I feel like netgalley maybe wasn't the best place to list this as an advanced copy, it's very much an academic text that should really be peer reviewed in advance of publication rather than opened to the general public. It is very wordy and not particularly accessible for a general audience.

Mean Girl Feminism offered an intriguing perspective on the performativity of white feminism. The book highlights the pitfalls of white feminism, such as the gaslighting and gatekeeping behavior, I found that it lacked a truly intersectional viewpoint. Nguyen's analysis primarily focuses on white feminist performativity, which, while valuable, could have been enriched by incorporating a broader range of perspectives.

I'm DNFing this book at 50%, not because it was bad, but because I didn't feel like I was getting as much out of it as I was expecting to.

I've been dedicating this year to consuming a lot of feminist nonfiction so I felt like this one would be right up my alley, however, the way this book was written left me wanting more. It felt like the author was throwing out a bunch of pop culture references to make their examples, but sometimes it would be overdone or overexplained. It also felt that this book would make a point, and then get sidetracked.

I can see this book working for some people, but unfortunately not for me.

After attempting to read this several times, I ended up DNF'ing towards the beginning of the 2nd chapter. I am disappointed, as the title, cover image, and description portray a book that I would thoroughly enjoy.

This reads as unnecessarily academic in language and entirely thesis-like in structure. It was evident I was reading someone's academic paper--removing some of the "in this chapter, I showed how X..." would be an easy start to making this text more accessible. The narrative parts of the book were certainly more enjoyable (although some of the examples, including the Taylor Swift/Kim Kardashian phone call, are robbed of their full context) and were perhaps the only times I felt I was truly comprehending the text. Jargon and academic terms are superfluously used without explanation (this is very alienating to your average reader, who are not already experts on the subject matter) and certain words particularly "neo-liberal," are used so frequently, they lose all meaning. I imagine this was an excellent graduate research project and paper for the right audience--I'm just not sure who this unedited version is for outside of that setting.

I found the author's archetypes of "mean girl feminists" to be interesting--I just wish I could understand what the text is truly saying.

Thank you for the eGalley copy that was provided by NetGalley and the University of Illinois Press. All opinions are my own.

I found this book put thoughts into words with explanations of how I’ve felt before as a woman that belongs to a minority group. Such detail and extraordinary research and explanation.

The cover of this book really grabbed me, but it felt very disconnected from the content of the book itself, which was more textbook/scholarly. Perhaps it'll help white women like me pick it up, as we definitely need the messages from this book, but I think that it could be presented better, and that a lot of the people that really NEED to read this book aren't going to stick with it or be receptive to it. Maybe that's a problem beyond this book, but I'm not sure that this book solves it. It's hard to know what the author's intent was with this approach.

Did not finish. I have 4 degrees and this was too dense for even me. Was not expecting a research based book.

Mean Girl Feminism presents a compelling analysis of modern feminist dynamics, focusing on the aggressive and exclusionary behaviors that sometimes emerge within feminist communities. The book illustrates how certain feminist discourses can mirror the very patriarchal structures they aim to dismantle.

However, its pronounced academic tone detracts from its readability, making it feel like wading through a dense research paper, although you could argue it tries to lighten it by essentially detailing teenager movie and tv series plots on and on (a.i., Mean Girls, Gossip Girl). This super elevated style can be intimidating or off-putting if you’re seeking a more approachable and conversational exploration of the topic. Despite its TikTok, AOC, and Taylor Swift name-dropping, from my point of view, the book remains largely inaccessible to broader audiences.

Thank you Netgalley and University of Illinois Press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I was quite excited to receive this book. I am not proud to say this but few years back I didn't call myself a feminist because of many stigmas and misinformation propogated and sticked to the word. Then I stumbled across few books, we should all be feminists , bad feminists and fiction works like room of one's own, the awakening and I could relate to them.

Mean girl feminism is a serious book and topic but it didn't feel like reading a book. Rather it felt too plain, like reading a medical article without a stop. Even for me, I tried so hard to engage my brain and yet I failed. I will say I had to make myself finish this book even though the topic is important and much needed in today's world.

