3 stars
| On the whole this was an informative book with some solid advice and affirmation. The book is broken down into six parts, which are further broken up into detailed lists. For me, reading the book straight through was a bit tedious at times because of this list format. The information was well presented, but reading a number of lists back-to-back gets kind of boring after a while. The first half of the book includes behavior to watch for in the work environment, things women do to self-sabotage, workplace stereotypes, and issues related to female speech. They include some tactics for dealing with this issues. These sections were informative, but not all that interesting or helpful. The most important and useful parts were the last two sections which included tips for negotiation and displaying (and feeling) confidence. To me, this is where the true value of the book lies in setting out strategies and mindsets for success. I also liked the Rebel Girls: FFCs Through History section in the back, which gives brief descriptions of various women’s groups throughout history such as the Brujas, the Jane Collective, and the Women Airforce Service Pilots. This book is definitely geared toward cis and white women. Women of color as mentioned in some of the statistics, but often seem to be treated as an afterthought usually along the lines of “white women have it hard, women of color have it worse”. There isn’t much more detail than that are there are not specific strategies for women of color, those with disabilities, or trans women. The book instead focuses on blanket information and advice. There is also a lot of puns, which can be fun (I especially enjoyed “A Feminist Cocktail List” at the end), but some were quite marginalizing. There were various references to genitalia such as “vagffirmative action”, “How to Have a D*ck Without Being One”, and “Vagina-First Policy”. The last one included an asterisk with the note “Also applicable to those who do not possess a vagina but identify as female”. It was good to note that not all women have vaginas, but it almost makes it worse that they still chose to go with such vagina-centric language. The book is also more geared toward younger women with creative puns, quirky illustrations, pop culture references, and lots of swearing. I found this appealing, but I can see how other readers would not enjoy this. If you’re one of those people who hates cursing in non-fiction books, probably pass on this. At the very end are notes that reference the various statistics presented in the text. This is a great place to find more information on specific topics and I liked that the sources were included. Despite its flaws, think is a good book to browse though and the information in the last two sections is very good. Those last two sections in themselves justify the book in my opinion. It is definitely targeted to cis, white, young women, but does well in presenting its claims and backing them up with research and other information. Goodreads |