First impressions: I went into this expecting a light-hearted, funny read…and that’s what I got, at least at first. The protagonist has an informal, unique voice and I loved her descriptions of her friendship and the embarrassing situations she gets herself into (reminiscent of Geek Girl in some ways!). Yet, this book also had surprising depth to it, especially once we start discussing mental health, anxiety and the pressures that social media and maintaining an image can put on people to always be showing their ‘best’ selves.

When I was younger I thought that when I started my period I’d instantly feel like a woman. I’d feel sexy and powerful and together. But it didn’t happen. I feel like I’m still waiting for it. I’m still waiting to feel like all the other girls at school. We haven’t talked about it but I know Sam and Millie feel like women. I just feel like I’m stuck as a little girl. Like maybe I’m some kind of real-life Benjamin Button hybrid child-monster. On the outside I’m still ageing but in my head I’m going progressively backwards until I’m just eating, pooping and crying at everyone. OK. I need to grow up. I need to start doing the things that everyone else is doing. But I can’t seem to move on from being Kitty Kat. The girl whose hair people ruffle, who has a cute nickname and can’t talk to boys. Not that boys are the most important thing because I’m a feminist. Or trying to be. Why can’t someone just teach me how to do it all? A bullet pointed list of rules? So I don’t have to feel like I’m just muddling about trying to piece it all together and absolutely ALWAYS GETTING IT WRONG.

 

Kat wound her way into my heart very early in reading this book – it brought me back to the uncertainty of being a teenager and trying to do your best, but managing to somehow get ‘it’ wrong, whatever ‘it’ is.

I liked how the discussion of Kat’s mental health was taken seriously, and how her father immediately related to it as he had had a similar experience. Kat’s friends really are her rock, even though they are also human and don’t always make the best decisions in every situation.

This book starts off hilariously, with embarrassing incidents coming fast and thick, but it becomes much more thoughtful as the book goes on, a depth that I had not been expecting but welcomed.

This is a great book for anyone who is curious about feminism or who is looking to see a realistic portrayal of anxiety. Recommended!

I’m sitting in front of the light-up mirror at the dresser I demanded for my 5th birthday, saying that all princesses need somewhere to get pretty. Now all it’s lighting up is every massive pore, every spot and every acne scar. My greasy hair and shiny skin and the way that my forehead is too small. I look at women on Instagram who are so effortlessly beautiful and it makes me hate myself even more. I KNOW that there’s filters on those pictures, but even filters don’t make me look normal , let alone actually pretty. I need to be more like them. I know that none of this is feminist. We’re supposed to love our bodies, our faces, we’re supposed to be confident in them. That’s what feminists do. That’s what real women do. That’s what I can’t do, and that makes me even more flawed. I feel like I’m a half woman. Not quite fully good enough for the world.

What I liked: Kat’s character development throughout the book, her friendship with Sam and Millie, how supportive her parents are, the fact that she is actually taken seriously when she does finally ask for help, rather than being dismissed, the themes of fitting in and standing out and trying to be the best that you can be in a world where your actions can so easily be judged. I also liked how she engaged with the idea of feminism and what that actually means to her and the people around her.
Even better if: I can’t think of anything really, although I can imagine that many readers will want to find out more about feminism after reading this!
How you could use it in your classroom: This should be an essential part of any library catering for secondary or teenage pupils, and would be a great recommendation for anyone who has enjoyed Moxie or Pulp. Extracts from this could be used in class to start discussions about feminism and anxiety.

DNF- 20% 

I could not get into this book unfortunately. I thought it was an interesting premise, and considering I am a feminist I was really excited to read this. 

I found the main character really annoying, and despite her being a 'feminist' I interpreted a lot of what she was saying as girl-hate. Maybe I will pick this back up in the future, but as of right now I can't force myself to push through.

