“A wonderful, inspiring collection…the kind of book everyone should have on their shelf.”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

Roar is a collection of 30 fantastic and imaginative short stories by Cecelia Ahern, author of the bestselling P.S. I Love You. Each story featured in the book is about a different un-named woman and each story is entitled ‘The Woman Who…” for example; “The Woman Who Slowly Disappeared” and “The Woman Who Returned and Exchanged her Husband”. While each of the 30 women and 30 stories are different, in her own way each woman discovers her strength, her voice and her power to make a change in life.

This collection ranges from uplifting and hilarious to thoughtful and thought-provoking but what all the stories do is keenly observe female life and speak to women, capturing the moments in life that make us want to roar. Cecelia Ahern’s clever, folk tale style tales cover a vast ground of different issues and experiences women face from feeling invisible or unseen as they age to the guilt of being a working mother and not being ‘enough’ for the people who need you.

Ahern’s Roar fables cover themes and issues of marriage, romance and relationships, mental health, gender roles, stereotypes and labelling, female representation in positions of power such as the government, female bodily rights and abortion, and the Instagram-curated perfection that causes us to judge ourselves by impossible standards. Due to the nature of stories about women and gender, Cecelia Ahern’s Roar also examines the binary of gender with tender and touching stories featuring non-binary and transgender characters.

A fiercely feminist book, Cecelia Ahern’s Roar is a brilliant and unique collection of short stories which offers something for everyone in a book that is easy to read, and easy to pick up and put down in a busy lifestyle.

 

Reviewed by:

Catherine Muxworthy, Booksbirdblog

Added 6th August 2020

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Catherine Muxworthy