What do you think?
Rate this book
Watching Women & Girls
Chosen as one of the ‘best new book releases’ by COSMOPOLITAN
A ‘best summer read’ by ELLE MAGAZINE
When you look at a woman, who do you see?
“Every aspect of her body or personality was up for too big, too small, too available, too hidden, too much, not enough.”
A wedding day brings back memories of sisterhood and betrayals; a motorway service station is the site of explosive violence, but also strange bonds; a trip home forces a reminder of a life-changing, lost friendship; a woman confronts her own infidelity; an artist celebrates a life spent in observation.
This debut collection movingly explores how women and girls are looked at, look at one another, and look at themselves, and how living as an object can shape their passions, fears, and joys. With a clear eye and dark humour, Danielle Pender considers sex, parenting, grief and class as lenses for the ways in which the world watches women — and how women are always watching back.
A ‘best summer read’ by ELLE MAGAZINE
When you look at a woman, who do you see?
“Every aspect of her body or personality was up for too big, too small, too available, too hidden, too much, not enough.”
A wedding day brings back memories of sisterhood and betrayals; a motorway service station is the site of explosive violence, but also strange bonds; a trip home forces a reminder of a life-changing, lost friendship; a woman confronts her own infidelity; an artist celebrates a life spent in observation.
This debut collection movingly explores how women and girls are looked at, look at one another, and look at themselves, and how living as an object can shape their passions, fears, and joys. With a clear eye and dark humour, Danielle Pender considers sex, parenting, grief and class as lenses for the ways in which the world watches women — and how women are always watching back.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2022
215 people are currently reading
16205 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 417 reviews
January 15, 2023
this book seriously needs to be hyped up
July 30, 2023
I remember judging this book based on its pretty cover and supposedly compelling theme . And I can say I regret that . Apart from a few entertaining stories , it wasn't a pleasnt read . The women characters are original and peculiar but most of the story telling felt boring and the characters were relatively uninteresting . Add to that , the subject of womanhood is not really strongly implied . It's true that the stories are about distinctly different women . However , it felt like a superficial take on their lives , mostly without delving deep within their minds . It's like they didn't have those strong feminist thoughts , which made them blank and vacant . It felt like you had to read into their minds , to analyse their actions everytime as the author didn't really put in any effort to help you understand them . Most of them were expressionless and lacked personality . So , you sort of have to build one for them on your own . Overall , it felt shallow and where's feminism ?
June 28, 2023
Darkly humorous, captivating and achingly raw.
Watching Women & Girls is a collection of short stories narrating variations of experiences that women encounter at different stages of their lives. This was so incredibly nuanced, with representations of all kinds of women, careers, paths and troubles. Often a difficult read due to how vivid, flawed and achingly familiar many of the women felt to me, Danielle Pender perfectly executed the traumas and difficulties of womanhood.
Watching Women & Girls is a collection of short stories narrating variations of experiences that women encounter at different stages of their lives. This was so incredibly nuanced, with representations of all kinds of women, careers, paths and troubles. Often a difficult read due to how vivid, flawed and achingly familiar many of the women felt to me, Danielle Pender perfectly executed the traumas and difficulties of womanhood.
September 17, 2023
I’m sorry, but this was just the most miserable collection of stories I have ever read.
September 30, 2023
3.0 ⭐️
enjoyed the character studies in this book but unfortunately most of the short stories were quite forgettable.
enjoyed the character studies in this book but unfortunately most of the short stories were quite forgettable.
October 5, 2023
Just watching some women and girls, basically. And this is just great
October 12, 2022
“Window Display”
⇝ 4 stars
“Three Sisters” ⇝ 4 stars
“Bar Italia” ⇝ 4.5 stars
“Junction 64” ⇝ 4 stars
“Lego” ⇝ 3 stars
“Paper Dolls” ⇝ 3 stars
“Next Gen” ⇝ 4 stars
“Look at Me Mummy” ⇝ 2 stars
“The Cat” ⇝ 4 stars
“Women of Pret” ⇝ 3 stars
“Single Serve” ⇝ 2 stars
“Self-Portrait” ⇝ 5 stars
“Three Sisters” ⇝ 4 stars
“Bar Italia” ⇝ 4.5 stars
“Junction 64” ⇝ 4 stars
“Lego” ⇝ 3 stars
“Paper Dolls” ⇝ 3 stars
“Next Gen” ⇝ 4 stars
“Look at Me Mummy” ⇝ 2 stars
“The Cat” ⇝ 4 stars
“Women of Pret” ⇝ 3 stars
“Single Serve” ⇝ 2 stars
“Self-Portrait” ⇝ 5 stars
June 10, 2023
With stories ranging from 3 to 4 (maybe even 4.5), I’d say this is a pretty accomplished debut.
