"Life is too short not to love the shit out of yourself."

Florence Given's debut work is a wonderful introduction to feminism - filled with many quotable mantras to embrace your unique self and fight the patriarchy.

Women don't owe you pretty. They don't owe you nice. They don't owe you palatable. They don't have to perform for men or fit into society's expectation of who they should be and how they should act.

This book is the perfect how-to for living a life that feels the most authentic to you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the Advanced Readers Copy.

“Women Don’t Owe You Pretty” by Florence Given is a book that shows the various issues women are faced with in the modern world. Whereas some topics, are covered in some detail, most of them are merely touched and I felt like the book had the potential of evaluating certain topics more deeply than it did. Especially because feminism is being discussed widely nowadays so there weren’t many things I didn’t know already. Some things, I also didn’t agree with. The illustrations that complete the book are very unique and impressive, I absolutely loved them! Also, I love how Florence Given is speaking out for young women and queer people. Overall, I would say that this book gives the possibility of an accessible loop into feminism, however it is important to educate oneself further as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Pretty basic introduction to current feminist concepts, ideas, and causes. Nothing especially novel or overwhelmingly good or bad (other than a very cringey author conversation with her earlier self). The thing about this book is that if you're inclined to pick it up, there. probably nothing new here for you. If there are useful concepts in this book for you, you're probably not going to be inclined to pick it up.

What first caught my eye about this book is the bright and bold colors on the cover, that continue through the pages throughout! They definitely add enjoyment to each of the chapters. While it is a decent introduction to feminism for those who aren't as familiar, those who know the concept well will probably not get much from this book. However, it mixes this feminist perspective with the self-help genre, making it possibly more appealing to a larger audience. I like books like this that get you thinking, forming ideas that maybe you didn't have before or thinking about topics in new ways.

‘I swear to God, you cut men and they bleed audacity’.

I absolutely loved this book. I found it really thought provoking and inspiring. After reading some reviews, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I think it’s definitely worth a read. As a generation that wasn’t explicitly taught about many of the topics or ideologies in the book, I found it really good to read about them. I love the author and her style of writing is pretty much no-nonsense and this really appeals to me.

I had seen and heard that so many people have read this book, and are truly amazed by it! Indeed, this book is about crucial topics that need to be addressed and talked about more in society. It also includes beautiful and colourful illustrations.

Some of the drawbacks are that this book was not as ground-breaking as I might have expected, as well as I would have expected the topics to go in perhaps more logical sequence. Overall, highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I didn't get what I expected from Women Don't Owe You Pretty. Maybe I set the bar too high and that's on me. I found there wasn't anything new in here that hasn't been said many times before. However, there are reasons to read this book. I feel like it would be a great introduction to feminism for a teenager to read. It covers a variety of topics that could be useful to teens without being too much of an information overload. I personally would have loved to of had this book when I was younger.

"I swear to God -- you cut men and they bleed audacity"

The 60s style artwork and design is AMAZING. Super beautiful. I also appreciate that any chapter that has trigger warnings they are CLEARLY LABELED at the top of the chapter. This is also a really quick read, took me about two hours.

I'm a bit confused who this narrative is for. The concepts that it covers are a bit simplistic, like this is meant for women new to the feminist movement but the tone is very angry. If I weren't already a feminist this book would scare me away from becoming one. The author overall seems very unhappy in her feminism almost like shes telling people you can either be feminist or happy but never both.

This is a personal thing but I dislike self help and this book is about 50% feminism and 50% self help. My fault for not realizing that going in but it also lowers my personal enjoyment. This book brings up a lot of important considerations like preferences or fetishizing in dating but doesn't give the reader any solutions. It feels like shes telling me that I'm problematic and not feminist because I don't date women, that my preferences for men is a ingrained bias. Her argument strips me of any agency by not allowing me to find physical things attractive or not. A lot of the information in this book is conflicting. I'm supposed to love myself but I cant love myself for anything a man would love me for?

In the end this book has a lot of important information in it, but nothing I didn't already know and a few things I just flat out disagreed with. I didn't need to hear this, but there are people out there who do.

Unfortunately, I DNF-d this book at 65%. While I think that it is a good coffee table book, I doubt that I, someone who is already well-educated in feminist theory, could get much from it. Going into this book, I was expecting a collection of insightful feminist essays. What I got instead was sort of like a self-help book style, commercial feminist quotes. Sadly, a pass from me. But I adored the overall design and the illustrations throughout the book!

This book is advertised as an "illustrated primer on modern feminism for the Instagram generation" and it is exactly this. The concepts that are being commented on in this book are nothing new and it seems like a summary of your average feminist Instagram feed. So if you haven't been in touch with feminism yet this can give you a casual overview but otherwise it is very repetitive. Don't expect any in depth discussions or scientific sources, it's more of a self-help book and the record of a personal journey. On a side note, I found being called babe or hun pretty patronizing.
Moreover, not only does she just give a summary of what feminist Instagram accounts had to offer her, apparently Florence Given also copied the whole concept of the book from an already existing work by Chidera Eggerue, a black woman. Throughout the book, Florence constantly talks about social injustice, checking your privilege and giving a voice to marginalized women, but then she is the one stealing from those people and taking credit for everything. Hypocrisy at its finest!

