One in a Millenial is a series of essays that made me feel seen and heard! The trip down memory lane and all of the pop culture references had me feeling all of the nostalgia! Funny, engaging, and relatable!

I've been following Kate (hi Beths!) for years and was so excited to have the opportunity to read her highly anticipated book! It was chock full of nostalgia - give me plenty of moments of reminiscing about AIM away messages and burned CDs! Fair warning, I do think I enjoyed the content quite a bit more as someone who has an almost identical demographic of KK.
A must read for millennials looking for a trip down memory lane that doesn't require dusting off your old yearbook or flipping through yellowed photo albums!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kate Kennedy for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book spoke to me on so many levels and it's not just because I can relate to every pop culture idiom that the author discussed. Honestly, I believe that each poem that the parts of this book began with was a fever dream of mine, because I can relate to every single word. From childhood, through college, and into adulthood, the stories within precisely identified the thoughts and feelings of being a female millennial. Thank you for giving a voice to the generation that cared too much about fitting in but couldn't be closer to a band of misfits. For all the millennial zeitgeist that this book stands for, this book should forever be part of this zeitgeist. The truth is that I loved this book and I dare you to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

This was a really fun read! I'm not a millennial (born in 1972), but I still appreciated and was familiar with so many of the pop culture references, and it was a fun journey down memory lane.

I've never listened to Kate's podcast, but have heard of her show before, and may take a listen now that I've read her book. She is definitely passionate about this topic, and her love for it really comes through in her writing.

A few little things that annoyed me about the book:
--chapters are too long (could really be condensed, as there is a bit of repetition and just general wordiness).
--too many references to "the zeitgeist"
--also, she used the "Limited To" joke way too many times
--I thought her word-play was really clever and funny and super-creative. That being said, while I enjoyed it immensely in the first half of the book, by the second half I found it tiresome and overdone.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4⭐️ First off, reading this title has me immediately singing “You’re One in a Million” from “Miss Congeniality,” which is exactly the vibe of this book. It’s like @katekennedy from @bethereinfive is inside my head and wrote a book describing my same childhood angst and love for nostalgia as a true millennial.

I enjoyed this so much. Kate is so clever with her plays on words. All her 90s-2000s references, even ones I thought were obscure memories unique to my childhood, showed that there really is something special about the millennial girl experience — and that we should own it in all its American Girl / Spice Girl / Andie “How To” Anderson glory.

This book is light yet also covers deeper, serious topics like feminism (my jam) and mental health. I also learned a vital lesson on how judgy of a person I am over people who are into “basic” things — why *not* just let people like what they like and enjoy that pumpkin spice latte and T-Swift fandom with no abandon? So I’m committed to ceasing my Judge Judy ways (because honestly, I can be basic myself and who cares).

Anyway, I loved this book and I just adore Kate (I say this like I know her). It felt like I was a reading a long note passed to me in middle school from a friend. With M.A.S.H. in it.

All the nostalgia and all the millennial vibes! This book took me back to my childhood and reminded of all the good days. It was an easy read and made me feel SEEN! It was super funny and I enjoyed it!

Thank you for the free eCopy!

Thank you, NetGalley for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Any book with the Spice Girls in it is an automatic read for me. Being a quintessential millennial, I figured the nostalgia in this book would grip me. The trip down memory lane, recalling my AIM days (@abbidoyo @smoothchick714 @baberoo90 - seriously, what's a baberoo?), and that cringe-worthy dial-up tone brought joy.

Even though Kate Kennedy acknowledges her left-leaning stance, I was taken aback by her adeptness in linking her challenges – both political and personal – to millennial themes. Either way, I relished this book and am fully prepared to embrace Girl Power, even if it means flaunting my love for basic pumpkin spice lattes.

And if you're not convinced to read this yet, i'll let the book speak for itself:

"I was, and always have been, with the bandwagon."

"I loved a freezer filled with loose old Thin Mints and tongue-dying desserts and highly processed foods like Kid Cuisines, though I shudder thinking about how it really f'ed with my vibe watching TGIF when the hot pudding would cross-contaminate the corn. Like a yellow marker you accidently drag over black ink; once they mix, it's never the same."

"For millenials, the Spice Girls are kind of like the Magnificent Seven from the 1996 U.S. women's gymnastics team. We didn't choose them, they chose us."

"Graphic lyrics aside, I loved this game because the yolk running down or the fake blood running down your back would be demonstrated by a sort of back-scratching soothing gesture, and I'm nothing if not a slute for a back scratch."

"The nursery rhymes and fairy tales and general fanfare surrounding your wedding and babies start so early, it's less of an option you learn about than it is the framing for what you build your life around."

If you're still caught up in the euphoria of the Barbie movie, this book is an absolute must-read.

I am Gen X. My sister is a millennial and frankly I've never entirely understood her LOL so I've been picking up books about the millennial mindset every now and then to see if I could get a peek inside her brain and figure out what exactly is going on in there. Unfortunately, I continue to be stymied...

Kennedy has done a fine job here and if I was her demographic I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed this one. She has taken an authorial approach that dances the line between informative and entertaining, and if these were my references and my experiences, I would probably have really enjoyed reading it. Instead I found myself struggling to connect with what she was trying to explain, much in the way I've struggled to connect with my sister when she tries to explain herself similarly.