Watching Women and Girls is comprehensive and complex character study in a way, fiercely examining the ways in which women and girls are seen by others (mainly men), as well as how they see themselves (individually and collectively).
One thing I will say though, is that although book does well to illustrate the ways in which women are near constantly observed (and scrutinised), some of the stories felt slightly too “on the nose” as it were, and would’ve (ironically) benefited from more “show don’t tell”.
Other than that, I’d say Pender has crafted a pretty consistent and sharply written collection, that allows for an intriguing glance into the current pressures, expectations and internalised misogyny, facing the modern (mostly millennial?) woman today.
3/3.5 stars
Watching Women and Girls is comprehensive and complex character study in a way, fiercely examining the ways in which women and girls are seen by others (mainly men), as well as how they see themselves (individually and collectively).
One thing I will say though, is that although book does well to illustrate the ways in which women are near constantly observed (and scrutinised), some of the stories felt slightly too “on the nose” as it were, and would’ve (ironically) benefited from more “show don’t tell”.
Other than that, I’d say Pender has crafted a pretty consistent and sharply written collection, that allows for an intriguing glance into the current pressures, expectations and internalised misogyny, facing the modern (mostly millennial?) woman today.
3/3.5 stars
July 1, 2022
it’s like i actually wrote this myself
September 14, 2022
i love short stories so much omg, these were no different <3
November 26, 2023
Kurzgeschichten sind nicht mein Lieblingsgenre - und so auch hier: Manche Geschichten waren intensiv, berührend, fesselnd, andere kratzten eher an der Oberfläche. Das Motiv des Beobachtens des weiblichen Körpers / Verhaltens etc. hat sich gut durchgezogen und die Geschichten verbunden. Besonders "Bar Italia" und "Look at me Mummy" sind mir in Erinnerung geblieben, viele andere aber direkt schon wieder verschwunden.
July 12, 2023
the girls that get it, get it, the girls that don't, don't.
I love it when women <3
I love it when women <3
October 9, 2024
I really like Watching Women and Girls 🤭 My favourite short story was the one with the cat
September 5, 2023
THIS WAS TOO TIRESOME TO READ - i almost dnf-ed it.
the short stories had potential to be engaging if not for the author focusing on details in the characters’ lives that didn't really seem to carry much significance, making them boring? idk if that was the intention of this book but regardless of it, this didn't really meet my expectations.
the short stories had potential to be engaging if not for the author focusing on details in the characters’ lives that didn't really seem to carry much significance, making them boring? idk if that was the intention of this book but regardless of it, this didn't really meet my expectations.
November 13, 2024
Und schon wieder habe ich aus Versehen ein Buch mit Kurzgeschichten gekauft.. well, dieses mal haben mir aber die allermeisten in dem Buch sehr gefallen, sie haben mich sehr berührt. Vor allem ‘The Cat’ wird mir noch lange im Gedächtnis bleiben und bevor ich den Weg wieder gehe und eine Datingapp runterlade, lese ich lieber nochmal rein (und hoffe auf eine Katze).
April 10, 2024
i really enjoyed this!
July 1, 2022
Sharp, darkly humorous, and utterly enthralling, there wasn't a single story I didn't enjoy in this collection. While they just focused on normal, everyday women and their normal, everyday lives, Pender's wit and storytelling was truly captivating, and really stuck in my mind. And if there were any repeated themes/plot points, these completely escaped my notice; everything felt so fresh and unique in their own right, and I was so sad when it was all over.
