I loved this book so much! I know it is early in the year, but this has been my favorite read so far. Relatable, hilarious, and enjoyable - I couldn't put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ARC of this book.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: non-fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
An entertaining read that brought back alot of 90’s/2000’s nostalgia. Some of it wasn’t relatable to me but I still enjoyed this one.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Pop culture
Be There in Five podcast
Coming of age
Heartwarming and funny
Well written
Books that make you feel seen

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The poems
Covers alot of topics

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Some of the stuff was very specific to the author

There were some great references that brought me back to my childhood. But ultimately, it was too wordy and I skimmed around through some of the book. It was still fun for the memories it brought up!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was an interesting read. This is a book for millennials by popular podcaster Kate Kennedy of Be There in Five. It's a bit of a walk down memory lane regarding the pop culture of that time. I'm not a millennial but I could relate to a lot of her experiences since I was just a bit older than her and a different generation. She talked about popular girl handwriting, American girls, shows, and experiences. They were the first generation to grow up with the internet.

I can relate to her frustration and that of many millennials things were not the same as they were told they could be when they get older.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kate Kennedy for the ARC of this book

4.5 stars, more accurately. But I gave it the 5 because I feel heard. Seriously. There are so many accurate depictions of being a millennial in this book that I could connect with. We were gifted both the blessing and the curse of growing up with so many societal shifts. I honestly failed to recognize how formative these things have been. This is a must-read for the mall junkie, Teen magazine reading, AIM using, CD collecting 30/early 40-somethings out there! We are unique and we are finally…maybe…figuring it out.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and author Kate Kennedy for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

There is nothing more exciting to me than seeing the continued success of people I admire. I have been a fan of Kate Kennedy and the Be There in Five Podcast for the longest time. She helped get me through many sunday chores and mental health walks during the pandemic. I was thrilled to see her get a book deal and I’m even happier now that I’ve read the book. It is masterful. Even though I am on the end of the millennial spectrum (1992/1993 babies, where are you?) I still could relate to so much of what Kate wrote about. I was a little too young for the Spice Girls but I was very much an American Girl girlie. There was so much I could relate to and so much I learned, amidst Kate’s signature clever and thoughtful dialogue.

Synopsis:

“One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from coming of age as a member of a much-maligned generation.Kate is a pop culture commentator and host of the popular millennial-focused podcast Be There in Five. Part-funny, part-serious, Kate navigates the complicated nature of celebrating and criticizing the culture that shaped her as a woman, while arguing that great depths can come from surface-level interests.With her trademark style and vulnerability, One In a Millennial is sharp, hilarious, and heartwarming all at once. She tackles AOL Instant Messenger, purity culture, American Girl Dolls, going out tops, Spice Girl feminism, her feelings about millennial motherhood, and more. Kate’s laugh-out-loud asides and keen observations will have you nodding your head and maybe even tearing up.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Essay Structure: I love how Kate structured this book. It’s an essay collection instead of a tradition memoir, but it still has a memoir feel while staying fresh and fun.

The Writing: I was constantly surprised by how clever the writing was. I shouldn’t be, since Kate’s podcasting has always been quippy and brilliant, but seeing it all in written form was even more more exciting.

The Feelings it Evoked—In the audiobook, Kate opens up in such a beautiful, vulnerable way. I was moved by the emotion in her voice numerous times.

What Didn’t Work:

Nothing! I really thought this was such a well thought out, emotional, funny, relevant book.

Character Authenticity: N/A Spice Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 5/5

Content Warnings:

Infertility, pregnancy loss, ectopic pregnancy, mass shooting, mental health

4.5 stars! I absolutely loved this book and the messages it brought up. I was expecting a fun, lighthearted read & while some moments felt lighter, some more serious topics were also addressed. I loved how feminist this book was! It addressed so many important things & I absolutely would have read even more. The one thing I didn’t love was how some of the random tangents felt disconnected from what was already being discussed, but others times they matched up well. Overall, I loved this and will be recommending to everyone!

Probably my most anticipated book of the year is here!

If you aren’t familiar with Kate’s podcast, Be There In Five, I cannot recommend it highly enough (& if you’re someone I’ve forced into listening to her podcast in the past, you’re welcome)!

Here’s where I start to ramble incoherently, pardon the mess that follows. I cannot possibly fit my thoughts into a caption so I will just word vomit all over the rest of my allotted space.

What you need to know is that Kate’s specialty is deep diving pop culture and bringing so much nuance and value to the discourse surrounding it. Her book is not a memoir, but also, it is. It is both a love letter to and a critique of girlhood and growing up in the aughts - if you are a mid-range millennial with stereotypically feminine interests, her book will resonate with you, especially if you have ever felt that your interests have been trivialized. Especially if you’ve been personally victimized by evangelical teachings (which ps, if you’ve grown up in America, you have been)! This book is nostalgic and thoughtful and funny and heartwarming and so, so clever. If you appreciate good wordplay, you will find it in abundance here.

I read this book a month ago and have been sitting on my thoughts, both because I wanted a physical copy of the book to photograph, but also because I wanted to intelligently put together my feelings, and I think we can all agree that I have proven just now that I am still unable to do so. What I can clearly state is this:

Kate is truly a national treasure and the voice of my generation. I love listening to her articulate things in a way I wholeheartedly agree with but never would have been able to express myself. The woman has a gift with words! Honestly, if you have the option, check out the audiobook version of this book. Her delivery of her writing is something to behold. I didn’t listen to this book, but I have been fortunate enough to hear her read her writing live, and it is SUCH a treat.

Kate has a way with words, which has been clear to me ever since I started listening to her podcast years ago. She has the incredibly unique ability to make the mundane interesting, and that, to me, is the reason why she is the perfect person to have written this book. Girlhood can mean so many things to so many different people, but Kate makes her own singular experiences growing up incredibly relatable, even if you may not have experienced the exact same cultural markers as Kate did.

