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Citizen Girl

by Emma McLaughlin (Goodreads Author), Nicola Kraus (Goodreads Author)

2.37 of 5 stars 2.37 · rating details · 4,651 ratings · 553 reviews

Another biting satire from Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, authors of the #1 "New York Times" bestseller "The Nanny Diaries."Working in a world where a college degree qualifies her to make photocopies and color-coordinate file folders, twenty-four-year-old Girl is struggling to keep up with the essential trinity of food, shelter, and student loans. So when she finally la...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published November 16th 2004 by Atria Books (first published September 7th 2004)

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Feb 14, 2008 Nikki Boisture rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Only my dearest enemies.

Recommended to Nikki by: No one, thank god. I would disown anyone who recommends such id

Dear Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krauss:

Please stop. Stop writing books. OK, The Nanny Diaries had it's moments and was a compulsively readable little tale. Congratulations, your first book was successful and made you probably richer than you'd ever dream possible. Why didn't you just stop when you were ahead?

You must realize that Citizen Girl is absolutely abhorable. I wanted to give it zero stars, but I didn't want anyone to think I had forgotten to rate it.

Your protagonist (the idiotically n...more

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Mar 01, 2008 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: a blind slug

This book tried to be super clever and witty, but I knew it was doomed once I realized that the main character's name was actually 'Girl' (and it wasn't just her boss being disrespectful by saying "Hey Girl!") and another main character's name was 'Guy'. Other 'clever' names consisted of Buster, the boyfriend, and 'My Company, Inc', the employer. That showed the authors were trying just a little too hard...

From there, it just got annoying as the writing was choppy and new characters and situati...more

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May 29, 2008 Sheena rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit

"Citizen Girl" is meant to be a satire of corporate consultation. The emphasis on sexuality in the workplace is meant to criticize, but, like the main character Girl, seems to whine. "Citizen Girl" is an example of chick lit, meant to be intelligent, that is banal and uninteresting.
While Girl does face a few serious dilemmas, the writing tone implies that she's more interested in whining about her problems than fixing them. Her co-workers and friends seem to have a similar perspective. The only...more

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Jun 04, 2008 KP rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

after reading the nanny diaries, i expected more from these authors. it seemed like the same basic story told in a different environment and setting. and naming the main character girl was kind of annoying as well.

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Oct 26, 2012 Lauren rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read three books by these authors that I enjoyed. However, I have no idea what they were thinking when they wrote this book! Whatever thoughts they had of a best seller feel through. If you have any self-preservational skills, they will definitely come in handy if you find yourself wanting to even read the synopsis. Supposedly, Girl (yes that is her name, which really isn't the problems seeing has the nanny in Nanny Diaries was referred to as Nanny) is a heroine, unless my definition of a...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Patty rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: idiots, masochists

Shelves: chick-lit, crap

HOLY MOTHER OF SUCK.

I should have put it down as soon as I realized the main character's name was "Girl." No, really. And her boss is named "Guy"! And her boyfriend is named "Buster"! And the woman brought in to reorganize her company is named "Manley"! Wow, authors, you're so smart, your readers will never figure that out! ... wait.

1. Girl is not at all a likable character. What a whiny cliche of feminism. I have a hard time reading a book when I find nothing to connect with or like about any o...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Katie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: boooooring

I liked The Nanny Diaries, so I was excited to read the second book from the authors, but...major disappointment. I don't actually remember too much - must have been too painful to keep in my memory - but I can tell you that I was ready for Girl or Twat or Dumbass or whatever her name was to shut the hell up about her stupid lack of a love life/job/bank account/etc. Ugh. Do something about it, please, and stop wasting all of our time. And if you choose to follow my sound advice, please, please d...more

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Jun 16, 2007 stephanie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chicklit, would-never-rec

how utterly depressing. you think it can't get worse after the ending of The Nanny Diaries but then it does.

the authors employ the same trope of using "Girl" as the main character's name, her boss is "Guy", the person she dates is "Buster", another character (a woman) is named "Manly". they obviously think they are sooo clever and so much smarter than their readers.

the problem is, the book tries to be about women, and feminism, and the way women identify, and why women are afraid to be identi...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Stacey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just the same as Nanny Diaries, I'm left with a sense of unfinished business. I finished the book yesterday, and I kept thinking during work today, "Oh! When I get home, I'm going to finish Citizen Girl!" Except that I've already finished it... I mean, okay, she quit her job, so we have resolution there. But, there's the thing with Buster, which doesn't have a clear ending... It's more as if she leaves for the airport having given him that ultimatum, and he's going to think it over, not as thoug...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

You know how I always refer to the lead in the book as Girl and the future love interest as Dude? I do that mainly because I am always behind on the reviews and I can't remember the names of anyone. This book pretty much did that throughout the whole book and it was super super annoying. Everything was rreferred to something super generic and while it kept everything straight, I was kind of annoyed by it.

