More encyclopedia than book

This is, essentially, an encyclopedia. If you approach as such - and as a stepping off point for further exploration of prominent and influential women - you will avoid some disappointment others might feel.

We are all going to have certain women we think should be in a book like this, but who don't make it, for whatever reason. I won't hold that against Clinton^2, because it is an inherent limitation to any project of this sort. My biggest criticism is that the book doesn't do enough with the material. You, the reader, will get short bios of a generous spread of gutsy women (Clinton^2 do a good job of trying to get an international cross-section of women and to cover a number of different areas of influence), but that is about all you'll get. With the authors being two women who have lived very prominent and influential lives, themselves, I was really hoping for up to the final third of the book to be an analysis of how to foster such gutsiness in women/girls/daughters and where to go from here.

Whether or not that was too much work or would have potentially made the book more controversial than they wanted, in order to reach a broader audience, we are left with these (admittedly well-written) encyclopedia entries. I should clarify that it's not like Clinton^2 copied and pasted Wikipedia entries. HRC has written a number of books at this point, and she is a talented non-fiction writer. There are a number of personal interactions recounted along the way, and the authors make a point of adding how certain women inspired them personally.

I hope that this book isn't pigeon-holed as a book just for women, because, while women may be the primary audience, the book can also serve as an important blind spot patch for men who may not have been exposed to information about a lot of the included women in classrooms, home life, or through various media sources. HRC's brand of feminism has never been about tearing down men, but instead focuses on removing barriers to letting women reach their full potential. This should be a bit more palatable to male readers than works that label men as "the problem" and place the burden of change almost entirely upon them.

Clinton^2 make for an entertaining narrator team. HRC has always done a great job narrating (maybe it's all the reading to her daughter and grandkids), and having Chelsea added to the production helps differentiate the quotes and makes this all the more relatable for mother-daughter pairs who will be listening to the audiobook.

14 of 17 people found this review helpful

Great Book...so many gutsy women

Loved this book. So many strong, powerful courageous women...whose stories rarely appear in our history books...are highlighted in this book...their stories are finally being told. Thank you Hillary and Chelsea.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Wow, beautiful book!

Thank you Hilary and Chelsea for such a wonderful, beautiful and classy book. I have never come across anything like it. To highlight the lives of so many gutsy women in one book was brilliant and so inspirational. I love this book so much I bought the hard copy the minute I finished the audio. It will forever be a treasured book. My greatest wish is that women and men from all over the world read it.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

A great contribution to the history of the world

A great contribution to the history of the world and it is done in such an interesting way.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Profound and loving support

We all need to identify with heroes and to hear that you can overcome bleak times and profound obstacles. The message I heard is that my story is just as vital, profound and valuable as anyone else’s This book is an exercise in empathy, leading to the choice to
take sustainable action moving forward ...
come what may.
I want to listen to this book over and over so that I can learn the names and stories of these remarkable gutsy women, to nurture my
Soul.

Thank you Hillary, and Chelsea… Both Gutsy
Women!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very Informative,Entertaining, & Thought Provoking

Even if you don't like Hillary Clinton, this is a great book! Don't let your politics get in way. It's a wonderful mother/daughter undertaking.
Beautifully done, bringing "gutsy women" to our attention.

My only criticism is Hillary and Chelsea narrate back and forth....listening made my brain hurt, as Hillary's voice is mellow and slower, while Chelsea is quick/fast and at a higher pitch.
I BET they didn't listen to themselves together on tape.......as they're so use to each other they didn't realize there was a huge contrast!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Stories about lot of interesting women

Both Mother and daughter did a great job. Some of the women i heard their stories before, some I heard of but did not hear their Stories, and many I never heard of before this book

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic

Absolutely loved the stories - they just kept coming! Deeply inspiring tales of imperfect, brave, real heroines.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Outstanding full of HERtory & Inspiration a must

Outstanding!! full of "HERtory" & Inspiration a must read or hear...it made me proud to be a woman and it shows how far we have come and how much more we must go.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyable

Loved the stories of the strong women in this book. So much so that I was disappointed to have reached the end. I have been inspired and have a lot to contemplate.