Read by the author, this is a nice introduction to feminism. Good for both those who want to learn the basics and for those who want to feel not alone.

A quick listen I think everyone, especially young women, will benefit from.
While these weren’t entirely new ideas to me, it gave me ways to express them in a way I previously hadn’t been able to.

I chose to listen to this audiobook because it was available on Netgalley as a ‘listen now’ option and had been on my GoodReads to read shelf, however, after starting the audiobook I have come to realize that it is quite juvenile in its writing, poorly structured, and worst of all may be a rip off of another lesser known author’s work. I would prefer not to rate this at all but as it is required, 1 star.

Florence Given's "Women Don't Owe You Pretty" provides clear, concise commentary on a range of matters pertaining to womanhood, including privilege and internalised misogyny. When you think about it, the standards we allow ourselves to be held to are ridiculous. There's nothing in here that's new or groundbreaking but it is useful to have all of these lessons, advice and guidance in one handy resource.

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Florence Given narrates her own book with competence. This does tend to work very well with non-fiction if the author has a decent voice because the author knows better than a hired narrator where the stress needs to be.

The book itself was interesting. I found I agreed with 90% of it and I'm sure many women will have had similar experiences and perhaps similar realisations. Where I depart from Given's rhetoric is when she suggests that any oppressed minority cannot be guilty of the same oppression and/ or prejudice as those in more privileged position. Basically, yes, the system is broken in many ways and those who benefit from the system are its victims in a different way. It's everyone's responsibility to fix it. It's a bit to easy to ignores statistics that don't fit your narrative and a lot of these sorts of books do so that. I don't think this is what Given has done, but there are aspects that are far more complicated than she has expressed them as being.

That said, this does address the deeply entrenched issues regarding women being viewed as a consumable resource for men. Most of it is subtle or so deeply ingrained that we don't see it at all. This would have been a really useful book for me when I was 14, well over 20 yrs ago. As it was, this didn't deliver anything I hadn't already discovered for myself but Given's take on things is clear, assertive and uncompromising. It's a good book for women who do need to take more agency in their lives. It's a good book for today's teens, regardless of gender. I would personally like to see a bit more robustness of character and sense of humour being preached too. But everyone has to find their own path.

This book is terribly repetitive and full of rude statements. I felt that sometimes she spoke about things that she didn't understand. Other passages were full of clichés and quotes that don't make any sense. I haven't enjoyed it, because sometimes she contradicts herself. The way she sees feminism is troublesome, you can defend women and still be condescending towards them a few chapters later...
I think that if it was a book I would have dnf''d but with the audiobook was a bit simpler

This book is a brilliant mix of feminism, self-love and learning to be yourself, and I really enjoyed it! The multi-media format stopped it from feeling like an info dump and generally speaking, I found it really engaging. It works really well as an introduction to feminism, with a particular focus on how sexism disproportionately affects women of other minority groups and our own self-worth, however didn't really present me with any new information. But then, it is marketed as an 'accessible entry point into progressive feminist discussion', which it definitely was. Overall, I'd say this is a really interesting read, but would most recommend it to younger readers, or people new to feminism!

Sometimes I need to hear someone telling me it is okay to enforce my boundaries.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a phenomenal book, and one I wish would have been available to me as a teenager, as this book is filled with all the topics that were never talked about when I grew up. I loved this book! I feel empowered, called out, and motivated to be a better version of myself. Doing so will not only create positive changes in my own life, but in the world too. Florence covers a multitude of very important topics in relation to our own bodies and habits, but also in relation to the way we think about, view and treat others.

I listened to the audio book version and really appreciated that Florence read her own book. This is short, but packed with information and I have already decided I need to buy myself a physical copy of the book in order to mark it up, highlight, and make notes in order to refer to it again and again. It's that kind of book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC of this book. I LOVED IT! (oops, I already said that once)

2.5 Stars
I jumped at the opportunity to listen to this book, especially as I have been on the verge of buying it myself. In fact, not only did I jump at the chance, it is actually one of the quickest I have ever downloaded and then listened too, listening to it instantly and in one sitting, listening to it while enjoying the sun.