January 30, 2023
It’s official. I’m definitely in my short story era. This moving debut short story collection explores how women are perceived by others, but also how they perceive themselves. It is a smart, funny and heart-wrenching meditation on womanhood that ponders how living under the microscope can shape their passions, fears and joys. I highly recommend it.
My favourite stories:
• Window Display
• Junction 65
• Next Gen
• Self Portrait
My favourite stories:
• Window Display
• Junction 65
• Next Gen
• Self Portrait
July 20, 2023
great writing but absolutely no plot in those twelve short stories. Some characters were interesting but still, it was all very cliché 🗿
June 28, 2024
3.5 rounded up, ‘the cat’ was exquisite
January 28, 2024
3,5 ⭐️
July 6, 2022
an exemplar exploration into both the perception of women and the female gaze, i can still hardly believe that watching women and girls is a debut collection. in her remarkable short story collection, pender reminds us that we ourselves, are most often the biggest perpetrators of observation. how many women have been conditioned or adapted to carefully examine their surroundings, quietly absorbing the conversations around them? how many times a day do we catch glimpses of ourselves and subsequently allow the runaway train of our consciousness to run away with thoughts we try so hard to bury?
in watching women and girls, pender puts us in the drivers seat once again, stealing glances into a bevvy of deliciously varied, highly relatable and delicately thought through short stories that are guaranteed to leave you astounded at how universal some experiences of womanhood really are. there are very few gaps in pace or plot throughout the collection, each story holding its own against the tide of those that follow. opening with “window display” pender plays on the age old trope of younger woman / older man, recounting one woman’s experiences in a controlling, first relationship as she watches on whilst another takes place before her. followed by “three sisters,” we dive headfirst into a family saga contained to a mere twenty or so pages, as a family wedding brings out the best and worst of the relationship between three sisters. as each story progresses, there is no end to the scope of themes they encompass: queer love, drug addiction, motherhood, violence. each story feels like a jab to the heart, but there is a comforting familiarity to every blow.
my favourite stories were “lego,” in which a professor who struggles to come to terms with the reality of his divorce, seeks sexual comfort from an online dominatrix specialising in humiliation. I loved how certain stories crossed into the culture of today, be it through the normalisation of sex work or the deadpan humour that carries throughout each story.
I also enjoyed “single serve,” following a woman with obsessive compulsive tendencies working in a cinema. the snippets of routine and structure, contrasting with the dank, sometimes rotten environment of a cinema felt ingenious to read.
in fact, watching women and girls is one of the best short story collections I’ve read. I would put money on the fact it’ll feature in a lot of top reads for many by the end of the year. from the profoundly human language and tone throughout, to the intricate pacing and fully realised stories, there is very little to criticise. a big thank you to @4thestatebooks for my proof copy!
in watching women and girls, pender puts us in the drivers seat once again, stealing glances into a bevvy of deliciously varied, highly relatable and delicately thought through short stories that are guaranteed to leave you astounded at how universal some experiences of womanhood really are. there are very few gaps in pace or plot throughout the collection, each story holding its own against the tide of those that follow. opening with “window display” pender plays on the age old trope of younger woman / older man, recounting one woman’s experiences in a controlling, first relationship as she watches on whilst another takes place before her. followed by “three sisters,” we dive headfirst into a family saga contained to a mere twenty or so pages, as a family wedding brings out the best and worst of the relationship between three sisters. as each story progresses, there is no end to the scope of themes they encompass: queer love, drug addiction, motherhood, violence. each story feels like a jab to the heart, but there is a comforting familiarity to every blow.
my favourite stories were “lego,” in which a professor who struggles to come to terms with the reality of his divorce, seeks sexual comfort from an online dominatrix specialising in humiliation. I loved how certain stories crossed into the culture of today, be it through the normalisation of sex work or the deadpan humour that carries throughout each story.
I also enjoyed “single serve,” following a woman with obsessive compulsive tendencies working in a cinema. the snippets of routine and structure, contrasting with the dank, sometimes rotten environment of a cinema felt ingenious to read.
in fact, watching women and girls is one of the best short story collections I’ve read. I would put money on the fact it’ll feature in a lot of top reads for many by the end of the year. from the profoundly human language and tone throughout, to the intricate pacing and fully realised stories, there is very little to criticise. a big thank you to @4thestatebooks for my proof copy!
