Starting this review by saying that I love Kate Kennedy's podcast "Be There in Five" and this book was essentially an essay collection of podcast episodes. The writing comes across exactly the same as her podcast and she comes clearly through.

Kate immediately captured my attention by starting off the the zeitgeist of a millennial (of which I am) and Britney Spears (will always be my #1). I loved how she talked about American Girls, summer camp, boy bands, and bead lizards. I could relate to every single essay. However, this didn't really work for me. The essays were way too long, this book felt like 500 pages. I couldn't read them in a single sitting and the devolution of words and sentences was just too much for me to enjoy the second half of this book. Overall, I think these messages just work better in podcast form and needed a tighter editor.

I absolutely LOVED this book!! It made me laugh, made me cry, and made my elementary/middle/high school selves feel so seen and understood. I’m a fan of Kate Kennedy’s podcast and her writing comes off just like that- like talking to a friend, but you don’t need to like the podcast to like this. She touches on so many things that made us feel isolated as younger girls, but turns out were pretty universal/common experiences. It made me so proud to be a woman and to like the things I like with no shame. I loved this book and plan on gifting it to some friends as well.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I love Kate's podcast and was so happy she decided to write a book! As a member of GenZ, she has completely changed the way I think of millennial; I love them and as a youngest sibling, I have shared many cultural experiences with them. Such a unique idea for a book that was wonderfully executed. I love Kate and can't wait to see what she does next.

LOVED this book. We are very close in age and although everyone has different experiences this really hit on the quintessential millennial experience.

I love Kate's podcast and loved the book (and audiobook) just as much. The book adds value beyond the existing podcast episodes.

the millennial handbook we all needed!!! kate really gave us the space to be okay with where we’re at as millenals & it was nice to hear. this def felt more memoir than anything, but it didn’t take away for me at all.

I enjoyed this as a non fiction read (I usually stick to memoirs for non-fiction), as a millennial. There were some important topics and a lot of great nostalgia - did we all live the same life?!’ Have I had a unique human experience?! - but it was more dense than I thought, less enjoyable than I had desired. I appreciate the authors attention to important matters like body shaming and toxicity surrounding “the looks” we were brought up to achieve. I guess I was just looking for something a little lighter.

⭐️⭐️.5

I received an ARC through Netgalley. These are my true opinions.

I don’t think this book is marked correctly. It’s says it’s not a memoir but it definitely read like one.

All of the experiences in the book are personal to the author. I absolutely do not like to read non-fiction and this felt non-fiction to me. That is why it took me a very long time to get through this book. I had a very long time to read it prior to release but still finished it well after release.

The writing was good. Nothing wrong about the writing.

I grew up in the time frame that the author writes about so that is why I picked up this book, but I could not focus on it while reading because it felt like a memoir and not a story for someone trying to read a story of millennial fictional experiences.

I feel bad for the rating but this was marked as not a memoir but it felt like one reading it. Nonfiction is my least genre, I do not reach for books in that genre and this felt very non fiction even though it is not.

I did like some of the nostalgia I got from reading some parts.

While I did enjoy this book, I was somewhat disappointed in what it ended up being. I was expecting more of a non-fiction pop culture commentary on the female millennial experience and it turned out to be more of a memoir about growing up as a millennial. Although I did enjoy it, it just wasn't what I was expecting. The writing was good and very funny in some parts, but I think the marketing here fell flat.

This is the perfect book for the millennial woman who is beginning to come to terms with the fact that she is closer to 40 than to 16. I found myself relating to so many things in this book, I even found things I had completely forgotten about. This is definitely going on my “books to give as presents” list.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

While we all go through different experiences as people and as part of one generation, we were similarly influenced by the pop culture of the 90s and 00s. The author has a podcast called Be There in Five that focuses in pop cuture and the millennial zeitgeist. This book follows that same theme, but serves also as a self-reflection of being a millenial. 
Our form of thinking and the ways that we grew up were shaped partly by the things we liked as kids and teens.

Each chapter talks about different stages of Kate’s life, her struggles, and her accomplishments. I liked how she expressed being a Millenial from her POV and her reflections on that. Our insecurities have followed us in some ways into adulthood, especially as women.

