Review: Citizen Girl

After seeing all the bad reviews of this book, of course I was curious to read it! The main heroine of the story is Girl (yep, that’s her name). She is stuck in a job with a boss from hell and a tiny studio apartment in the city. However, her job doesn’t last long – after stealing a year’s worth of research from her, Girl’s boss Doris fires her unceremoniously. Girl enters the desperate world of job seeking, and through a series of accidental meetings she lands a job at My Company. (Yeah, that’s the name of the actual company.) Guy, her loud, obnoxious boss spends most of his time screaming obscenities into his cell phone, and doesn’t exactly make clear exactly what she’s supposed to do. As a result, she spends half of her time trying to figure that out, and the other half covering up her mistakes when she discovers her original assumptions were wrong. If that isn’t enough, the people she is subletting her apartment from notify her that she has to move immediately, as they need to take possession of it.

However, Girl is prepared. After all, she has a potential new boyfriend (named Buster), a new salary, and a new job. What can go wrong? It doesn’t matter that she has no clue what she is doing half the time, right? Girl stumbles along bravely, finds a new apartment, and puts up with her ridiculous job environment.

I enjoyed the story line and plot to this book. However, there were many pitfalls along the way. The storytelling was choppy, disjointed and confusing at times. Many times characters who weren’t properly introduced into the story made an appearance, puzzling things. Moreover, Girl is annoyingly passive and acquiescent. Who puts up with that kind of abuse at work? I sure wouldn’t.

Although it’s obvious that the authors of Citizen Girl strive for their writing to be unusual, biting and satirical (which it is), it also ends up being convoluted and confusing. Bit if you stick with it, you will be rewarded with an interesting and sometimes funny story. However, don’t expect to find an overall meaning or satisfying conclusion to it.

Overall, I recommend Citizen Girl to chick lit fans and other readers who enjoy stories about horrible bosses, glamourous jobs and living in the big city of New York. However, be prepared for some rough reading, crude language and sometimes confusing scenes. I’ve definitely read worse books.

3 stars
reviewed by Rian

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