Sunday 20 September 2015

Book Review: Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes



Read: September 16 - 19 Verdict: 4 Stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.


Barbara the Slut and Other People is a collection of short stories about various groups of people in their early twenties and different experiences in their life such as new jobs, relationship struggles, bullying, etc. It's very much a book that gives quick, brief glimpses into a 'slice' of different lives.


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I never pick up collections of short stories, they're just not something i read. However, after hearing about this book several times on YouTube and Goodreads, I decided to risk requesting it on NetGalley and I'm glad I did. Despite being out of my comfort zone, I really enjoyed the specific stories and I was able to deal with any disappointment and frustration I felt when I wanted to know more about what happened and didn't get it. Instead, I quickly became immersed into the next person's story instead.

I think my favourite stories were, I Will Crawl To Raleigh If I Have To, Desert Hearts, My Humans and Barbara the Slut with the latter two being the top two. I enjoyed the frankness about sexuality and sex in the stories and how all the women and men really owned their bodies and weren't ashamed. It was quite the opposite of 'slut-shaming' particularly in Barbara the Slut, in which she is being bullied for her sexual history. I felt like she really took advantage of her situation and admired how she stood up for herself.

I feel like most of the stories in this book would resonate well with anybody, but in particular with those in their twenties and early thirties. The characters are easy to connect to, and the stories easy to follow. The book left me both happy and sad that I didn't get the full story of each character's life but I guess that's just how these things go.

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