When she asked me if I wanted to review their new book "Dirty Rush", a real life tell all of sorority life, I wanted to scream.
OF COURSE!
I had been eyeing the book and was going to buy it anyway so getting a copy sent to me for review was even sweeter.
I'm a sorority girl through and through, if you're a follower of mine you know that by now. Even post grad life can't tear me away from my sisters and my inner sorority girl.
I love Greek life so much I wrote an Elite Daily article on it! (#shameless plug) Now it may seem odd that someone so pro Greek life and against stereotypes loves TSM and would want to read a book affiliated with them. TSM gets a bad rap and I blogged about it last year. Sometimes it's fun to poke fun at Greek life (in the right way) and sometimes what is said is really true.
I knew "Dirty Rush" would be one of those books that was accurate but exaggerated and I was right.
Now, Greek life at my small liberal arts college is a lot different from those of the big Southern schools that have Greek Row and take it incredibly serious. I always say that not one of the members of Greek life at Iona would last at a Southern college. It's just not who we are.
Anyways, it's no surprise that I loved this book. If you're majorly against Greek life you probably would want to rip it apart and not be interested in it but if you are in a sorority or have gentle thoughts about Greeks, it's highly entertaining.
The book is written by Taylor Bell, and that is also the name of the main character. The book follows her journey as a freshmen into Greek life, from her first frat party, to her initiation, to her first scandal.
At first, Taylor is highly against joining Beta Zeta, which she is a 5 time legacy of. She feels the pressure from the other girls in the sorority who know her and her story before she even steps foot on campus. Eventually, with the support of her best friend from home, to the insistent nagging of the sorority girls, to the gorgeousness of a frat boy, Taylor starts pledging Beta Zeta and really understanding what it means to be part of a sisterhood.
I won't give away the entire book because what is the fun in that but a campus scandal involving Beta Zeta ensues (it's not hazing, calm down) and everything that Taylor has been enjoying is at risk.
In true sorority fashion, the sisters stand together and get through it.
The book is hilarious (if you read TFM, it's similar to that). I was actually laughing out loud while reading it and couldn't get enough.
I finished the book in only a few hours. Yes I'm a fast reader but this was such a quick, easy, and funny read that I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what happened next.
Was this an accurate portrayal of sorority life? I'd have to go with yes; from the aggressive frat parties to the hilarious things that happen with your pledge sisters, to the intimating initiation ceremony, and the effort that goes into philanthropy events, the tone of this book got everything right. Taylor's reactions to certain events were spot on and I found myself shouting "YES!" at the book very often.
A lot of it was exaggerated... the drug use, the dumbness that some sorority girls had, and obviously the scandal that occurred. But that just makes for good entertainment... and who knows, that may happen but it's not the Greek life I know.
One of my favorite, most shallow parts of the book? The introduction.
It's written by the infamous psycho sorority girl Rebecca Martinson that wrote that "crazy sorority email" that went viral two years ago, yelling at her entire chapter for... well, you can read for yourself. Her introduction is just as hilarious (I read that letter and I laugh my ass off because it's so outrageous and if anyone if my chapter ever did that, I'd kick their butt) but the introduction is also truthful.
"From the outside looking in, you can never understand it. From the inside looking out, you can never explain it."--yes, crazy sorority girl Rebecca quoted that famous, very truthful quote in the introduction to this hilarious, mostly truthful book on sorority life.
Honestly, in my opinion, it was a good book that I'd tell all my Greek friends to read and if you are open minded and just looking for a very funny read, this will give you a good amount of laughs.
Happy reading everyone!
Add your comment