I love love love these type of books: nonfiction books that are fast and fun and easy to read. I especially love the different women who were highlighted, i had only ever heard of maybe 10% of them, and I read a ton of collective biographies. The entries are a smidge too short for my liking, but I think that's because there just isn't a lot out there on some women. Maybe could have used some more diversity in terms of race and sexuality, but overall, solid.

I have mix feelings about this book. I first start reading it the night before a long flight, and at first, I did not liked it. The book tells short (and superficial) stories about 50 lawbreaking ladies from the 15th century to the mid-1900s. I can imagine that the lack of depth in the stories are due to the difficulty in access documents and gather more information on each of these characters. Plus, the book proposes to tell 50 stories, so it is to be expected that none of them will be very detailed.
That said, and as I had plenty of time to read the book during my flight... I decided to give it a chance, and I read the entire book in 3 days, actually enjoyed many of the stories, and learned couple new facts.
The book is very entertaining, diverse, and humorous. I enjoyed the fact that the author is simply telling these women's stories, without any judgment of their character. It is a book that can be devoured as I did; or savored slowly by reading 1 or 2 stories a day and doing some extra research to complement the information on the most appreciated stories.
In general, I would say this is a book that deserves a chance, just like I did it, and did not regret it.

I loved this! I think I fell a little bit in love with most of the women Erika Owen wrote about, partly based on how she wrote their stories. Erika Owen wrote beautiful stories about most of these women, while humanizing them and making sure that we remembered that they DID commit crimes and should be held to the same standard as their male counterparts. I absolutely loved the sections about pirates, and outlaws. I Knew most of the women already, but I was introduced to a few that I've never heard of, and definetely want to find out more about! Alexander Wright's illustrations were beautiful, and added all the more to it.

This book has been on my radar for a while and I was so happy when I was approved for an arc. I’ve read a few books like this in a similar format showcasing women that have either done amazing groundbreaking things or are very notable, but I had yet to read one about the trailblazing women who dared to break the law and gender norms.
I must admit, many of the women mentioned in this book I had not heard about, although a few of them are shrouded in legend. These women came from many walks of life, and all of them lead lives riddled with crime- even so, you can’t help but admire their fight to get ahead in the world and survive, some of them had good intentions, others not so much.
Even so, this was an incredibly fascinating and entertaining book, I really enjoyed my time reading this book.
4 stars

** ARC provided by Tiller Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book!!

This book is about women divided into 7 parts: Pirates, Gamblers, Bootleggers, Serial Killers, Madams, Outlaws/Gunslingers & Bandits, and Fraudsters.

I really loved that this book isn't just about women who have committed a violent crime but also about women who are considered criminals because they are challenging society on what's "acceptable" behavior for a woman in their time. My favorite sections were serial killers (surprised?) and outlaws. I was happy to see some names that I'm familiar with and still love to read about: Fox Sisters, Elizabeth Bathory, Lavinia Fisher and Bonnie from Bonnie & Clyde. It was also very cool to read about Pearl the Outlaw, who is one of the famous stagecoach robbers of Phoenix, Arizona where I'm from! It ended up being brief snippets of the 50 women, meant to be more of a quick recap of their lifespan and their criminal nature. Knowing that their stories were meant to be brief, I do still wish there was just more information to consume. Must have more! There were some new names that I'd love to follow up with and find full length nonfiction works about their life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tiller Press and Erika Owen for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my bookshelf!

Fun, engaging, read. Owen does an excellent job of entertaining and informing in this awesome book about lawbreaking ladies.

In LAWBREAKING LADIES, Erika Owen looks at women throughout history who were notorious for breaking the law. These disreputable women are broken down into categories depending on their crimes: including pirates, charlatans, gamblers, bootleggers, serial killers, madams/prostitutes, and outlaws. Some of these women are well known—such as Bonnie Parker and Anne Bonney. Others I had never heard of before, but I’m thrilled to have learned about them. History books frequently skip over the contributions of women—especially is the contributions came on the wrong side of the law. Owen provides a short but entertaining summary of each woman’s life and crimes. None of the accounts are overly in depth—mainly because few facts were recorded about some of these women—and it left me wanting to know more about each of these women.

