The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
lady_moon's review against another edition
3.75
Besides some things that were said in the end after all the biographies were done, that I disliked, I enjoyed this. It was rather informative and I indeed didn't know some of these women.
hypatiasilver's review against another edition
The history felt superficial and the feminism was the annoying side of gender essentialismÂ
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
It was very bad and thought former Secretary of a state Hilary Clinton who admires war criminal Kissinger was less militant then male politicians for seemingly some either intentional or accidental bioesstentialism and introduction framed Margaret thatcher and Teresa May two Tory Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom as overly criticized when Thatcher was no friend to feminism and A violent conservative war hawk horrible to women of color. This felt even more compounded by the only other woman mentioned being Elizabeth Warren who has lied about being Cherokee and has been criticized by Cherokee women for years before her attempt at the presidency. This erasure of these women’s harm to people of color but especially women of color in their countries and aboard spoke of racist bias that while Egyptians of this time wouldn’t fit neatly into todays concepts of race or ethnicity in the region (given that Arab is not the ethnic groups that exist the region before even considering Cleopatra and her dynasty being Greek not Egyptian ethnic wise) shows such a lack of lens that made the books attempt at gender studies shallow and flat and what could have easily been a middling essay then a history book that’s mostly blanket statements making far too general statements about understanding of gender and it’s performance in different regions and timesÂ
danicapage's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
I have enjoyed Kara Cooney’s books in the past. She is such an insightful and relatable historian who focuses on women’s history, often forgotten history. If you want to learn about women in ancient Egypt (and particularly powerful women in Ancient Egypt), check her out. I'd highly recommend you do so on audio. Sometimes, historical nonfiction can be quite dry and dense, but Kara does a great job of keeping it entertaining and also informative. Egyptology is always speculative, but I thought this lacked the historical weight of some of her other books, which is why I rated it lower. She was trying to relate it to the present political situation, but I felt it led to more speculation in the book.
There was less support for some of her claims here than in some of her other books, and some things felt like they were too generic or stereotypical.Â
On the whole, I enjoyed it though. Listen on audio, however. Much more digestible that way is my take.
There was less support for some of her claims here than in some of her other books, and some things felt like they were too generic or stereotypical.Â
On the whole, I enjoyed it though. Listen on audio, however. Much more digestible that way is my take.