I enjoyed reading 'Diary of a Confused Feminist'. I loved Kat's voice and her thoughts about 'how to be a feminist', what it means and how someone can achieve all the sometimes conflicting ideas around it. I especially loved the part about her visiting a psychologist. It explained how things work and that sometimes people need help from outside the even most understanding family. Mostly the book is utterly funny and hilarious but also thought-provoking and a really good read!

I received a free ebook version of this book from Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this! My review is still honest.

One question: why isn't this book being talked about more? This is the kind of book that every teenage girl should read. It's incredibly relatable and even now at the age of 20, I read this and it made me feel better about myself.
Diary of a Confused Feminist follows Kat, a 15 year old girl just discovering feminism as she navigates the cruel world of being a teenager at high school. It's funny and heartbreaking in equal measure, but most of all it's very real. Kat felt like a real person with real insecurities and real issues, and I just appreciate so much that this book shows the kind of self destructive thoughts 15 year old girls are all too susceptible to have. It shows how teenage girls deal with crushes and boys and bullies and feeling left behind and image issues and unrealistic expectations online.
This book is the perfect representation of mental health issues. They're so realistic and show how overthinking can spiral and take over your life. And the best part is, this book shows how they should be dealt with! Kat's parents, family and friends have the best supportive reactions when Kat reaches out for help, and this has one of the best representations of therapy in literature that I've read about. It shows an amazing set of friendships both between females and with males and it was so healthy and wonderful. And of course, it talks about the many dilemmas of feminism. How do you be a good feminist? This book describes in depth those debates that I think so many of us have and has a really positive message.
The only thing that brings it down a little is it's a very slow start and hard to get into at first, but I soon found myself eager to read more and speeding through it. I really can't say enough good about this!

I hate this book, OK i wanted to hate this book.-  well not exactly want but yes i did feel like this book wasn't for me. Why had i requested it on Netgalley now i would have to read it. Teen angst and feminism was not a mix i was looking forward to. BUT i didn't hate this book, there were some extremely hard hitting moments in this book. It made me want to laugh and it did make me cry (Ok i am a soft touch- well actually I am not}. This book is much more than you think it will be when you start, there were times when wanted to sigh but I am glad I continued with it and i got more than just a little out of it. I think it has a lot to teach teenagers trying to battle with life today..

Rating - 4.5/5 

Kat is 15, entering year 11 of school and along with her friends Sam and Millie she is determined to be the perfect feminist and play her part in making a difference to the world. However, being a feminist is a struggle, especially when your friends start dating guys and you cannot get hot Josh to notice you – but a feminist shouldn’t need a man right? Or your having awful thoughts about awful Trudy – feminists shouldn’t have awful thoughts about other women, right? During her first term of year 11 we follow Kat as her life starts to spiral in ways, she didn’t expect and her perceptions about what it means to be a feminist are challenged. 

I saw this book on Netgalley and requested it on a bit of a whim. The synopsis gave me vibes similar to those of the Emma Nash series by Chloe Seager and the Truly Awkward series by Beth Garrod. I assumed this book would be a combination of those with a little bit of Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu thrown in. However, the story took such an unexpected twist into the relms of Sara Bernard books with its exploration of mental health and I simply adored it. 

The book begins in a very lighthearted way with Kat and her friends making a slightly failed attempt at supporting the #metoo #timesup movement. Things do not go to plan and the act of activism ends up looking like a rally support for fello student creepy Tim. This funny incident gave such an insight into how funny this book would be. I found it hilarious, I was laughing out loud and taking pictures of funny paragraphs and sending them to a friend encouraging her to read it. It really was one of the funniest books I have read this year. It also set the tone for the rest of the story where big issues were being addressed but the humor masked it and that seems to reflect Kat experiences. 

