Loud by Drew Afualo is such a well-written book. It was thoughtful, funny, and serious when she needed to be. I found myself laughing, tearing up and being deeply touched by how delicately she handled the more heavy topics.

Drew has been a crusader against misogyny and the patriarchy for years. Taking down one terrible man at a time on her TikTok and her podcasts. I truly enjoy her content and her personality so I wasn’t surprised by the subject matter. But I was surprised by how personal and vulnerable she was willing to be to show how she’s become the person she is and is becoming.
This book is relatable, inclusive and inspiring. It’s a book I can see myself reading and listening to again and again. (because hello! Her narration of the audiobook is just the cherry on top)
I definitely would recommend this book!

Drew is the best role model I've ever had, and I think I mean that. She embodies feminism, body positivity, and supportive community. When I'm scrolling I will NEVER skip a Drew Afualo video, it is the perfect thing to cheer me up or make me feel more confident. I was soooo excited for her book, and it didn't let me down! Her sense of humor isn't for everyone but for those of us who like it, she's our fave. Thanks Netgalley for letting me read and review!

If you’re not on TikTok, you might not know the name Drew Afuolo — she’s a social media influencer who made her mark by giving internet trolls a dose of their own medicine. As an elder millennial, I love listening to her podcast with her sister for the Gen Z serving of self-love and empowerment. And that’s what this memoir brings to the table — loudly and unapologetically.

Brutally honest and informative! Drew has a captivating way of writing to get a point across, especially when it originates in personal experience.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Netgalley for this arc! I loved Drew before this book was beautiful. I loved learning about her family but also her take on society. It was a beautiful and educational telling of what is like to not fit in society's norms and unlearning bias.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I knew very little about Drew before reading this but it was really insightful! Her message of never settling for less and being an advocate for all to have the life you deserve was a really fantastic message. Especially for the younger generations!

Though I love her podcast and tiktoks, I was definitely skeptical about someone as young as Drew writing a memoir, but it's really 1/3 memoir and 2/3 advice and the advice is phenomenal. She does a great job of showing how important it is to uplift one another and ourselves. I was really impressed.

drew and i share a lot of the same values in life and i think that's why i adored this book so much. she has such a great way with articulating her thoughts on such important matters in today's society, especially as a woman. drew's book felt so relatable, mostly with her experiences growing up and her relationship. i found myself nodding my head and laughing because i had some similar experiences as well.

i can really see this book helping so many others. i adore drew and all that she stands for! she is a badass who works so hard and seems like such a genuine person. if you've seen her around on tik tok and think she's hilarious or agree with her slamming toxic men (as she should), i highly recommend picking her book up. she's an absolute queen!

Love love loved it, I normally steer clear from self-help books because a lot of times they feel kind of preachy to me but this one did not feel like that at all. I loved starting my morning commute with an hour of Drew reading to me actually interesting and insightful and inspiring thoughts and concepts that I hadn't previously thought about in the way that she is talking about it. I do truly think this book has altered my way of thinking about the patriarchy for the better. This book initially started off at 5 stars but as I finished it I found I wasn't as engrossed by the second half of the book as I was in the beginning so I had to bump it down to 4. However, if this is the kind of book that sits with me for a long time after finishing I could see it becoming a favorite of mine in the future. I found that I benefited from the chapters about the patriarchy and sexism more than I did from the more memoir centered chapters of the book. I do follow Drew loosely as an influencer but I'm not a huge fan so I felt like I didn't benefit a ton from some of the stories about her life. Since as a person she is so drastically different from me, I felt like I couldn't really relate to it or draw deep insights from it either. But I did feel like parts of it gave an accurate background of who Drew is as a person which helps to give context to the book as a whole. But I LOVED the chapters of the book that were more factual than memoir based and I felt like a gained a lot of insights from those parts. I feel like the chapters "The Fallacy of 'Leftover women' and other misogynist myths" and "Body Neutrality" are chapters that every young woman could benefit in one way or another from reading or listening to. Overall, I thought this was a great memoir and a great book and I'm truly glad that I picked it up.

Drew Afualo, you are a gem! This book was truly inspiring and heartfelt. I have been listening to Drew's podcasts for the past couple months and this book was so true to her voice across all platforms. I learned a lot about how Drew operates and how she came to be the person we see today as well as relating to the feelings she shared. Chapters 6 and 7 really hit me with emotions. I could feel the humanity seeping out of every word written in this book.

DREW AFUALO THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. Everyone needs to read this book. Everyone needs to decenter men, Drew’s voice was so poignant throughout this book, and oh what a joy it was to read. I will be recommending this to everyone I know - the relationship advice, career advice, self-love, ALL OF IT. So good.

I’ve loved Drew since I found her through another podcast I listen to and she’s just so wise beyond her years. Although she’s younger than me, reading this helped me look within and realize my true potential as a single female in a male dominated world & career field.

