I love movies but often struggle with their representation. This book felt like a great discussion about those issues and ways to grow or change the industry. It was refreshing to acknowledge it but go beyond that.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The narration was adequate; nevertheless, the monotonous voice made it difficult to keep engaged at times. This is a nonfiction book that follows our author through her life and the women in films that influenced it. It's feminist and discusses many female roles and their actors in films, as well as the growth of women in film. I'm a huge movie fan, so I loved reading about the movies and learning about the backstage stories of some of them. That was really intriguing to me.

While part of it is intriguing, most of it is about the author's personal life, and while I appreciated the cinema ties to her growing up, I don't know who she is, so I didn't care too much. I enjoyed the movie portion and wish there was more of it. It was a decent read; I listened to it at a quicker speed near the finish simply to get through it. Also, the narrator made it difficult to stay interested at times, so this book might be better in a non-audiobook format.

DNF @ 18%

Nothing against the book itself, but I absolutely can't stand the narrator's voice. I will refrain from reviewing on Goodreads, but putting my feedback in here anyway since it is an audio review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a massive classic film fan, even having a college degree in film, I was excited to get Alicia Malone's new book about women in film through the eyes of a viewer. Each chapter is centered around a famous woman or film like Marilyn Monroe, Ginger Rogers and Drew Barrymore. Instead of details on filmmaking or the Hollywood icon woman/character each chapter represents Malone discusses how these films or tropes factor into her own personal story. There is a sprinkling of facts or history thrown in but nothing that couldn't be picked up in a film 101 class or quick google search. If you are a fan of Alicia Malone from TCM you will enjoy her story but I was hoping for more cinematic discussion. I had the audio book read by Brigid Lohrey who did a great job and is easy to listen to.

Great audiobook, so informative and perfect for feminists and cinema fans.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy to listen to.

What a super informative book on women in film! I learned so much. Wow. I just want the best for women

The writing was extremely interesting and made one feel really connected to the author. The book was deeply intriguing. The author talked about movies and films with such interest and love and the book makes you ponder various aspects of the topic ' girls on film'.

As someone who has dedicated a significant portion of her life to watching classic films and diving deep into Hollywood history, this memoir about a TCM host hit all my areas of interest. Going into it I thought it was going to be more about the history of women in cinema, but it is much more a memoir of Alicia Malone’s life. But, like anyone who places film at the center of their lives, her life has been shaped and defined by the movies she loves.

I found her tale interesting and the Australian accent of the audiobook narrator was an added bonus! The ending felt a bit unresolved, but then lives in progress often are. In short, if you're interested in film, feminism or both, you’ll enjoy this book.

Just off the bat, this is not the book that Goodreads has it listed as. The author's foreword is very clear that this is a look at the women in film who affected the author's life in some way, NOT a "complete history of the women who broke barriers". I think that wrong title is giving the book some bad reviews because people are going in with wrong expectations.

That said, this autobiographical look at the author's life through the films that changed her is a really enjoyable read. I could completely relate to chapters like the one about Drew Barrymore. While the author has made very different life choices than me, I felt a kindred spirit in her love for films. The stories are interesting and provide lots of behind the scenes and historical information about some of the most famous women in film. The coda chapter about how Covid changed the author's relationship with work and films was an excellent little add-on.

I really enjoyed the audiobook version of this story. The narrator was very lively and I frequently forgot that it was not actually the author reading the story herself.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Girls on Film left me wanting more, Alicia Malone takes us through her life and discloses an interesting take and one that I can then sit down and say, "films influenced me as well in this and such way". Malone has so much knowledge of classic films and I can clap at the advice that was given to her to focus on being the best in her niche. Personally, you do not have to enjoy classic films in order to enjoy Girls on Film, but I can say that you will end up looking up and watching the films Malone mentions, curiosity is just very strong because the behind the scenes information talked about is so interesting you want to see it for yourself.

Okay, I loved this book. So much so, that I devoured it in less than 24 hours.

