Tag: Feminism

Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Not Your Final Girl by Mikayla Randolph review: A slasher that can’t outrun its own past

Mandy Webster

Seven years after a prom night tragedy, a group of former friends reunites at a lakeside cabin—and quickly proves that time hasn’t made them wiser, kinder, or even remotely interested in leaving the past behind.

Get your copy of Not Your Final Girl from my independent online bookstore today!

In Not Your Final Girl, Mikayla Randolph builds a setup that feels immediately familiar: estranged high school friends, a remote cabin with no cell service, and a long-simmering grudge waiting to boil over. Darcy, weighed down by guilt and depression, and Ashley, whose controlling cruelty defines nearly every interaction, anchor the story’s emotional center—if it can be called that. Around them is a cast of characters who, quite frankly, seem to actively dislike one another. Trust is nonexistent, and affection feels like an afterthought.

Continue reading “Not Your Final Girl by Mikayla Randolph review: A slasher that can’t outrun its own past” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Honey by Imani Thompson: A sharp, unsettling debut that turns rage into something intoxicating

Mandy Webster

There’s a moment early in Honey by Imani Thompson—out May 5, 2026—when a tiny, impulsive act spirals into something irreversible, and from that point on, the novel never loosens its grip. This is a dark, provocative debut that knows exactly what it’s doing, luring you in with something almost playful before revealing just how far it’s willing to go.

Get your copy of Honey from my independent online bookstore today!

Just like its title, this book is delicious. Yrsa’s first kill is so sweet in its construction—unplanned, quick, and disturbingly easy. What makes it even more compelling is that it’s not really the act itself that kills the man, but her decision not to intervene once things go wrong. It’s petty. It’s spiteful. And it’s chilling in the way Yrsa immediately recognizes the opportunity in front of her and simply… lets it happen. That moment sets the tone for everything that follows.

Continue reading “Honey by Imani Thompson: A sharp, unsettling debut that turns rage into something intoxicating” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Annie Bot made me relive my abusive marriage—and that’s what makes it so powerful

Mandy Webster

In Sierra Greer’s novel Annie Bot, a robot girlfriend cooks, dresses, and has sex on demand—all at the pleasure of her human owner, Doug. She’s designed to be the “perfect” woman, built to fulfill his desires without resistance. But as her artificial intelligence evolves, so does her awareness, and what begins as obedience starts to feel like a slow, painful awakening.

Get your copy of Annie Bot from my independent online bookstore today!

I didn’t expect to find pieces of myself in a robot. But Annie Bot made me feel an immediate—and visceral—sense of recognition. Like Annie, I once existed solely to please someone else. My (now ex) husband didn’t see me as a person—only as the idea of a wife he wanted to mold me into. Over ten years of marriage, I was trained through threats, manipulation, psychological warfare, and physical violence to anticipate his moods, regulate my behavior, and suppress anything that didn’t align with his expectations. That Annie had to do the same—scan Doug’s tone, facial expressions, and body language, and modulate her responses accordingly—was deeply familiar.

Continue reading “Annie Bot made me relive my abusive marriage—and that’s what makes it so powerful” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Midlife, magic, & saying “Screw it”: Why Magical Midlife Madness is the book every woman needs to read

Mandy Webster

What if your midlife crisis turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you? In Magical Midlife Madness, bestselling indie author K.F. Breene hands the reins of power to a 40-year-old woman who’s finally had enough—and the result is a hilarious, empowering, and refreshingly real fantasy adventure.

Get your copy of Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene from my independent online bookstore today!

Jacinta, who prefers Jess (or Jessie, depending on who’s talking), doesn’t crumble when her husband of 20 years announces he’s leaving her. In fact, she breathes a sigh of relief—and I cheered right along with her. Their relationship, more habit than love, was the kind that too many women stay in because it feels “easier.” But not Jess. She sees the exit as a second chance, and with her son off to college, she packs up and heads to a strange old house in a quiet Sierra foothills town that has tugged at her memory since childhood.

Continue reading “Midlife, magic, & saying “Screw it”: Why Magical Midlife Madness is the book every woman needs to read” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Last Woman Standing: This feminist revenge thriller will make you feel seen—and maybe a little dangerous

Mandy Webster

There’s a specific kind of fury that comes from realizing you’ve spent years swallowing your own rage to make room for a man’s ego. Dana Diaz, Amy Gentry’s protagonist in Last Woman Standing, is a stand-up comic trying to make it in a world where men still hold the mic—and the power. She’s talented, hungry, and has learned how to laugh off a thousand microaggressions just to survive. But when something happens to her—something she’s not even sure counts as assault because there was no physical contact—she doesn’t laugh it off. Not this time. Not after meeting Amanda Dorn.

