I loved this book. The author looks at the history of the word, including etymology and the weighty social aspect of it. When I first heard that the author was narrating it, I was concerned. But I was happily surprised that she did an amazing job at narrating the book.
The book is both educating, thought-provoking, and entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy of Bitch: The Journey of a Word by Karen Stollznow. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts here.

This was an interesting look at the humble beginnings of an oft uttered curse word that has been through a number of transformations and continues to evolve. I had no idea it was as old as it was or that it was one of the 'first' modern curses. I appreciated the breakdown of language through the last 500+ years and the time spent showing how many words change over time.

I think this could have been a shorter read (or in my case listen) as it felt the various cultural offshoots (Jazz / misogyny/ movies/ rap / feminism / reclamation / etc.) all ended up in the same spot: despite its original use, it always lands back at being a gendered insult with no male equivalent. I don't dispute this notion, but restating the premise didn't enhance the argument.

I do appreciate that the book didn't offer a solutions ("Just stop using the word") or a path forward (e.g. coordinated reclamation) as there does not appear to be an easy way to de-stigmatize the word. I appreciate being left with the information and the opportunity to have a think about how words impact others, regardless of intendent, usage, and ample context. Some things just sound off-putting even with the most generous interpretation.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

Linguistics nerds will love this one! The author does a great job of taking you through every recorded use of the word bitch, and how it was perceived socially at the time. It was very interesting to learn about the history of such a common word, I definitely was not expecting it to be so old. The narration was great and easy to follow, whichnis so important for a book with so much information.
My only gripe is the audiobook felt a little too information dense, with very little weaving together, for my taste. But then again, I am not quite a linguistics nerd, just a girl who loves the many uses of the word bitch.

This is a book about the etymology and history of the word and usage of “Bitch”.
Spanning across time, author and narrator Karen Stillznow does a great job bringing the listener/reader in and getting you excited and interested in its journey of usage. She has a casual way about her writing and narration that makes it feel like a conversation among friends and makes the topic more accessible.
I found this audiobook to be pretty interesting and entertaining. My favourite moment was when author/ narrator reiterate some of the newer slang versions ( like biz-natch) of the word in her proper British accent.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this book and it made me question my relationship with the word currently and moving forward.

This was definitely an interesting listen and I was intrigued enough throughout, however, I don't think I was necessarily always interested in some of the history that Karen took the reader through. I was also very shocked to hear Stollznow say the N-word several times throughout the audio that she narrates.

There was a focus on a number of various related topics and a long journey through the use and history of the word Bitch. A lot of focus on how the word has evolved in various misogynistic contexts. Also some interesting callouts in regards to similar curse words and their histories as well as how certain groups of people try to "re-claim" the curse word or slur for their communities.

This is an interesting linguistic history and look at how language is a key tool of patriarchy and misogyny (in addition to other forms of discrimination and subjugation). The author is clearly well informed and an expert in linguistics.
That said, she uses the N word in it's entirety in the book, not often, but enough that I stopped listening to it at around 70%. It was absolutely relevant to the subject, but as a white author I saw no need for her not to just say "N word" rather that using the slur. This choice of the author and the publisher really turned me off and I did not want to continue listening. Other people may not find this as offensive, but I did not see this as justifiable. The same information could have been imparted without the slur being said in full.

This is a really interesting history on the word bitch. I think everyone will find, at least, one piece of information entertaining.

The word has gone through many changes but one thing remains the same. The word has been used negatively towards women.

It’s hard to really decide what to do going forward. Is it harmful to use as a woman? Can we reclaim it to be a positive thing? I’m not sure!

The length isn’t too bad but there’s a lot of info and history so you might want to break it up across a few days.

I enjoyed hearing the history. The author narrated the book and her voice was nice to listen to. Thank you to NetGalley, Karen Stollznow, and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen! I have written this review voluntarily.

“Bitch” is an extremely old word, over a thousand years old! Amazing! The variety of ways it’s been used, how it’s evolved, how it’s been weaponised and reclaimed, it’s all covered here and done very well.
If you love the study of words, this will be right up your alley. The author’s research is impeccable and she successfully wove it all together to make a fascinating, informative and entertaining audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the free ALC. Opinions stated here are wholly my own.

A very informative and educational book!
Bitch is definitely a very fascinating word, it has been used for hundreds of years and has referred to female dogs almost as long as it has been used against women - there is not, nor has there ever been, an equivalent word applied to men.​ I would recommend this book to everybody who likes feminist literature, this book shows perfectly how much power our language has.

The book is very linguistic in the beginning (which i personally like, but I know a lot of people do not) so if you start reading and it's not your cup of tea because of linguistic aspect, just continue reading it gets better throughout the book; later there are a lot of pop culture references and it gets more about the usage and connotations. It was interesting to learn about other similar words like cunt, slut etc and how the word bitch is used in other languages.
The conclusion part at the end was more summary than conclusion. There were full passages just copy and pasted from the book. This was probably the only thing I didn't like.

