Title: Girl Unwrapped
Author: Gabriella Goliger
Release Date: September 2010
Published By: Arsenal Pulp Press
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 3.60 stars
Review: Toni Goldblatt, with her taboo sexual desires, feels like she can never live up to her parents' expectations in 1960s Montreal. In the wake of the 1967 war, she runs to Israel where she hopes to reinvent herself, but the Zionist dream doesn't do anything. It's only in an underground lesbian bar scene that she discovers kindred spirits, and as she forges her own path outside the reaches of her smothering family, she finally begins to find herself.
I'm not entirely certain if GIRL UNWRAPPED is classified as young adult, but it could definitely appeal to both young adult and adult readers. The book is divided into three sections - Toni as an nine-year-old, a thirteen-year-old, and an eighteen-year-old - but each one is equally complex no matter her age. As she matures, her sense of isolation from her family and peers grows in intensity, and this struggle is something everyone can relate to.
Though the pace is relatively slow, something about the story is compelling and there is a difficult-to-put-down quality to the writing that makes you keep turning pages even when you should be doing something else. This book is unique in that it's not a lesbian-coming-out story, nor a lesbian-romance, but a lesbian-coming-of-age with evocative prose.
Between the pages of this book is a raw, honest story detailing the growing and maturing of a girl who can't help but feel different from everyone around her. She seeks love and acceptance in a way that anyone has experienced at some point in their lives. GIRL UNWRAPPED is at once a heart-breaking and heart-warming novel that will appeal to older readers looking for a moving story.
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I received a free copy of this book for review. This is no way affected my review, which is 100% honest.
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