I really liked the writing, and a lot of the stories. Some were fabulous, others were just ok, which is what you get when you read short story collections sometimes. This is the kind of collection where you read one story, and then put it down for a bit before you pick up the next one.

Thank you Double Day CA and Penguin Random House Canada for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a collection of 18 short stories that tackle girlhood and womanhood and the different challenges a girl or woman could encounter as she braves through life. I found the premise incredibly interesting and I am a lover of short stories, so I was very excited to read this. I also have enjoyed most of the short stories I've read, but I cannot say that I enjoyed this collection. There were maybe 3 of them that I do remember enjoying. The rest, I found unmemorable and uninteresting.

I did enjoy the writing at times as she writes in a way that forces the reader to read between lines which is a strength, but also a weakness. In many of her short stories, I found that it was a weakness. After finishing some of them I kept asking myself what was the point of the story and what exactly happened. I was left often wondering if that was just it or if there were elements that I missed out on. Most stories also felt underwhelming in my opinion and because there are so many of them, it was very easy to mix them up and get confused.

I found most of her characters interesting, but I have to admit, it was sometimes hard for me to follow and immerse myself entirely into a story because there were just so many names and characters. Each short story was not related and had a completely new group of characters to it which eventually makes it hard to follow.
I also do not understand the way the short stories were divided. They had no link between them and each divider sets some sort of mood that was not reflected in the stories, so I was not sure I understood the relevance.

Maybe I am the one who is looking too much into things.
All in all, the book has a beautiful cover, but the stories left me feeling bored and disappointed. Such a shame.