Lorde: Your Heroine, How This Young Feminist Broke the Rules and Succeeded

by Marc Shapiro

Lorde is the voice of her generation, a head-strong, determined young woman who knows what she wants and has known how she was going to get it from an early age.

She's a renowned feminist, a performer with a minimalist/Goth/Electro-pop style that is as haunting as it is incredibly enticing and thought provoking.

She's won two Grammys for her song 'Royals,' has captivated audiences all over the world. But guess what? She still lives at home, she still does the dishes and she still goes to school. Quite an accomplishment for a young woman who just turned 17.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

172 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

Marc Shapiro is the author of the New York Times bestselling biography, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, and more than a dozen other celebrity biographies. He has been a freelance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television, and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marcsh...

Reviews

[mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book was interesting, much of it was quite repetitive, especially at the beginning. Much like other readers, I found that Marc Shapiro commented on Lorde's feminism and intellect a lot in the beginning, as if these two qualities were impossible to find in celebrities. I found the way he referred to certain stars as puppets unfair, as they most probably aren't 'puppets' but in contracts they need to uphold, and their professions have no relation to how intelligent they are. This biography came off as somewhat biased and opinionated, rather than purely informative. Despite this, reading about Ella was interesting, and as a Kiwi and more importantly an Aucklander (yes I'm a JAFA ;)) I found the comments on her down-to-earthness refreshing and found I related to her comments on multiculturalism in Auckland. The overall content of the book overrode the negatives, therefore I give it a 4☆ rating

[Kaethe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one I could recommend. My daughters are both fans, and when I asked them if they were interested, they both separately said, in effect "She's seventeen. What's there to read about?" Well, the author is impressed that she's smart (unlike all the other pop stars he's ever written about, apparently). And she's a feminist. Of course, you'll have to take everything here with a grain of salt. The author is either clueless, or he thinks in cliches, because he's quick to inform the reader that she's not a bra-burning feminist. Oh, well, good, I'm glad she's not one of those imaginary strawfeminists one hears so much about.

There's probably nothing here that will really hurt anyone, it's just vapid. Fans might enjoy it, despite the poor writing.

Kindle copy for review from NetGalley

[Skyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would normally have given this book four stars. Marc Shapiro has a style of writing that's slightly biased and I often got the feeling I was reading his personal opinions of the singer rather than getting an impartial outsider view. But that aside, and of course, this biography being about Lorde, I can't help but give a good old five star rating. Two months ago, if you had dropped the name "Lorde" in casual conversation, I would have thought you were gearing up to preach at me about God. I had no idea who Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor was until recently. Sure, I'd heard the songs "Royals" and "Team" on the radio, and yeah, I thought they were pretty good. But because they were being played constantly on all the top 40 stations, I couldn't seem to garner much enthusiasm for the singer. To me, she sounded like a cross between Adele and Amy Winehouse, and that type of music just isn't my style. But when a friend of mine purchased Lorde's CD, Pure Heroine, and played it for me in the car, I was entranced by the opening beats of Tennis Court blaring from the speakers. Maybe I'd underestimated Ella. And it was at that point, that I became a true Lorde fan. Reading Marc Shapiro's biography on her rise to fame was just icing on the cake. It's interesting the perspective you can latch on to by hearing her lyrics coupled with the subdued electro art pop stylings of her songs. There is a reason this girl was nominated for four Grammys during the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. It's easy to see Ella has talent. For godsakes, she's only seventeen and she's already come out with internationally recognized singles and a mind-blowing first album. And Ella being Ella, has taken her fame all in stride amassing fans worldwide and in her home country of New Zealand all while sitting back and cooly enjoying the ride.

"I love meeting people and hearing their stories, learning from their experiences. Each individual journey is so unique and different but what drives your life says a lot about who you are. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes but I do my best to be a person who loves and gives without expectations, hoping to inspire and encourage." — Lorde

You go, Ella. Keep on being a spirited feminist and singing those bluesy tunes. Thank you for keeping it real. And thank you, Marc Shapiro, for the unauthorized biography of Lorde.

[Warren Gossett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast moving and clear overview of New Zealand pop star Lorde's early life and triumphs. There are many details and sources written in an intriguing sketch. I have seen the excitement of a Lorde performance last year at Fremantle Laneways Festival. As an Australian the only typo I found was the renaming of Daniel Johns of Silverchair as a David on page 203 near the end of this dizzying and exciting book.

[courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh man, so backstory i've had this on my shelf since 2014 and I just never picked it up since I wasnt much of a reader then, just a big fan of Lorde (I still am). So reading this in 2023 I knew it would be outdated, I went in expecting that and thats fine. Though honestly if this wasn't a biography about Lorde I would give this a 2 star rating, Lorde alone is what makes it a 3. I loved reading about her life and her thought process, but there seemed to be little of that. The beginning was a struggle to get through as it seemed to be chock full of personal opinions of the author about feminism and pop music, whatever I blitzed through that. By maybe 3 quarters of the way through it felt like a plan of her shows written into paragraphs and it was difficult to resist skim reading. I hope one day Lorde writes her own biography because I'd pick that up in a heartbeat. I found it quite strange that in the first part it stated that Lorde talked shit on Taylor Swift but there was no reference for that claim..then the book went into describing how they are best friends. I doubt Taylor would even want to be around someone who told her she had nothing of value to offer young women. Strange that it just seemed to be thrown in there in the beginning. Maybe this author needs to stick to reddit and keep personal opinions out of his biographies, just saying.

[Hamish · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. interesting information and lorde herself is the saving grace of this book. she is a true genius and one of a kind that made this book readable. writing peaked in middle and actually quite enjoyed it. this is by no means a bad book, however I would never encourage anyone to read this nor would I discourage them either.

[Stacey Menzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst I really love Lorde as the singer that she is, I really did not enjoy some parts of this book! It started of really interesting with a glimpse into Lordes early life and the way she was brought up and the things she did as a result of being incredibly smart and mature beyond her years! Reading about Lordes family life and her love life and hobbies etc. was super interesting and insightful! It seemed however that the writer missed a few vital things in the putting together of this book! Firstly, her 'Australian Tour' referred to in the Novel was not the first time she had been to Australian. No, before her song got no.1 on the US charts I personally watched Lorde perform in a Brisbane club, and this was not given mention in the book! Other errors in this book were that singer and band member of Silverchair, Daniel Johns was mentioned in this book as working on a solo album with the help of Lordes producer Joel Little. Which is all well and good except the author refers to him as 'David'.... (Facepalm). Having never personally spoken to the singer and using internet resources and interviews previously conducted with the singer I guess Shapiro did a decent job... But this book has a 'school kids project on their favourite pop singer' kind of feel to it and in my opinion is not well written at all! Did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a 2.5 not because I hated it I just didn't love it. Personally I'm not a huge fan of unauthorized biographies.

It was an interesting account of how a young girl evolved into a music sensation in a matter of years. However it just wasn't the book for me.

[Stella Buczynski]

Genre - Non fiction

A book about Lorde; a well known singer songwriter of the late 2000s. I would recommend this book to people who are shy. Adjusting to different situations and big events was something that Lorde struggled with and had to overcome. I personally think that that is something that teenagers everyday struggle to adapt to: ‘I think I was always kind of faking confidence. Actually I was quite shy.’ This quote shows that she, even as an older, more experienced teenager still dealt with nerves. Being a musician creates a must for having stage presence and confidence. Even though confidence could be shown on stage, it might not always be there, outside of performing: “Before I go on stage, I lock into this period of the most crippling fear.” The purpose of this quote is to show that not everything you see is real. In society today it can be very hard to tell when someone isn’t okay. Teenagers tend to put on a ‘mask’ so they can seem as if they are confident, or happy, even if it could be the very opposite.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this zero stars if I could. Lorde's story is actually kind of interesting, but the writing was just so abysmal and the research was clearly all gathered third hand from print interviews. The appalling language errors (a literal skeleton crew? free reign?) and horrendous clichés were the least of this book's problems.

[Felicity Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. It was interesting to read about this success story. I would have liked a bit more on the initial process - maybe even a book written by Lorde would be amazing. It is however a good starting point until then.

[Simon Sweetman]

I knew this would be pretty terrible but it was, frankly, absurd. Poor Lorde. I guess you've truly arrived when some hack writes a book about you by being on reasonably close terms with Google.

[Caitlynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Didn't really like this book. There was nothing new in here for me. I would have liked it better if there were pictures and more information that isn't as well known. Im glad it was a quick read.

[Lori Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at the young starlet who took the musical world by storm. Fascinating and engaging, this book made me see Lorde in a whole new light.

[Julie Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marc Shapiro has done an excellent job in writing this unauthorised biography of Lorde, including lots of quotes from the teen herself. Lorde is my idol and this was an inspirational read.

[Monica Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to her concert a week ago and it was good to get to know the person behind the voice. Definitely a good read about an amazing young kiwi woman 2ho has risen to fame so quickly.

[Eva Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts of this book were interesting and new to me. But I just think biographys may not be my thing.