Girl works for some rah-rah women's organization whose head is insane and she is fired. Half...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Monica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading Citizen Girl, I decided to give myself some time to think about it before I reviewed it hoping to process it a bit better but still I come up short for words. It was a pretty good book over all, but I just found it extremely strange. I'm not sure what to make of it. Girl has a very witty perspective on life and she's an enjoyable character who I think most can relate to. But, the situations she's in just seem slightly far fetched for me (although I'm still in high school so I would...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Mari added it · review of another edition

Was enticed to buy this because of its $4 price tag on Borders' Bargain Bookshelf. The blurb is good -- "satire ... highlights key issues (do you have to look hot to get ahead?) for women in today's workplace" -- but is entirely misleading. This is "sophomoric" in that it's the authors' second book (they also wrote "Nanny Diaries") and that it's just so dumb.

The main character's "name" is Girl, and other characters are called by descriptive words instead of traditional names. It took me a few c...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Sophie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book because I had read and enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, and because the back-cover blurb and cover art for Citizen Girl looked intriguing. What a disappointment. Rather than skewering or illuminating Corporate America, the authors created an unrecognizable world where women are constantly harassed, objectified, degraded, and groped. A world where every man is either a sexist relic from another age or a lad-magazine-reading stereotype, and even drunks on the street spew misogyny w...more

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Jan 23, 2010 Lauren rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

Why I am even bothering to review this crap of a book, I don't know. There is nothing more unsatisfying than spending time reading a bad story. Thankfully it was a quick read because there was no point to the plot, you could skip over paragraphs and be fine.

I'm hugely disappointed as well as unsatisfied because I expected more from the authors of the actually funny "Nanny Diaries". But man, did they fail to deliver with this story. It read more along the painful lines of "The Devil Wears Prada",...more Why I am even bothering to review this crap of a book, I don't know. There is nothing more unsatisfying than spending time reading a bad story. Thankfully it was a quick read because there was no point to the plot, you could skip over paragraphs and be fine.

I'm hugely disappointed as well as unsatisfied because I expected more from the authors of the actually funny "Nanny Diaries". But man, did they fail to deliver with this story. It read more along the painful lines of "The Devil Wears Prada", echoing even the typical plot line of New York-heroine-who-takes-any-job-because-she-can't-find-another-yet-hates-working-at-said-company-because-it-compromises-all-of-her-values-and-constantly-complains-about-it-instead-of-quitting-and-has-sex-with-a-hot-guy-along-the-way-who-inevitably-is-involved-with-moving-the-heroine-from-a-crap-apartment-to-another-crap-apartment-and-which-somehow-turns-into-a-quasi-relationship-by-the-end-of-the-story-which-is-only-believable-in-a-fictional-world.

You're supposed to give some books a 100 pages to get interesting, which I did for this book. I should have stopped, but kept on reading because I spent money on the book and wanted to finish it. I did almost take it back to the bookstore this morning, 2 chapters in, but against my better judgment kept reading.

Hopefully the next time these authors put out a book they can come up with a plot that makes sense, connect it with some actual good writing (side note, repeating the words shit and f*ck every other sentence does not comprise good writing), and better-named heroine and characters, instead of quasi-ironic names like "Girl", "Guy", "Buster", "Grace", "Jack", and "Manley", and steer away from the typical New York girl who compromises her values for money because getting a good job is apparently impossible in New York. All of these novels really just affirm to me that I don't ever want to work in NYC - I will just keep to the romantic, touristy part of the appeal of the city.

Bottom-line: Don't waste your time on this waste of ink and paper. Save it for your first or fourth reading of Pride and Prejudice. And don't ever believe a cover endorsement of a book from Marie Claire magazine. "Hilarious" is what they said. "Train-Wreck" would have been more appropriate. (less)

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Dec 18, 2007 Joanna Mcdonald rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really good book all about how a woman (Grace) struggles with her career, family and relationships.

Easy reading and is a feel good book.

