Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O'Meara

21 reviews

cawpiled's review against another edition

5.0

funny informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Content Warnings

brooke_w's review

5.0

funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Content Warnings

leanneymu's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

A fantastic inclusive history of women and alcohol, from prehistory right up until the 2010s. Perfect for folks interested in the history of booze, women's history, and all round good, accessible popular history.

Content Warnings

cassidy_rain's review against another edition

5.0

funny informative inspiring medium-paced

“Skinny margaritas. Appletinis. Cosmos. Drinks flavored like cake or whipped cream. Drinks featuring cake or whipped cream. Bright red maraschino cherries and pastel umbrellas. You know, girly drinks. Drinks for girls.”

What a fun and informative read! I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, because it has the potential to be more dry and boring but this captured my attention right away. The author’s voice is incredible; it feels like a good friend telling you a story about something they’re passionate about. The information is presented casually, so it’s very easy to comprehend. I laughed out loud more than once! In a time where alcohol is often vilified, I found this take super empowering and refreshing. It’s very diverse and brings in women from all over the world, during different time periods. Despite still fighting to be a part of the alcohol space, women have been brewing alcohol from the very beginning. It helped women have a source of income and independence. I learned so much while reading this and it will definitely stick with me. I highly recommend.

“It was believed that drinking weakened a woman's ability to resist the devil, when really, it was that drinking strengthened a woman's desire to resist the patriarchy.”

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sarah984's review against another edition

2.5

informative lighthearted fast-paced

I thought this was an interesting concept, but it wound up being way too pop-history for me. Each chapter features a story about a specific woman (with varying levels of connection to alcohol culture, there were a couple extremely tenuous links that felt like "diversity hires" unfortunately) interspersed with buzzfeed listicle style writing about other things happening globally during that time period. The footnotes are not citations (there's a bibliography at the back, but specific facts aren't cited directly) they're just more unfunny "snark" and some of the chapters (especially the more modern years) feel uncomfortably preachy. Also acting like Hammurabi invented misogyny whole cloth is extremely silly.

The different types of alcohol and how they're made were interesting though.

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acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

3.5

informative reflective fast-paced

What an interesting book! I would call this book a feminist social history that is told through the lens of alcohol. I was not expecting the book to start literally in prehistoric times and continue up through the modern day, but this book touches on everything from medieval alchemy to the Stonewall riots. I recommend picking this up if you like nonfiction told in a conversational tone. It really is remarkable how much the author is able to connect. I had no idea there was such a rich tapestry of history surrounding women and alcohol, but hearing how the trends changed over time was fascinating.

Content Warnings