I tried to like this book. I really did. I'm a millennial, and all those cultural experiences should speak to me. I kept setting it down, then going back to it. But no matter how many times I gave it another chance, I just could not get into this author's writing sty.le.

This book is definitely a sipper.. in the best way! You’ll eat up each bit of nostalgia little by little. Millennials are going to be screaming yesssss to so much in this cutie. I’ve never highlighted more on my kindle!

Growing up in conservative west Michigan, she talks at points about the problematic issues in religious communities in the 90s/00s and how they still effect millennials today. I say that to share that it gets deeper than just spice girls and beanie babies 😘

She is hilarious and raw. So relatable. This would be the perfect gift for any millennial in your life!

I did the first 85% on my kindle and the last 15% on audio. I LOVED them both but the audio is really well done! ❤️

Thank you NetGalley for my copies!

I went into One in a Millennial with a clear slate, as I had read nothing or had not listened to anything by Kate Kennedy before and thought going in this would be a fun telling of what it was like growing up as a millennial. What this ended up being was much more of a memoir of Kennedy's with some themes and common experiences of at least some millennials. The book starts off with a long disclaimer about how these are just Kennedy's experiences and just her opinion- I get that she had to get it out there that this is one woman's experiences, but that was abundantly clear while reading the book- and it just came across as trying too hard to stave off early critiques/damage control. What she experiences is a unique subset of millennials, and much of this book will not resonate with others of her generation. I did like how she split the book up into three sections- 1990's, 2000's, and now. As an elder millennial, the 90's section resonated with me the most- going to the mall with friends, American Girl doll envy (both as a sign of wealth and also an entryway into history one may not be learning in school), and popular television shows. The 2000's were not as relatable as I would already older at that stage, but she discuss about posting everything online, toxic diet culture, mental health awareness, and growing up in a generation of school shootings (she was at Virginia Tech at the time of the shooting). Where I struggled was her diving into purity culture and religion which was a niche I did not experience, as well as her college years and sorority culture which all came across as very white and privileged. When she pivots to now, is when she really lost me. She talks about her podcast (which I have no interest in diving into now- why does everyone need a podcast? I never heard of it- how did she get a book deal?). My major critique of this is that it needs to be two separate books- stick to major turning points and cultural milestones with the millennial generation or write a straight memoir (where fans of hers can read about her life). The stories are too individualized to be much of a broader critique and I did not find myself invested in her. This was a miss for me which I would have not finished if I had not read a review copy.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

I always jump at nonfiction taking a look at pop culture, and One in a Millennial caught my eye right away. As a fellow millennial, though a bit younger than Kate Kennedy, the references spoke to me and brought out a lot of nostalgia. I was also interested in this examination of millennial pop culture tied into our age group's childhoods and young adulthoods and interacted with larger markers of millennial life. Kennedy is a funny writer and her voice came through so clearly from the beginning, but I appreciate how seriously she took the culture of female millennials and how it shaped them.

Want to dive back into your teen years? Look no further than One In A Millennial! This book had me reminiscing every step along the way! There were so many things discussed that just hit right in the feels, but also made me realize how universal they were for the time, it wasn’t just me. I did feel like the chapters needed to be a bit shorter, as I find long chapters can sometimes feel cumbersome and make me less likely to pick the book up. Overall this book was a fun blast to the past and I really enjoyed it!

Outside of our own generation, no one like millennials. We have no money, and everything is our fault. Except, it’s really not. We are starting to get old, though, and we can totally be cringe, but if you remember coming of age in the 90s, early aughts, you’re likely to enjoy this retrospective. From definitely movies, music, and experiences, these essays are likely to resonate.

It was a fun deep dive into nostalgia, from this show to Now and Then (THE definitive movie of my childhood) and he Spice Girls. I felt seen! It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Growing up never is. I identified with the painful parts of Kennedy’s adolescence, too.

This was the most relatable book, hands down. I am absolutely obsessed with it and it is my book of the year. The way she so accurately describes the complete nature of girlhood through womanhood was absolutely incredible and I felt so seen. Will be recommending this book to EVERYONE

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of One in a Millenial by Kate Kennedy!

I took quite a while to read this only because Kate Kennedy is so spot on in her essays that it was too real at times haha. She writes with such honesty and humor that it truly feels like nothing I’ve ever experienced was an original moment. I highly recommend to anyone wanting to feel connected to other millennials and know that we all went through the same embarrassing things.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book as much as I hoped to. It felt like multiple books smushed into one with the varying themes Kate discusses and traces through her life. It just felt like too much and not enough simultaneously.

The absolute best feel good read, nostalgia trip, and a must for every millennial woman.

If you’re familiar with Kate’s podcast Be There in Five, this is an expansion on the topics she discusses there, and it’s fantastic.

I’m always impressed by how Kate navigates both rage and joy equally well, managing to handle both the serious stuff and the fluff with equal aplomb.

I’m not sure anything I’ve read has ever been more relatable, and though much of this is because the author and I have a similar background and grew up similarly, I think this will resonate with an entire generation of women.

The American girl dolls, the “vacation boyfriend,” and the question you ask yourself and your friends every weekend in college: “Are we going out, or are we going OUT out?” Every bit of this feels poignant, insightful, and acts as a love letter to the zeitgeist, with all its joys and flaws.

If you frequently played “Quack Diddly Oso” this book is for you…

👏🏻🙌🏻👏🏻🙌🏻

When my girls are old enough I’m going to hand them this book and say… “This was literally my childhood… enjoy!” What a time to grow up in, I feel so lucky. Kate poetically shares all the nostalgia of growing up in the 90s.

