curlzymas's review against another edition
2.0
I had high hopes for this book. I am very disappointed in the lack of diversity of women chosen to “focus” on. I felt that all of the women chosen lacked depth and dimension in their description of their life.
coffeecass's review against another edition
4.0
A great diversity of different women from different times in history. Karbo puts her own humorous take on each women's history. She lost me a few times while defending some women who's "difficulty" has not aged well. I did like that I learned about some women that I did not know about.
mrsjozy's review against another edition
5.0
Great read/listen. Includes more than the usual women you typically hear about. Laced with just enough shade to make me smirk throughout.
mayayayayaa's review against another edition
2.0
I was pretty disappointed by this book for various reasons. First and foremost, I could not have cared less about the author’s opinions and wished her narrow (white) definition of feminism had been a lot less present in the essays. The writing is not great, and while getting through it wasn’t entirely torturous, I felt like I could’ve been better served just reading the Wikipedia pages of each woman.
audreyjoyful's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I appreciate that the author chose imperfect women to praise in this work. Many people who have done wonderful things have also done some terrible things, and that doesn't mean we don't discuss what they've done and the impact it's had. However, the writer's choice to glaze over heinous acts is confusing and leaves this books feeling like fluffy feminism. Not really the spirit of being "difficult." I wish the choice of difficult women praised were more diverse. Overall, I think this had great potential, but I was left disappointed by the lack of diversity and fluffiness.
sarah_grech's review against another edition
2.0
I was personally not a huge fan of In Praise of Difficult Women. Many of the essays did not go above the surface level. They seemed to say things that I probably could have found on the women's Wikipedia pages. These essays in question seemed to only have base level information, not allowing me to truly understand the women Karbo is admiring. There were a few essays in this book that I thought did a better job and showcasing who the woman was, but the majority did not.
Additionally, Karbo often adds her own commentary to the essay, which I would normally welcome. However, her commentary feels out of place and often judgemental.
I have seen many people criticize her selection of women as well, as the great majority are white. I think Karbo could have easily used her platform to highlight many more women of colour instead of resorting to the obvious and already known white women.
Additionally, Karbo often adds her own commentary to the essay, which I would normally welcome. However, her commentary feels out of place and often judgemental.
I have seen many people criticize her selection of women as well, as the great majority are white. I think Karbo could have easily used her platform to highlight many more women of colour instead of resorting to the obvious and already known white women.