Everyone is familiar with the high school stereotype of the “loose girl:” the one rumoured to go “all the way” with boys, who wears tight clothes and a knowing smile and is gossiped about in the school hallways. But what can we learn when we go beyond the stereotype and let the “loose girl” tell her own story?

After her parents’ divorce, Kerry Cohen grew up in an affluent New Jersey suburb with her self-absorbed mother and withdrawn older sister. When her mother decides to attend medical school, leaving a teenage Kerry and her sister in the indifferent care of their distracted father, Kerry turns elsewhere for attention and validation. Wanting love, but unsure how to get it, she engages in a variety of less-than-sexy sex with boys she doesn’t feel anything for, regardless of STD scares and a near-rape in college. She even recalls the infamous Jennifer Levin-Robert Chambers “preppy murder” case, having become acquainted with both victim and perpetrator during frequent trips to New York bars.

Cohen is unflinching, sharing her dysfunctional quest for love with utter candour. She writes about her encounters with a voice that is genuine, making the reader feel as though they are hearing the confessions of a close friend. Loose Girl can be difficult to read in places, but to Cohen’s credit, she doesn’t gloss over her experiences or attempt to explain away her behaviour.

Eventually, Cohen comes to understand the underlying reasons for her actions and what she is really seeking in her encounters with men. While Loose Girl is primarily an honest look at her self-destructive behaviour, Cohen does reach a positive conclusion when she is able to look past the cycle of promiscuity and find her strengths. Encouraged by a boyfriend’s artist mother, Kerry embarks on a creative writing program, earning an MFA from the University of Oregon.

Unfortunately, Cohen’s present is not given the same sort of attention as the difficulty of her past, giving the work an unfinished feel. Her biography indicates that she is now married with two sons, but the book never really addresses in any depth how her past life has influenced who she is today as a wife, mother and writer. This abrupt handling makes it seem as though she does not consider the positive nature of her current situation to be interesting or titillating enough for her audience. Even with a less than complete ending, however, Loose Girl is a captivating account of the imperfect human quest for personal redemption.