A Girl Called Shameless by Laura Steven - A Review

Here it is, the review of A Girl Called Shameless by Laura Steven, the first read of 2020! In case you didn't know, this is actually a sequel to The Exact Opposite of Okay, which I reviewed last week. If you would like to read that review click here.

Photo Credit: @egmont

"It’s been two months since a leaked explicit photo got Izzy involved in a political sex scandal – and the aftershock is far from over. The Bitches Bite Back movement is gathering momentum as a forum for teenage feminists, and when a girl at another school has a sex tape shared online, once again Izzy leads the charge against the slut-shamer. This time she wants to change the state law on revenge porn.

Izzy and her best friend Ajita are as hilarious as ever, using comedy to fight back against whatever the world throws at them, but Izzy is still reeling from her slut-shaming ordeal, feeling angry beyond belief and wondering – can they really make a change?"

Izzy O'Neill returns in full force, with her ridiculous humour, inappropriate comments and fierce attitude. she is easily one of the best characters in the YA genre. She is put through hell in the first book, but she comes back stronger than she was before. In this book, we see her juggling mid terms, a job in the diner, breaking into te writing industry and also trying to make a huge political change which would make the world a better place. If that's not inspirational, I don't know what is.

The story still deals with issues that Izzy encountered in the first book, but things were on a much grander scale as Izzy and her friends try to prevent other girls from going through the same thing. The book takes us right from the planning and it is full of heartfelt moments that will really get you thinking about injustice.

A great thing about both books in this series is the emotion that Laura invokes through them. Both have moments where you laugh, smile, feel angry and moments where you even cry. She has made a character that young people can look up to, but also someone who is real. It is not only a work of fiction, as so many women go through what Izzy has been through. It isn't just women who have had their nudes shared between groups of people who they may know, celebrities also go through the same type of thing. The situation Izzy goes through can truly affect anyone.  People can learn so much about feminism (real feminism I have to say, not the extreme things that the media portrays as feminism) from this series. It is really refreshing to read about Izzys experiences and to feel empowered, justified and vindicated.

I should also mention that the central cast of characters in this book are socio-economically, racially, sexually and ably diverse.  It doesn't feel unnatural or forced, and there are certainly no token gay, black or any other token character trait you may think of. Other YA authors need to take note!

A Girl Called Shameless was everything I could have hoped for from a sequel to The Exact Opposite of Okay, and more. I was grateful that the first book was recapped in the first couple of chapters, but it didn't feel like a summary, it really worked with the story.