Helpful Score: 6
I read this book a while ago, but I still remember that I really liked it. I read it all in one sitting. I could relate to the author since I have displayed some behavior that mimics hers. I have learned lessons though, so I know longer act out in that manner, but it was interesting for me to read about someone who thought in that same way as I did.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind.
Helpful Score: 5
I read this for my book club and was originally a bit apprehensive. I waited to the last minute to read it. I was pleasantly surprised. The book had a nice flow too it and it was not as graphic as I thought it would be (although it was somewhat graphic). Being a mom to a daughter, it horrified me in some ways but I appreciated her cantor and felt at the end that it would hopefully help me to ensure that my daughter would not follow down that road and if she did I would have some understanding of what she was going through.
Helpful Score: 4
This book broke my heart and made me thankful at the same time. It broke my heart to watch Kerry Cohen struggle and stumble through life. It made me thankful that I didn't have to go down the same path that she did. Kerry takes you with her through her journey into becoming an adult. It is a very raw and honest look at how women see themselves and how women use men to feel "full" when really they are empty inside. It's easy to see how Kerry became the adolescent that she was. She didn't have the support from her parents that she so desperately desired. She was insecure and wanted male attention to feel worthy. This book would be a great read for the parent of a female teen. I highly recommend this book to females everywhere.
Andrea (andreadogsbestfreind) -
Helpful Score: 2
Excellent book about an unfulfilled girl who finally figures out why she's doing what she';s doing and gets to the point where she can change herself for the better and pat herself on the back. Happy ending.
Cheryl H. (butterflycher) - , reviewed Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book touches the topics that teens face everyday. Sex, STDs, drugs, alcohol, broken homes, and divorce. It really gave me a good idea of why some of the girls I knew in high school did the things they did. The emotional struggles they dealt with... in all the wrong ways. This really shows how one can go from being a victim to a survivor! I think the author was very brave! She wrote her own story. It's about time that someone was brave enough to tell the truth about themselves. It was so hard to put down... I wanted to keep on reading and keeping on saying no don't do it!
Cheryl H. (butterflycher) - , reviewed Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity on + 24 more book reviews
This book touches the topics that teens face everyday. Sex, STDs, drugs, alcohol, broken homes, and divorce. It really gave me a good idea of why some of the girls I knew in high school did the things they did. The emotional struggles they dealt with... in all the wrong ways. This really shows how one can go from being a victim to a survivor! I think the author was very brave! She wrote her own story. It's about time that someone was brave enough to tell the truth about themselves. It was so hard to put down... I wanted to keep on reading and keeping on saying no don't do it!
Cheryl H. (butterflycher) - , reviewed Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity on + 24 more book reviews
This book touches the topics that teens face everyday. Sex, STDs, drugs, alcohol, broken homes, and divorce. It really gave me a good idea of why some of the girls I knew in high school did the things they did. The emotional struggles they dealt with... in all the wrong ways. This really shows how one can go from being a victim to a survivor! I think the author was very brave! She wrote her own story. It's about time that someone was brave enough to tell the truth about themselves. It was so hard to put down... I wanted to keep on reading and keeping on saying no don't do it!
Loose Girl can be a hard book to read if you dont share any of Kerry;'s issues. But if you have ever feel like you needed a boy/man or that you needed him to like or need you, this is an awesome book. With courage and lots of insight Kerry takes us into her own personal struggle with being lovable. And shows us why a young girl would be so willing to trade her body for a moment of affection or attention. She shows us that she really doesn't know how to say no, because saying no will mean she is then alone and alone means empty, abandonment and unwanted.
Kerry also gives us some startling statistics that say it very likely that some adolescent girl either is already doing this or at risk to.
I loved this book and if I had teenage daughter, we'd be reading it together and talking about it. My girls are all grown up though.
Kerry also gives us some startling statistics that say it very likely that some adolescent girl either is already doing this or at risk to.
I loved this book and if I had teenage daughter, we'd be reading it together and talking about it. My girls are all grown up though.
As the mother of a very good teen daughter I like to read these books and look for where these girls (or their parents) "went wrong". This one does not disappoint. But she does a good job of drawing the reader in and creating a very vivid and engaging world. It is a well focused look at one woman's journey through insecurity, dysfunction and unhappiness. Her writing is clear, flowing and polished. I found myself zipping through the book and really caring about what happened to her and what she could do to "fix" her own issues.
I thought when I started to read this book that there would be insights and unique experiences. It was banal, common, and totally uninteresting. Any girl or woman who has lived at all would be considered promiscuous as far as this author takes you.
Simply uninteresting,nothing new, and totally lacking human female experiences.