Grace is a hardworking and determined young woman who won't let anyone stand in her way of promotion. She can be a bit naive in the working world sometimes and this leads to her being let down alot, but she manages to dust of her slingbacks and jumps back on the horse.

Good book about how determination can get you far in your career.

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Oct 20, 2012 Janet Morris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-chick-lit, read-in-2012, misc-causes, misc-feminism, misc-hypocrisy, misc-greed

I've read other reviews that were unforgiving about the way that this particular novel was written, and while some have their points, others seem to miss the charm and wit of the book. Yes, there are issues, but have we ever truly seen a perfect book? This book has some good qualities in it, but it also shows us that we need to really examine our society and our way of life.

The character names were commonly used to critique the book because they were completely generic, but the point of having n...more I've read other reviews that were unforgiving about the way that this particular novel was written, and while some have their points, others seem to miss the charm and wit of the book. Yes, there are issues, but have we ever truly seen a perfect book? This book has some good qualities in it, but it also shows us that we need to really examine our society and our way of life.

The character names were commonly used to critique the book because they were completely generic, but the point of having names like Guy, Girl, Buster, etc. is to put the reader into a position of role-playing. The reader takes on the guise of the character and starts imagining this world on his or her own. It is quite an innovative technique. It also makes you not only empathize with the characters, but it makes you question their choices easier. Their moral downfalls become yours.

The writing was choppy, and that was heavily disappointing. Toward the end, almost everything seemed to be disjointed. I don't know if that was from lack of skill or if it was the writers trying to have the reader feel that the world was unraveling around them. I think it was probably the former.

It is definitely a chick-lit novel that brings up some very tough issues, including feminism, sex trafficking/slavery, and glass ceilings. It also shows that anyone can basically become a hypocrite and sacrifice their own moral ideals just to make money and keep their job. That is a telling thing about our society, so I think that the writers putting that in a novel like this is a very gutsy thing for them to do. I'm glad that they show that the main character learns from her misdeeds, but I worry that maybe her character learned too late. You would think that someone who considers herself to be of such learned and charitable stock would be able to realize before the last chapter that what she's doing is so far away from being the good little feminist that she makes herself out to be. I guess that she's supposed to be as clueless about her hypocrisy as those people that she so willingly judges.

The book could have been better written. I wish that it were better written, honestly. Maybe if the writers had better understood what they were aiming for or how to approach the topic, it would have been better. Since it isn't, I can just say that it is a fairly good book. And considering that it is just chick lit, I'm letting some of its issues slide and cutting the writers some slack for their mistakes.(less)

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Dec 29, 2010 Katy Knapp rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One word sums up my feelings for this novel: mehhh. The plot has great potential. The story is about a young woman in NYC who has aspirations of making a difference in the world by working for non-profits. There could be a truly inspirational "girl power" story here. Instead, the authors create non-sensical scenarios and shallow, boring dialogue. I could care less about every character in the book - including the protagonist, who the authors just call "Girl." I am still baffled about why they gi...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like the pace, the protagonist is intelligent and humble and it's easy to see her point of view, however isolated and limited it may be. The vague catchall character names ("Girl", "Guy", "Buster," etc.) seem just a little baffling--especially since some characters have real-sounding names, and others have a one-word description of their personality for their name.
I like that I often agree with the other characters' take on Girl: as they point out, she can often be pathetic, needy, clueless a...more

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Jan 18, 2011 kb rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: where-them-girls-at

Initially, it was bad. Girl, the main character, wasn't likable and in the first few chapters, you didn't know where the story was going and I was just like, "Yeah, yeah, is it the last page already???" But despite of that and the bad reviews I caught online, I continued reading because I believe that every author deserves the chance... to be given a second chance. And the premise of the story was highly interesting for me, if not relatable, because Girl here was trying to sort her life with a n...more

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Mar 23, 2010 Rachel McCready rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While this book's main character, Girl, didn't have the charm of Nanny from The Nanny Diaries, she did resonate with me in her frustration: under bosses who expect the most and give the least, boyfriends who leave her guessing, and family that seems to have no idea what the world is really like.

Like The Nanny Diaries, Citizen Girl's readability comes from the reader's disgust with the supporting characters. As you read, McLaughlin will have you screaming "What!?" and groaning with shared humili...more

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Oct 12, 2009 Ally rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just got finished listening to this book. I am really glad to look on here and see that a lot of people also disliked this book. I listened to the abridged version of this book so I thought that was very vague and why I did not like this book as much as The Nanny Diaries. First, I dont think that it is clever or imaginative to use "Girl" as the main character's name. Yes, in the Nanny Diaries, the main characters name was "Nanny", using this type of name one time in a book, I can handle the au...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Jenny rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've only just started reading this book. It is unusual in its writing style, as we focus on Girl and her attempts to find her place in the world, and her monster of a job. It doesn't seem like it will be an amazing book, but it shows some promise, as I will read on.