Women Don't Owe You Pretty is a short , sharp and very much on point book written and illustrated by Florence Given. It is an accessible introduction to feminism , and as such tackles concepts such as misogyny, self care and self esteem , sexuality and empowerment among many others. By design it does not really tackle any of these issues in depth, instead the reader is provoked to think about the concepts as they apply to their own life. I would recommend this to teenagers and younger women, but I think I am a little older than the intended market.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Relatable and, at times, empowering, however I found it to be quite conceited as well. "Women Don't Owe You Pretty" does not provide a new perspective, especially to those familiar with feminist discourse, but definitely reads in one sitting.

I have gotten so much from this book and absolutely love the layout of it. It is visually stunning and I plan to pick up a physical copy to keep on the coffee table. This really helped me expand my views and helped me unpack some internalized misogyny that I am still working through. Definitely plan to read again and pass this along to friends and family.

I have been a Florence Given fan for at least a year when I discovered her Instagram (I even own one of her art prints). Obviously, I was thrilled to be able read and review an advance copy. It did not disappoint - for women in their twenties/thirties so many topics to reflect on. My new dating mantra is going to be “crumbs are only tempting when you’re hungry so you must always be sure you’re full on your own.” If you’re looking for a self-help book to begin to think about concepts such as the male gaze and diver deeper into your definition of feminism this is a great place to go. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. While I found the subject matter very interesting, it definitely wasn't written for my generation (I am 56) but rather as a primer for teenagers and young women. In that respect, I think it hits its mark well and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone in that age group.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book.

I read this because of the pretty cover and the enticing title. I agreed with some of the pieces in this, particularly those regarding the discovery of sexuality and the concept of dating fellow women when you are queer.

However, I was disappointed in the overall content. Although I do believe that feminism is important, I failed to see any significant contributions by this book. I read it fairly quickly but it did not leave me particularly impressed.

If anything, I was just seeing a repetition that I think is found in multiple books written by feminists. As a feminist myself, I think that we can include a little more of depth and intersectionality to our essays, in order to generate a real impact in the world.

This book isn't groundbreaking but it is something that I needed to read. I highly recommend this one to all the ladies and n0n-binary folk out there that need to feel seen and be reminded of their worth.

I loved this book. The whole book is beautiful, from the illustrations to every single word.
I feel like this made perfect sense for me because of my age and the time in my life I'm going through. It was exactly what I needed and I'm sure a lot of women needs this in their life.
The book is full of amazing chapters with things that although they might seem basic are important to read because sometimes we all need a reminder that we are incredible.

Women Don't Owe You Pretty took me through an uncomfortable but much needed emotional rollercoaster. Some chapters even had me tearing up. I was able to reflect on my life and change behaviours that I didn't even realize were affecting me so negatively and even recognize behaviours I didn't even know I had. I loved how this book also talked lots about homophobia, racism, fatphobia, and ageism as components of feminism (most books I've read about feminism solely focus on sexism). I noticed a few things were repeated throughout the book (I personally don't mind this but I know for some readers it can become annoying). This book offers a lot of information and I found myself almost getting lost at times but the author's writing styles and techniques were able to get my attention back on track. The illustrations were also a beautiful touch to the book and the colourful pages added a great touch. This book if perfect for anyone who needs a lil inspo or self help :)

When I read a couple of reviews for this book, I expected it to be a "basic" book about some interesting feminist topics. I am always happy to read those books, since they are easier to recommend to people than the ones I usually read about the topic. However, this one I can't recommend to anyone.

The author is very young and it shows. Also, I'm going to assume she comes from quite a privileged background as that would explain some of the quite offensive things she mentioned in this book.
Her idea of feminism is, of course, "liberal feminism". Those who have it very easy in life love to tell people to just be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do as if that was an easy option. Right at the end of the book she finally mentions class as a factor (a really important one, by the way) of vulnerability for people. The sad thing is that the way she talks about class shows she only talks to working-class people while ordering her favourite vanilla latte at a coffee shop.
She constantly needs to include every "woke" slogan and vocab, just so we know how "diverse" she is. "Follow black people on social media"...yes, that's a tip the author gave us in this book. How about socialising in real life with people of other races that come from all types of backgrounds? Nah, just follow the pretty/famous ones on social media and pretend to understand race issues. Much easier.

The more I kept reading, the more I dreaded reaching to the part where she mentioned her bisexuality. Female bisexuality is a very important topic in feminism and I love discussing it with my peers. What I read in this book just made me angry. Same as with the comments about class, the comments about the struggles of bisexual women were incredibly offensive. There are women who literally have to hide their sexual orientation to survive, but hey, the author of this book suffers a lot because when she meets a woman and asks her to have a drink with her...she might not be lesbian/bi and might not like her back.

The reading of this book was accompanied by both being annoyed and rolling my eyes. An absolute waste of time.