Member Reviews

Earth Hates Me by Ruby Karp was an amazing novel that takes you in the mind of almost every teenage girl in the modern world and helps you understand how the simple things like school, peer pressure and social media really affect young people in our modern age.

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While there was some good advice most of it seemed to revolve around boys or feminism. I get this is a teen advice book but it was too much for me. The pacing was slow and I'd have to take breaks so I didn't give up but I only got to page 86.
I'm sure Ruby herself is a good person but I just didn't enjoy the book.

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Isn’t it sad when you find the perfect book too late? In my case, I found Earth Hates Me - True Confessions from a Teenage Girl by Ruby Karp eighteen years too late. Sixteen year old Lisa was very similar to Ruby Karp. She was a bit unsure, didn’t know the rules, how to follow them or indeed how to break them. She was a little bit quirky and lived her life to want to perform.

In Earth Hates Me, Ruby Karp shows wisdom way beyond her years. He talks about issues that plagued me well into my late twenties and I genuinely believe that this book can act like a friend to those who are lonely, scared, unsure or just need the comfort of a book shaped security blanket.

If there is one important book that I will be recommending to the teens in my life (and since I work in a high school that is an awful lot of them) it will be Earth Hates Me - True Confessions from a Teenage Girl by Ruby Karp. It is a vital book that everyone going through their formative years should have access too.

Earth Hates Me: True Confessions from a Teenage Girl by Ruby Karp is available now.

For more information regarding Ruby Karp (@RubyKarp) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Perseus Books (@PerseusBooks) please visit their Twitter page.

For more information regarding Running Press (@Running_Press) please visit www.runningpress.com.

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This book is a nonfiction by Ruby Karp, a 16 year-old humorist. It is mostly aimed at middle-school/high school girls.
It was touching, funny and everything in between.
Ruby talks about what she has experienced of the world, analyzes it and gives advice.
As a 23 year old, I didn’t learn much, but it was still interesting to read, my old self related to a lot of stuff that was said and I think a lot of younger girls could benefit from this book.
Ruby is way smarter than I was at her age and I truly admire her. The sarcasm was on point and I loved her take on feminism. Also, in a part of the book she talks about slutshaming and how to fight it. This was so important.
Finally, Gilmore Girls references (and lots of other pop culture references that made me laugh out loud).

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This is a brilliant book for a teenage girl, but as I am not, it didn't do all that much for me. I can however appreciate how brilliant Ruby's writings are, given that she's 16 and writes with the maturity of someone far older. She has put together a selection of essays on various aspects of growing up, offering some great anecdotes interspersed with little bits of wisdom. Great for a similar-aged person to read, but in my older years I can see that some of the things Ruby writes about are done so with the naivety of a teenager. I wasn't hugely impressed with her brand of feminism, and found it all a bit cringe-worthy, but otherwise I think this makes a great YA / teen read.

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From the life experience of sixteen-year old Ruby Karp comes advice on dating, parents, peer pressure, loneliness, relationships, and more. This book is entirely approachable for a teen audience and likely still relevant to young twenties despite their larger personal freedoms. The opinions and parenting portrayed in the book are certainly more liberal and egalitarian than my experience and definitely forced me to rethink how I would offer parental advice on many of these topics.

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Like it is mentioned in the synopsis, this is a guide instead of a novel. Earth hates me gives advice to teenagers about how to endure teen years.
The author has a good voice, and the subjects and issues in this book are addressed in a subtle and smart way.
I think my favorite part was at the beginning, I liked the part about the importance of fun and laughter in life. That was a hook for me. In fact, I believe that laughing is the best healing for a soul and not just for a teen but for everybody in general.
This was a good read. However, not matter the age of the author, grammar and writing rules need to be respected. In my opinion, the ideas in this book are great but they were thrown on the pages without a structure and the repetitions make the reading slow.
Still, I would recommend it.

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“Good luck. I hope you don't cringe too much.”

I started this ARC on a complete whim while in dire need for a quick and fun read to take my mind of things. I was then pleasantly surprised to open the first page to discover an interview between Ruby Karp and Broad City’s Ilana Glazer. Given my hesitations, this was the perfect hook for me to read on. In particular, since the author’s writing voice sounded similar to that of Rookie’s editor-in-chief (and recent podcast host), Tavi Gevinson. They’re both Jewish white girls, well-known for writing articles online since the age of ten and above.

But focusing on Earth Hates Me, I appreciated how Ruby Karp acknowledged her privilege from the start of this novel. She didn’t sugarcoat things and brought her honest self to these pages, filled with essays and articles to keep your head busy and thinking for days.

Full review can be found on my Blog: https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2017/06/10/review-earth-hates-me-by-ruby-karp/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2025158669

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From a young teenage girl, comes and insane amount of wisdom about life growing up as a girl in modern day society with all the social media around us and pressure to be 'perfect'.

In the book, Ruby discusses a range of topics;
Appreciating every experience
Finding the humour
Being you and learn yourself
Throw yourself into trying things
Social media can have multiple side effects
Sexism in sports
Girl hate
Pressure at school
Teachers aren't always right
Crushes and unrequited love

Plus much more!

Ruby enlightens us to her experiences, how they effected her and how she moved on from the experiences she's faced. With many stories told throughout, relatable and not, one thing is constant and that for me is Ruby is an incredibly in tune teenage girl with how such situations can effect you but only if you let them.

Earth Hates Me is such a true title of how teenagers are made to feel in today's society which is really bad. We need more realistic things out there and more role models like Ruby for other teens to listen to and realise, it's okay to just be you, however you are so long as you are happy with yourself!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

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