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xavierbonilla's review
5.0
One of my most anticipated books of 2022 did not disappoint! Skye Cleary captures the essence of Beauvoir’s philosophy. She outlines the central pieces of her philosophy while leaving room for fair criticism and mixed with various examples in our modern times. Cleary has stayed true to accurate analysis of Beauvoir’s ideas on feminism and how her philosophy is still very relevant for us today. Highly recommend everyone read this well-researched and well-written book!
maiamountain's review
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
There were parts of this book that were 5* paradigm shifting views extending beyond that of a self help book but also other sections that really didn’t speak to me as much (marriage and motherhood and ageing and death felt particularly doomist)
bootman's review
5.0
I was fortunate enough to get an early copy of this book, and it was so good that I binged it within a day. The only other book I’ve read from Cleary is the one she co-authored How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy, and since then, I’ve followed her on Twitter, and she’s a cool person. I was skeptical of this book because as much as I love philosophy, I dislike history books and biographies. I’ve tried reading some biographical books of some philosophers and was bored out of my mind. This book was totally different, and if more biographical books were written like this, I’d read all of them.
I had zero knowledge of Simone de Beauvoir other than hearing her name now and then. This book not only made me interested in some of her work, but I gained so much value from the lessons Cleary pulls from Beauvoir’s work. What made this book great is that it’s maybe 40-50% biography, but the rest is analyzing Beauvoir’s ideas and explaining them with real-world examples. Cleary pulls from some personal stories such as her experience being a woman or about marriage, and she also explains how Beauvoir's ideas can be applied to modern-day activism and other situations. It’s also great because as much as Cleary respects Beauvoir’s work, she discusses some of Beauvoir’s controversial or outdated views as well.
This book is phenomenal, and I haven’t gained this much value from a book in a while. I’ll definitely be re-reading it, and it deserves a ton of attention once it launches.
I had zero knowledge of Simone de Beauvoir other than hearing her name now and then. This book not only made me interested in some of her work, but I gained so much value from the lessons Cleary pulls from Beauvoir’s work. What made this book great is that it’s maybe 40-50% biography, but the rest is analyzing Beauvoir’s ideas and explaining them with real-world examples. Cleary pulls from some personal stories such as her experience being a woman or about marriage, and she also explains how Beauvoir's ideas can be applied to modern-day activism and other situations. It’s also great because as much as Cleary respects Beauvoir’s work, she discusses some of Beauvoir’s controversial or outdated views as well.
This book is phenomenal, and I haven’t gained this much value from a book in a while. I’ll definitely be re-reading it, and it deserves a ton of attention once it launches.
maddness22's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An incredible blend of feminism and existentialism philosophy through the lens of Simone de Beauvoir. I've never really explored Simone de Beauvoir's work before this book but now I feel compelled to study her writing. Everything about this book was pitch perfect for me. I adored that it served mostly as an abstract for de Beauvoir and added to her philosophy with notes about intersectionality while presenting modern examples for readers to reference and better understand the concept being explored. The last chapter about oppression and resisting the oppressor to allow others to live a more authentic life rather than enjoying a life of freedom at the expense of the oppressed was astounding and a great note to end the book on, but the chapters about relationships were my personal favorites.