How to Build a Girl cover art

How to Build a Girl

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

How to Build a Girl

By: Caitlin Moran
Narrated by: Louise Brealey
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A Number One Sunday Times bestseller, from the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of How to Be a Woman.

Now a major film directed by Coky Giedroyc and starring Ladybird's Beanie Feldstein as Johanna Morrigan and Game of Thrones's Alfie Allen as John Kite.

My name’s Johanna Morrigan. I’m fourteen, and I’ve just decided to kill myself.

I don’t really want to die, of course! I just need to kill Johanna, and build a new girl. Dolly Wilde will be everything I want to be, and more! But as with all the best coming-of-age stories, it doesn’t exactly go to plan…

©2014 Caitlin Moran (P)2014 Penguin Audio Literature & Fiction Funny Comedy
All stars
Most relevant  
As usual, Caitlin Moran published a piece of brilliance. Hilarious and heartbreaking, it should be mandatory reading in high school. Couldn't put it down.

Amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you listen to How to Build a Girl again? Why?

I'd definitely listen to How to Build a Girl again because it was so well read by Louise Brealey. She did all the accents of each character so well and so consistently. I really felt I was there with Johanna as she went through her often agonising experiences of teenage life. Every minute of Caitlin Moran's story was delicious to listen to. Not once did I feel like fast forwarding through filler because there is none.

What other book might you compare How to Build a Girl to, and why?

I guess all the music references reminded me a bit of Hi Fidelity by Nick Hornby but this storyline is completely different.

What about Louise Brealey’s performance did you like?

I just fell in love with the main character, Johanna, who is telling the story. Louise Brealey's performance was so believable.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I wanted to hug the main character and tell her everything is going to be alright and that I totally understand what she is going through. I laughed for a good part of this book. So, so funny!

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend for anyone, particularly if you were a teen in the early 1990s and love indie rock. Everyone is mentioned from Courtney Love, Manic Street Preachers, NWA and the Smashing Pumpkins plus so many more. While you can't hear the music on the audiobook you can still feel it through the words. Plus this book is hilarious. Did I mention this book is super funny?

Fabulous story I could relate to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is not my usual genre for reading/listening. Although I often have an eclectic taste in books, I usually avoid gritty reality. Please read to the end of this review for all my enthusiasm about the book, as these early words are more by way of explanation.

I don't recall exactly why I bought this book initially, but clearly something clicked in my head. Maybe it was the title combined with the blurb - who knows, but I am so glad that I did.

The story spans about five years during the late 80s and early 90s England, hopping between Wolverhampton and London. Whilst I didn't really partake of the indie music scene that the main character, Johanna Morrigan, revolves around, I grew up in that world being only about three years older than her. The story is spot on with the details and the thinking of that era, it read exactly like a genuine personal history, with all the honesty of adult retrospection.

I will not spoil your reading by including details, but I will say that it triggered any number of emotions as I continued to listen: cringing, laughing, gritting teeth in the face of adversity, sorrow and even tears. Caitlin Moran has written a book that starts as a slow burner, generating mild intrigue, but soon builds the story (just like the main character builds herself) to a powerhouse of observations, questions of morality, honesty, and above all, love. This is not a romance with an HEA, rather a coming to terms with reality: 'growing up'.
Bravo, Ms. Moran.

Slow burner, but in a great way and it builds!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story and the narrator does a good job, except for her interpretation of John Kite's voice which I found a bit distracting.

Great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such vivid story telling. Unmissable.
Brealey’s reading does not hold anything back and catapults the reader through the richly intense teenage world of Johanna in the most authentic, unapologetic, relatable and bravely honest way. Love every minute!

Rich, intense, intimate, hilarious!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.