I’ve been a fan of Drew for years and she did not miss with her book. Her unique voice was so evident throughout, and of course, I found myself cackling many times because she is one of the funniest people ever. And she’s also intelligent, kind, driven, passionate, and fierce. A Virgo queen.

I loved learning so much about her culture and family because it is truly her foundation. The way she talks about her mom reminded me so much of my own in the best ways.

Drew and I are a similar age, and I see a lot of my own journey in her story. She is literally me when she talks about her lack of real life crushes and crushes on fictional characters and celebrities growing up. Damn, I felt seen. She’s always had high standards, and so have I, and she perfectly articulated the experience of watching other girls crushing on and dating mediocre boys and being like: “for what?” She also focused so much on the value of female friendships as we navigate our patriarchal society, and this was one of my favorite parts because it is truly one of the most important and worthwhile aspects of my life.

I think this is a great resource for teens and young women because it gives some language to what they are already seeing in the world and in themselves. The information isn’t brand new (and it doesn’t need to be), but it is true to Drew and her purpose to give young readers direction as they are learning to know and love themselves, embrace intersectional feminism, and decenter men .

Never settle and take up space, baddies!

Thank you NetGalley and AUWA/FSG for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was perfect. I felt like Drew was my bestie. We’re just some brown girls not settling. Honestly she’s such a strong leader for women, femmes.

I’m pretty sure the majority of us found Drew from TikTok. She is a viral sensation that cracks down on the misogynist community and use laughter as a part of her retaliation instead of anger. It causes all the hit dogs to holler, which is satisfying.

I feel like this book was simply continued thoughts from her videos. She touched base on many of the topics she talks about on Tiktok, with misogyny, sexism, fatphobia, transphobia, and so on. She voices her concerns and opinions very eloquently, which made this book an easy read. Her also talking about her family gave me a bit more insight as to who she was which makes me look at Drew in a new light. A better one even since she seems very authentic and genuine in what she stands on.

If I had a sister, I would expect all our voice notes to each other to sound like the audiobook for Loud. Honestly, I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I was cheering and laughing, and YES I DID CRY at one point. I didn't know much about Drew Afualo beyond the vague notion that she was huge on TikTok and that she's a feminist but after reading her memoir, I'm definitely a huge fan. Drew tells her own story with such vulnerability that I felt so empowered with every turn of the page and it made this book highly relatable and unexpectedly raw. This was truly a brilliant way For Drew to tell her story and say her truth.

A book that was unexpected in almost every way, but so incredibly valuable to read. I‘m a little younger than Drew but honestly not by much and I think that almost anyone who is millennial/gen-z will be able to take something from this part feminist manifesto, part memoir, and all helpful content. I loved that she talked about her own regrets, the impact of the patriarchy on women and men, and pushed for forgiveness of your past self if you have moved forward in life. A fantastic book that could honestly be marketed more as self-help than as a memoir and is especially valuable I think for girls/women and femmes of the younger TikTok generation.

As a fan of Afualo, I will try to keep this review as unbiased as possible. This is the first time I have read a book like this so I have no previous reference for comparison. The content was easily digestible, making it comprehensible, it almost felt like the writing style emulated having a conversation. If you are a listener of her podcast, you will be familiar with many of the stories she included. Being a little more critical, it did feel like it jumped around at certain points. I think some clarity and organization could have come in the form of shortening and increasing the number of chapters. Definitely a great starter feminist book, makes me want to continue to read more.

4 stars
This book was highly anticipated for me and I have to say, Ms. Afualo did not disappoint! I’m not one to usually read nonfiction books let alone those of a self-help, wellbeing nature, but I found myself really enjoying this one. Between the shared wisdom on how to be your best self despite the patriarchy interspersed with little sprinkles of Drew’s incredible and infectious humour, the chapters of this book just flew by.
This one is definitely a great read for anyone and everyone looking to improve themselves or even just to learn about how backwards our culture can be in terms of what we value.

Drew
“Being in love with a man is so bad for my brand” 😆 I loved this hilarious, heartfelt, educational memoir by someone who brought me so much joy on TikTok during the pandemic. We get to learn about Drew’s childhood, adolescence, and bits of her life now. The audiobook version is even read by her! So while I loved the physical format too, there’s an extra bit of Drew you get by hearing this book as she intended it.

I love the idea of laughing over being angry when anger doesn’t function. It makes sense how Drew has approached horrible men in this way.

Drew said to never take insults from someone who isn’t living the life you like. Love.

I needed the reminder that: the word “no”, is a complete sentence!!

We get advice on how to support women and put men in their place. From “What?” Advice, to others, Drew makes sure to emphasize safety above all. So important.

I’m so glad she remembered to drag the “nice guy!” She left no stone unturned.

Drew also touches on abortion and motherhood. I really appreciated her approach.

The women and men who need to read this book, unfortunately probably won’t, but there’s great advice in here for how we approach pick-me gals and bigoted men. Literally would recommend this book to anyone. I don’t follow Drew on TikTok, but I do watch her videos anytime they’re on my FYP.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.