We quickly see that despite starting the school year feeling positive, with the support of her friends and big plans things start to unravel for Kat. She has a couple of embarrassing experiences, then her friends Millie and Sam get boyfriends leaving her feeling pushed out. She also goes through some changes in her life that came with being 15 and has some horrible encounters with terrible Trudy, the school bully. All these small things quickly begin to mount up for Kat and before she knows it her mental health is spiraling out of control. I thought the way this book depicted this spiral was fantastic. It felt to real in how it portrayed these small things slowing mounting to become bigger issues. We also get to read Kats internal thoughts and I connected with these parts so much. We see her worry about small everyday things and read her thought process as they get darker and descend into irrational places. We then see the outward impact these thoughts have on her. I just thought the whole topic was handled sensitively, accurately and mirrored feeling and experiences I have had myself. 

I think the way the book displayed the potential outcomes of these thoughts was great.  It showed, although it may be hard to do, how sharing and asking for help can make a big difference. The reactions from Kat’s family and friends were lovely. It showed there is no quick fix to these problems but by simply sharing with someone it can make such a difference to the situation, again something I have experiences myself and it’s a really nice message to take away. 

I also really enjoyed how Kat discovered that being a feminist may be quite difference to what she initially though. She learns that you can be a feminist but still envy your friends, still desire a boyfriend/girlfriend and still have some uncharitable thoughts about people if they are really mean! You can also care what you look like and want to feel your attractive for other people but more importantly for yourself. It just showed that its ok to do those things and they do not make you any less of a feminist for doing so. 

I just adored this book and really felt it was something quite special. I think its something teens could really benefit from reading but equally anyone could read and enjoy it. If you are looking for something funny but hard hitting and impactful this book delivers that. 

If you like this book, I also think you would like Beauty Broken Things by Sara Bernard and Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu and vice versa. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for proving a copy of this book for review.

My teenage daughter and I devoured this tale following the ups and downs of Kat and her besties navigating the minefield of being a "woke" teenager.  There were tears of laughter as well as sadness as Weston showed the dark places your mind can take you to.  Mental health, period poverty, the Times Up movements are just some of the very relevant topics that made me recommend it to my daughter but I couldn't make her read it had it not been presented in such a relatable and hilarious read.

A beautifully raw, hilariously funny 5-star read. 
A relatable, immensely likeable teenage protagonist, obvious extensive research into feminism and prose surrounding mental health struggles that had me on the verge of tears because it mirrored my own past struggles. 
I would recommend this book far and wide just for how it manages to turn such sensitive, multifaceted subject matter into something so brilliantly accessible and honest.

This was a good new age version of the diary novel, It reminded me of Bridget Jones' Diary and 'My Desperate Love Diary by Kelly Ann'.
The book is current and relevant for young and older audiences alike.
The beginning was a little shaky to me, purely because of all of the embarrassing incidents that the main character experiences in such a short space of time - although this could have been a deliberate way of letting us into the head of a teenage girl. 
The overall premise of the book tackles some really important issues that teenagers are facing today - how to be a good feminist and person whilst navigating the drama and pains of adolescence.
For me, as an older reader the most important gain and something that I shall try to use in future is the way that the main characters' parents communicate with her and address her anxiety and depression once her struggles are revealed. 
Their sensitivity as adults and the language that they use to support her are exemplary and worth taking note of.
I see the best kinds of books as not only a form of escape but also a way through which we inhabit, experience and learn new worlds and things.
Combined with some laugh out loud moments such as the main character and her best friends learning about the horrors of cystitis from their school and boyfriends, this book is a worthy read that is entertaining and life affirming.

Diary of a confused feminist by Kate Weston

 The life of Kat Evans and trials faced by teenagers on a day to day basis and how overwhelming it all can be.  

An ideal book for adolescents letting them know life does have its ups and downs. 

Very well written and presented for modern society and social media. Though as an older reader  I still enjoyed this book and in some respects adolescence doesn’t change. All the insecurities are there just technology and social media has been put into the mix. It shows it’s ok to be different and have good friends beside you.

From the opening chapter I just fell in love with this book.

I was a big fan of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and Weston has brought this type of novel bang up to date for Gen Z in this enjoyable book, with added feminism. Woke. Kat Evans is definitely this generation's Georgia Nicholson.

