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crownoflaurel's review
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Moderate: Deportation, War, Suicide, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Xenophobia, and Genocide
Minor: Islamophobia
booktalkwithkarla's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.25
This is a book about women of the CIA across the generations, from the inception of the CIA through the take down of Osama bin Laden.
Liza Mundy is a journalist who researches and interviews well. I appreciated the individual stories of the women who served with passion and sacrifice. Their words interspersed with historical events were powerful. Their stories were the best part of this book. The parts of the book that were annoying and took me out of the story were her personal opinions about “powerful” men and women who didn’t support other women. Although believable, the bad players were handled by the women who persevered and overcame. I wish she would have let the women’s stories stand on their own. The stories were enough. As readers, we are smart enough to draw our own conclusions about the gender dynamics.
Reading about the women of the CIA and what they accomplished through hard work, skills and talents, and perseverance was a joy. I didn’t see a true sisterhood and feel the book would have been better organized differently by each woman’s story or by world event or by their common passions. It was hard to keep the women straight because of the author’s tangents. I read this for book club and was more generous than any of the other members, who greatly dislike this book.
hilaryolsen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
mcc's review against another edition
4.5
Loved this book documenting women's involvement in the CIA back from the beginning until present day. How smart women understood the unique skills and embraced their differences from men to get access to information the men weren't getting and/or just how women see the world differently which can pick up on clues or intel that their male colleagues didn't notice.
katyella's review against another edition
3.25
Interesting to see the experience of women at the CIA through various lenses. I found it could have had a clearer through line and wish the details of Al Queda analysis had more time along with controversies of those involved in ‘enhanced interrogation’
kylosten's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Gun violence, Torture, and War
taytots24's review
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
Spectacular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and War
Moderate: Pregnancy