The importance of our generation is to decide to break stereotypes or not, overcome our insecurities, love what you love, do the work, and be proud of that.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy, for which I’m giving an honest review.

A must read for millennial women! I really enjoyed this book and laughed out loud multiple times. All the pop culture references were great and it was very nostalgic. I have listened to Kate Kennedy's podcast before and follow her on social media so I think that contributed to my enjoyment. Not sure if you'd enjoy it as much if you didn't know anything about the author as it is kind of an autobiography but without a lot of details. Definitely recommend it!

Highly recommend this on audio - not only is the subject matter perfection, but the writing is so so good. (Apparently I better check out her podcast) I laughed out loud many times (hello chapter on AIM screen names 😂), and other times thought out loud “ok that’s me!”, and while it’s funny, its at time mini gut punches of truths you’ll understand if you are a millennial, particularly a mid to late 80’s born. It’s exactly what you think it will be, and maybe a little more... It’s a yes from me!

This book was such a fun read! I really enjoyed it and it was nice to take a break from my usual thriller and horror books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC!
Kate Kennedy made me feel like I was back in elementary school with all the references! I loved it! I was laughing my way through the book because many times I was like “wait I thought that was only me”
I found the beginning to be very long. I get having to explain what a millennial is but I think if someone needs that much explanation, they will not be reading this book since they wont understand the nostalgia.
A great read for anyone who grew up in the 90s and 2000s!

This book was so fun to go through. It really represented my own childhood and life as a 90s kid and millennial and it was so relatable. One thing I had a harder time with was how the narration seemed a bit all over the place at times however, I feel like that wouldn't feel as bad in the audiobook. It is one of those books that would've been so much better in audio because of you have the real feel of how the author wants to recount every experience/events. If you want a light non fiction to make you reminisce about your time in the 90-00s then I would definitely say go for it.

I’m a zennial—one of those Gen Z born in the late 90s who grew up with the millennials and our culture was thus heavily influenced by them. It was fun to read this book and ask my sister about things I had vague memories of, looking up pictures to make sure I knew what Kate was talking about. I will say that I think I’m a little too Gen Z to fully appreciate this book. Some perspectives and cultural moments couldn’t resonate with me. But it’s a very entertaining book. Kate is well-written and poetic.

Something to be aware of is that this book reads more as a stream of consciousness, just a lot of thoughts. It felt disorganized, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. The thoughts were sometimes hard to follow, but didn’t need to be followed as they were just happening.
It’s also very wordy which made it a hard read sometimes.

Something that irked me was the frequent validating of other experiences. I expect essays about a person’s experiences to be personal. There were so many disclaimers that this book was just one woman’s experience and that it won’t cover everything every millennial has ever experienced, nor does it make the lives and feelings of others less valid. Admittedly, that’s just something I hate, as a person who doesn’t like to be told my feelings or experiences are valid (whether or not people believe it doesn’t make it less true). Kate, to her credit, is also very self-aware. She was aware of her wordiness, and aware of how being an online personality has made her hyperaware of criticism and thus made her feel the need to give such disclaimers. There are many other examples of self-awareness in the book that make her a great narrator.

I especially loved the back half of the book, as maybe the adult experiences were more relatable to me. I’ll say this: I don’t think I’ve read a better description of depression before.

This book was brave and honest, and so absolutely fun.

As a proud millennial, I was excited to go down memory lane and read this book. “One in a Millennial” was fun and not bad, but the whole time I was reading this, it just felt kind of random. I’m not sure what I expected, but it just seemed to be a random regurgitation of memories and nostalgia mixed together. Again it’s entertaining, but this one just was not one of my favorites. 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review.

This book was very much not for me. I’m a big fan of Kate’s on Instagram and was excited for this book. I found the puns really awkward and cringe versus trying to make a bigger point and to talk about millenial culture. I appreciated her discussing fertility issues and the ways in which millennials were taught about pregnancy and the harsh reality of a lot of women’s experiences. Otherwise, I’m glad this book exists for some women, just not for me.

What a fun read! I was born in 1981 and, while a little on the older side for the intended audience, it hit me right in the feels. Being a girls growing up in the 80s and 90, I felt so seen reading this book. Kate is hilarious and I love her writing style.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.