This book is genuinely laugh out loud funny – the looks my husband gave me as I sat chuckling away in the corner! But it isn’t all laugh a minute, there’s some serious issues tackled really well – mental health, self-esteem issues, the pressures on our teens, feminism and women’s rights as well as friendship and family. 

Kat is a budding feminist and wannabe journalist (hello teenage self!). She has two best friends – Sam and Millie, a fun mum and dad and annoying younger brother, a crush on the school’s pin up, a gay best friend and an arch nemesis Trudy!

I want to be friends with Kat, Sam and Millie – they very much remind me of my two best friends! 

And Kat very much reminds me of myself as a 15-year-old. I had self-esteem issues, anxiety and worried that I wasn’t as grown up as my friends. I didn’t have the added pressure of social media and filters to contend with as teens do now. I enjoyed watching tv with my parents too - often thought I was a bit of a spinster haha! 

Thankfully I didn’t have quite as many embarrassing mishaps in my youth – thank god I went to an all-girls school! 

I can remember GCSE time being one of the most stressful times of my life – you’re juggling so much and I think we've all had many fall outs with our besties.

This is a lovely and important book that’s also a bit like Jacqueline Wilson’s Girls in Trouble series – it’s heart-warming, funny and oh my gosh so relevant! 

Although there’s lots of feminist themes the book is much more than that. And although this is aimed at the YA audience I’m 31 and absolutely loved it so don’t think you have to be Gen Z to enjoy this book.

At first I thought this book was a little bit too young for me but it actually shows what we can all go through and suffer with and whatever age and people don’t know about it unless we talk to them.

I didn't actually have expectations of this book, I just wanted to read it for a light contemporary, and while it was a good contemporary, it was not light at all. I want to put it out there that I did not see any trigger warnings for this and the book takes a pretty dark turn. Although I thought it was written really well, I've not been doing great mentally recently and I went into this not expecting the issues that were dealt with so that was not great.

Anyway onto the story; this is all about Kat dealing with teenage life, while also trying to  be more like her mum and be a feminist. It's written from the point of view of Kat and the writing style definitely shows that the main character is a 15/16 year old girl. I had so much second hand embarassment and flashbacks to when I was that age while I was reading this, it was so hard being a teenager. So Kat has a crush on the new boy in the school who, if this was Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, would be described as a sex god. She struggles between wanting to get his attention but also not revolve her life around a boy, she has to deal with the Queen Bee of the school who is a bully and quite frankly, horrible. Everything gets to Kat and one thing is the final straw and she finlly breaks down and talks to her parents, who handle the situation AMAZING. She manages to work through and find ways to help manage her anxiety and depression, and again, I love how it was written, I could relate so much and my heart broke for Kat. There is so much drama and growth for Kat and her friends and I loved it, it made me remember all the times when I was younger that me and my friends thought the current dramas we had was like, the end of the world (plot twist, it wasn't... we survived)

I would 100% recommend this book, it's very, I think realistic would be the best way to describe this. But if you do read this, make sure you go into it prepared for a book that tackles mental health issues.

As a teenager, I was a big fan of the Georgia Nicolson books. I thought they were absolutely hilarious. This book reminded me a lot of those - because of its style, and because of the diary entries. At the same time, it's a very welcome modernized update, that deals with feminism and mental health in a light-hearted, open manner.

Speaking of mental health, I had no idea this book would have anxiety and depression representation, and I thought it was handled very well. It was amazing to see such supportive parents, and to see positive therapy sessions in a YA book.

I think this is a really great book for a younger YA audience.

Rep: MC with anxiety and depression, Black side character, gay side character

CWs: depression, panic attacks, bullying, menstruation

A good story which will resonate well with a lot of YA. The pain of being a teenager is so real and Kate Weston has portrayed this well.

Chronicled through the diary entries of 15-year-old Kat Evans, readers join her in an obstacle-filled plight to becoming a “better” feminist and seduce the ASOS model ‘Hot Josh’. Having channelled the vibes of naughties icon, Louise Rennison, Weston’s heroine will have you howling with laughter and crying in frustration as you long to tell her that “everything will be okay – this too will pass”.

