Scan barcode
booksnsocks's review
3.0
3,5 stars
I really liked the idea behind this book, advice based on the lives of strong women, but I wasn't impressed with the execution. It's really cool that they chose both well-known and lesser-known women (and also not just women), I'll give them that, and it was also cool that they sometimes mentioned that the women weren't all that great and inspiring, but that there were some problematic aspects to their lives as well. (I do wish they'd also mentioned Coco Chanel's anti-semitic outbursts and Queen Victoria's being against feminism.) What bothered me most was the writing style. The authors tried a bit too hard to be cool and hip with their language use, which made some passages a bit awkward and uncomfortable to read. I got kind of used to the language after a while, but I believe a mention of Five Shades of Grey shook me out of it again. If I remember correctly, that book even got mentioned twice. For no good reason, really. Anyways, I also thought that some of the advice was a bit silly, like how Queen Victoria is an inspiration on how to get over loss. I mean, she dressed in black for the rest of her life after her husband died. It's all very romantic, I guess, but it might not be a very healthy way of grieving? I don't even know. Some of the advice was just a bit far-fetched. While I probably won't take this book out again for its advice, I might read some chapters again for the description of the women's lives, because some lives really interesting and inspiring.
I really liked the idea behind this book, advice based on the lives of strong women, but I wasn't impressed with the execution. It's really cool that they chose both well-known and lesser-known women (and also not just women), I'll give them that, and it was also cool that they sometimes mentioned that the women weren't all that great and inspiring, but that there were some problematic aspects to their lives as well. (I do wish they'd also mentioned Coco Chanel's anti-semitic outbursts and Queen Victoria's being against feminism.) What bothered me most was the writing style. The authors tried a bit too hard to be cool and hip with their language use, which made some passages a bit awkward and uncomfortable to read. I got kind of used to the language after a while, but I believe a mention of Five Shades of Grey shook me out of it again. If I remember correctly, that book even got mentioned twice. For no good reason, really. Anyways, I also thought that some of the advice was a bit silly, like how Queen Victoria is an inspiration on how to get over loss. I mean, she dressed in black for the rest of her life after her husband died. It's all very romantic, I guess, but it might not be a very healthy way of grieving? I don't even know. Some of the advice was just a bit far-fetched. While I probably won't take this book out again for its advice, I might read some chapters again for the description of the women's lives, because some lives really interesting and inspiring.
hayleysreads's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Good selection of women throughout history so informative & a good ligh hearted read . But this book had a very shot bibiliography & I would have liked more details on each one . Also some of the ‘lessons’ you can take from the women are a bit weird, for example one chapter title is “George Elliot and Not Being Hot”
dunneniamh's review against another edition
4.0
There's been a trend recently of books that celebrate women of history and write little excerpts about them that reveal their place in history that's more often than not been glossed over. From 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' to '21 Women of British History', the genre is starting to become vastly oversaturated- enough that it's difficult to have any kind of differentiation between these books. This one is different.
Rather than just talking about different women, this one gives you reasons why they're badass, reasons why they stood out amongst others in their fields and during the periods of time they were alive. For example- 'Mae West and body positivity' is one of my personal favourites, purely because I've done a lot of work on females in film and how they work against stereotype. This book will make you feel better about the world. It'll make you look at everyone from Coco Chanel to Frida Kahlo and examine what made those women great and how much they have in common with women of today. I think it's an excellent read for ladies of any age. It'll teach you how to win at life- but generally, just make you feel a little better about the state of the world.
Rather than just talking about different women, this one gives you reasons why they're badass, reasons why they stood out amongst others in their fields and during the periods of time they were alive. For example- 'Mae West and body positivity' is one of my personal favourites, purely because I've done a lot of work on females in film and how they work against stereotype. This book will make you feel better about the world. It'll make you look at everyone from Coco Chanel to Frida Kahlo and examine what made those women great and how much they have in common with women of today. I think it's an excellent read for ladies of any age. It'll teach you how to win at life- but generally, just make you feel a little better about the state of the world.
shazreads's review against another edition
3.0
My full review can be found at: https://citygirlnetwork.com/magazine/book-review-boudicca
ljbentley27's review against another edition
3.0
I am a woman. I am a daughter and a sister but most important to me, I am an aunty. I am determined to a) make my niece love reading as much as I do and b) make sure that she is a strong woman. It is with this in mind that I read as much as I can about the forgotten women of history; the women who made a difference, socially, scientifically, economically or who just made a difference enough to mention.
I want to share these tales with my niece, who at the moment wants to be a princess. I want her to want to be fierce. Whether that is as a princess, as a make-up artist, as a surgeon or as a postal service delivery woman. I do not care what she wants to be when she is older as long as she does it knowing that she is a rock star.
This is why I read books like What Would Boudicca Do? They give me an insight into women of the past that I have no knowledge of. I have read quite a few of these tropes and I must say that What Would Boudicca Do? is up there with the best of them.
What Would Boudicca Do? – Everyday Problems Solved by History’s Most Remarkable Women by Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates is available now.
I want to share these tales with my niece, who at the moment wants to be a princess. I want her to want to be fierce. Whether that is as a princess, as a make-up artist, as a surgeon or as a postal service delivery woman. I do not care what she wants to be when she is older as long as she does it knowing that she is a rock star.
This is why I read books like What Would Boudicca Do? They give me an insight into women of the past that I have no knowledge of. I have read quite a few of these tropes and I must say that What Would Boudicca Do? is up there with the best of them.
What Would Boudicca Do? – Everyday Problems Solved by History’s Most Remarkable Women by Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates is available now.
thefrenchveg's review
3.0
There is nothing ground-breaking about this book's pop-feminist messages, but it still made for an interesting read as I had never heard of half of the women in it. If you're curious about the forgotten women of history, it's as good a place as any other to start.
emmaeverafter's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
jadetrip's review against another edition
3.0
This book covers 50 woman, many of which I hadn't heard of before which was great and others that are down in history as some of the greats. While I loved reading these women's stories and learning about their backgrounds which covered different times, cultures and contexts (and not just the 'Good girls', but the controversial too, with some much more than others which should have been called more than 'less than perfect' ), the relation to modern day women was very 'one size fits all' and only from the perspective of a privileged middle class woman, which I feel in some ways undermined the true git of the woman being championed in the book.
maritajoy's review against another edition
2.0
What I liked about this book was how it tried to bring attention to lesser known women in history. I found reading about women of diverse ethnicity and age very interesting. I hadn't heard about most of them. As a visual person I also really love the cover and the illustration of each women.
However 50 women in 300 pages might have been a bit too ambitious. Most chapters seemed like a very skimmed over look at someones live. Even though I found the concept of solving modern every day problems through the lens of important women of history intriguing , the chapters wastes a lot of words with cringy "relatable" humour.
However 50 women in 300 pages might have been a bit too ambitious. Most chapters seemed like a very skimmed over look at someones live. Even though I found the concept of solving modern every day problems through the lens of important women of history intriguing , the chapters wastes a lot of words with cringy "relatable" humour.