Overall, LAWBREAKING LADIES is an enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about women’s history.

I love this educational book! It's so informative and fun. I enjoy the feminist POV in the book especially. It's nice that women (even the law-breaking ones) get a mention finally in books. I plan to let my daughters read it too.

Such a fun and feminist non-fiction book! I am all for books looking at specific "types" of people over time and Owen does not disappoint. Organized into specific categories with occasional illustrations, Lawbreaking Ladies gives respect and background to women across the world over time, paying close attention to historical and societal context that lend a better understanding of how and why life led these women to their ultimate actions. Can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

Lawbreaking Ladies is a fun and easy read about 50 women criminals you might not have heard about, and considering my love for True Crime I honestly only knew about a handful of women in this book. It is a well-researched book that leaves you wanting more, and one I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

My favorite thing about Lawbreaking Ladies is how Erika Owen tells each story. It isn't stodgy or dry, instead, you can feel how excited Owen was to write about each woman. Own's throws in a bit of humor, some tongue-in-cheek comments, that keep the writing from getting either boring or dry. I also really liked that Owen didn't try to justify what these ladies did to earn them such an infamous past. They simply presented the facts as they were and left us to decided how to feel about it.

I also really liked that each chapter on each woman was not only kept short, but each woman was divided into sections by what kind of criminal each woman was. This made it easier to keep track of who was who, and I wasn't at a loss when the subject matter changed. I also really liked that each chapter had its own little glossary of words that were important to know with each new section. I don't mind Googling things as I read, but it was a nice bit of information to have at my fingertips going into each section.

Despite each chapter being so small I never felt that any of the mini-biographies were rushed. It's easy to tell that Owen did a ton of research on each of these women, and did her best to piece together their lives as best she could. It was also nice that she didn't shy away from the legends surrounding these women, but was quick to let us know there was no proof of certain things happening.

The artwork for this book was also a nice addition, especially the portraits. Those were a nice break from reading as well as an excellent visual of some of the women in each chapter.

I really only had a couple of issues with this book, and both might be fixed by the time this book comes out next year. The first was Deadwood is mentioned several times before the reader is given a brief history of the town. Not a big deal for me personally since I know where and what that town was, but if the description is going to be there I felt it should have been done the first time the town was mention. The second was there was a couple of small date typos that jumped a couple of characters a hundred years into the future. I'm sure this will be fixed by the time Lawbreaking Ladies hits selves this coming February.

This is a book that I will want a physical copy of once it's released to not only see the final product but because it's definitely one I'd read again.

Lawbreaking Ladies is made up of fifty short biographies of female criminals. While they got their spot in this book by breaking laws, a lot of them also broke the gender barriers of their time. Because of this, some of the women featured are actually pretty admirable today. One thing I really loved about this title is that Owen, the author, organized the biographies by similar offenses. For example, there the first section of the book highlights female pirates and the crimes they committed. Despite how much I enjoyed this one, I only gave it three out of five stars. This is because I wish the biographies had been longer! I would have loved to learn more about each one of the criminals highlighted and just felt that this book was too short!

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is February 23, 2021.***

2.5 - 3 stars

I was really hoping to enjoy this book more. I'm all about reading more about the "fairer sex" and learning that they were much more than the window dressing we were supposed to be.

History being what it is, there isn't always much information out there regarding these extraordinary women. There were many interesting women that I'd like to read about. The only downside for me was that some of the stories were a bit too short.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
It immediately peaked my curiously; some of these ladies were parts of stories I had heard before; so I had a bit of knowledge regarding those. Others were completely new to me and while these ladies mostly wouldn’t be described in the best of light, a fascination peaked and I can’t wait to actually dig a little deeper on some of these law breaking ladies. Mostly we’ve been told stories about the “bad boys”, the ones involved in robbery, murder, bootlegging, prostitution; so hearing stories from a female perspective was interesting.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book. It was a great, quick read about a lot of interesting women throughout history. The sections were super short for each woman. I wish there was a little more detail and backstory for some.

I really enjoyed this collection. There were all different types. I personally enjoyed the lady pirate. I never really thought that there were female pirates. The author did a great job putting together a nice, entertaining book that I think any true crime fan will enjoy.

