Completed 2/19/16
Fulfills 2016 Popsugar Challege #24: A book with a protagonist that has your occupation (I'm a manager, so I'm interpreting this loosely!)
Rating: 4 out of 5
So, from a critical standpoint, there are a few issues that I could (and will) pick apart about this book, but from an enjoyability standpoint, this book rocks.
Sophia is the founder and CEO of the Nasty Gal retailer, which she built from scratch on her own with no experience. This book is a mix of her personal experiences and advice. The greatest asset to the book is her "voice," which is quirky, street-smart, hilarious, and yet relatable.
What kept me from giving this book 5 stars? First, I don't think she defined the book's audience well enough. Obviously with a hashtag in the title, I knew the book would be aimed young, but I did expect it to be a book for adults/new adults. Some chapters I felt I was reading a book targeted to high school girls, some college, some young professionals. I think she could have picked an audience and stuck with it or made more of an effort to make it for a general audience overall.
The other negative point would be that she offers up a bit too many platitudes and pushes her #GIRLBOSS title too much (does it have to appear on every page?) - such as: be true to yourself, work hard, find what you're good at, etc. There is nothing revolutionary here. What does work is her concrete story of how she did it and how she runs her business. While the platitudes are motivating to a certain extent and her writing style is genuinely engaging, I was getting a bit sick of it by the end of the book.
One last (slight) rant:
The section about investors/venture capitalists (fortunately brief) needed more explanation about who these people are, the differences if any between them, and why they are important...I'm a grown woman and I don't have any reason to understand those concepts in my daily life. My limited knowledge comes from "Shark Tank." If I were a high school or college student, I would probably have been even more lost. Luckily this was only one part of a chapter.
Despite the criticism, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to young women. I think if I read it at a younger age, I would have enjoyed it more and perhaps given more thought to the direction I wanted my life to go.
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