August 9, 2022
So, I have a thing about rating short story collections. Why? Because sometimes you get one or two in the collection that you love, but there’s a few stories that aren’t your cup of tea. However, this wasn’t the case with Danielle Pender’s offering.
Pender gives us insight to objective feelings of a variety of emotions in her stories- from the loss of a friend, love of a daughter or anger at a sister. These stories weave a conscious reflection of femininity at its core, showing us strong women, women who aren’t afraid to be themselves, women who dare to defy society’s standards.
Of course, there are a few male characters that do spring up in separate stories; a man who submits to a woman in a bizarre dominatrix sex call exchange, a man who leads one character on in the false promise of a future together, a father who belittles his daughter’s appearance.
The interaction between these two spheres of gender norms make this collection so compelling and thought provoking. Pender dares to step outside the box, inspecting the deep layers of engrained societal standards and what it means to us all today.
This collection will make you stop and reflect on our world and what it means to be a living person, particularly a woman. What really makes these stories so great is Pender’s humanising storytelling that draws you in. We see stories of loss, friendship and the disarray of motherhood that will gather in your stomach and catch your breath.
Particular stories that stood out for me were ‘Three Sisters’, ‘The Cat’ and ‘Women of Pret’. Not every story did have me gushing, but they all still served a purpose to this collection which as a whole makes it memorable.
I don’t think I’ll go on more but honestly, if you haven’t picked this up yet, please do. It is worth the read ❤️
Pender gives us insight to objective feelings of a variety of emotions in her stories- from the loss of a friend, love of a daughter or anger at a sister. These stories weave a conscious reflection of femininity at its core, showing us strong women, women who aren’t afraid to be themselves, women who dare to defy society’s standards.
Of course, there are a few male characters that do spring up in separate stories; a man who submits to a woman in a bizarre dominatrix sex call exchange, a man who leads one character on in the false promise of a future together, a father who belittles his daughter’s appearance.
The interaction between these two spheres of gender norms make this collection so compelling and thought provoking. Pender dares to step outside the box, inspecting the deep layers of engrained societal standards and what it means to us all today.
This collection will make you stop and reflect on our world and what it means to be a living person, particularly a woman. What really makes these stories so great is Pender’s humanising storytelling that draws you in. We see stories of loss, friendship and the disarray of motherhood that will gather in your stomach and catch your breath.
Particular stories that stood out for me were ‘Three Sisters’, ‘The Cat’ and ‘Women of Pret’. Not every story did have me gushing, but they all still served a purpose to this collection which as a whole makes it memorable.
I don’t think I’ll go on more but honestly, if you haven’t picked this up yet, please do. It is worth the read ❤️
September 24, 2024
After reading Watching Women & Girls, I looked up the author to see who is this person and how did she get such a boring, pointless, meandering piece of writing published.
Turns out she works in publishing, so that's that I guess.
Watching Women & Girls has the markers of an interesting - or, at the very least, trendy - book. A collection of short stories about women, written by a woman, with the power to capture the growing audience of literary fiction readers, which seems to be at a cultural height. Unfortunately, this book captures nothing but moths on a page.
Pender's stories are as uninspired as they are meaningless. With each passing story I kept growing more frustrated as I waited for something - honestly, anything - to happen. In my personal opinion, for a collection of short stories to be good, each story has to be striking, maybe even a little weird. The stories should detach from reality and explore prose as a storytelling format to tell something you couldn't get in a conventional short story format, such as a Youtube video or a blog post.
Pender's stories do none of this. They are each as banal as the next, with the endings often seeming to fall at random, before anything of note has happened. There is subtext here that I'm sure many an imaginary book club could dissect and ponder, but in real life there is nothing to hold a reader's attention other than the desire to read faster and get it over with.
pre-review
DNF @ 74%
i just couldn’t do it, might actually be the most boring book i’ve ever read.
Turns out she works in publishing, so that's that I guess.