I was not the target audience here, and that was blatantly apparent from the beginning. As a result I can only give it three stars - but can certainly see where others who do fall within the relevant demographic might find it a much more connective and engaging experience.

I really enjoyed reading this book! It is not a memoir per se, but more of a long form commentary on social world. Some of the chapters felt a bit rambling and as an avid listener of the podcast, some of the stories and references were repetitive. Overall it was an extremely enjoyable book and I am so happy for Kate! The authors outlook on the world is fresh yet nostalgic, bringing new perspectives to girlhood memories.

Thanks netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for a copy of this novel. I was sooo excited for this book because I love all things millennial. But I was disappointed. The first two chapters were good and nostalgic. Reminded me of a lot of things I forgot about in my childhood. But then I feel like the book just became about the authors life and her writing about herself. A whole chapter on how boys didn’t like her in college. A chapter about her depression she didn’t realize she had (even tho she stayed in bed all day with spilled food on her sheets). A chapter about her fertility issues. Now I’m all for writing about that and supporting women. It just wasn’t what I thought the book would be about. She would occasionally throw in an early aughts reference during all of this. But I didn’t think it had much to do with growing up as a millennial. I would say it was more of a self help and how to live your life book.

I did like how she talked about how women liking stuff would be shamed. If you were passionate about something and boys said it was uncool then you were made to feel terrible about it. Like why can they go to sporting events all over the country and dress up and that’s normal. But if a female loves Taylor Swift and dresses up for her concerts, then it’s mocked? Spice Girls will always be cool. Eight year old boys didn’t know shit.

I loved this book. As a fan of Kates podcast I feel like I could hear her voice in my head as I was reading and it made me homesick and nostalgic. I was transported back into the mall that smelled like cinnamon pretzels or sitting on my cousins floor playing mall madness using a t-shirt to muffle the sound of the speaker since we were meant to be asleep. This book was fun and I’m excited to see others talking about their experiences as preteens/teens. Would be fun with a digital download for a Spotify playlist.

If you were born in the 1980s and are feeling nostalgic (or are a big fan of 1990s/2000s pop culture), you will probably enjoy this memoir.

I loved the concept and definitely smiled in recognition at times when a certain song or cultural moment was referenced. Overall, while fun, I found it a bit too disjointed and the chapters too long. Recommended to readers in the particular mood to reminisce about their childhoods/adolescences.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I was very excited to read and it did bring back a lot of childhood memories but I couldn't fully get into it. It was a stream of consciousness more than anything. Just not for me.

It’s about darn time someone speaks for women everywhere and legitimizes our interests, despite society ragging on us for ages. I’m a long time fan of Kate and it’s fun to see her thoughts translate to such fascinating pieces of work (be it in podcast form or a book). She is brilliant and that is reflected on these pages. The biggest qualm I had with the book is the length of the chapters. I think breaking up the chapters into sections would’ve been more digestible and added a bit more structure to the flow. Overall, I loved this and even as a younger millenial (I couldn’t relate to everything), I’d recommend for her witty and profound commentary alone. 4.25/5 stars.

First, I felt hooked by this book from the beginning of the prologue. It was nostalgic, funny, and felt incredibly relatable. This book touches on a ton of important issues, and I believe that it would probably be excellent as an audiobook.. That said, reading it started feeling tedious and I ended up DNF'ing partway through the Popular-Girl Handwriting chapter. It was just too repetitive and started feeling overly cliché rather than nostalgic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

I really enjoyed this book even thought I have never heard Kate's podcast! So I will include that i do not feel like the podcast is at all a requirement to enjoy this book. I will say this book is definitely better enjoyed if you are a millennial or care about this culture otherwise you will probably hate it. but AS A MILLENIAL, it was such a fun road trip down memory lane revisiting growing up as a millennial. it was a lot of fun to revisit the things that have shaped us as adults in the times of the early internet, pop cultures influences and it feel VERY relevant to know as so much of this trends are being revisited by a new generation. I hope they read this book and can see a bit of what life was like for us with what our day to day culture was like. I really enjoyed her thoughts on purity culture. I know "going out tops" are virally made fun of tiktok so i hope there's a book-tok and crossover for the release of this book it definitely spoke to some inalienable truths of being a millennial so I hope she considers it a job well accomplished. My personal favorite insights came from her thoughts of motherhood which is something i think about and live daily and i loved hearing another from my generations perspective.

I didn’t know about the author’s podcast, but consider me a new listener! This was nostalgic and fun and I resonated with it entirely too much! As a younger millennial, I didn’t get all the references, but those I did were spot on. This was heartfelt and funny and I’m def a fan!

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO SEEN AND UNDERSTOOD. I've been a long time fan of Kate Kennedy's podcast, and the community of women she's gathered from it. Kate's storytelling is entertaining, so smart, and the joy and agony of the nostalgia of it about knocked me over. It's unapologetic + insightful cultural commentary that I can't wait to recommend to everyone. Thank you so much for the ARC, Netgalley!

Millennial nostalgia at its finest!! I love Kate’s way with words and this book is no exception! It had me feeling all the feels. I can relate to so much of what Kate talks about and it’s honestly a little healing to know I am not alone with some of my experiences! Thank you Kate for writing this book!

Parts of this book really resonated with me since I am a millennial. Other parts were just long-winded, I was very annoyed when I read the word “zeitgeist” at least six times in the introduction (please fix that). I did laugh several times.

I did enjoy this book overall!