A review by gab2411
One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Millennial nostalgia seems to be everywhere right now as some fashion and trends are coming back into popular culture and a new generation is experiencing them. I love nostalgia and actually found this book from an Instagram ad that was clearly targeted to my demo. I saw the millennial pink cover with the ‘hot-girl handwriting’ sharpied burnt CD and knew I had to read it. So kudos to the marketing and cover design team!

Even though Kate grew up in Virginia and I in New Jersey, the amount of similarities of our millennial experiences was astounding to me. From specific Marykate & Ashley movie references, to the constant wish for a ‘vacation boyfriend,’ to mentioning the ‘girl with the green ribbon around her neck’ (you remember the horror story), to discussing Bath & Body Works hand sanitizers and the “hot girl scents of cucumber melon, warm vanilla sugar and sweet pea” I was astounded by our shared pop culture experiences! I absolutely thought cucumber melon was specific to my school, lol. 

Some quotes that I had to bookmark based on how much I related to them to how much they made me laugh—

“Now, you curate a photo or two of the whole evening, but back then, your friends would mass-upload every goddamn photo like it was a makeshift animated flip-book of the nights least notable details. Social media wasn’t the highlight reel it is today; it was more like bad ongoing CCTV footage captioned with inside jokes. No accidental pocket photo, duplicate or legally questionable photo of a person underage-beer-bonging went undocumented, much to my hungover horror. Though I will say, there are few things more character building than waking up to an email that says, “You’ve been tagged 63 times in so-and-so’s album ‘cuZ tHe PaRtY dOnT StArT TiL I WaLk iN’”

I was the friend curating these Facebook albums, and yes indeed posted photos of the inside of a pocket with some kind of caption like “haha who had my camera here?” 🤭

“Legend has it that every time “Heart & Soul” plays, not unlike a bell ring, a person with the middle name Marie, Elizabeth, Lynn or Nicole gets their wings.” 

This made me lollll.

“Even though clinical depression wasn’t on my radar, it seems like it should be pretty obvious from the volume of times I was listening to “The Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice on repeat’”

So specific, but this was absolutely my go to angst song and I totally left shady away messages with lyrics from it on AIM. 

The book lost me a little as it kind of shifted more into memoir than essays, but I think the author’s perspective is very thoughtful. I like how she delved into the misogyny and extreme beauty standards of this time as well as the pressure to conform and not be an individual. The author is very vulnerable and I think many will see themselves in her struggles. I think at times some of the essays just got a little repetitive/meandering for me and felt like the author made the same points like 100 times. It was kind of like the Barbie movie ‘speech’ for me—well written and insightful, but feminist thought and theory I’ve mused on for years so there was nothing ground breaking. But that won’t be the case for all readers. 

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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