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A review by emilykatereads
Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein
4.0
4.5/5 Stars
Being a girl in a male-dominated field isn't easy. Screen Queens shows us just that, but also how girls can thrive, persevere, and kick ass in tech.
This book is the perfect summer read: it's fun, quick, but also empowering. And it'll make you feel all the things.
We get Lucy, Maddie, and Delia, three girls who couldn't be more different, who are paired together as a team at their tech incubator program. Only a small percent of applicants get into this prestigious competition, and only a smaller percentage of them are girls. The three girls struggle to work together and sort out their differences at first, but they come together and become unexpected friends with the dream of being the first all-girl team to win ValleyStart.
I loved it. The writing was fun and easy to follow, and we follow the three different POVs of the three girls. Each girl has a distinct voice and backstory with their own motives, but they've all come together to work towards the same goal. Once I got into the story, I was hooked, and I read the last 2/3 of the book in one sitting. Which hasn't happened to me in a while. I became so immersed in the story that I felt anxious for the girls as they went into Demo Day and were about to do the thing. I felt all the emotions and cheered them on, and felt all the rage that was to be felt at the things they had to go through to get to where they are.
This book does a perfect job at highlighting a women's struggle in the professional world, especially in tech, where even less women dominate. I've seen some reviews saying they liked this story but didn't enjoy how political it got, but here's the thing: you can't tell this story without making it political. Being a woman, especially a woman of colour, and maneuvering through a male-dominated world is a political thing. To remove politics would be to ignore the reality of the situation.
The way the girls were enlightened into the true struggle of being a woman in tech was heartbreaking, honestly. They were so naive in the beginning, but as a reader you can see the references early on to them having to deal with horrible men. But sometimes people don't notice how horrible people are until it's right in front of them. These girls come face-to-face with how cruel men can be to women, and it almost drives them to quit, but they face the adversity and stand up for themselves. They become more confident in themselves and fight back. They stand up for the voices that are often silenced by powerful men.
I really don't have any solid issues to not give this 5-stars, but there was just something in the beginning that was holding me back from getting into the story. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't get hooked until just over 100 pages. So I'll say 4.5/5 stars, just for a slower start.
Anyway, this book is an impactful one full of empowered girls, and I highly recommend it. It's fiction, but startling accurate to women's real-life struggle in male-dominated fields, and it's a reality that needs to be talked about more and fought against. This book does just that.
Review can also be found on my blog!
*ARC provided by the publisher for an honest review*
Being a girl in a male-dominated field isn't easy. Screen Queens shows us just that, but also how girls can thrive, persevere, and kick ass in tech.
This book is the perfect summer read: it's fun, quick, but also empowering. And it'll make you feel all the things.
We get Lucy, Maddie, and Delia, three girls who couldn't be more different, who are paired together as a team at their tech incubator program. Only a small percent of applicants get into this prestigious competition, and only a smaller percentage of them are girls. The three girls struggle to work together and sort out their differences at first, but they come together and become unexpected friends with the dream of being the first all-girl team to win ValleyStart.
I loved it. The writing was fun and easy to follow, and we follow the three different POVs of the three girls. Each girl has a distinct voice and backstory with their own motives, but they've all come together to work towards the same goal. Once I got into the story, I was hooked, and I read the last 2/3 of the book in one sitting. Which hasn't happened to me in a while. I became so immersed in the story that I felt anxious for the girls as they went into Demo Day and were about to do the thing. I felt all the emotions and cheered them on, and felt all the rage that was to be felt at the things they had to go through to get to where they are.
This book does a perfect job at highlighting a women's struggle in the professional world, especially in tech, where even less women dominate. I've seen some reviews saying they liked this story but didn't enjoy how political it got, but here's the thing: you can't tell this story without making it political. Being a woman, especially a woman of colour, and maneuvering through a male-dominated world is a political thing. To remove politics would be to ignore the reality of the situation.
The way the girls were enlightened into the true struggle of being a woman in tech was heartbreaking, honestly. They were so naive in the beginning, but as a reader you can see the references early on to them having to deal with horrible men. But sometimes people don't notice how horrible people are until it's right in front of them. These girls come face-to-face with how cruel men can be to women, and it almost drives them to quit, but they face the adversity and stand up for themselves. They become more confident in themselves and fight back. They stand up for the voices that are often silenced by powerful men.
I really don't have any solid issues to not give this 5-stars, but there was just something in the beginning that was holding me back from getting into the story. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't get hooked until just over 100 pages. So I'll say 4.5/5 stars, just for a slower start.
Anyway, this book is an impactful one full of empowered girls, and I highly recommend it. It's fiction, but startling accurate to women's real-life struggle in male-dominated fields, and it's a reality that needs to be talked about more and fought against. This book does just that.
Review can also be found on my blog!
*ARC provided by the publisher for an honest review*