When I saw the title "Lawbreaking Ladies" I was immediately intrigued and knew I had to read it. It's not your typical true crime book. It's all about women but they aren't all serial killers. You learn about lady pirates, bootleggers, gamblers, and more. The author takes you back to the 1600's and brings you to the 90's in true stories of women you may have heard of but don't know all the facts, or women you're never heard of. I learnt about serial killers I've never heard of before and learned new things about Bonnie (yes from Boonie and Clyde). You also learn about ladies who challenged the stereotype roles. It's well written and fast passed. I couldn't put it down and ended up binge reading it in one day. I highly recommend this book! You won't be disappointed!

**I received an ARC from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"…. women can be just as intimidating, terrifying, and feared as men."


What It's About: This is a collection of 50 stories about lawbreaking ladies from the 15th century to the mid-1900s, who chosen a different path in life, and went against the societal conventions imposed upon women at that time.


My thoughts: This is a quick and light read. I have to honest that although it's a light read, but reading 50 mini biographies can be a lot. It is not a book to be read in one sitting but a book to be savored slowly.

These stories are like quick facts/mini biographies and I liked how they are divided into seven parts -pirates, gamblers, bootleggers, madams, serial killers, outlaws, and fraudsters. There are some that I am familiar with and some are new to me.

Elizabeth Bathory or the Countess of Blood is definitely the more well known one.

When buying cosmetics now, I will always think of Giulia Tofana, the cosmetics killer who laced her cosmetics with arsenic, lead and belladonna. Yikes!

Ching-Shih the Pirate Princess and Sayidda al-Hurra the Muslim Pirate Queen were such tough ladies!

A bad parenting story of Kate "Ma" Barker, the mother who encouraged her four sons to commit crimes. Shocking!

…. and many many more stories.

Overall, this is an entertaining read with interesting facts. The illustrations are pretty and if you're looking for a light true crime read, this may be the book for you!

Pub. Date: Feb 23, 2021

***Thank you Simon and Schuster, Tiller Press, author Erika Owen and NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review.***

Lots of brief biographies that cover a gamut of intriguing women. I admit that 50 seemed like a lot of them at once as I have to keep repeating the names of those who I’d like to remember most. That said, I don’t know whose story I would cut out.

I liked that the book was separated into sections such as “pirates” and “bootleggers.” Overall, very enjoyable, and keep sharing the facts I learned with others.

Lawbreaking Ladies: 50 Tales of Daring, Defiant, and Dangerous Women from History
By, Erika Owen
Pub date: February 23, 2021
Genre: True crime, Biography

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

Owens shares with us her incredibly researched collection of fascinating biographies of dangerous, rebellious, and often criminal women who have solidified their places in history.

Whether you've heard about them already or if their remarkable stories are new to you, here's a sneak peek of a few of the pirates, fraudsters, gamblers, bootleggers, serial killers, madams, and outlaws throughout the ages;
*Elizabeth Bigley- The Fraud Who Never Learned Her Lesson
*Marie Baker- The Pretty Pants Bandit
*Lavinia Fisher- The Legendary Hotel Killer
*Willie Carter Sharpe- The Speedster With Diamonds in Her Teeth

By telling their stories in this beautifully illustrated collection, we learn about these lawbreaking and legendary women in such a unique way. I Love biography collections like this and found each and every one of these bold and not so nice women's stories incredibly interesting! A great gift for true crime, biography, and women of history fans.

I was excited to receive this book, and learn about woman who broke all the rules. However, I was a little disappointed when I started this book, I was expecting a more detailed life and history of each of the woman mentioned in this story, but several of the woman barely had any information on them and took up just a page. I found it a bit dull at times and repetitive mostly focusing on the mundane aspects of their lives. As the book progressed the stories did get more detailed about each woman’s life of crime. I did enjoy the stories about the woman that changed history for others. By being criminals, their stories effected woman later on and they did not accept the laws that say woman can not do something. This book did included a number of great historical facts that were very interesting and at times a look at what those historical times were like for woman. This book does included robbery, prostitution, murder and kidnapping. I received this ebook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.