Jessica Valenti's fearless memoir tackles lots of subjects, sexism, harassment, drug abuse, sexual awakening, and just growing up with "issues" like dealing with anxiety. The stories of being harassed by men beginning at a very young age are slightly shocking. At age 12, a man on the subway rubbed against her and left his mark all over the back of her jeans. The men who regularly expose themselves, the high school teacher who gave her a good grade after skipping weeks of class in exchange for a hug, the casual boyfriends who either stalked her or spread extreme rumors about her all fit into a story of how acceptable it is to treat women poorly. Valenti's daughter is born extremely prematurely after a bad case of preeclampsia. Following the birth she is unable to eat and loses a lot of weight which brings tons of complements about how good she looks as her hair is falling out due to malnutrition. The most eye opening is the end notes in which she includes comments emailed to her, left on her blog or sent via social media. Reading these will make you wonder about the state of the world...and not in a good way.
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