drew and i share a lot of the same values in life and i think that's why i adored this book so much. she has such a great way with articulating her thoughts on such important matters in today's society, especially as a woman. drew's book felt so relatable, mostly with her experiences growing up and her relationship. i found myself nodding my head and laughing because i had some similar experiences as well.

i can really see this book helping so many others. i adore drew and all that she stands for! she is a badass who works so hard and seems like such a genuine person. if you've seen her around on tik tok and think she's hilarious or agree with her slamming toxic men (as she should), i highly recommend picking her book up. she's an absolute queen!

Love love loved it, I normally steer clear from self-help books because a lot of times they feel kind of preachy to me but this one did not feel like that at all. I loved starting my morning commute with an hour of Drew reading to me actually interesting and insightful and inspiring thoughts and concepts that I hadn't previously thought about in the way that she is talking about it. I do truly think this book has altered my way of thinking about the patriarchy for the better. This book initially started off at 5 stars but as I finished it I found I wasn't as engrossed by the second half of the book as I was in the beginning so I had to bump it down to 4. However, if this is the kind of book that sits with me for a long time after finishing I could see it becoming a favorite of mine in the future. I found that I benefited from the chapters about the patriarchy and sexism more than I did from the more memoir centered chapters of the book. I do follow Drew loosely as an influencer but I'm not a huge fan so I felt like I didn't benefit a ton from some of the stories about her life. Since as a person she is so drastically different from me, I felt like I couldn't really relate to it or draw deep insights from it either. But I did feel like parts of it gave an accurate background of who Drew is as a person which helps to give context to the book as a whole. But I LOVED the chapters of the book that were more factual than memoir based and I felt like a gained a lot of insights from those parts. I feel like the chapters "The Fallacy of 'Leftover women' and other misogynist myths" and "Body Neutrality" are chapters that every young woman could benefit in one way or another from reading or listening to. Overall, I thought this was a great memoir and a great book and I'm truly glad that I picked it up.

Drew Afualo, you are a gem! This book was truly inspiring and heartfelt. I have been listening to Drew's podcasts for the past couple months and this book was so true to her voice across all platforms. I learned a lot about how Drew operates and how she came to be the person we see today as well as relating to the feelings she shared. Chapters 6 and 7 really hit me with emotions. I could feel the humanity seeping out of every word written in this book.

DREW AFUALO THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. Everyone needs to read this book. Everyone needs to decenter men, Drew’s voice was so poignant throughout this book, and oh what a joy it was to read. I will be recommending this to everyone I know - the relationship advice, career advice, self-love, ALL OF IT. So good.

I’ve loved Drew since I found her through another podcast I listen to and she’s just so wise beyond her years. Although she’s younger than me, reading this helped me look within and realize my true potential as a single female in a male dominated world & career field.

I’ve been a fan of Drew for years and she did not miss with her book. Her unique voice was so evident throughout, and of course, I found myself cackling many times because she is one of the funniest people ever. And she’s also intelligent, kind, driven, passionate, and fierce. A Virgo queen.

I loved learning so much about her culture and family because it is truly her foundation. The way she talks about her mom reminded me so much of my own in the best ways.

Drew and I are a similar age, and I see a lot of my own journey in her story. She is literally me when she talks about her lack of real life crushes and crushes on fictional characters and celebrities growing up. Damn, I felt seen. She’s always had high standards, and so have I, and she perfectly articulated the experience of watching other girls crushing on and dating mediocre boys and being like: “for what?” She also focused so much on the value of female friendships as we navigate our patriarchal society, and this was one of my favorite parts because it is truly one of the most important and worthwhile aspects of my life.

I think this is a great resource for teens and young women because it gives some language to what they are already seeing in the world and in themselves. The information isn’t brand new (and it doesn’t need to be), but it is true to Drew and her purpose to give young readers direction as they are learning to know and love themselves, embrace intersectional feminism, and decenter men .

Never settle and take up space, baddies!

Thank you NetGalley and AUWA/FSG for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was perfect. I felt like Drew was my bestie. We’re just some brown girls not settling. Honestly she’s such a strong leader for women, femmes.