I grew up in a family of movie-lovers; that was what our family did together - watched movies. As someone who also enjoys feminist reads, this just perfectly combined two of my passions!

I loved learning some background on iconic movies and actresses, and enjoyed following the author's journey in the film industry. This book felt like part-memoir, and part-fun fact book about classic films - and I enjoyed both parts equally.

I think film lovers will definitely appreciate this one!

Girls on Film is part memoir and part movie history. It's a short book about the women on film who shaped and fostered a love of movies for the author Alicia Malone. I had a bit of trouble with this concept, I found myself wanting more information about the author and also more information about women on film. The book left me wanting more movie history and also more personal memoir.
I learned some new information about the history of movies and how women were portrayed. I would have loved to see the history expand to include more modern examples of how roles have changed. I was also really interested in how Alicia grew to love movies and found a job working at TCM. I would love to hear more details of her personal life and experiences.
Overall this book just left me wanting more of both stories. Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for providing me with a copy of this audiobook to read and review!

Girls On Film was an entertaining audiobook chronicling both the history of classic cinema and the author's personal journey, starting with an interest in film when she was young and culminating in being a film journalist. Unfortunately, this mix did not really work for me. While I enjoyed the individual parts, it did not really feel like a cohesive narration to me. The stories about famous actors such as Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe were very insightful and reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo at times. Likewise, I appreciated Malone's reflection on how these women were being treated and portrayed. However, some parts felt like she was just listing her accomplishments and name dropping celebrities she had interviewed. This did not really speak to the expectations I had of the book. Further, even though this could simply be due to the Australian accent I am quite frankly unfamiliar with, the narration sometimes contributed to this feeling of merely listening to a list of achievements.

All this being said, I still enjoyed this title and am very grateful to both Netgalley and Tantor Audio for having received the listening copy!

I seriously enjoyed listening to Brigid Lohrey reading Alicia’s perspective on film theory and her backstory to how she got to be one of the greats in her life and career. Malone had me laughing from beginning to end and I absolutely related to not being able to start a film club in high school successfully because no one wanted to watch the classics!

I really enjoyed the different genres she touched on such as noir and dramas dealing with the female gaze. She made really great points on the struggle most female actresses in the 40’s and 50’s went through to keep their careers despite risking their reputation.

Truly a great read, what a way to end her series! I want to thank Alicia Malone for publishing this book and working to keep TCM great! I also want to thank @netgalley and @tantoraudio for the ARC.

#girlsonfilm #aliciamalone #netgalley #tantoraudio #womeninfilm #womensupportingwomen

I love well written non-fiction. Give me an interesting storyteller who is passionate about their subject, and could happily read about the origins and details of a myriad of topics. Alicia Malone clearly loves her work, and it shows. Wrapping the film history and analysis of female characterization in a memoir made it even better. Her own personal experiences and film knowledge added a unique bend to her insights. I do wish she’d delved a bit deeper into each trope, I was left wanting more in a few sections, but I still thoroughly enjoyed Girls on Film. I can’t wait to watch some of the classic movies discussed.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this advanced audiobook copy.

Growing up, Alicia Malone discovered the joy of classic cinema, and for many years, that’s how she related to the world. As I listened to her talk about her childhood, I realized she could have been recounting my own. At eight years old, I discovered American Movie Classics. Way before the likes of The Walking Dead, Nick Clooney and Bob Dorian would introduce films from Classic Hollywood. I was obsessed. Apparently, so was Malone.

Part nonfiction, historical film book, part memoir, Malone takes us through her childhood and adult years with dreams of cinematic hosting, jobs in the industry, and how COVID changed her career and life. I loved every minute. Though I don’t spend as much time as I’d like with the black and white movies these days, I’m still nostalgic for those days when 10-year old me would spend all weekend binge watching noirs, dramas, and romances.

