Reviews

This is an essay collection about women’s intuition. I was curious about the subject, but I have to confess that the names of the contributors are what made me pick up the book when I saw it at the bookstore. I’ve read Amber Tamblyn’s poetry and saw her at a reading in Boston. Tamblyn edited and contributed to this collection, so her name drew me in. This has a lot of well-known and successful contributors. But, to be perfectly honest, I grabbed this as soon as I saw Amy Poehler’s name. What can I say? She’s my comfort white woman. 😂

This collection is very diverse. There is a range of voices from women of all walks of life, all of whom have unique perspectives on both intuition and womanhood.

I took my time with this collection. I liked a lot of the essays, even loved some. But there were some that really rubbed me the wrong way.

One inclusion in particular almost made me put the book down for good. In her essay, Dr. Nicole Apelian’s (PhD) all but states that she cured her MS by reconnecting with nature. She was also accused of selling tinctures to treat COVID-19 before the vaccine and I believe she’s being sued for it. While I believe that she believes her extreme lifestyle changes helped her, I found this essay to border on ableist. The tone and message of this rubbed me the wrong way, and I almost called it quits on the book.

But, if I had done that, I’d have missed out on some pretty great essays. The essay that follows Dr. Apelian’s is one of my favorites in the collection. Meredith Talusan explores her unique perspective on womanhood and intuition as a trans woman. Her story is one of trauma and grief and leaning intuition through experience. It’s beautiful.

Another favorite was Lidia Yuknavitch’s “A Brief Cartography of My Hands”. Her prose is stunning and her storytelling compelling. Amy Poehler, Jia Tolentino, and Emily Wells also contributed incredibly strong pieces.

I liked this collection as a whole, even if I had mixed feelings about some of the parts that make it up.

jen_e_fer's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

2.5

I watched the Mayim Bialik Breakdown episode that was all about this book so I was intrigued enough to get this from my library. Unfortunately I didn’t jive with it completely. Amy Poehler’s essay was probably my favorite.

chelseadarling's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

tkpattee's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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