I’m pretty sure the majority of us found Drew from TikTok. She is a viral sensation that cracks down on the misogynist community and use laughter as a part of her retaliation instead of anger. It causes all the hit dogs to holler, which is satisfying.

I feel like this book was simply continued thoughts from her videos. She touched base on many of the topics she talks about on Tiktok, with misogyny, sexism, fatphobia, transphobia, and so on. She voices her concerns and opinions very eloquently, which made this book an easy read. Her also talking about her family gave me a bit more insight as to who she was which makes me look at Drew in a new light. A better one even since she seems very authentic and genuine in what she stands on.

If I had a sister, I would expect all our voice notes to each other to sound like the audiobook for Loud. Honestly, I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I was cheering and laughing, and YES I DID CRY at one point. I didn't know much about Drew Afualo beyond the vague notion that she was huge on TikTok and that she's a feminist but after reading her memoir, I'm definitely a huge fan. Drew tells her own story with such vulnerability that I felt so empowered with every turn of the page and it made this book highly relatable and unexpectedly raw. This was truly a brilliant way For Drew to tell her story and say her truth.

A book that was unexpected in almost every way, but so incredibly valuable to read. I‘m a little younger than Drew but honestly not by much and I think that almost anyone who is millennial/gen-z will be able to take something from this part feminist manifesto, part memoir, and all helpful content. I loved that she talked about her own regrets, the impact of the patriarchy on women and men, and pushed for forgiveness of your past self if you have moved forward in life. A fantastic book that could honestly be marketed more as self-help than as a memoir and is especially valuable I think for girls/women and femmes of the younger TikTok generation.

As a fan of Afualo, I will try to keep this review as unbiased as possible. This is the first time I have read a book like this so I have no previous reference for comparison. The content was easily digestible, making it comprehensible, it almost felt like the writing style emulated having a conversation. If you are a listener of her podcast, you will be familiar with many of the stories she included. Being a little more critical, it did feel like it jumped around at certain points. I think some clarity and organization could have come in the form of shortening and increasing the number of chapters. Definitely a great starter feminist book, makes me want to continue to read more.

4 stars
This book was highly anticipated for me and I have to say, Ms. Afualo did not disappoint! I’m not one to usually read nonfiction books let alone those of a self-help, wellbeing nature, but I found myself really enjoying this one. Between the shared wisdom on how to be your best self despite the patriarchy interspersed with little sprinkles of Drew’s incredible and infectious humour, the chapters of this book just flew by.
This one is definitely a great read for anyone and everyone looking to improve themselves or even just to learn about how backwards our culture can be in terms of what we value.

Drew
“Being in love with a man is so bad for my brand” 😆 I loved this hilarious, heartfelt, educational memoir by someone who brought me so much joy on TikTok during the pandemic. We get to learn about Drew’s childhood, adolescence, and bits of her life now. The audiobook version is even read by her! So while I loved the physical format too, there’s an extra bit of Drew you get by hearing this book as she intended it.

I love the idea of laughing over being angry when anger doesn’t function. It makes sense how Drew has approached horrible men in this way.

Drew said to never take insults from someone who isn’t living the life you like. Love.

I needed the reminder that: the word “no”, is a complete sentence!!

We get advice on how to support women and put men in their place. From “What?” Advice, to others, Drew makes sure to emphasize safety above all. So important.

I’m so glad she remembered to drag the “nice guy!” She left no stone unturned.

Drew also touches on abortion and motherhood. I really appreciated her approach.

The women and men who need to read this book, unfortunately probably won’t, but there’s great advice in here for how we approach pick-me gals and bigoted men. Literally would recommend this book to anyone. I don’t follow Drew on TikTok, but I do watch her videos anytime they’re on my FYP.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a fan of Drew's but I don't really know that this book was for me, it felt mostly directed at a younger audience. That being said though, I enjoyed listening to Drew read the audiobook, especially when it came to the chapters with more vulnerable stories.

Where to begin with this review...

I know this is truly not about me but as a preface to this review, I want to give context as to why I decided to request/read this arc. As a youtube girly to my core, I first heard of Drew from her involvement in the social media industry and interacting with some of my favorite creators. I have seen a few videos here and there and found her to be entertaining! I wouldn't say I was a fan of Drew’s or knew any deep lore about her, but she was a guest on a podcast I listen to regularly which gave me the opportunity to see her funny and animated personality. I was looking forward to learning more about her life through this memoir!

