Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Published: 2004
Pages: 306
Genre: Chick lit

Working in a world where a college degree qualifies her to make photocopies and color-coordinate file folders, twenty-four-year-old Girl is struggling to keep up with the essential trinity of food, shelter, and student loans. So when she finally lands the job of her dreams, she ignores her misgivings and concentrates on getting the job done... whatever that may be (from back of book).

After semi-enjoying The Nanny Diaries by the same authors, I decided to pick up Citizen Girl when I saw it at the library. I finished it yesterday, and can honestly say that it left me feeling a tad confused.

The book started out fine, despite having a main character named "Girl" which I found to be an odd choice. Nevertheless, I continued onwards and was getting into the book, enjoying Girl's misfortunes and happy moments. All of the sudden, though, I got lost. I can't remember the exact moment and I can't remember how, but it hit me - I have no idea what's going on anymore!

That's the truth. At some undefined moment during the course of Citizen Girl, I completey lost track. I didn't know what was happening, I didn't know who some of the characters were, and I didn't know why I was still reading. Usually when I feel this confused during a book I go back and try to make sense of it again. But Citizen Girl didn't feel worth the trouble, and I didn't even care.

Now that I look back, I think some of this is due to the extremely satirist and almost sarcastic writing style that these authors have. On occasion I couldn't even tell if what they were saying was true, or if it was simply a metaphor for something else. Some events in the story didn't make sense, and some of the characters felt out of place to me. Again, maybe I just wasn't comprehending enough. Maybe not.

In the end, Citizen Girl is certainly a strangely-composed book. The plot itself is 50% fun, chick lit pleasure, the other 50% is pure confusion. I'm sure some people really like McLaughlin and Kraus' writing style and can follow the story. But if you're like me, you'll find Citizen Girl to be a mish-mash of characters randomly shoved into a weak story line.

Recommendation: Fans of The Nanny Diaries might like to give the book a try. If you aren't familiar with these authors, I would steer clear.