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bitinglime's review against another edition
3.0
I would only recommend this book to become introduced to the amazing groups of women we never learned about in history class. HOWEVER - I'm a bit disappointed in Sam Maggs' biased writing. When writing about two particular women, it is clear in their actions and correspondence to each other that they were lovers. Maggs seems to derail the very idea by writing in the same breath: "...in her journals... she wrote: 'it was in this rustic place, in this profound solitude, that I realized the value of intercourse with this most attractive of women.' Aren't gal pals just the best?" And again about two other women in a later chapter: "...while on trial, Mary said she only got into piracy because of 'Anne Boney, who was her lover.' Such pals." But then, in an even later chapter, while not even on the subject of lovers, the word "gay" becomes used and Maggs completely MISINTERPRETS the meaning. "...he received a letter from three friends, Peggy Pegrine, Valerie Davey, and Betty Webster, self-described 'sporty girls' who were 'also gay and bright' [Author's note: nice]." As though "gay" itself is a key token word for Maggs and only means one thing, but clearly having intercourse and being lovers with attractive women simply just mean being "gal pals." Extremely disappointed.
Overall, I did learn about a lot of amazing women. Did you know the Dahomey Amazons of Africa were the inspiration behind the all-female Wakandan army in the Black Panther series? But you wouldn't know this as it wasn't even mentioned in the book. Instead, Maggs compares them to the Amazons of Wonder Woman, simply because of their titles. So my three stars I'm giving this book are not at all celebrating Maggs or her writing style. It's celebrating the women mentioned and that I would not have known about them had I not picked up this book, but do yourself a huge favor and research the women mentioned in this book on your own after reading it.
Overall, I did learn about a lot of amazing women. Did you know the Dahomey Amazons of Africa were the inspiration behind the all-female Wakandan army in the Black Panther series? But you wouldn't know this as it wasn't even mentioned in the book. Instead, Maggs compares them to the Amazons of Wonder Woman, simply because of their titles. So my three stars I'm giving this book are not at all celebrating Maggs or her writing style. It's celebrating the women mentioned and that I would not have known about them had I not picked up this book, but do yourself a huge favor and research the women mentioned in this book on your own after reading it.
notsarahconnor's review against another edition
5.0
I was incredibly lucky to receive an ARC of Girl Squads at Fan Expo Canada this August. This is my honest review of the book.
When I received this book at Fan Expo (THE LAST ARC!) I knew it was the book for me. In recent years I've been looking to expand my list of feminist reads, and discovering that Sam Maggs had written a book looking at all the different girl squads around the world that have changed history was exactly what I was looking for.
And the book is just that, a look at twenty different female friendships that affected history. Maggs looks at a variety of different areas of these friendships, particularly looking at female athletes, political and activist groups, warriors, scientists, and artists. There was no section I preferred more than another, or one group of women that I found more interesting than another. Each held my interest and taught me something that I hadn't known before. There were so many women in these books that I'd never heard of before which reminded me about how much of what we learn is told through a male lens. There are so many amazing women who changed history who are hidden in the shadows of men, and I'm so happy Sam Maggs is giving these women the spotlight that they deserve.
And Jenn Woodall's illustrations are fantastic and really make the book! I adore the cover and the little illustrations I did get to see. Being an ARC, a lot of them weren't included, but I look forward to checking out the final copy of the book and seeing all of Woodall's illustrations in their glory!
But to give you a taste of what Maggs has to offer, here are some of my favourite ladies from Maggs book that I need to do more research on for their sheer awesomeness!
• The Haenyeo
• Manon Roland and Sophie Grandchamp
• Anne Bonny and Mary Read
• The Edinburgh Seven
• The Trobairitz
Girl Squads is a must read for any feminist and history lover ready to learn how many awesome women have affected and changed the world and in so many areas. Maggs novel is an inspiring book that teaches readers that they too have the power to change the world.
gjj274's review against another edition
4.0
Non-fiction isn't usually a genre I pick up but I was sent this, unsolicited, from Quirk Books and it sounded intriguing enough for me to want to give it a go and I'm glad that I did. This has definitely got me wanting to read more non-fiction books, especially about bad ass women. Here are my thoughts...
What I liked
•This book was split up into sections about bad ass women in different areas of society including, sports, science, war, politics and the arts. We learnt about a range of different women in each area including some historical and some more recent. The way this book was set out meant you could focus in on the different areas of society and pick out specific aspects if you want to do further research.
•I enjoyed the way this was written in the most part. Sam Maggs did a great job and not becoming too fact heavy and inserted amongst the writing was her own wit and humour and this made for a fun and enjoyable reading experience.
•I found this book to be very empowering to woman. I was really surprised that some of these woman and the suppression they are facing is very relevant at this present time. Not only did Sam Maggs write about historical woman and events but also woman still alive today and still facing oppression in this modern time. I feel like I learnt quite a lot.
What could of been better
•Although I enjoyed the way this was written the majority of the time and it wasn't really fact heavy I did find that sometimes there was a lot of information and dates given at one time and I found myself having to reread paragraphs. I also felt some paragraphs in some sections went a little bit off piste however, she often got back on track very quickly.
Overall, for my first foray into non-fiction writing I found this both very enjoyable and very accessible. There are lots of people in this book that I want to know more about so I will be looking into and definitely picking up more non-fiction in the future. I think I may start with Hidden Figures.