Watching Women & Girls has the markers of an interesting - or, at the very least, trendy - book. A collection of short stories about women, written by a woman, with the power to capture the growing audience of literary fiction readers, which seems to be at a cultural height. Unfortunately, this book captures nothing but moths on a page.
Pender's stories are as uninspired as they are meaningless. With each passing story I kept growing more frustrated as I waited for something - honestly, anything - to happen. In my personal opinion, for a collection of short stories to be good, each story has to be striking, maybe even a little weird. The stories should detach from reality and explore prose as a storytelling format to tell something you couldn't get in a conventional short story format, such as a Youtube video or a blog post.
Pender's stories do none of this. They are each as banal as the next, with the endings often seeming to fall at random, before anything of note has happened. There is subtext here that I'm sure many an imaginary book club could dissect and ponder, but in real life there is nothing to hold a reader's attention other than the desire to read faster and get it over with.
pre-review
DNF @ 74%
i just couldn’t do it, might actually be the most boring book i’ve ever read.
October 18, 2023
i love a good short story collection
dit was er zo eentje. had ik hier stiekem (ondanks de niet mega-hoge gemiddelde goodreads rating) meer van verwacht omdat ik mezelf al bijna een jaar had aangepraat dat dit het beste boek ooit moest zijn? ja
nou was dit niet de mindblowing spectacular lifechanging ervaring waar ik op had gehoopt, maar er waren een paar kippenvelmomentjes en al met al krijgt deze bundel toch een welverdiende vier sterren van mij
op de beste momenten gaf dit portrait de la jeune fille en feu (mooiste film ooit) en op de mindere momenten gaf dit???? vreemd maar toch saai
ik heb hierin drie duidelijke favoriete verhalen gevonden:
- paper dolls
- look at me mummy
- self-portrait
de manier waarop het overkoepelende thema van "the female experience", met name in die drie verhalen, wordt uitgewerkt, vond ik ontzettend mooi.
i love it when women
dit was er zo eentje. had ik hier stiekem (ondanks de niet mega-hoge gemiddelde goodreads rating) meer van verwacht omdat ik mezelf al bijna een jaar had aangepraat dat dit het beste boek ooit moest zijn? ja
nou was dit niet de mindblowing spectacular lifechanging ervaring waar ik op had gehoopt, maar er waren een paar kippenvelmomentjes en al met al krijgt deze bundel toch een welverdiende vier sterren van mij
op de beste momenten gaf dit portrait de la jeune fille en feu (mooiste film ooit) en op de mindere momenten gaf dit???? vreemd maar toch saai
ik heb hierin drie duidelijke favoriete verhalen gevonden:
- paper dolls
- look at me mummy
- self-portrait
de manier waarop het overkoepelende thema van "the female experience", met name in die drie verhalen, wordt uitgewerkt, vond ik ontzettend mooi.
i love it when women
October 6, 2024
the title and cover promise a profound interrogation of modern life through a feminist lens but in reality, you are provided with a shallow, miserable collection of stories. some of these are interesting on the surface level, but when you attempt to dig deeper into what they really mean it's quite difficult to come up with anything substantial. i would say the subtlety is beyond me in these cases but a) i refuse to undermine my own intelligence and b) lord knows these stories are not subtle in the silghtest. i think it's entirely possible that, fleshed out, many of these stories could've been more impactful for me; perhaps the short story medium wasn't a great choice in this case. i thought that many of the chapters included too many characters, and if it weren't for the narrator doing different voices i would've been quite lost. had potential, but didn't live up to it.
March 7, 2024
Some of the stories loved !! Some meh
July 18, 2025
GUT WRENCHING! ICH WILL MEHR!!!!
meine einzige Kritik ist dass man das Buch ggf nicht so schnell schmökern kann da man eigentlich über jede Geschichte pondern muss
meine einzige Kritik ist dass man das Buch ggf nicht so schnell schmökern kann da man eigentlich über jede Geschichte pondern muss
December 29, 2023
I think the book started on a low note but as the stories went on, the more engaged I was. 'Look at me mummy' and ‘Self-portrait' were my favourites and were genuinely beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 417 reviews