strong, resilient, powerful thing that may not be work much of nothing to the world, but to God, I'm worth everything."
The plot of this novel is not irrelevant but not as important as how the characters deal with and evolve and grow from being pregnant. Watching their development and growth due to their circumstances is the most rewarding aspect of the book. While I was able to identify the importance of some parts of the plot, I found that I still resonated more with character growth. This isn’t to say that the plot wasn’t well written or developed, I just found myself gravitating more towards these young women.
"Abortion was very much illegal. Girl had to have their babies and put them somewhere. But where?"
I truly believe that Girls Like Us hits home because of the fact that I just had a baby of my own. Now while I still have the right to choose, I still understand that my ability to choose is in jeopardy especially since I live in one of the states that is attempting so hard to take away that right. At 28 even my decision was difficult. I’m unwed and actively chose not to have the father involved due to his inability to take care himself let alone a child. 50 years ago I would have probably had to marry him to maintain the idea that women shouldn’t have had children out of wedlock. Even now being a single mother has stigmas. The beauty of this novel even made me recognize my own circumstances. I can only imagine what my ancestors went through. If you’re looking for a timely and powerful book I would definitely recommend checking this out.

In Randi Pink's historical novel Girls Like Us, she presents a story of unplanned teen pregnancies in a time where abortion was not a viable option and pregnant teens, especially in small Southern towns, were shunned or hidden away to have their babies.

It is in this environment that we meet two of the three narrators of this story. Izella is the baby sister of a family of women - she has an older sister, Ola, and their mother operates under the name Evangelist, being both mama and preacher. Izella discovers her sister is pregnant and bears the burden of helping Ola "fix" the problem. The second narrator, Missippi, is a motherless child whose father drives a big rig for a living and isn't home much. Evangelist visits Missippi and brings her cheese grits, the only food she can stomach in her pregnancy. When her father comes home from a long haul and discovers his daughter's condition, he takes her to Chicago, where there lives a woman named Ms. Pearline who takes in pregnant girls and delivers their babies.

It is here that Missippi meets "best friend" Sue, the new arrival to Ms. Pearline's after one of the other girls gives birth and goes home. Sue is white, which surprises Missippi and the other two residents staying with Ms. Pearline, but Sue and Missippi become fast friends.

As the story develops, Pink beautifully elaborates on each narrator's situation while interweaving them together. In the end, all three narrators become lifelong friends, with both Izella and Sue serving as "godmamas" to Missippi's twin babies.

The final chapter provides a chilling ending, but you'll have to read it yourself to find out why I say that. No spoilers! But Girls Like Us is a poignant look back at the sad situation pregnant girls found themselves in, while also emphasizing that being pregnant as a teen didn't necessarily end a woman's life journey.

This was beautiful and heartbreaking and paints a picture of the difficulties teen mothers faced in the 70's. Four young girls share their pregnancy stories (or in Izella's case, her sister's story). The girls come from different backgrounds and situations, and they are all looking for a little kindness, a little acceptance, and a way to move forward.

There are some fantastic side characters (a woman who houses teenage girls and helps them through pregnancy, Missippi's father, Sue's mother), and the cast is diverse. There some fairly graphic descriptions of pregnancy and birth which I think are important for girls to know about, and some pretty tough topics (abortion, reproductive rights) are tackled.

My only real complaint here is the final section, which takes place in a maybe-not-so-distant future where Roe vs. Wade has been overturned and a girl with a bright future suddenly has her right to choose taken away. While I don't dislike the section in and of itself, it just feels like a sudden jolt considering the historical setting of the rest of the book. Though the girl in the last section has connections to our characters in the past, it feels like an in-your-face political stance tacked on to a beautiful, subtle story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

I appreciate the topic being handled and feel it is an important one to cover. I also found it interesting to tell these stories in the 1970s setting. Unfortunately, I did not find myself connecting to the characters in this book the way that I have with others that have handled the teen pregnancy topic. Given the language and the setting, I think this book might be a hard sell for teen readers. Despite the characters being teens, the book feels too old for today's youth.