Birthday Girl Book Review

Okay so Birthday Girl, I had seen this book all over Twitter and everyone had nothing but great things to say about it, so I decided to read it. Now, had I stopped and read the blurb for the book I would have realized this book was not for me. I would just like to say if you are a fan of this book I’m sorry. This book just isn’t my cup of tea.

My biggest problem in this book is the age gap however not for the reason you would think. I would have no problem with the age gap if the power dynamic wasn’t so unhealthy. There are countless times where Pike talks down to Jordan and even at times treats her like a daughter. That is something I just couldn’t get over. I don’t like that he tells her who she can hang out with, what she can wear, and how she should spend her time.

The book had no purpose, there was no real plot. The whole book is just Jordan and Pike pinning over each other and Cole occasionally showing up and being a jerk. At first, I thought the plot of the book was going to be about Jordan finding her way in the world and her realising she doesn’t need a man in her life to be happy. But no, because that would mean Jordan wasn’t such a shallow two-dimensional character.

It honestly shocks me that a woman wrote this character,  she has all the traits of a woman being written by a man. I didn’t like how the author just brushed past all her past experiences, it felt like all her past trauma was just swept under the rug.

I think the reason I dislike Jordon is surprisingly how Cole is written, Cole is written as this annoying teenage jerk who stays out all night. Now in my personal opinion, Cole was the only one in the whole book who was acting his age. I didn’t like how Cole was villainized because he was being a normal nineteen-year-old. Jordon was supposed to be seen as this girl who was so mature and I felt like her maturity was forced as the author was trying to make the relationship between the barely legal teen and almost forty-year-old seem okay. Like it was funny how many times the author tries to tell us that Jordan is so mature. 

The last thing that I didn’t love was overall how Cole’s character was written. I felt that making Cole so unlikable and such a jerk was cheap because it had even me wishing she would leave him for someone else. I don’t like that he was called out for cheating however Jordan never was. Yes, Jordan and Pike never did anything until Cole and Jordan were broken up, so there was no physical cheating but there was defiantly emotional cheating.

Overall despite the power dynamic not being my thing, the book wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read. I found it to be a quick read, I think I read it in about three days. I enjoyed the fact that there was no huge argument in the end and that things were dealt with well. I liked how the overall story was tied up.