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withlivjones's review
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.75
This is definitely one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books I’ve read. Think QI’s Book of the Dead but with more girlbossery. Jewell provides a highly engaging narrative of a diverse range of women’s lives and achievements. This book is very clearly written by a millennial for millennials (I flipped back to the front of the book and found out that Jewell used to work for Buzzfeed, and you can’t get much more millennial than that), particularly millennials who haven’t read much history. As less of a millennial and more of a historian, I sometimes found that the little asides and jokes peppered throughout the book, while fine in moderation, at points became so numerous that they started to distract from the women’s stories. I am grateful, however, that the tone sobered up somewhat during the chapters about women fighting empires and Nazis, and despite the heavy material these chapters actually ended up being the ones I enjoyed most. I am also grateful for the fairly extensive bibliography at the end of the book for those of us who are more historically inclined to read more about these incredible women. Overall, this is a great introductory book for anyone who wants to start reading more non-fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism, Outing, Slavery, Death, Murder, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Deportation, War, Colonisation, Gun violence, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Torture, Police brutality, Classism, Genocide, Infidelity, and Alcohol
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