Kim Hong Nguyen covers lot many celebrities from Taylor Swift to JKR and I agree mostly with what she had to say but it would have been better if it was little bit reader friendly, if this book is made available to vast reader population out there.

It just felt little flat to me in all its seriousness and didn't leave an impact like we should all be feminists did.

Kim Hong Nguyen's "Mean Girl Feminism" is like that friend who calls you out on your sass- but in the best way possible. It's a hilarious and thought-provoking look at how feminism can sometimes get caught up in the high school cafeteria, with "girl power" turning into "mean girl" power.

The book dives into four types of these "mean girl feminists" - the ones who think sarcasm is activism, the power couples who forget about dismantling the patriarchy while climbing the ladder together, and even the "global mothers" who swoop in to "save" the world (with a side of white savior complex).

Nguyen exposes the ways these tropes can actually undermine true feminist goals. It's like when you try to fight fire with fire, but you just end up burning everyone's metaphorical eyebrows off.

But this book isn't here to just point fingers and roll its eyes. It also explores how we can move beyond the mean girl game and build a feminism that's truly intersectional and radical.

Imagine a world where anger isn't performative, but a fuel for liberation. "Mean Girl Feminism" will make you laugh, think, and maybe even ditch your "girlboss" mug for something a little more revolutionary.

The book has good premise and I honestly interested with the topic Kim Hong Nguyen's explained. It gave me another perspective about white feminism and why some of it can not be considered as intersectional feminism.

Mean Girl Feminism by Kim Hong Nguyen is packed with challenges to people who call themselves feminist in the 21st century. The damage that gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss does to community and advancement is apparent in all of the author's data, support and anecdotes. This is an important call out.

As someone who enjoys reading about feminism from an academic point of view, this book made me question and reevaluate the content on this subject that circulates and that "sells" the most. It added to the ideas that I have been constructing about feminism, both based on research, my experience, and my own deconstruction processes. However, I do not think this would be a good starting point for someone who know nothing or very little about feminism.

The concept builds on White Feminism, drawing on archetypes like Karen which are already in our consciousness.
It points out that some forms of activism might overlap with ways that white women are able to perform such as being sassy or sarcastic, which women of colour might not have the freedom to engage in.
A really important point is that this aggressive feminism does not leave space for vulnerability and difference, showing that for truly intersectional feminism to flourish, we need to challenge this mean girl feminism.

I have been trying to articulate what exactly mean girl feminism is since Roe was overturned, and this book has nailed it. It’s a simple idea on the surface: of course white women have colonized and appropriated gender. Because being able to open a checking account and become a CEO aren’t enough. Because it was never about equality to a mean girl feminist, it has always been about competition. Men were the sole competitors for the longest time and now it is their fellow women. Yes, the text is dense. This certainly isn’t narrative non-fiction and I had to look up many terms and do some supplemental reading to fully grasp some new ideas, but I appreciate Mean Girl Feminism for what it is.

very interesting. it's far more dense and scholarly than the cover and zippy title implies, but i was still able to take something from it. we simply must dismantle white supremacy

Mean Girl Feminism is a book I liked the idea of but the execution was a bit drier than expected. There were times (especially within the first couple chapters) where I felt like I needed to reread sections multiple times. I found the section about conservative feminism/Laura Bush/the war on terror the most fascinating.

This was very dense and read like a thesis or dissertation. This isn't a bad thing, it was just unexpected and meant that I really needed to be in a certain frame of mind to enjoy it
Which I did!
I found this to be really interesting and raised a lot of thought provoking questions
I was really, really getting into this book and then realised I was at the end and the last 20% was notes
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Interesting premise. I appreciate the authors trying to bring in the intersectionality of feminism, and the tile white feminism plays into it.
It is very academically written. It does feels like reading a university paper, which makes it a bit harder to keep focus.

I haven't had a graduate course in feminism, so this all went way over my head due to all the jargon. Definitely not written for an everyday audience.