Update ----
I couldn't finish reading the book as it was just baaaaad

There are 3 big weaknesses:

1.The writing style is poor - it doesn't captivate you or interest you whatsoever
2.Plotwise it is dull - as it is, I have no interest in...more

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Nov 17, 2012 linnea rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't even know wtf was going on with this book. It started out all cute about some girl in an office in New York and she was writing a paper to present at a feminist conference and then it just started spiraling out of control. She got a job at a company that looked great and started dating a guy who seemed cool (if a bit manipulative) and then the company kept trying to exploit women and the boyfriend never stopped being a dick. The girl (whose name is Girl, in case you couldn't figure out i...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Arianna rated it 1 of 5 stars

Maybe one of THE worst books I've ever read. I just kept going, hoping it would get better somehow. But it never resolved into anything at all, and I am sorry I wasted the time. The characters were all entirely unsympathetic - the main character was whiny and I had so much trouble empathizing or feeling any sort of sorry for her. Usually I love when a story is based at all in Connecticut; this time, I was ashamed that she was presumably FROM Waterbury (it's barely mentioned). The storyline is a...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Doug Haynes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While I have to say this was book is far from the best I can't help but feel that it is getting a less then fair shake from Goodreads. I ended up reading this because after having just finished 'Citizen Vince' my GF had just finished this book and it seemed destiny I should read it next.

I will be the first to admit the 'symbolic' names, while and interesting concept, where a bit heavy handed but made for an interesting way to convey some of the points they were trying to make in this book. Other...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Shaela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. The satire will hit home with anyone who's worked crap jobs while being very ambitious, and finding out that the world isn't quite what you think it is. If you're a young woman and you've ever experienced real sexism in the work place and have been asked to compromise, you will love this. It has hard hitting wit that is so honest. A lot of people were turned off by the basic names, "Girl", "Guy", etc... but I think it played into the brash humor and basic points the author's were try...more

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Apr 26, 2009 PurplyCookie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, hated-it

How did this book get published? If I could only give this book a ranking of 0, believe me I would. This has got to be the worst chick lit book I've read in quite a long time. I always try to give books a chance -- by actually finishing it -- but with this one, I just can't bring myself to do so.

"Citizen Girl" is the sophomore effort from McLaughlin and Kraus, who debuted with "The Nanny Diaries". This time around, our heroine is Girl, a twentysomething women's studies major whose liberal arts...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Ellen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I'm sort of surprised by all the hate for this one. Don't get me wrong there are some serious flaws with this book. Namely that Girl, the main character, and her entire supporting cast are completely unbelievable/one-sided as characters. (which in fact may have been a device by the authors? but which really didn't work) But, I did appreciate what this book is trying to do with it blend of The Devil Wears Prada angst and Ariel Levy politics. This book made me think a lot about feminism and what t...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Claire rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

DO NOT READ, not worth the time or money. Boring......at best, I trudged my way through this 300 page book out of mere self determination, seeing as I bought it, I should finish it mentality.....and that fact that I was stuck at the Tampa airport for about 5 hours and didn't want to resort to spending a small fortune on People and US Weekly. The main character is one-dimensional and she's the most complex of the bunch. It attempts to explor relationships and roles in society and doesn't really d...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Jaclyn rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Absolutely Nobody

Shelves: chick-lit, summer-09-challenge

I read this book only because I needed to read an unpopular book for the Summer Reading Challenge and this was the most appealing choice on the list. I don't know if my awareness of the fact that so many others hated it colored my impression of the story or not, but I tried to go into it with an open mind despite that. In an attempt to try to make the best of it, I purposely did not read Nanny Diaries so that I wouldn't have the high expectations that book apparently set for so many readers. Now...more

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About Emma McLaughlin

My partner, Nicki, and I have been writing together for 12 years. We're obsessed by what makes a satisfying story. I'm excited to hear from our readers what does it for them -- and what doesn't. As a working mom, the only book time I manage to steal these days is right before bed. I'm not the girl who can watch SVU and go to sleep with a smile. Ruling out kids/the economy/the world in peril as sub...more

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