An entertaining mix of biography, imagery, and humor written in a fresh, young, and riotous voice, this thoroughly researched exploration salutes these awesome women drawn from both historical and fantastical realms, including real life, literature, mythology, and folklore. Each profile features an eye-catching image of both heroic and villainous women in command from across history and around the world, from a princess-cum-pirate in fifth century Denmark, to a rebel preacher in 1630s Boston, to a bloodthirsty Hungarian countess, and a former prostitute who commanded a fleet of more than 70,000 men on China’s seas.

I really enjoy the trend of books coming out that specifically calls out extraordinary women, or women who took charge of their lives in a time that they were not expected to. This was the first of those books I had seen, so I was excited when I received it as a gift. It’s the perfect type of book to pick up and read a story here or there, which is how I read most of it.

I really appreciate the fact that each story comes with content warnings which are explained at the beginning of the book. Not only specific warnings of types of content, but each story has a maturity level. This is great if you might be sharing some of the stories with children.

Also of note are the footnotes, some of which are serious and a good info dump and some of which are hilarious. I really felt this collection was a great introduction to some rebellious women in the past and the author’s writing style perfectly fit the stories he was telling.

Happy reading!