I ended up not finishing this book. I got a good percent into it, and I appreciated what it was doing, but there was nothing keeping me interested in learning more beyond the initial thesis.

Unlikeable Female Characters is a dissection of the reception of ‘unlikeable’ (according to who?) women in film and television, how these standards have been set, and how these roles have evolved since the beginning of film. Bogutskaya goes DEEP into this issue of representation and how it effects REAL women and girls, breaking down notable roles & and their impacts that fall into 9 distinct tropes.

The author took a lot of care providing context as several eras were discussed. I’m no cinephile so I haven’t seen many of the films referenced prior to the 1990’s but there’s definitely a couple on my list now after reading this book.

UFC hit the two marks I need from non-fic - got me riled up ✔️ taught me something ✔️
I really appreciated how much time the author put into the analysis and history discussed, and it was super accessible as opposed to some non-fic that reads like a textbook. 😅
I was tearing up in the foreword (Terri White) because it tied the issue at hand the womanhood as an experience, intersectionality, the me too movement, political tactics against women in the real world and more. I wish there was a bit more of these ties throughout because it was the emotional pique for me.

Overall this is a super thought-provoking read and I’d definitely recommend if you’re interested in the history of Hollywood & how the industry has evolved as women have taken roles outside of the expected.

Unlikeable Female Characters by Anna Bogutskaya is a sharp and insightful analysis of the complex portrayal of women in media. Bogutskaya's exploration of these characters challenges traditional narratives and offers a fresh perspective on femininity and storytelling.

A very important book that calls out the double standards in the media between male and female characters. The other breaks down the book into nine stereotypes that are after used with female characters from the mean girl to the shrew and points out how these traits are seem a negatives in female characters and accepted in male characters. It's very refreshing that this is being called out because I love a lot of female characters who get criticized for the same things that are accepted in male characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. It's concerning a topic that is very much important and should be in the discussion as we consider women in media. Bogutskaya takes a knife to dissect what makes female characters likeable, what we consider to be likeable and who makes the cut.

However, where my opinion turns sour is the execution. These essay style and conversational layouts lend well to readability but lack depth when discussing and doing deep dives into this topic. Also, as I considered the themes and topics introduced, I wanted more basis for her opinions. I wanted more substance.

This is just the type of nonfiction that I love to read! The themes explored in this book aligned perfectly with my personal interests, and for that alone reading it was absolutely worthwhile. However, it was written in a way that it was informative but not overly complex, which can make it appealing to people who don’t always read nonfiction. It presented the concepts and ideas in a way that was easy to understand, and used many well known examples (to those familiar with pop culture) to illustrate each of these ideas/concepts.

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a great read and perfect for those not completely family with the subject matter. I enjoyed the content throughout and the concepts being applied to characters/pop culture. I learned a lot and will definitely be buying for my daughter.

Really loved this! If you're familiar with the subject matter, there's nothing extremely eye-opening or revolutionary here, but I did really enjoy seeing the concepts applied to various characters and situations from pop culture movies and shows and stories that I've loved for years! I also thought it was cool that there were quite a few references / things I wasn't previously a fan of, that I learned about because of this book.

This book was approachable, as the author chooses to write in something that felt like an essay format. I found the wide ranging reach of this book to be it's strength. It ran the popular culture table and there were definitely familiar names but also names I appreciated being introduced to. If you read a lot of books on the subject of misogyny, there's not a lot new here. But I always enjoy learning about popular culture and how it aligns with personal attitudes and society. And this book was enjoyable for that reason.

I enjoyed this so much! I've read a lot of the work referenced as well, such as Too Much and Anne Helen Peterson's work, and I thought this added some important media analysis to the conversation!

I enjoyed this book. I loved the different references and writing style of the author. The book made me think.

A really interesting trend in pop feminism at the moment is the exploration of women in their ‘fleabag era’ and other deviant protagonists who complicate the traditional female character. Whilst I enjoyed these essays, I did feel that Bogutskaya was only skipping the surface of what is a rich area for research into contemporary culture and art. I think the concept of the Unlikeable female character goes far beyond what Bogutskaya’s limited analysis provides but it works well to establish a ground for further study.

Engaging and insightful. This is a recommended purchase for collections where pop culture titles are popular.

This book was so great!! Super accessible, entertaining and incredibly interesting. You'll definitely come away with a 'to-watch' list for both TV and Film!

I am notably not a Nonfiction Girlie so maybe my review is a little less critical than it should be but I got what I wanted out of this book! It was well written and engaging and had me screaming YES YES YES at so many points. It was accessible and not written in an overly academic tone which I really appreciated as someone who doesn't typically read this genre. I do agree with other reviewers who said it was a bit repetitive at points but that didn't really hinder my enjoyment too much. I do recommend!

This nonfiction book was a lot of fun which can be hard to achieve when covering such a broad, feminist-leaning topic.

The author did a great job of keeping it conversational and simple to understand, avoiding the jargon you can often get in books tackling a societal issue.

I think the only issue I had was that the topic was so broad that it never really got where I wanted it to. It didn’t so much teach me anything new, but rather provide more general musings.

As a massive tv/film gal I did love all the references though!

Sexism is still alive and well in our entertainment, and this book does an engaging deep dive into why that is.If nothing else, it will make you think about how different depictions of women are perceived throughout pop culture.

This definitely gave me a few things to think about as far as our views on female vs. male characters and the very much double standard that exists in media. I think, with anything that examines pop culture, if you're not familiar with the media given in examples for the tropes, it's hard to really relate or engage with the material. Some of the references that I had never seen, I sort of glazed over because I couldn't connect. But overall, it's a very solid look at why our word for female characters that are flawed is 'unlikeable'.

Informative but also entertaining this was a great insight into the sexism prevalent in media. Engaging and compelling which is hard to find in non fiction sometimes.