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Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'
One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy
32 reviews
alsbap08's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage and Infertility
bookshelfmystic's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Kate Kennedy self-consciously claims that she’s not sure she has a right to write about her life because she has had, overall, a pretty good one. In the sections where she airs this fear, especially when she discusses her very valid reactions to her miscarriage/fertility challenges and the Virginia Tech shooting , I wanted to reassure her. Surely anyone has a right to write whatever they want, and I’m it’s useful for people with similar experiences to find someone to relate to.
However… I also reserve the right to think that in the last third, this book started to veer into a mediocre-at-best memoir that felt more like the author working out her own personal feelings about her career and her life than a cohesive message for her readers. I got the sense Kennedy was using the writing process as a journaling exercise. A charitable interpretation is that she could have used a better editor: we very much did not need the final chapter to be a reflection on all of the chapters she already wrote.
I also found her feminism-101-level takes to be a bit, well, obvious. Yes, it is unfair that girls are held to certain beauty standards and expected to do emotional labor for boys. But when she started talking about abortion and how being pro-choice can include wanting women to be able to end life-threatening pregnancies, I realized something: The feminist thought in this book was not written for me. As someone who’s pretty informed about abortion and women’s issues in general, I didn’t need them spelled out. But I can imagine there are some readers that may be getting exposed to these ideas for the first time, and that Kennedy geared her writing more toward them.
Critiques aside, I did enjoy listening to this book, especially the 90s and 2000s sections with their fun hits of nostalgia. I particularly liked the sleepover chapter, which made me feel warm and fuzzy about similar core memories formed with my friends. Kennedy stays pretty surface-level, focusing more on behavior trends and pop culture references than on the political (9/11 is not mentioned, for example, which I did find a bit weird given that it was such a formative world event for all American millennials). This is not necessarily a bad thing – I read enough political takes as it is, and a fluffy book is a good change of pace.
It was also nice to hear a perspective from someone whose childhood ambitions and interests were different from my own. I suffered from gifted-kid arrogance and nerd superiority for a long time, and I valued learning about the childhood of a B student who liked pop culture instead of fantasy novels. I appreciated that we still had enough shared experiences for the nostalgia to ring true for me. (Though I admit that almost all of the TV references were over my head. I know this is a me problem.)
However… I also reserve the right to think that in the last third, this book started to veer into a mediocre-at-best memoir that felt more like the author working out her own personal feelings about her career and her life than a cohesive message for her readers. I got the sense Kennedy was using the writing process as a journaling exercise. A charitable interpretation is that she could have used a better editor: we very much did not need the final chapter to be a reflection on all of the chapters she already wrote.
I also found her feminism-101-level takes to be a bit, well, obvious. Yes, it is unfair that girls are held to certain beauty standards and expected to do emotional labor for boys. But when she started talking about abortion and how being pro-choice can include wanting women to be able to end life-threatening pregnancies, I realized something: The feminist thought in this book was not written for me. As someone who’s pretty informed about abortion and women’s issues in general, I didn’t need them spelled out. But I can imagine there are some readers that may be getting exposed to these ideas for the first time, and that Kennedy geared her writing more toward them.
Critiques aside, I did enjoy listening to this book, especially the 90s and 2000s sections with their fun hits of nostalgia. I particularly liked the sleepover chapter, which made me feel warm and fuzzy about similar core memories formed with my friends. Kennedy stays pretty surface-level, focusing more on behavior trends and pop culture references than on the political (9/11 is not mentioned, for example, which I did find a bit weird given that it was such a formative world event for all American millennials). This is not necessarily a bad thing – I read enough political takes as it is, and a fluffy book is a good change of pace.
It was also nice to hear a perspective from someone whose childhood ambitions and interests were different from my own. I suffered from gifted-kid arrogance and nerd superiority for a long time, and I valued learning about the childhood of a B student who liked pop culture instead of fantasy novels. I appreciated that we still had enough shared experiences for the nostalgia to ring true for me. (Though I admit that almost all of the TV references were over my head. I know this is a me problem.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage and Mass/school shootings
quasinaut's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This was a fascinating read, in part because Kate Kennedy and I have some shared cultural touchstones from our sheer millennialness, but we are also very different people with very different pop culture interests who are at very different points in our lives now. Stellar wordplay and humor, interspersed with touching personal and/or embarrassing anecdotes. A delight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Mental illness
Moderate: Miscarriage, Body shaming, and Sexism
Minor: Mass/school shootings
bmpicc's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Despite the fact that I was born a hairsbreadth prior to being a millennial, I still feel seen. These essays, complete with random song quotes, TV show references, and the fear that comes with simply being a basic woman in this world, were a gift for my heart.
Kennedy does use the phrase "If I'm being honest" on several occasions, but I am perfectly content to forgive this. After all, these essays are her opinions, her stories, her world.
"My husbands kindness, care, and respect for me made all the difference... Its not that he saved me. I just eventually understood that I was never broken to begin with."
Kennedy does use the phrase "If I'm being honest" on several occasions, but I am perfectly content to forgive this. After all, these essays are her opinions, her stories, her world.
"My husbands kindness, care, and respect for me made all the difference... Its not that he saved me. I just eventually understood that I was never broken to begin with."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Miscarriage, and Infertility
ofpagesandparagraphs's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage and Infertility
kerryamchugh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Miscarriage
Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Gun violence
mmhender2's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This book gave me so much nostalgia. From trundle beds and American Girl dolls to college in the aughts, I was taken back in time. I appreciate her comments on how difficult it can be to be a millennial woman. I gave it 4.25/5 because I thought at times it rambled but still highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
hesticht's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
vlawton's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Miscarriage
jlothian's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
As a female born in the early 1980s this hit all the high points I expected and many I had forgotten about.
Note: listened to the audiobook read by the author, it adds that extra layer of emotion when you can hear the excitement, sadness, etc in her voice.
Note: listened to the audiobook read by the author, it adds that extra layer of emotion when you can hear the excitement, sadness, etc in her voice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Infertility, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence