Rebel Girls
By Elizabeth Keenan
September 10, 2019

Rebel Girls is about Athena attending Catholic School in the 90s. When the rumors about Athena’s little sister start to fly, it’s hard for Athena to stay under the radar.

Rebel Girls is a blast from the past. My nephew says I need to get my head out of the 90s all the time and this novel just solidified my 90s obsession. Kids of today’s age just don’t understand.
Athena was such a down to earth girl, I could really relate to her. Helen was headstrong and had a lot of personality. Rebel Girls touches base with some pretty serious issues including bullying, racism, teen pregnancy, and abortion.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for this e-copy for my honest opinions.

I wish I had liked this more, but sadly I didn't. Especially since I was a teen in the late 90's and was hoping to feel the nostalgia. But I can't rate a book on nostalgia alone. Everything else didn't really resonate with me.

I feel bad giving this book such a low rating considering the theme of the story but I cannot bring myself to like a story just because it has a good moral/meaning.

‘Rebel Girls’ by Elizabeth Keenan was nostalgic, empowering, brave, moving and honest. It was a great read and I highly recommend it.

It was cute, I see why it took me a while to get around to and I probably won't reread it, I got bored.

Firstly I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the type of book that is in my wheelhouse. It was a fun easy read.

I can't get into this one, unfortunately. It's just not for me so I won't be reviewing it on any platforms as I haven't been able to read enough of it to make a fair review. Thank you for your time.

When it comes to being social, Athena Graves is far more comfortable creating a mixtape playlist than she is talking to cute boys—or anyone, for that matter. Plus her staunchly feminist views and love of punk rock aren’t exactly mainstream at St. Ann’s, her conservative Catholic high school.

This book was like a trip down memory lane! The story was fun, characters were pretty great. I really enjoyed it! But then again, I too am a Rebel Girl!

Unfortunately, this book really just ended up being not for me. I had high hopes, but I just couldn't get into it.

Rebel Girls By: Elizabeth Keenan Athena Graves is way more comfortable creating mix tapes play lists than flirting with really hot guys, Her love of punk music and strong feminist beliefs have not endeared her to the administration at her all girls Catholic school- St. Ann's either. Then an ugly rumor begins to spread like wildfire throughout the school. The rumor is about her very pretty, very popular. pro-life sister. Helen. Soon everyone is whispering that her Helen had an abortion over the summer. Not only is this an ugly rumor it could get Helen expelled.
Athena, Helen and their friends have to find a way to work together to dispel this ugly rumor- regardless of their opposing beliefs. Read Rebel Girls By: Elizabeth Keenan and find out if the Rebel Girls are successful!

Athena and her sister Helen do NOT get along. They are total opposites; Athena the shy feminist punk rocker and Helen the popular pro-lifer. But when a vicious rumor starts at their conservative Catholic school that Helen had an abortion over the summer, Athena and Helen put their differences on hold to try to get to the bottom of the rumors and run damage control. Will they be able to set the record straight before Helen is expelled?
Keenan's decision of setting this book in the 90s was a good choice for the storyline. Having two sisters that were polar opposites was a great way to portray the opposing of the abortion arguments. I wish I had been able to read this book when I was a teenager and could have used the confused, yet tough example of Athena. I loved this book and would recommend without reserve.

A really great story about female empowerment and courage. Love the characters and the overall theme.

I did not finish Rebel Girls around the halfway mark. There was nothing catching my attention. With books like Foul is Fair abd Girls on the Verge, I was hoping Rebel Girls would be on par with those but I was wrong. The main character isn’t even who the story is about! It was just a choppy mess.

♀️ QOTD: Do you judge a book by its cover?

Let's be honest. Everyone does, right? This book has been on my radar for a while now and it's all because of the gorgeous cover art. It's a major bonus that the story sounded right up my alley too. I mean, it's YA, prochoice, and has all the teen angst you could ask for.

REBEL GIRLS | ELIZABETH KENNAN

SYNOPSIS: When it comes to being social, Athena Graves is far more comfortable creating a mixtape playlist than she is talking to cute boys—or anyone, for that matter. Plus her staunchly feminist views and love of punk rock aren’t exactly mainstream at St. Ann’s, her conservative Catholic high school. Then a malicious rumor starts spreading through the halls…a rumor that her popular, pretty, pro-life sister had an abortion over the summer. A rumor that has the power to not only hurt Helen, but possibly see her expelled. Despite their wildly contrasting views, Athena, Helen, and their friends must find a way to convince the student body and the administration that it doesn’t matter what Helen did or didn’t do…even if their riot grrrl protests result in the expulsion of their entire rebel girl gang.

#deweyrating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Rebel Girls by Elizabeth Keenan.

I am really struggling to articulate why I was turned off by this novel, and did not finish.

I can see the attempts to create a "starter pack" of feminism in this YA novel by letting the protagonist grapple with her pro-choice stance in a staunchly pro-life religious school. The difficulty I had (and to be fair, this may have been addressed and I missed it), is that this is such a multi-layered, complex controversy that requires a lot of nuance and discussion. Plus, I don't think this novel was as "feminist" as the author hoped for it to be based on a lot of the "slut-shaming" and name calling I read in the first few chapters. Really, it felt more like a surface level YA romance that someone put a feminist pin on.

I was not able to fully get into this novel. I really did not enjoy the info dumping in the beginning and this read very weird to me. It most likely was just not for me so I will be giving this a fair rating of 3/5 stars! Keep writing loves <3

Not sure why this one remained on my Netgalley shelf for so long as it’s a wonderfully written YA feminist read tackling issues of activism and abortion. The title suggests slightly more rebellion the book actually offers but it enthusiastically introduces a new generation of readers to the Riot Grrrl movement.

Definitely worth more attention than it’s received since it’s Fall 2019 release.

I love this book, its still one of my favorites. I actually want to reread it now since it been so long. The characters and plot where so fascinating that it was such a fast read. I would recommend it to everyone

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for release of this review copy!

I loved this cover and was so excited to see when I got approved for this.

This story of sister bond I strong in this book and I think the author did a great job showing the sisterly love but something you have to deal with mean girls.

I really liked how the relationship between the two sisters developed and strengthened, and generally how they both grew and matured over the course of the book.

This author does a great job of evoking those teenage feelings when confronted with a mean girl. Those overwhelming feelings of nobody believing the truth, especially the adults. Oh, the adults believing the “good girls” is such a frustrating thing and this author got the tone in those scenes spot on. But I felt myself looking forward to those scenes and not staying engaged with the rest of the story.