Simply uninteresting,nothing new, and totally lacking human female experiences.
Well written, Kerry Cohen was brave to tell her story with such honesty. A fast read, I enjoyed every page.
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
LOOSE GIRL is a shocking yet honest autobiography of a life of sex. From the time she was eleven, Kerry, with her broken excuse for a family, craves the attentions of guys, guys, guys for the love she never has. She believes that intercourse and other sexual acts are the way to get the love she wants, only to find that her so-called "relationships" are often drowned to death by her desperate need for confirmation of his desire for her.
Sex is a woman's best weapon, Kerry says, and proves that as she uses her appeal to attract over thirty guys in the course of about fifteen years. However, with every man she sleeps with--and yes, there are some whose name she can't recall--Kerry never gets the satisfaction she wants. This young woman's life is a destructive cycle that cannot stop until she has forgiven herself and her loveless and flawed family first.
In a time of increased teenage promiscuity, LOOSE GIRL sends an especially important message, about how you cannot find the love you need by having lots and lots of casual sex. Instead, you must first love and forgive yourself and your family before you can have a successful relationship.
Sex is a woman's best weapon, Kerry says, and proves that as she uses her appeal to attract over thirty guys in the course of about fifteen years. However, with every man she sleeps with--and yes, there are some whose name she can't recall--Kerry never gets the satisfaction she wants. This young woman's life is a destructive cycle that cannot stop until she has forgiven herself and her loveless and flawed family first.
In a time of increased teenage promiscuity, LOOSE GIRL sends an especially important message, about how you cannot find the love you need by having lots and lots of casual sex. Instead, you must first love and forgive yourself and your family before you can have a successful relationship.
From Publishers Weekly
Despite the rather prurient title, Cohen's memoir is a deeply poignant, desperately sad account of a confused, directionless adolescent girl's free fall into self-abnegation. Growing up affluent in New Jersey in the 1980s and smarting from the recent breakup of her parents, 11-year-old Cohen begins to recognize the power her nubile body has over men. Being wanted becomes her greatest hope; once she and her older sister, Tyler, begin living with her father when her mother decides to attend med school in the Philippines, she latches onto other girls with whom she treks into New York City to bar hop at places like Dorian's Red Hand and pick up older, eager boys. Stunningly, the father is not alarmed by her early-morning absences, but seems to encourage her popularity, buying her clothes and treating her as a grownup. Gradually, hooking up with boys becomes a need, a way to bolster her faltering sense of self-worth. A litany of dreary sex acts follows with young men she doesn't particularly like and who don't like her, regardless of STD scares and a college rape. The painter mother of one of her boyfriends does initiate her into more intellectual pursuits, awakening a redemptive desire to become a writer. Cohen's memoir of a lost childhood is commendably honest and frequently excruciating to read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Kerry Cohen's powerful, transfixing story will be familiar to many women, most of whom won't want to admit it." -- Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir
"Cohen's clear-eyed, evocative, and engaging voice draws you into this harrowing story, into the heart of her addiction." -- Alison Smith, Name All the Animals
"Loose Girl holds nothing back. Cohen writes about her journey with heart-breaking honesty and detail that will make you cringe. The recount of sexual incidents during her childhood and adolescence is melancholy and at times very disturbing. As she continues on through high school and college, making the same mistakes over and over, the story becomes downright agonizing. The last section reads like day turning from afternoon to dusk, or perhaps late night becoming dawn. Every chapter holds new truths. She answers questions that can't be answered--questions about why we are the way we are, what it means to love and be loved. There is a part where she realizes "Not being able to live without someone is not love. It's need." Quotes like this make the book unforgettable.
In the process of writing and publishing her memoir, Cohen has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism. She's been called an attention-whore and a slut. But the truth is, Loose Girl isn't really about any of that. It's about identity. Kerry's sexual promiscuity could have been anything. It could have been alcohol, drugs, religion, or whatever else people let get in their way of creating their art and their life. Kerry's favorite quote is by Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what will you do with your one wild and precious life?" In telling her chaotic story, she's not begging for attention to her life, she's helping us figure out ours. The writing truly touches on all fronts, it would be a huge mistake to assume otherwise.
This is a life-changing memoir that you'll want to read over and over. Here's to hoping Kerry Cohen will ignore the critics and keep up her incredible writing."
