The Girl's Guide to Homelessness; a memoir by Brianna Karp

Brianna Karp entered the workforce at age ten, supporting her mother and sister throughout her teen years in Southern California. Although her young life was scarred by violence and abuse, Karp stayed focused on her dream of a steady job and a home of her own. By age twenty-two her dream became reality. Karp loved her job as an executive assistant and signed the lease on a tiny cottage near the beach.

And then the Great Recession hit. Karp, like millions of others, lost her job. In the six months between the day she was laid off and the day she was forced out onto the street, Karp scrambled for temp work and filed hundreds of job applications, only to find all doors closed. When she inherited a thirty-foot travel trailer after her father's suicide, Karp parked it in a Walmart parking lot and began to blog about her search for work and a way back.

I disliked this book pretty much from the get go. From the snippets I found online about it, it sounded like a great read. It was even praised by an author that I really like, Augusten Burroughs. It was severely disappointing.

The book starts off with Karp explaining a bit about her childhood. She details growing up in an abusive household and the pains of being raised a Jehovah Witness. In her adulthood she gets a job she loves but is let go due to the recession. After a few other bad things happen she finds herself homeless. Karp then, starts a blog and everything goes from there.

I will give it to Ms. Karp, she had a hard childhood. I can't even imagine living in the household she grew up in. After she is through detailing her childhood though, I completely lost interest. She spends the next part of the novel doing everything she can to convince you that she is a smart and resourceful young woman and that she really, truly, is homeless. I felt like she was more trying to convince herself. Then, she starts her long distance relationship with a man over the internet and that's all she seems to talk about. At this point, I was done with the book. I made myself finish it just because I hate not finishing a book and I wanted to see how this train wreck would end.


The whole book comes off very melodramatic and a lot of it just doesn't make sense. It sounded, to me, like I was sitting in front of a teenager spinning a yarn, trying to get us to feel bad for her rather than a true account of a homeless woman.

I do not recommend this book to anyone. The only reason I gave it 1 star was because she is actually, a decent writer but that is all this book has going for it.

1 out of 5 stars.

BUY IT HERE: The Girl's Guide to Homelessness: A Memoir