Review: Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen

Why is it I have such a hard time writing a negative review for a book? I know I have nothing to feel bad about because my reading experience is my own and completely subjective. Maybe I just don't want to admit that I wasted precious reading time on something less than at least mildly entertaining. Anyone else have this problem? Unfortunately, my review for Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen is far from positive. I really like the show 'Derry Girls' and a lot of comparisons were being made between the show and this novel. Since one of the show's actresses narrated the audiobook, I decided to give this one a listen instead of reading.

I have no idea how this book has received so much buzz lately. I like character novels, but this one couldn’t have been more boring. The setting is interesting enough with Majella living on the northern border in a war-torn Ireland, but this is a book about nothing really. A lot has happened to Majella in her life, but for whatever reason the reader is given only seven mundane days of her life (the chapters are split into days-Monday to Sunday) with flashbacks of her childhood thrown in to help explain why Majella is the way she is. Other than learning who Majella is, the reader never gets to see her change, for better or for worse. She’s just kind of there...existing.

I might usually caution at this point that I’m about to give some spoilers, but that doesn’t seem possible since NOTHING HAPPENS throughout the entirety of this book. We tag along with Majella as she works her nightly shifts at a fish and chip shop where she occasionally shags her coworker in the storage room after they close for the night. Then we follow her as she goes home where she lives with an alcoholic, codependent mother who is insufferable. (Her father was a member of the IRA and disappeared years ago, presumably killed for his involvement in the civil conflict.) It’s more or less the same routine for 6 out of the 7 days, with a lot of graphic masturbation and menstrual period talk. It’s like the author realized there was nothing happening to really challenge Majella to grow or overcome or change in some way so she decided to throw a period into the mix. Not to mention there are a few scenes depicting animal abuse which I didn’t see the purpose of since it did nothing for the storyline. 

Ugh...I just honestly don’t get it and I wish I had the time I spent on this book back. 

As far as the audio goes, it took awhile to get used to the narrator’s accent for me. It wasn’t the accent so much, but she did mumble and speak far too fast at times for me to understand what I was listening to. Based on the narration alone, I’d have given the performance 3/5 stars.

My Rating: ★★ out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy it more.