Despite the rather prurient title, Cohen's memoir is a deeply poignant, desperately sad account of a confused, directionless adolescent girl's free fall into self-abnegation. Growing up affluent in New Jersey in the 1980s and smarting from the recent breakup of her parents, 11-year-old Cohen begins to recognize the power her nubile body has over men. Being wanted becomes her greatest hope; once she and her older sister, Tyler, begin living with her father when her mother decides to attend med school in the Philippines, she latches onto other girls with whom she treks into New York City to bar hop at places like Dorian's Red Hand and pick up older, eager boys. Stunningly, the father is not alarmed by her early-morning absences, but seems to encourage her popularity, buying her clothes and treating her as a grownup. Gradually, hooking up with boys becomes a need, a way to bolster her faltering sense of self-worth. A litany of dreary sex acts follows with young men she doesn't particularly like and who don't like her, regardless of STD scares and a college rape. The painter mother of one of her boyfriends does initiate her into more intellectual pursuits, awakening a redemptive desire to become a writer. Cohen's memoir of a lost childhood is commendably honest and frequently excruciating to read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Kerry Cohen's powerful, transfixing story will be familiar to many women, most of whom won't want to admit it." -- Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir
"Cohen's clear-eyed, evocative, and engaging voice draws you into this harrowing story, into the heart of her addiction." -- Alison Smith, Name All the Animals
"Loose Girl holds nothing back. Cohen writes about her journey with heart-breaking honesty and detail that will make you cringe. The recount of sexual incidents during her childhood and adolescence is melancholy and at times very disturbing. As she continues on through high school and college, making the same mistakes over and over, the story becomes downright agonizing. The last section reads like day turning from afternoon to dusk, or perhaps late night becoming dawn. Every chapter holds new truths. She answers questions that can't be answered--questions about why we are the way we are, what it means to love and be loved. There is a part where she realizes "Not being able to live without someone is not love. It's need." Quotes like this make the book unforgettable.
In the process of writing and publishing her memoir, Cohen has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism. She's been called an attention-whore and a slut. But the truth is, Loose Girl isn't really about any of that. It's about identity. Kerry's sexual promiscuity could have been anything. It could have been alcohol, drugs, religion, or whatever else people let get in their way of creating their art and their life. Kerry's favorite quote is by Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what will you do with your one wild and precious life?" In telling her chaotic story, she's not begging for attention to her life, she's helping us figure out ours. The writing truly touches on all fronts, it would be a huge mistake to assume otherwise.
This is a life-changing memoir that you'll want to read over and over. Here's to hoping Kerry Cohen will ignore the critics and keep up her incredible writing."
Andrea (andreadogsbestfreind) -
Excellent book about an unfulfilled girl who finally figures out why she's doing what she';s doing and gets to the point where she can change herself for the better and pat herself on the back. Happy ending.
Crystal (CrystalWith2Cats) -
It was a good book generally speaking, but the end felt sort of rushed...as though the author was trying to get it over with. There seemed to be no real explanation of the transition she made. It left me scratching my head.
My 41 year old self is screaming at her telling her to get her head out of her ass and wise up. Sleeping around will do nothing for you. My 20 something year old self understands why she did what she did. You see I was like her in a way in which I was trying to seek approval and love to get out of a bad home situation. I never slept with as many men and boys that she did, but I still was that pathetic young girl who was so desperate to get out of a situation that I tended to attach myself to any guy who would have me around. Along the way I did have some very serious relationships with people whom I really did love. However what I should have done was to find myself first before trying to couple myself with someone else.
You have to have an open mind to read Kerry's story. If your easily offended I suggest you bypass this book and read something else. Their are some very cringe worthy moments in here.
You have to have an open mind to read Kerry's story. If your easily offended I suggest you bypass this book and read something else. Their are some very cringe worthy moments in here.
Andrea (andreadogsbestfreind) -
Excellent book about an unfulfilled girl who finally figures out why she's doing what she';s doing and gets to the point where she can change herself for the better and pat herself on the back. Happy ending.
Andrea (andreadogsbestfreind) -
Excellent book about an unfulfilled girl who finally figures out why she's doing what she';s doing and gets to the point where she can change herself for the better and pat herself on the back. Happy ending.
This was sometimes difficult to read, but I just couldn't put it down. The author strips herself bare to let you see the ugliness of her promiscuity. She really made me look at my own teenage years and see how ugly and desperate my own actions sometimes were. A great memoir.
this was an interesting book about a young girl coming of age and why she became sexually active very young and all that it entails. I have to wonder just where were her parents when all this was going on but teenagers have a way of getting by parents or should I say some parents
Andrea (andreadogsbestfreind) -
Excellent book about an unfulfilled girl who finally figures out why she's doing what she';s doing and gets to the point where she can change herself for the better and pat herself on the back. Happy ending.
I was not a huge fan of this book. I felt like it never went anywhere.