Although I am not the intended audience of this title, I will happily declare that I read this book in just one sitting. So vivid were the memories it ignited, I had to resist my urge to text every friend I’ve ever had (namely my crush) with an empathetic “I’m sorry that I was such an embarrassment” . It is Kat’s inability to keep her cool around Josh that made me crack with laughter. I realised in those moments that I’d never wish to be that age again and, maybe, I would never have to. Her anguish at feeling left behind by all of her peers and the self-loathing caused by social media, is something that all millennials can relate to. Similarly, Kat’s confliction with what being a “good feminist” even entails was particularly prudent. Is it allowed to want to look pretty? Is it allowed to hate other women if they’re mean? Is wanting to impress a boy an un-feminist ambition? The truth is, no one does feminism perfectly – because there’s no such thing. 

For all the praise that I have bestowed upon this title, I oddly have to confess that it is not a book that I immediately clicked with.  At the end of each evening, Kat lists all of the un-feminist thoughts that she has had throughout the day. To me, this was an overkill of the whole “bad feminist” “this is a private diary” motif. Though this isn’t a reflection on Weston’s writing as such, I felt like these lists were an unhealthy way to illustrate a point. Whilst it is very possible that this was, in fact, the intention, I believe that there are more poignant ways that Kat’s obsessiveness could be (and are!) articulated. The Bridget Jones-esque style of self-loathing was tedious and, in my opinion, felt dangerously outdated. Again though, I’m 25 – not 15.

Overall, Kat’s anxiety is an accurate representation of the all-encompassing nature of mental illness and how it adds fuel to the fire of pre-pubescent insecurities. Being a “good” feminist is an uphill battle that everyone must face – it seems to change with every hour. If you were waiting patiently for a fully formed time machine, then you can look no further than right here – Kate Weston’s Diary of a Confused Feminist has got you covered.

Full of humour, wisdom and sensitivity. Weston's narrative is full of fabulous one-liners. But, most importantly, she has created a flawed, yet witty and crucially - relatable - character in Kat. 
The perfect book to sink in to, giggle with as you join Kat on her journey.
Emma Perry, My Book Corner

This is the first book that I have read that lives up to comparisons of Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series.

It was funny, the characters relatable and portrayed mental illness in a realistic way. Peripheral characters were fully fleshed giving the book a realistic feel.

Would recommend to feminists of any age.

#tim

It would be impossible to read a fictionalised teenage girl's diary and not draw comparisons with Louise Rennison, but I would say fans of Georgia and the Ace gang will enjoy this book. The diary format and lively tone make it hugely enjoyable, and there are some truly hilarious moments. But there is also a very powerful and well-handled element to this book in its depiction of Kat's panic attacks and struggles with mental health. The portrayal was so accurate, relatable and not at all overstated. It felt very true to life, and the ending was uplifting yet realistic.

15-year-old Kat wants to be a good feminist. But she also worries about not having a boyfriend, being left out by her friends, not being popular or pretty enough – does this make her a bad feminist? When all these pressures pile on and everything starts to get too much, sometimes the only way forward is to ask for help.

Diary of a Confused Feminist is a lot like a new Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (the top teen drama series from when I was at school, to those who aren’t aware). It was a very similar witty and lovable-but-embarrassing main character, the same friendship dramas and boyfriend angst, and the same embarrassing-but-caring family dynamic. With all these key features, it’s funny and relatable, but just not as good.

The author has done a very good job of outlining the way people think about feminism vs what it’s really about, and also (I think) in dealing with issues of mental health and its perception. However, the feminism aspect in particular was very repetitive, with whole sections of Kat stressing about the same points over and over rather than the plot progressing forward.

This was a highly entertaining and cringe-worthy book, with sweet friendships and important life lessons. It’s definitely the kind of book I would recommend to teenagers, but certainly not above Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series.