Like Malone, my world-view has changed. It’s gotten bigger, and I can see the many flaws in these films I once loved. Plagued with racism, sexism, and queer issues, they are a product of their time. That doesn’t excuse them, but it does spark discussions of how far we’ve come and what we might learn from the moments in between, howe filmmakers skirted certain things and managed to say some important things even when censored by the dreaded Hayes Code.

I’ll always love movies, and I loved this book. It’s out on Tuesday, so if you’re a movie buff, check it out wherever you get your books.

I was really excited to read / listen to this but was let down by a lot of it. The author has themselves inserted with points that I as the reader did not really care about. Plus the mention of men kept throwing me off.

🎥Girls on Film 🎥

Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.💫/5 (2.5 stars)

Narration: the narrator was okay, sometimes I struggled to stay interested as the voice was monotone at times.

This is a non fiction book that follows our author, going through her life and the woman in movies that helped shaped it.
It’s feminist and talks a lot about various female characters and their actresses in movies, with the evolution of woman in film.

I’m such a movie lover so I really enjoyed reading about the movies, as well as hearing the behind the scenes history of some of them. I found that very interesting.

Reason for 2.5 stars…While some things are interesting, a lot of it is about the authors personal life, and while I enjoyed the film connections to her growing up, I don’t really know who she is so I found I didn’t exactly care too much. I found the movie part interesting and wish it had a bit more of that
It was an okay read, I listened on faster speed towards the end to just get through it. Also the narrator made it hard to keep interested at times, so it might be a better book in a non audiobook format.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to listen to this audio book in return for an honest review.
Synopsis
With humor and honesty, Girls on Film looks at the good, the bad, and the unfairly written women in film. A celebration of the power of cinema and the hidden messages within media and culture, this collection of personal essays explores the women who inspired and confused a young film enthusiast.

A movie freak with a feminist message. In the tradition of feminist authors, film reporter Alicia Malone brings a collection of personal essays looking at the representation and impact of women on film. In addition to personal anecdotes and analysis, Girls on Film weaves in interviews from a diverse group of well-known women working in cinema today.

For fans of Trick Mirror and film books. A blend of women’s history books and film reviews, each chapter of Girls on Film looks at a female character representative of a stereotype or trope. As she explores hidden histories, Alicia connects these tropes to her very own journey in film.

In this authentic approach to film theory, you’ll find essays on:

The dumb blonde
The Cinderella transformation
The femme fatale
A follow-up to Backwards and in Heels and The Female Gaze, Girls on Film is the final book in Alicia’s women in cinema trilogy. If you enjoy feminism books, movie books, or cinema books—like Trick Mirror, You Play the Girl, Where the Girls Are, and Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!—then you’ll love Girls on Film.

This was a really interesting read/listen. Alicia malone has a practically encyclopaedic knowledge on film, and in particular girls and woman in film. I went in without realising properly that this was the third and final in a series, a series that I’ll be sure to pick up now, having said that it makes no real difference, I didn’t feel like I had missed any points having not read the other two, it worked perfectly well as a stand alone. I love film and Alicia’s insight was quite remarkable. The takes on all the typical female tropes were brilliantly insightful. The changes that woman have made in this male dominated industry inspiring, as is Alicia herself. I’d love to one day visit the cinema she’s fought so hard to save. The writing is excellent. The narration slightly so (for me personally) but great all round.

The title of this book implies that this will be a research overview of women's role in film. Though the author provides a disclaimer almost immediately warning the reader that this is instead an exploration of the impact of women in film on her personal life what we actually get is a rambling autobiography. Maybe the first 15% explores the impact of different characters on the author's life. The rest of the book is a description of Malone's career in the film reporter industry. The facts about different actresses felt thrown in as a desperate attempt to fill space in an already incredibly short book. These moments were what I actually wanted from the book and they were interesting but lacked focus.

It was hard to rate this because the main reason I hated this was that the title led me to expect something very different than what it was. However, I do not believe it was successful even at what it claimed to be.

The narrator's voice was also incredibly grating. It felt like she was putting emphasis on every other word.