How to Be a Woman

Oh boy. This is not going to be my usual review because this isn't your usual book.

I'm used to reading books where I have to look up words, but from the very first page of this book, there is British slang that is used - the word "Yobs" in this case, that I don't really care about looking up, because how is knowing British slang going to help my vocabulary? There was A LOT of slang in this book that I didn't know, nor could I always get the meaning from context. I found it to be very distracting and irritating.

Around the third chapter, after what seemed like the forth or fifth page of going on about what to call a vagina (also - it's not even your vagina, it's your vulva), I had this reaction, and stopped to think about what to call it. Tiresome, that's what I decided. This was tiresome to read.

I did have a chuckle here and there, Caitlin does have a way of turning a phrase. And I appreciated the subject matter - feminism, I guess? But, in general I found that the humorous parts were way too few and far between the tiresome serious parts.

It took me forever to read this book, and I'm not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't for my book club.

Listened to this audiobook (read by the author) on my commute. She has a crass sense of humor and you definitely have to be ready for that. I found it humorous and entertaining on my otherwise monotonous commute.

This book was so great and so funny. Then it took kind of a dark turn and told the story of her abortion. I agree with her that these stories need to be told but I think they'd be more enlightening in the plural where different reasons, procedures, and reactions are explored. Obviously abortion is an important issue of feminism- of human rights really. However, in this book which is mostly a light-hearted introduction to feminism, this story might push away the very people she's speaking to, those that need to be reminded that feminism is a vital movement.