Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this title.

I really, really wanted to love this book.

As an elder millennial, it's my job to look back fondly on my childhood. And if all of the moments aren't fond, I've worked through them or tried to blur them out for the sake of self-preservation.

I will be honest. I decided to DNF this book at 10%. I almost never do this with a book I've been given in exchange for a review. I typically want to give it my best shot and see if the ending pulls it all together.

As the author states at the beginning of the book, she is just one millennial voice. Hearing things through her voice made me quickly realize we did not have the same childhood experience at all.

I was raised an only child of a single mother in an era when this was extremely looked down upon. My childhood was financed by long, long hours of work by my mother and the deadbolt firmly latched on my front door. Shopping at Limited, Too or not having the right American Girl doll was not part of my upbringing. I was thrilled to get to read American Girl books from the library. I got jacked every time PBS was hosting a fundraiser because I knew it meant I'd get to see Anne of Green Gables on TV..

This book very much starts like Clarissa looking back, and Explaining It All to a gen Z crowd.

It didn't feel like this book was for me, so I closed it. I'm training myself out of my millennial people-pleasing ways and not finishing something I dislike just because I got it for free.

That doesn't mean it wouldn't be a fun read for you.

I don't even know where to start with how much I loved this book. As a '91 baby, reading this book felt like I was leafing through my own childhood and teenage journals. Kennedy has such a way with words that ends each chapter with a reflective mic drop. She touches on important topics like feminism, self-acceptance, and marketing while still making you smile and laugh out loud at nearly each page...not an easy feat! While incredibly nostalgic, this also provided me with lots of insights to consider as I raise my own daughter in today's media and consumerism-obsessed world. Regardless of whether or not you're a millenial, everyone needs to read this book. Not only does it bring back great memories (or cringey ones...like my old AIM screennames...), but Kennedy serves as the guide I wish I had when I was a teenaged girl. I can't express my love for this book enough - thanks so much for the ARC!

Once in a Millennial strives to be a cultural commentary on growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, but it really reads as a memoir. I did find much of it extremely relatable, as a white middle class evangelical kid. I think fans of Kate Kennedy’s podcast who are interested in her as a person will enjoy this book.

I hate to write this review, but I was disappointed by this book. I think the cute cover and idea of finding a relatable book about millennials really sold me on requesting this - but it felt more like a memoir about someone I don’t know. While the author did touch on topics that brought me back to my youth, the story was mostly about her life. The chapters were so long, I had to check if the book was over 500 pages, only to see the book is under 350. I just really struggled and I’m sad to say it. I am sure there is an audience who will love this book, especially if they are fans of this podcaster. At a certain point, I had to skim to get through it. I also found myself getting thrown back into some cringe memories so maybe I was triggered? Again, I hate to say this because I know the author put a lot of heart and vulnerability into this book. I hope it reaches the right audience.

First things first, I feel like I would have preferred this book in an audio book setting, That being said, I did enjoy the way the author balanced all the negative things of the past and with our society about being a millennial, and showed both sides of each issue very well in terms of its negatives and positives! I liked the way the book was structured and as a ‘97 baby, there was a decent amount I could relate to throughout the entire book.

I feel like I wrote this book. This audio got me through all my Christmas baking and I ended up baking MORE just to keep listening. I loved the anecdotes in between the chapters, and the quirky/punny chapters and comments throughout had me rolling. I am a new Kate Kennedy fan! I highly recommend this to all millennials!!


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Bring your walk man, juicy couture jumpsuits, and your best spice girl dance! This was more of a retelling of Kate Kennedy's life being an older millennial and how things that she went through back then shaped her in being who she is now. I related a lot to what she was talking about. Especially the mental health aspect of it. The stigma behind "hiding" how you really feel and walking around like a robot not acknowledging it and how, in reality, wasn't normal. Looking back on the way we were brought up, there was a lot of sheltered logic behind it all. I wouldn't trade my upbringing for anything. But, there were a lot of things that we were shown that were under valued, under appreciate, and definitely not addressed enough. Bravo for Kate for bringing this to light. I think it was written well.

4.5 stars

Thanks SO much to SMP and NetGalley for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I enjoyed ONE IN A MILLENNIAL so much I read it twice last year! I got the ARC over the summer, loved it, and immediately preordered my physical copy. Then when Macmillan offered the audiobook, I had to take it and read via audiobook so I could hear @katekennedy read it herself. (If you’re not familiar, the author is a podcaster, so I definitely wanted to experience this book that way.)