What I liked
•This book was split up into sections about bad ass women in different areas of society including, sports, science, war, politics and the arts. We learnt about a range of different women in each area including some historical and some more recent. The way this book was set out meant you could focus in on the different areas of society and pick out specific aspects if you want to do further research.
•I enjoyed the way this was written in the most part. Sam Maggs did a great job and not becoming too fact heavy and inserted amongst the writing was her own wit and humour and this made for a fun and enjoyable reading experience.
•I found this book to be very empowering to woman. I was really surprised that some of these woman and the suppression they are facing is very relevant at this present time. Not only did Sam Maggs write about historical woman and events but also woman still alive today and still facing oppression in this modern time. I feel like I learnt quite a lot.
What could of been better
•Although I enjoyed the way this was written the majority of the time and it wasn't really fact heavy I did find that sometimes there was a lot of information and dates given at one time and I found myself having to reread paragraphs. I also felt some paragraphs in some sections went a little bit off piste however, she often got back on track very quickly.
Overall, for my first foray into non-fiction writing I found this both very enjoyable and very accessible. There are lots of people in this book that I want to know more about so I will be looking into and definitely picking up more non-fiction in the future. I think I may start with Hidden Figures.
thejourneyofmybooks's review against another edition
4.0
The term, "squad", in relation to friendships, was extremely overused a few years ago, but the theory behind it is empowering. Pitting women against each other is a favorite past time of mainstream media, but there are several stories of women banning together and making an impact on history.
In "Girl Squads", author Sam Maggs tells 20 brief stories about about women working together and making a better life for themselves and the women that come after them. Some of the stories are well known, most recently with the African-American women of NASA who calculated the numbers to send the first man to the moon to the story behind the 3 women who currently sit on the Supreme Court. But have you heard the story of the Edinburgh Seven, who were the first women accepted into medical school in the United Kingdom? The Patriotic Women's League of Iran, which was composed of Persian women who fought for equal rights? Or the work a group of women did in Antarctica?
The stories are short and concise, but with some more research, any of these stories could be a full fledged book just asking for a movie adaptation. This was a fun, interesting history read and you will walk away continuing to be in awe of women and their accomplishments.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
In "Girl Squads", author Sam Maggs tells 20 brief stories about about women working together and making a better life for themselves and the women that come after them. Some of the stories are well known, most recently with the African-American women of NASA who calculated the numbers to send the first man to the moon to the story behind the 3 women who currently sit on the Supreme Court. But have you heard the story of the Edinburgh Seven, who were the first women accepted into medical school in the United Kingdom? The Patriotic Women's League of Iran, which was composed of Persian women who fought for equal rights? Or the work a group of women did in Antarctica?
The stories are short and concise, but with some more research, any of these stories could be a full fledged book just asking for a movie adaptation. This was a fun, interesting history read and you will walk away continuing to be in awe of women and their accomplishments.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I have to Maggs credit, the majority of the chapters feature women of color and women who are not from from the US or Canada. While the US does get more than one chapter, the women chosen are majority poc. The majority of the women in the book are not as well known as they should be. Maggs' voice is informal and funny.
verenamaria's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this a lot. Loved that the stories focused on girl squads from all over the world - means that I could read about badass girls and women while also learning a lot about different cultures and histories from various countries. I also liked that the book focused almost entirely on women I hadn't heard of before; women who all had stories that definitely should be heard and read.
My favourite stories were the ones about the Korean free divers Haenyeo, the Patriotic Women's League of Iran, the "Amazons" of Dahomey, the Edinburgh Seven (first female medical students in Great Britain), the Trobairitz, the Bluestocking Society (London's first all-women literary society) and the Afghanistan all-girl musical ensemble Zohra. ✨
My favourite stories were the ones about the Korean free divers Haenyeo, the Patriotic Women's League of Iran, the "Amazons" of Dahomey, the Edinburgh Seven (first female medical students in Great Britain), the Trobairitz, the Bluestocking Society (London's first all-women literary society) and the Afghanistan all-girl musical ensemble Zohra. ✨
bluebell499's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. It had different stories from many women that I'll admit I didn't even know about. However, as others have mentioned, some of the stories were a little drawn out and could have been written a little shorter. I personally loved the author's little comments and slang but then again I am a woman in her early 20s who would appreciate it more. Overall, 5/5 stars mostly because it introduced so many women that I did not know about, and it was such a diverse group of women!
violentvixen's review against another edition
2.0
Fascinating subjects, but lacks detail or additional sources and the writing style is really jarring and trivializes a lot of the accomplishments. A good jumping off point to learn more about these women for sure though!
breannasbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. First, the subject matter is something I find very interesting. The friendships were interesting and many were unknown to me. I enjoyed learning about these women. I liked that the tone was conversational, but it came off as trying too hard most of the time. Maybe I'm a little older than the intended audience but that was disingenuous to me. Some of the chapters were too detailed. Context is important for many of these stories, but some focused more on their circumstances than the friendships themselves. The author used way too many parenthetical phrases, to the point of being incredibly distracting. Sometimes there were four and five on page. Doing this decreases readability significantly (regardless of who the reader is). Finally, I'm not sure how I feel about the order of the stories. They are separated by athlete, science, activist, etc. I think I would have preferred to have them randomly ordered because they start to hit the same note after the third story (specifically in the athlete section). My final review is 2.5/5 stars. While I enjoyed this book, I think it could have used a better editor to catch these issues. I would, however, recommend it to younger audiences who want to learn about some awesome ladies in history!