A review by kristio114
Jell-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

3.0

The feminist message in this book was powerful, but the story was not at all what I was expecting. I thought it might be more about the history of Jello, and while there was some of that in here, it’s truly more of a story about one woman’s journey to discover her agency in a world where women are often labeled crazy or emotional or hysterical, and then dismissed. Her descriptions of her mother’s and grandmother’s lives and the devastating impacts that society’s silencing of women had on them was heartbreaking, but helps demonstrate that this isn’t just a problem that we face today. I liked how she reinforced the message throughout the story that despite all the trauma the world inflicts on women as a gender, we are powerful and deserve to make our voices heard.