There are a lot of things within this book that is definitely not brand new information and things that I wouldn’t say are life changing information, but then again it really depends on the audience of the book. I have never been the person who has felt comfortable wearing loads of makeup, maybe because I never knew how to apply it right in the first place, so wearing it has always made me feel more self conscious than when I wasn’t wearing any. Although, I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never been envious of women who can apply it effortlessly, because it always seems like magic to me. There are parts of this book that seemed like common sense more than anything and obvious information or ‘advice’, but maybe that may have something to do with my age and my life experience, being 28 years old, which I believe is older than the author of this book.

There were times when I was listening to this book and it got me thinking, more towards the fact that I know somebody that it would be perfect and more beneficial for if they were the ones who were reading or listening to this book. From that aspect, I am actually contemplating buying a copy of this book, or one similar, to give to them because I think it would be more beneficial and that they are the intended audience for a book like this. It is hard to judge a book like this, especially to rate a book like this, where it isn’t any good for you but you believe that it would be good for somebody else, it just that you weren’t the intended market or audience for this read.

So although I didn’t personally benefit from this book, it was still somewhat enjoyable, an easy listen, if little repetitive in parts, but I do know others who would greatly benefit from reading it. The fact that the author included her own person history, prepared you for trigger warnings before each chapter, for a good way of connecting the reader/listener a little more and a good way of showing examples of what may and may not work for some.

I understand why I’ve been seeing this book pop up everywhere, especially with current events. It is a quick read/listen, but I would say it has a specific audience, maybe a younger age 16+ range.

This book is brilliant. It's been a long, long time since I've read something this empowering, informative and accessible - to the point where I'm even considering using some of it in our school curriculum, as I think it has some very important messages for teenagers.
By all means, it's not unique or ground-breaking in the ideas put forward, but what it does manage to do - and do well - is keep you engaged and interested the entire way through it. Which, I'll be honest, doesn't tend to happen too much with me and feminist writings, as I sometimes feel like I'm being lectured to.
The audiobook is narrated brilliantly by the author, who is clearly passionate about her beliefs, and it really helps drive the message home to hear her deliver it in such an impassioned and heartfelt way.
Would definitely recommend, for anyone interested in a feminist read!

While this book provided some good reminders regarding body image and toxic patriarchal expectations, I found some of its suggestions problematic. For example the correlation between prettiness and the likelihood of sexual harassment in the beginning of the book. This type of violence has everything to do with power and very little to do with the beauty of the people it targets.

This book is probably best suited for young readers or readers who are not familiar with feminism. That being said, it's a good primer to internalized misogyny, and key questions in feminism. Florence Given provides many opportunities for discussion. As a former college instructor, I can see this being a useful text in the classroom.

I was intrigued by the title which could be an entire thesis and has been the subject of more philosophical and academic minded books. This audiobook felt like Feminism Lite with a good deal of self-help tidbits; much like an extended Cosmo article. The book does a fairly good job explaining the concept of intersectionality but many of the ideas presented in the book are not particularly new or hard to access through numerous blogs. The author is very young herself and may be attractive to young readers.

This is the political pep-talk I wish I could have read as I entered adulthood. 'Women Don't Owe You Pretty' is a thorough and friendly feminist exposition that breaks down all the ways that we can regain autonomy over our bodies, minds and lives. Florence Given's writing is compelling and empowering. She is particularly adept at helping her reader to see not only how others' actions may have impacted them, but how her reader may have (perhaps inadvertently) harmed others. I'll be totally honest - when I first saw the cover for this book in a shop window last year, I thought it would be a pithy guide to body positivity. 'Women Don't Owe You Pretty' is a great deal more than this and I really would recommend it. I think the audiobook is particularly powerful - its lessons literally reverberate in your ears!