My favorite parts of Loud were the memoir style chapters where Drew detailed her deep connection to her heritage, her family and her friends. It was beautiful to learn about Samoan culture and I enjoyed reading about Drew’s life experiences that shaped her into the person she is today. I admire Drew's commitment and dedication to fighting a fight she believes in wholeheartedly. In a culture where so many people are wishy-washy, can't commit to anything or define their own beliefs, this is encouraging to see. I do think that Drew really wants what's best for women and believes she is fighting for what's right.

While I adored the memoir parts, the rest fell flat. Unfortunately, I was already not a fan of the self-help genre so that did not put this book in a great position to begin with. A huge reason this book did not resonate with me is because Drew has so many opinions and says them all so… loudly... and I don't agree with everything she says. This is just my impression of the book, not of Drew as a person, but her views feel so angry. It honestly seems exhausting to live that way. She makes so many generalizations and has an overall negative outlook of the world. Drew appears to judge society by the worst of us and frames her narrative with this lens. I would argue that we should judge society by the best of us, meaning the peacemakers and saints. We ultimately have a choice about our outlook on the world and our internal thought patterns. I am in no way siding with or defending the disgusting actions of misogynistic men or bigoted people, and I believe all of Drew’s hurts/emotions are valid. It is true that we need to be vigilant when facing misogynistic men, expanding our worldview, identifying our privilege and fighting for those who are not as privileged as ourselves. But I do believe that whether our internal thoughts are positive or negative does have a great impact on the life we choose to live and the effect we wish to have.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

3.5/5 stars

I’ve seen many of Drew Afualo’s tiktok videos and always found her to be quite funny and unapologetically herself. Her writing is incredibly authentic to how she appears online, and I loved how uplifting she is to women. In this memoir Drew dives into her upbringing, cultural background (which I thought was fascinating to read about) and how she grew into her outspoken, sarcastic, and strong-willed self. I enjoyed quite a few of her insights on life and can empathize with some of her experiences.

However…there were many parts that felt repetitive and had the vibe of a personal diary. While I do appreciate her being vulnerable in writing, part of me wonders if this memoir would have had a better impact as a tiktok series instead of a book. I think it would have felt more like a relatable conversation with an older sister rather than feeling like a meager attempt at a self-help book. Just my opinion. Overall, major kudos to Drew for putting herself out there and publishing this. I’m sure there are many who will adore this book! Thank you to AUWA for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was so unapologetically real and vulnerable. It was also uplifting, especially for women who have always been told or made to feel like they were too much. Drew’s book and social media presence continues to always be an inspiration for everyone. This book quickly became a favorite of mine.

An absolute emphatic whole-hearted yes. I found Drew on tiktok more recently but absolutely love her directness and her guidance. This book was an expansion of that but also a beautiful narrative of what it is to be other, what it is to exist in a bigger body, and everything in between. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

No matter your age or experience, there is something for you to get out of this book!

Drew Afualo is an icon already, mostly known on TikTok and in the Feminist world, both for her signature mocking laugh and epic one liners targeted toward toxic dudes.

This book is worthwhile just to get to see a little more into Drew’s life and how she got to where she is, but you also get so much more. I loved getting to know more about her family and the Samoan culture, it seems like they have a lot of love to give to others, which is definitely needed in the world.

My favorite part was getting a look behind the scenes when it comes to her relationship with her sister Deison, I knew they were close, but she really shows that even if you don’t do the right thing immediately, there is always time to learn and grow and most importantly, to be who you need to be for your family. Being the Little/Big sister is hard, you don’t always get it right the first time around! 4.5 ⭐️’s

Thank you to Drew Afualo for writing this book and sharing it with Me!

Big Thank You as well to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for my no cost ebook copy of “Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve”

I received this advance review copy at no personal cost and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVED this. I love Drew and this was such a fun read. I loved her talking about the things she’s learned and the mistakes she’s made and how that’s led to where she is now. She narrates her audiobook and it’s so exquisite, chef’s kiss.