This book couldn’t be more relevant to the world today, and this is obviously what the author had in mind when it comes to writing this book. The word ‘Feminist’ has a lot of stigma around it, for many different reasons but at the core, Feminism is about girls and women having rights, whether that is being treated like an equal, being treated with respect, or being heard, as well as many other reasons I’m sure.

As I was reading this book girls at a high school in Adelaide, the city where I am from had a walkout and protest out the front of their school, because they felt that boys at their school were getting away with doing things that made them feel uncomfortable. This has since inspired other protests that happened this year, they not only included other schools but also universities and workplaces. From what I have read in the local Newspapers it does seem that the school is supporting them in this and is working with students to help make some changes, which is really nice to see. I hope that this is true because it’s important for all schools and workplaces to feel like they are a safe place for everyone, so I hope that this is something they can work towards and that other schools and workplaces take note of these things and make some positive changes.

In the past year, I have seen some powerful women and girls come out and tell their stories and fight for better treatment and their right to be believed. In a lot of these stories, they have been bullied into silence and the perpetrators have often gotten away with the heinous crimes they have committed towards them. The fact that they still choose to stand up and fight just honestly makes me proud, not only as a fellow female but also as a human being.

I decided to read ‘Moxie’ by ‘Jennifer Mathieu’ after watching the Netflix movie, I loved seeing these girls stand up against the hierarchy of their school and push for their right to go to school and not be treated in degrading ways by their male counterparts. So, this prompted me to add the book to my reading list and pick up a copy from a local book shop to add to my collection.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Vivian is the kind of girl who usually keeps her head down, she tries very hard not to draw attention to herself. She has never had a boyfriend, boys are from a total other planet as far as she is concerned. She has no idea how to talk to a boy let alone be in a relationship with one, besides most of the boys at Vivian’s school are a bunch of jerks anyway. There are only a few exceptions, which includes the new guy Seth Acosta.

After seeing many of the boys at East Rockport High being treated like gods (especially the ones on the football team) and getting away with treating her fellow female students in rude and disgusting ways as well as the unfair dress standards enforced by the administration, Vivian decides to do something about it. At first, she decides to create ‘Moxie’ just to see if other students at her school feel the same way, but as she brings out new issues of her zine (not newsletter), she does it to call out the behaviour and empower others to stand up and do the same.

At first, it may just be hearts and stars but it soon turns into a revolution.

Characters

I found the characters in this book very relatable, Vivian, in particular, I felt like I could relate quite a lot to her. Sometimes it can be hard to find your voice, whether you lack confidence or have been the victim of bullying or abuse it is not always easy to speak up. I loved the progression of Vivian’s character, from being quite an introverted person to someone who found her voice through an anonymous zine to someone who created a revolution. Moxie gave her a voice to fight for a girl’s and women’s right to be treated respectfully.

I also felt like Moxie itself becomes a character in this story, I feel like Moxie is the voice that some of us can sometimes struggle to find, she is our alter-ego who isn’t afraid of what people think of her and who dares to speak out when she has been treated or witnessed others being treated disrespectfully.

I’m sure there are many people out there like myself who deal with things like anxiety or low self-esteem or who have possibly been through a traumatic situation and may sometimes find it hard to speak up because they don’t like conflict or being the centre of attention, so I can relate a lot to Vivian but I feel that seeing more and more people standing up and not tolerating peoples bad behaviour can help empower those of us who struggle to find their voice when they need to.

Themes

Moxie includes more contemporary themes, it talks about topics that are very relevant to things still going on in our society today, like fighting for a woman’s right to be treated with respect and to be heard. It discusses the boys will be boys mentality where males are getting away with being disrespectful towards females in various different ways and silencing a victim’s voice when they have been treated with disrespect.

Even in our modern-day society, a lot of things haven’t changed with the times, it’s just that now we have smartphones and social media which give bullies and abusers another way to hurt people. And sadly our laws and policies are often slow on the uptake. But I feel like we are starting to see a revolution with people calling this out and asking for change because everyone has the right to feel safe whether it be at school or work, at home or online.

Moxie includes some topics that are unfortunately still very relevant in our society today, I feel that Jennifer Mathieu’s novel included these in a way that might be more tolerable for a younger audience but It also empowers us to speak up for our right to be treated with respect.

If you like novels centred around female empowerment then you will probably like this. I do feel like anyone from teens upwards could read this but it is aimed at a younger audience. I feel like this book discusses some relevant issues but it is definitely in a way that is a bit more tolerable for a younger audience so I would keep that in mind if you are considering reading it. It would make the perfect gift for any young woman in your life.

I hope you enjoyed this book review, Let me know If you have read ‘Moxie’, what did you think? and if you have seen the movie, which one do you prefer, the book or the movie? let me know in the comments of this post.

A Bit Of An Update:

Sorry this took so long for me to post, I read Moxie in July I think and it has taken me this long to post this, unfortunately, that happens sometimes when you are dealing with a chronic illness and mental health stuff, I’m behind on posting a lot of things I was hoping to post this year and most of it has just not happened at all. I’ve been dealing with a lot recently, some to do with my health, but there has also been some family stuff going on as well.

I am hoping to possibly get one more book review up before the end of the year but I am honestly not pressuring myself to do it because I just don’t feel like I have the energy at the moment. I still have some videos to edit for my gaming channel, but again not pushing myself to do it if I just feel like I can’t. I’m not sure what my plans are for next year either I guess I’ll just see what happens.

Anyway that’s my little update, again I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope to see you all in my next post, whatever that may be.

Erin.

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