If you would like to overcome a lifetime of internalized misogyny and societal constraints then this is a great read.
Specific phrases really stuck out and allowed me to really rethink my conditioning. To paraphrase, “you deserve the whole cake, not crumbs”, “your energy is a limited resource... treat it like a bank account... income vs. outcome”, “conform to being nice... or you’re a bitch”, “You date someomes emotional maturity, not their jawline”.
Given has provided us with a quotable, well-researched novel. I didn’t even know I needed this but I needed it. I highly recommend this to the men and women in my life.

Pretty basic introduction to current feminist concepts, ideas, and causes. Nothing especially novel or overwhelmingly good or bad (other than a very cringey author conversation with her earlier self). The thing about this book is that if you're inclined to pick it up, there. probably nothing new here for you. If there are useful concepts in this book for you, you're probably not going to be inclined to pick it up. The narration was engaging and well done.

This was really interesting. It wasn't exactly something new in the topics that were discussed but hearing another woman's thoughts on the things women face everyday is always interesting and eye opening. In the case of this book I felt as this would make a great book for someone who is just starting their feminist journey. The things discussed are all key points often discussed in feminist writing but condensed down into a shorter and in places more palatable narrative. There wasn't a really any deep dives into subjects like some other authors do but it worked well for this. This is definitely something I would recommend to people just starting out on their journey or even gear it a bit more towards the YA Non-fiction genre even though there are tougher subjects are mentioned. This book also gives tips on how to start reorganizing your thinking when it comes to things that are ingrained into people from an early age which also helps to stear the book in that direction. This is something I would recommend be in high-school libraries around the country. Overall definitely a solid read and I can't wait to get myself and my sisters physical copies.

I made a decision to read this book after I saw a couple of posts on the art and design of it. I thought that the art was interesting and expected the content of the book to be interesting as well or at least humorous, however, I was left disappointed.
Even though I agree with some points made in this book, many parts didn't seem quite original. Not only that the writing felt quite vague, but some of the views the author expressed are/could be seen as problematic. I expected this book to be about women empowerment, inclusion and equality, only to be given a long, repetitive talk about make-up, body hair and shaving, border-line toxic hedonism, sex and masturbation. The author acknowledged her privilege as a white, pretty woman on countless occasions, but never really got to the point why she mentions it so much. The personal takeaway from this book is that being a feminist equals not wearing make-up, not shaving your body hair, buying sex toys, losing friends around you.. Which is wrong! Feminism talk should be an inclusive solution to gender discrimination, however, all the points the author has made in this book only emphasised the privilege of the developed countries, not giving any attention to the life-threatening conditions women from different parts of the world live in.

**I listened to the audio version of 'Women don't owe you pretty' provided to me by NetGalley in an exchange for my honest review.

This is an uplifting book, for every women and a life saver for those who feel trapped in a patriarchal society or feel confused conforming to preconceived beauty standards and how they should act and behave in a world that seems to be wired that way.

I think every young woman (well, every women in general) should read this as there’s so many great takeaways to implement and absorb into your inner narrative and learn to take your own control and do what you want to do.

A lot of the content wasn’t overly new to me so this book would be great geared to those new to this and for getting an introduction and laying a new foundation to overthrowing your preconceived notions that don’t work for you. It’s written quite directly and to the point, so readers do need to be ready to hear a brunt account so anyone who isn’t prepared to take into account or want to change may find this a bit attacky and too straight! Respect to the author for being so transparent and open too and there’s a great use of trigger warnings.

I found it written really well though and as I listened to the audiobook, the narration on the audiobook by the author was brilliant too. It made for very easy listening, wasn’t drawn out too long and can easily be listened to or read with ease. I did wander a bit in my attention at times and didn’t find any of the material particularly new or anything I hadn’t come across before hence the slightly lower number of stars but it wasn’t a bad book at all!

Good read for young girls surrounded by social media: fast, easy to understand and with some great insights on self image, society and patriarchal constructs.