When you read this, you’ll definitely laugh, you may cry, and you’ll reflect on what it means to be a woman in this world, specifically a millenial woman. It was funny and nostalgic, but also incredibly insightful— Kate is very smart and has a way with word play that will have you smiling along to all of the references to our childhood while also really thinking deeply about how the ways of the world (much of which is cringe-worthy looking back) in our early years shaped us into who we are now, for better or worse. I will absolutely be rereading when I have my physical copy and tabbing to remember all of the important things I think this book brought to mind.

I loved all of the 90s/early 2000s talk, Taylor Swift and Gilmore Girls references and so much more.

I love Kate’s podcast so it’s not surprising that I love her book! This was such a fun read! It was like talking with my childhood best friend. Kate has so much humor and personality.

I have decided to DNF this book as I am a Canadian millenial so I feel like there are a lot of things that don't really vibe for me, and it's also an extremely wordy history lesson on events that I lived through being spun to be a lot more psychologically dramatic than it really needs to be. Yes, we were boxed in as young girls, but we were also given a LOT of great role models.

I am going to be honest, I had no idea who Kate Kennedy was nor had I heard of her podcast, Be There in Five, prior to reading this book. I was intrigued by the fun cover, witty title, and the promise of tales that would that would resonate with my millennial self.

After reading, One in a Millennial, I can say that I enjoyed nearly every aspect of this book. I am a few years younger than Kennedy so we did not have all the same "millennial" experience (I was unfortunately not quite old enough for a real stake in the NSYNC vs Backstreet Boys divide, but I did love the Spice Girls and was always Baby in our basement performances), however, the underlying tales of girlhood, forging an identity in the face of peer pressure and what it means to be "popular", and finding ourselves in an ever-evolving world, is something I can relate to.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As a longtime listener of the Be There In Five podcast, I was super excited to receive an ARC from NetGalley for this one. I have a similar background to the author and identify so much with her story and commentary on millennial nostalgia and perceptions of millennial women. I enjoy her writing style, which goes back and forth between a sort of stream of consciousness and a spoken word style with lots of clever wordplay. While I enjoyed reading the digital book, I do think that the audiobook will be the best experience for this one when it’s available.

As a millennial who has spent most of her life being a fangirl, Kate has such a way of making me feel seen. This book gave me the biggest nostalgic hug at times and had me yelling “yes!” (à la Meryl Streep’s reaction to Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech) at other times.

The sentences and paragraphs felt a little long winded at times and as a fan of short chapters, I struggled with the length of the essays but I also have been a listener of Kate’s podcast for some time so I know that’s just her and it didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Kennedy, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I want to preface this by saying that I was born in 1998, so I am technically Gen Z, but in reality, a "Zillennial" is a real thing, and I am one. Most people don't realize that those born before 2000 are much closer to a shared experience of later millennials than of younger Gen Z. My dream was to be decked out in Limited Too head to toe, I poured over American Girl catalogs to find the latest mini accessories for my Kit doll, my Disney VHS collection was miles long, and I didn't get a cell phone (that had a sliding keyboard) until I was in junior high. Whereas millenials might have been in high school/college in the mid-00s, I was in elementary school, and they were the cool, older girls I was dying to be, hence many shared experiences with fashion and pop culture that we as preteens tried our hardest to emulate. With this disclaimer, I was drawn to Kennedy's essay collection/memoir because she seems like she was my spirit sister. Another disclaimer that I am a cis, white woman, and so is Kennedy, and we were both Girly Girls. So this will not resonate with everyone. But it did with me. One in a Millennial is filled to the brim with clever, sometimes too on the nose, puns and pop culture references in an essay collection that starts off funny and turns more serious and into a memoir as it proceeds. The nostalgia of being a girl at a sleepover pouring over MASH games and trying my hardest to have the "popular girl handwriting" was almost too much to handle at times. Even though there is a bit of an age-gap between us, it was refreshing to read how girlhood stays the same in so many ways throughout the years. Moving into the later chapters, I was surprised to see Kennedy opening up so much more about very real topics, such as mental health and infertility. I wasn't expecting this book to be more of a memoir, and for me, it was a pleasant surprise to be let in to Kennedy's experiences on these deeper topics. The book didn't always work for me and was a bit over the top, and I can see how some might not relate with the book, whether they want more objective essays or can't relate to the author's experience. However, I think if you have any sort of nostalgia for "girlhood" in the 90s/early 00's and go into this prepared to read it as a memoir, it can be a surprisingly good time.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for a copy of One in a Millenial in exchange for an honest review!