I thought this was a pretty interesting book. As a millennial, I jumped at the opportunity to read this. There was a lot that I could relate to, but, unfortunately, there was just as much, maybe more, that I couldn’t relate to. Maybe this was because the author is an older millennial than I am. So while we still had a lot of similar experiences, we also had a lot of differences. For example, she had that whole boy-crazy, pop culture-addicted tween phase, but me and almost all of the girls I grew up with didn't. I also think that because she’s American and I am not, there are a lot of differences because of that. Because of that, I felt a bit disappointed, but obviously that’s on me and not the book or author.
I thought this was well written and put together. Each chapter was full of nostalgic millennial references, jokes, and puns. Even though some of the chapters and even references were irrelevant to me based on my age, it was still great to see the development that Kate went through in finding herself and becoming who she is today. Millennials grew up in such a weird time; technology and the online world were a huge part of our lives and had a huge impact on us too. It’s nice reading about others experiences through it all.
I had both the ebook and audio, and I definitely prefer the audiobook. I still think this was written well but I just struggled reading it.

Thank you to Kate Kennedy, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am not going to lie, I judged this book by its cover and I am so glad I did. This was seriously a flashback in a book. I absolutely loved it. I loved Kate's writing. It was so well written.

I had never felt heard or seen before until I read this one. I am being honest. Thank you for writing such an amazing book that I will forever treasure.

I’m a millennial and we get a bad rap and that’s mostly unjustified and annoying so I was looking forward to reading this book to hear some else’s perspective, but… How do I say it wasn’t for me, but it’s not that I hated it, I just couldn’t get into it, but the premise is still interesting to me…
I feel like there were so many references thrown in back to back that it started feeling like I was reading a list of millennial pop culture references. I did not finish, but I may go back in the future and revisit this one.
At this point, I think it’s more of a me problem than the book. The writing is super fast paced and I think it would end up being a quick read!

I loved this book so much. I was born in 1988 and I swear that Kate Kennedy described my entire life in her essays— right down to stories from her childhood, emotions from certain shows or events, to thoughts I’ve had about the zeitgeist. I laughed out loud SO MANY TIMES while reading and was just smiling through the whole book. I already bought a copy and sent it to my childhood best friend. If you’re a millennial, you’ll want to check this one out! It will give you all the amazing nostalgic feels and will help you feel so validated and happy to have been part of an amazing generation!

This was such a fun read, especially for fans of Kate Kennedy's podcast "Be There In Five". Kate adeptly gets to the heart of the millennial zeitgeist, with a really nice array of social commentary and pop culture nostalgia.

Amazing - a must read if you are a millennial who felt vapid or less intellectual for having pop culture interests over the years.

Kate Kennedy, similar to her podcast Be There in Five (which I already loved), muses about millennial culture, beginning with thoughts about the 90s (shout out to Molly, my American Girl Doll)., AIM Culture, and Youth Group Culture, into the 2000s and today.

Reading it felt like Kate lived inside my brain! A true girls' girl - which is my favorite type of girl! I chuckled at so many pop culture mentions that I had forgotten about. Reading this was like spending time with a likeminded ~so random~ friend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I loved this so much. Wow. I loved it so much that I bought the audiobook, too. I am a big fan of Kate’s and feel so excited for her. She has much deserved success with this book.

This was a promising premise, but I feel like it fell flat in terms of being a rich story to be told. It felt like she was just trying to make as many millennial references as possible in as few of paragraphs as possible, which pulled me out of the story and the opportunity to find deeper meaning.

This is not a memoir. But it is a memoir. Like many things millennial, it contains multitudes and Kate Kennedy's book cannot be pinpointed as just one thing. A look at millennial pop culture told through the lens of a woman who lived it, Kennedy uses the stereotypical, middle-class, suburban experience as the framework for how growing up with this specific intersectionality of pop culture and technology as shaped us. I loved it. I resonated with it.

I'm a 90s kid and many points of these essays hit so close to home for me I had to set the book down and take a step back to process. I've reconsidered parts of myself that I didn't realize went back to sleepover dynamics and embraced parts of myself that I could never decide where they came from: is my dislike for math a product of lack of STEM-based experiences, or do I just not like math? At the end of the day, does it really matter, so long as I'm acknowledging it?

This was a deeply thoughtful, accepting book that I'll be gifting to all my millennial girlfriends, without question. Thank you to Kate Kennedy, NetGalley, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.

The nostalgia just pouring out of One in a Millennial is unmatched. Kennedy is a favorite Podcaster of mine for her hot takes and unapologetic interest in all things pop culture. Therefore, I had high hopes going into this book and she did not disappoint!

Her stories and anecdotes are (probably) the closest I will ever get to a time machine as this book brought me right back to so many pivotal stages of my life. It was a real treat to be able to reflect back on my own experiences while simultaneously experiencing the comfort of realizing that I wasn't alone in much of what I was feeling.

It was especially eye opening to look back at past experiences, media, and popular cultural events that occurred during those years - except now as an adult woman with, in many instances, a very different perspective on things. (I'm looking at you AC Slater.)

What perfect timing for this book to come out after last year's Eras Tour and Barbie craze. My hope is that we as a society and especially the women of said society will continue to lean in and embrace the things that we enjoy - no matter how silly or frivolous -because the fact it makes us happy is enough.

I will be recommending this book to all my fellow millennials and beyond. And for more where that came from, I highly recommend the Be There in Five podcast.

Kate can do no wrong when it comes to her writing. The only thing I wish is that I waited for the audiobook so I could hear her read it herself! Truly a gift to millennial women.