1 star. Just because I could tweet a few funny quotes and Goodreads doesn’t allow us to give zero stars. Seriously, we need those, Goodreads.

I think that I was expecting something completely different. When I first read about this book, I thought it was a book about actual science that mocked the style we often get in “women” magazines. I liked that idea. It’s pretty obvious that Science is a field that doesn’t involve women as much as it should, and there’s a lot to be said about the topic. The idea seemed interesting and fun to read. I actually like science (please, don’t tell my Physics teacher from high school, I have a reputation to maintain), and I’m always ready for new and interesting ways to new information.

Instead of that, I got this

The whole book is written with the voice of an utter IDIOT. I’m pretty sure that most women magazines don’t like their reporters to sound as if they have been lobotomized. Repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong, the first few pages were funny indeed. I laughed.

But it very soon it got OLD. There’s a limit for how many “oh, I’m a woman and I’m an idiot” comments a writer can make in one book. This one in particular got over it in the first chapter, seriously. Maybe it was because I wanted something completely different, but the “silly” woman gag was more than overly long. It was annoying and irrelevant.

It’s okay to mock how women are seen in science fields. Humor is indeed a powerful subversive weapon, and it can be used to help to bring attention to several issues. But you have to make a point. Remember how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joked about how awesome Amal Alamuddin was and how it was her husband who got all the fame? (For those who don’t know Amal is a Human Rights lawyer and George Clooney’s wife)

Maybe Megan Amram was making a point and the problem is that I didn’t get it. Still, I feel that she decided to go for the easy laughs instead of actually addressing the problem (that is, women’s participation in the sciences). Besides, there were some jokes that weren’t even that funny, like the jokes about the narrator’s boyfriend keeping her locked in his basement. Rape and abuse are not funny and I was very uncomfortable while reading those parts. You can’t just make light of the suffering of hundreds of women around the world. So not cool, people.

I don’t even know why I even finished this book. Perhaps I’m a bit of a masochist and like to suffer (not really), or maybe because I have the pathologic compulsion to always finish what I start (which is why I’ve only ever not-finished one book in my entire reader life). I regretted spending my time in this book. (That’s actually a first!)

I really wanted to be one of your multiple best friends, Megan, but it was too much for me. So let’s stay as casual acquaintances.