I received this ARC from Hyperion. As you know, I have an unnatural aversion towards non-fiction, memoirs included. But being the book hussy that I am, I decided to branch out from my comfort zone and was pleasantly surprised.

Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen’s memoir of her ‘descent into promiscuity’ and her journey towards ultimately accepting and loving herself. I was particularly intrigued by this memoir because I think with slightly different circumstances, I could have been this girl. Fortunately, that was not the case.

What made this memoir interesting is that the author is not addicted to sex; rather, what she’s looking for is someone to tell her she’s pretty, she’s worthy, she’s desirable. Her parents are emotionally absent, effectively making her parched for affection, attention, and love. She’s not pathetic so much as pitiable. You want to take her into your arms and rock her like a child because no doubt her mother neglected this as well.

The sex scenes are not gratuitous; they are not there to titillate, but it is part of the story and her hollowness is prominent during these scenes.

I really liked this book – it’s always nice to read about someone who can get past a not-so-great childhood and become a relatively healthy adult. But as I read the story, I felt no connection to the author. She told me how she was feeling and why she was behaving the way she was, but I never felt it. In the other book I finished recently, Did I Expect Angels?, I felt her grief and despair. I can’t quite put my finger on how a writer does this…all I can do is point it out when I see it (or don’t see it, as is the case with Loose Girl).

‘Course, don’t just listen to what I have to say. Here’s another review for you to check out.

This book will be released in June 2008.

Rating: 84 out of 100