the anti cool girl,
by Rosie Waterland

This book found its way into my shelf after a friend lent me their copy (which was borrowed from their friend who I assume stole it from the Palmerston library), and I inhaled it in a day. The Anti Cool Girl is a memoir by Rosie Waterland, writer for Mamamia, co-host on the podcast Just the Gist, and overall hilarious bad-arse.

Waterland’s upbringing can only be described as traumatic. With undiagnosed bi-polar disorder, her mother fluctuated between her job as a nurse and sex work, seeking comfort and stability in relationships which were destined to fail. Rosie’s father, mostly absent due to his history as a drug dealer, also showed up at points in her childhood that would send deep scars through her memories. Add sexual assault from a foster carer, being locked in your room while your mother tries to stab the door open with a kitchen knife, and a handful of suicide attempts, and you’ve got yourself one of the saddest memoirs ever written. But, not when it’s written by Rosie.

From the person who brought us recaps of the Bachelor, how could she deliver anything without it being light? The tone of the novel and way that it’s written with such ease is what made it so damn easy to turn the pages – it was just like having a (very one-sided) conversation with an old friend.

Rosie’s story is one that is tragic because it’s real. She talks not just of the almost unbelievable world of growing up in the care of an adult who is struggling to care for themselves, but also of friends, bullying, and the wackiness of relationships.

I adored every moment I spent reading this book, and I wish I let it last longer.