One in a Millenial says many times “this is not a memoir!” But it is most definitely a memoir. Told through the lens of a white, firmly middle-class millenial, we learn about how growing up in the “90s, 2000s, and Today” affected Kate throughout her life. Topics explored includes Limited Too, AIM, boy bands, slumber parties (light as a feather, stiff as a board anyone?), going out tops, unrealistic dating expectations set by rom-come, toxic diet culture, the “lazy millenial” label.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Kate very relatably writes about the experiences of coming to age in the 90s/early 2000s and how it formed her worldview. The last few chapters where she wrote about career changes and fertility struggles - while interesting and common concerns of millennials - felt a little too long to me.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

I was so back and forth on how I felt while reading this book. I loved the content and the message with all the notalgia and feminism and "girl power". Based on what I recall in the book, I'm the same age as Kate and found so much of the content so incredibly relatable. However, the writing style was a little tough for me. The writing (to me) felt a little all over the place. And the constant abbreviations made me feel really disconnected. Especially the made up ones that you were supposed to remember, that were from 100 pages ago. I often was left confused on what we were actually talking about in the moment.

That being said, I plan on checking out Kate's podcast. I can tell Kate is very entertaining and incredibly relatable. I'm excited to get to know her and her life through the podcast.

As a long time listener of Kate's podcast and proud Beth, thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC of One in a Millennial. From popular girl handwriting, bubble chairs and door beads ... Kate remembers my girlhood better than I do. So honest and fresh, this book was a bright commentary on feminism, privilege, reproductive rights, and acknowledging the murky misogynistic culture we grew up in and how it shaped our self-worth to this day. Did you used to pop in the 2nd VHS tape for the back half of Titanic? No, me neither.

Kate wrote this book to be a celebration of identity with an urge to "remember the things that happened to us in life when we were on our own" and it was a delightful stroll down memory lane.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The topic and description of the book was so promising and felt right up my alley. However, I expected an essay collection about millennial culture and this book was more memoir than that. The writing felt incredibly clunky and too try-hard with too long sentences that were hard to understand where the point was going. I hope this book’s works out better for other readers. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

My feelings after reading "One in a Millennial" are a little mixed but overall, I enjoyed it. Despite claiming not to be a memoir, it definitely felt like one. Some parts of the audiobook weren't as interesting, and the author's millennial experiences are quite specific. However, the book has great insights on intersectionality, feminism, privilege, reproductive rights, and the challenges millennial women face due to a misogynistic culture.

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book!

This book will be published on January 23rd.

“Its hard for me to relate when people say things like “I know nothing about pop culture,” “I’m not on social media,” or perhaps the only friendship potential litmus test more effective than someone asking me to run a 5K during the early 2010s themed-race boom: “I don’t own a TV.”

As soon as I saw this cover and title, I knew this book was going to be made for me. I have never heard of Kate Kennedy prior to this but from here or out, I will be a follower! This read more as a memoir about growing up during the millennium. And anyone who knows me personally knows I thrive off nostalgia and being in a tween in the early aughts made me have such an appreciate for the era. And makes me so glad that I kept a journal during that whole time.

As I mentioned above Kate Kennedy is new to me so I was okay learning about her and her background. I thought she was honest in her growing up in the church and how that shaped her and continues to shape her.

The chapter that I was not expecting, and it was much needed was The Parent Trap. This had me crying and sharing snippets with my friend because being a female with fertility issue still feels like a taboo topic. I appreciated her raw honesty as she talks about her miscarriage and then deciding how to proceed. The parts that really got me were "It's not that I'm not happy for people; it's just a feeling you get in your stomach I can only describe as an emotional response with a direct line to my soul that my body reacts to before my mind is patched through." and then again when she talks about "how beautiful your life can be regardless of how whens turn into ifs." It just made my heart hurt but in a familiar way and brought me back to that time when my body was not kind to me.

I highlighted so many parts in this book because it all felt so real. And as a fellow Swiftie, I love picking up on the random Swift lyrics at the end of paragraphs that unless you are a Swiftie you wouldn’t know it. I also never thought I would see a reference to Jungle 2 Jungle but if I am going to read it any book, this would be the one. It just blows my mind at how all teenagers during this time shared such similar experiences (of course AIM and Limewire was mentioned). There was even discussion about popular girl handwriting (which this is 100% true) and milky gel pens (the black paper was just so cool)!

IF you are going into this book as strictly looking for nostalgia & millennial discord, you will get that but also be ready to learn more about Kennedy’s life then and present day.