I love it when the books are narrated by the author! Karen Stollznow has a very pleasant voice, great narration overall!

The etymological journey of the word bitch: its origins, how it’s used against women, in favor of women (tea parties 🫖), and how its meaning has changed in different settings (LGBTQIA+ during different periods, prison, feminism). The book also addresses words used against men and discusses how they sting less than insults against women because men are rewarded for being tough. The worst insults men can get are those that allude to femininity, micropenises, or that they are gay (sissy, faggot, SDE, you know it).

My favorite discussion was when the author challenged whether women should be taking ownership of the word bitch. She explains how all the boss bitches and what’s up bitches use a word that has sexist connotations. I wish the author had chewed more on this because it was interesting, but she dropped the topic and moved on too quickly.

I found the book interesting but a little redundant at times. Nonfiction can be entertaining, and I found this one to be a little dry; I wasn’t very engaged. It started interesting discussions and dropped them before making a point. And sometimes it would go on tangents that were interesting but not really relevant to the book.

Loved this one! I did feel kind of bad about listening to it in the car where sensitive people might have overheard it but it was a good historical review of a word. The narration was perfect for this book!

Here’s some fun facts I learned in Bitch: The Journey of a Word by Karen Stollznow

-B!tch has been a part of our vocabulary longer that f%ck.
-It has existed, in some capacity and definition, Old English
-It has referred to female dogs almost as long as it has been used against women.
-Suffragette was meant to be derogatory as the -ette makes it diminutive. Suffragist is considered to be the neutral term.
-A prize winning British racehorse was named Filho Da Puta (son of a bitch in Portuguese). The stable owner discovered his wife’s infidelity when it was time to name the foal.
-There is not, nor has there ever been, an equivalent word applied to men.​
-Klingon, the language invented for an alien race in Star Trek, has no official profanities. All profanities were happily fan made.

From the original spelling, linguistic history, pop culture references, linguistic cousins, and how it’s permeated languages all across the globe, this colorful word has a long and storied history.

I LOVED this on audio. My fear is that the life breathed into this by having it read to you may be lost on the page. If it feels dry in print, switch to the audiobook. You’ll have a lot more fun. There’s something especially hilarious about someone academically reading hiphop lyrics.

A very interesting deep dive into the word "bitch"! At times the information got a bit repetitive, but there was a lot of great content and I loved the author's narration.

This book takes a look at the history and usage of the word bitch, how it’s been used against and by women, and how its meaning has shifted in different communities and time periods.

One section that stood out to me was when the author questioned whether women should reclaim the word bitch. I would’ve liked to see that explored more.

Overall, I didn’t feel like the book added much that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. It felt a little dry and repetitive at times, and while some points were interesting, they weren’t always fleshed out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love the history of words in the English language. When the word is sometimes controversial it seems all the more fascinating. This book goes back to the origins of the word and tells how it became what we use it as today. An informative and interesting read.

I thought this book was well-researched, and I have a lot of random trivia knowledge now. This book touches on the word in the title along with many other derogatory terms in history. I had the audiobook, and at points it felt like I accidentally rewound the chapters because it was so repetitive.3.5 stars.

It was full of interesting information about the history of the word, and its use in multiple different contexts. It did get repetitive at times. I'd also recommend reading the print version instead of the audiobook. The author recorded it herself. She frequently mispronounced names (including pretty famous ones like Simone de Beauvoir) and absolutely massacred any words that were not in English. It was cringe inducing and it affected the credibility of the author.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an academic approach to the word bitch. It looks at its origin, the history of its use, compares and contrasts it with other words from around the world, and ultimately sums up its impact over time, and in modern day. The book is clearly well researched, and extremely informative. The narration was done by the author, and you can tell that she is used to presenting lectures. She is easy to listen to, and follow along with the line of reasoning she is presenting. The only thing I wish would have been included a little bit more is the use of spelling during the narration. At times during the beginning of the book the narration included the spelling of the early forms of bitch. I would have liked to have more of that in some of the later examples, and even some of the non English words. Overall this was a well produced audiobook, and I definitely feel like I've walked away learning quite a bit.

I listened to Bitch by Karen Stollznow on audio. I learned a lot about the history of the word and how its meaning has changed over the centuries, yet in many ways, stayed the same. The author provided a lot of pop culture uses of the word, which made it more engaging and relatable. The narration was good, and I found it to be an enjoyable listen.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for a review copy of this audiobook.

Fascinating history of a complicated word. I learned so much and the information was presented in a way that was engaging and easy to follow. Will recommend.