MY MOMENT is a compilation of mini-essays from 106 women. Each was asked, "What was the moment in your life when you realized you were ready to fight for yourself?"

I appreciated the range of different stories on display (with a few exceptions that didn't seem to be a good fit with the book's overall themes). Most of these essays are snippets, some are more powerful or well-told than others. I read this book over the course of about six weeks and enjoyed it most when I was in the right headspace to lean into the feelings -- when I was ready to empathize with trauma and feel galvanized by these women. Definitely one I'd recommend reading in several sittings rather than all at once.

Note that the physical copy and e-book include portraits of each woman, many taken by a woman or girl important to them. There also are childhood photos from some of them women (who speak of moments from their upbringing). Please also note content warnings for just about everything you can think of, from description of suicidal ideation and an armed attack to homophobia and rape.

As an avid Kristin Chenoweth fan, I was looking forward to reading this book because she's featured in it. To my disappointment, I didn't enjoy this book. Out of the 106 women who wrote short essays, I only recognized about 20. Additionally, the prologue says that because of COVID, they weren't able to take black and white photographs of everyone by the same photographer; instead, they asked the women to send in photographs. The result was a non-cohesive, disjointed aesthetic. I believe the following would have made this book much more enjoyable, as the concept of the book was a wonderful one:

1. Wait to publish it until they were able to take similar photographs with the same quality of each woman.
2. Some of the essays felt like a question and answer section on an exam. The essays that were the most powerful were the ones that didn't say, "My moment was..."
3. Have more known names and faces.

I feel empowered by these stories. From well known names to lesser known individuals, this book covers the spectrum. From candid answers to adorable home video level photos, I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to every woman I know

With just a handful of paragraphs (or sometimes just a few sentences) from each contributor, as a reader I was left feeling like the project lacks depth. Several entries briefly mention heavy and important topics (like abuse or eating disorders) but lack discussion or room to have more than a fly-over of "that happened to me, now moving on..." There also seems to be a focus on actresses as contributors, and I wish there were a wider variety of backgrounds and jobs, though perhaps those are the circles the 'main' contributors find themselves in. Overall: interesting premise, disappointing result with so many incredibly short entries.

This book was just ok. The moments that were written about was good, but just not enough about them. It told you what the “aha” moment was and then, nothing moment? What was the outcome when they decided, “I have to take a stand”? This book would be perfect for younger women. For an adult, it would have been better with more insight. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my reviews. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I wanted this book to inspire me, u fortunately it missed the mark. This might work better for YA ? Seems a lot of the stories were of their ahaha moment as kids. I can see this being inspirational and relatable to young girls.

Over 100 prominent women give a paragraph's worth of examples of a time that influenced them to stand up for themselves. There is not enough from any woman to get a sense of her background or the lasting effects of the "ah-hah" moment. Short vignettes of awareness from each.