Girlbomb

Sadly, there are now a million little reasons to doubt a memoir’s authenticity, especially when books like Girlbomb contain a bold author’s note admitting to character composites and re-created dialogue. It comes as a mild surprise, then, that Janice Erlbaum’s first book is still a fast and engrossing read in the spirit of Girl, Interrupted and the novel White Oleander. Focusing on Erlbaum’s overindulgent teen years (”College was just not as much a priority to me as sex and cash were”), Girlbomb has strong moments but never achieves a dark or funny enough tone to be truly memorable. While effortlessly readable, it’s more akin to watching an after-school special.

• By Tim Stack