⌨️AIM
🛋️Daybeds
✍🏻 Hot Girl Handwriting
🇬🇧Spice Girls
🩳Salute Your Shorts
🖤Oh and the fashion!
Just to name a few that really resonated with me. I mean come on a Daybed?!! Nostalgic!!!

A master with word play I ate this up in one sitting. I could not get enough of her humor, the relatability and her openness. I’m excited to add this to my gift list for friends!

This story was a walk down memory lane. It's what every millenial needs. Seriously, unlocked some core memories. I loved this!

I am solidly a fan of Be There in 5 podcast. I think it takes quite a bit of skill to host many episodes monologuing by yourself and still keeping listeners engaged and interested. I assumed this would translate well to a book but unfortunately I was a little disappointed by this.

Yes I agree with other reviewers in that thought this was going to be more of a retrospective commentary on millennial culture and turns out it’s more memoir. The thing is I would’ve been still interested if it was only memoir! My issue is that this toes the line in between the two to the point where I’m reading pages and pages about daybeds and not really anything about Kate’s feelings coming of age. It’s doing neither genre to its full potential.

It does read like a research paper at times when describing things I am well aware of. I didn’t find it relatable in the way it intended me to because I was there. This book would be better for a different generation to read but as a millennial I don’t need such detail described about American Girl dolls without telling me anything new as I lived through it. I’ve watched YouTube deep dives with more history on AG where I could actually learn and feel something (particularly the discontinued historical dolls). But instead we have both genres watered down to fit space for each other.

There were moments I found so charming and even laughed out loud like when Kate would briefly describe a situation specific to her (namely the time her parents found printed out lyrics to “it wasn’t me” by shaggy) but the problem is then the moment was gone and we’re back to getting descriptions on how AOL messenger worked, something millennials already know!!

Since I do my best to not DNF ARCs I did continue with this and it did get better. If I was solely rating the first 25% it would be a 3 star but honestly the chapter on religion really resonated and gave me something new to reflect on and that feeling of commiseration. If this wasn’t an ARC I really think I would have DNFed and missed out on this.

I also appreciated the retrospective look on popular shows of the time and bringing new commentary on them. This does have gems.

Overall if you are a fan of Kate and/or her podcast then of course read this. If you are a millenial looking for a deep dive into the generation or someone’s experience with it, I’m a little on the fence of automatically recommending it. Thank you to St Martin’s Press for inviting me to review this book, I was definitely going to give it a try regardless.

I vividly remember starting Be There in Five (with the Mormon mommy bloggers episodes, of course) while driving through Utah (kismet, I think!) on a solo trip. I was totally hooked on the long form podcast format, the side quest rambles, and that Kate was talking about the same things my friends and I were talking about. Kate's book reads much like her podcast, with lots of talk about millennial-isms, things we loved growing up, and existing today.

TW for talk of infertility and pregnancy-related things.

As an Elder Millennial I identified so hard with this book. Our experience is so unique, yet we all share an understanding of this time in our lives. Wonderful read!

This book made me feel so seen. Love, laughter and some sadness for what we went through. I. Thought the pacing was done really well.

Even better than I expected. I felt so seen by this book! When I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley (thank you!), I wasn’t familiar with Kate Kennedy or her podcast ‘Be There In Five’. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I knew it would at least be a fun, relatable read with a bunch of (amazing) millennial pop culture references. It was all of that but so much more! I wasn’t expecting the book to be this fun while simultaneously having such depth, but I was pleasantly surprised. Kate’s analyses about the culture many millennial women grew up in are so well-thought-out, in-depth, thought-provoking, and, more than anything, fun to read. I immediately subscribed to her podcast after reading this book and I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on her work for this long! While I already have the digital ARC of this book, I will absolutely be buying a physical copy of this book for myself and all of the millennial women in my life.

Very sweet and nostalgic! Loved the topic and enjoyed the read so much. :)

Thank you NetGalley and Kate Kennedy!

Full disclosure: I've been following Kate on Instagram since her doormat days and still, years later, look forward to hearing her voice on my feed. She truly has a way with words and is one of those fast talkers who I feel like could give an entire intelligent dissertation filled with appropriate puns and other wordplays on a whim. I'm often envious of how her brain works.

I'm a few years older than Kate, but very much in the (elder) millennial group and have always been able to relate to her in so many ways. From American Girl Dolls to celebrity obsessions to Instant Messenger to trying to fit in to building my own business, I was really excited to hear everything she has to say on being a millennial and pop culture.

This book isn't billed as being a memoir, but in many ways, it is. Kate really leans on her personal experiences with pop culture and not all millennials will be able to relate (she is very transparent about how privileged she is in many ways). Despite the cutesy wordplay, the book really is an intelligent, almost academic, look at millennial pop culture topics. Not all the chapters are easy breezy (Cover Girl) and you may find them heavier than what you're looking for in a pop culture book.

I personally loved this and especially enjoyed how she pulls apart much of the experiences lots of us had growing up as millennial females that have shaped who we are today. I will never look at Saved By the Bell the same way again! She also does a deep dive on the term "basic" and how women's interests are often diminished and mocked.

I worry slightly that those who don't know already know who Kate is might think her book is too filled with cutesy wordplay (there are A LOT of puns), but I think knowing Kate, I just know this is literally how she speaks. I haven't listened to it, but I feel like the book would be absolutely fabulous on audio and is probably really how it's meant to be consumed.

If you want an intelligent look at millennial culture that will bring back lots of fun memories while also giving you a different lens through which to look at your experiences, definitely check this one out!