Reviews

The Feminist Killjoy Handbook follows the figure of the feminist killjoy - she who gets in the way of others' comfort, who speaks up to name sexism, who won't just be quiet and go along to get along. Ahmed's work is deeply intersectional & queer, she clearly names transphobia as fundamentally anti-feminist, and her analysis is simultaneously precise and applicable to an array of contexts (personal relationships, institutional contexts, policy-making - she discusses 'scale' early on).

I've read quite a lot of Ahmed's work prior to this, and have an academic background in theory. I did find this book much more 'general audience' oriented than many of her other texts, and likely more approachable; I appreciate the inclusion of a detailed recommended reading list as well as discussion questions. I want to gift this book to a significant number of people in my life.

Content warnings: discussions of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia

yaya084's review

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challenging hopeful informative slow-paced

3.75

pecsenye's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.75

This is going along really well and then suddenly feminist killjoy are all poets. Huh? And then it went completely off the rails for a chapter, and then it was repetitive to the point of incoherence. This book could have been great with better editing, but as it is, the first few chapters are good but the last part is word salad.

gusreads's review

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hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.0

I especially appreciated her clear assertion that to be anti-trans is to be anti-feminist and that trans women can be feminists and feminist killjoys and equal partners in the effort to topple the patriarchy and reform our institutions.

xoreidallaboutitx's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

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