4.5. Weird reading at the time of a pandemic and when the climate emergency is still not being dealt with as urgently as it should be. Feels like this is so close to something that could actually occur in the not too distant future. Really loved having a protagonist whose motives you could understand and it’s ok that you didn’t agree or particularly like her (also that it was a SHE). Few things about how it was written that I didn’t fully get on with that stopped me giving it a full 5 stars.

Oof I really wanted to like this more than I did. Yes there are elements of nostalgia it brings up, and I can visualise it all taking place in Manchester really well, but I just feel that not a lot happened. They got trashed, they felt awful, repeat. The last 40-50 pages picked it up a level and we got a bit more substance, but I just didn’t feel much other than a bit of revulsion along the way. Ending was predictable and all just a bit meh.

It was great to read this days after reading Ronan Farrow's 'Catch and Kill', and I felt like I read them in the right order. Ronan's story tells of his personal battle with an organisation that didn't support what he was trying to break, as well as his experience of how he was trying to be silenced more widely. It's a great place to start. What Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey do is take their breaking of the story and look at the impact it left on society. They had the support from their news organisation from the start, but still encountered threats to keep them silent. But after the breaking of the Weinstein story, they move to Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Brett Kavanaugh, the wider Me Too movement, and how the victims feel now that their story has been told. Both books are very interesting in their own way, and well worth a read for anyone wanting to understand some of the barriers that are still standing in the way of survivors wanting to speak out.

I wanted to give this five stars as it’s such a valuable book, but did find it quite dense and difficult to read at times. But the analysis is still as relevant today; groundbreaking when the book was first published. It explores the racist tactics employed by feminism at its origin in America, unpicks how it grew as a movement for middle-class white women only (something that you still see in many feminist movements today). It begins to look at intersectionality, something that we take for granted in analysis of race and feminism today. While I think it’s a shame that women and men are viewed as straight and binary in this analysis, many of the points raised are still as valid today in the more complex conversations we have on equality and human rights. A must read.

3 stars feels harsh - I enjoyed it but it just didn’t grab me as much as other Atwood books I’ve read. Perhaps because it’s historical fiction? Fascinating story, and want to read some more about the actual events.