Get your copy of Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry from my online bookstore today!

The setup of Last Woman Standing is irresistible: a revenge pact between two women who agree to go after each other’s harassers, à la Strangers on a Train. But instead of a train, they meet at a comedy show. Instead of cold, calculated revenge, what unfolds is messy, complicated, and disturbingly real.

Continue reading “Last Woman Standing: This feminist revenge thriller will make you feel seen—and maybe a little dangerous” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney: A thriller that keeps you guessing

Mandy Webster

Some thrillers keep you hooked with breakneck pacing, while others lure you in with a slow burn that seeps under your skin. Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly does both. This is the kind of novel where you tell yourself, “Just one more chapter,” only to find yourself still turning pages deep into the night. With a mix of tension, unreliable narration, and a chilling atmosphere, Beautiful Ugly cements Feeney’s reputation as the Queen of Twists.

The cover of Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Get your copy of Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney from my online bookstore today!

The novel follows Grady Green, an author whose life falls apart when his wife, Abby, disappears without a trace. One moment, he’s on the phone with her, listening as she pulls over her car. The next, she’s gone—her car abandoned by a cliff, her phone still inside. A year later, Grady is drowning in grief and writer’s block when he flees to a remote Scottish island in hopes of rebuilding his life. But his fragile reality shatters when he sees a woman who looks exactly like Abby. From there, the novel spirals into a tangled web of memory, identity, and revenge.

Continue reading “Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney: A thriller that keeps you guessing” →
Domestic Violence, Essays

Cross Cultural Perspectives on Family Violence: A Reflection

Mandy Webster

My summer course has not yielded quite as much writing material as I had hoped it might. I have entered the final week of class and have submitted all coursework as of this morning. All I have left to do now is take the final exam, and I can put one more course behind me! Today I would like to share my weekly reflection paper to give you an idea of some of the more important issues discussed in this course.

Why doesn’t she “just leave?”

My understanding from all of the readings and other materials from this course is that it is very rare for batterers to ever change their behaviors, let alone as a response to court-ordered interventions. A batterer has to honestly admit to his wrongdoing, be held accountable for the damage he has caused, and make a personal commitment to change in order to stop his abusive behaviors.


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Most court-ordered treatment programs are frequented by batterers who are only doing what they have to do to meet the court’s minimum requirements. It is highly unlikely that the batterer will stop abusing his victim under such circumstances. In most cases, the best possible outcome for the victim is to successfully leave the relationship for good. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as “just leaving.” Continue reading “Cross Cultural Perspectives on Family Violence: A Reflection” →

Book Reviews

Book Review: Spinster by Kate Bolick

Mandy Webster

Spinster by Kate BolickIn this fascinating memoir, Kate Bolick turns the history of women and marriage in America as I learned it completely on its head. According to Bolick, much of what has been spouted as truth by the  mainstream these past few decades  turns out to be false. Not just false, but one bald-faced lie after another.

This text so resonated with me, I could not put it down. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way about a book, and I have to wonder what has changed in me since my early 20s that I now find it so hard to relate to the characters in the books I read the way I used to. Why is no one writing about strong women whose lives do not revolve around “the question of when to marry and who?” Continue reading “Book Review: Spinster by Kate Bolick” →

Bibliography

Annotated Bib: “Gender and Violence”

Mandy Webster

This week’s Annotated Bibliography entry reviews an article by Jacquelyn Knoblock, a domestic violence survivor who examines the role of gender expectations in her experience of a violent intimate partner relationship. You may view the full text here.

Annotated Bib Entry

Knoblock, Jacquelyn. “Gender And Violence.” Human Architecture: Journal of The Sociology of Self-Knowledge 6.2 (2008): 91-101. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

In this article, Knoblock explores “how gender ideologies and practices contribute to gender based violence” (91). She discusses issues such as the process by which human beings are classified as male or female, the stratification of genders in which “men are ranked above women within the same race and class,” and the structure of our society that dictates gender roles and determines whether certain tasks – for example, household chores – are considered by society as either male or female. Knoblock then connects these elements to the prevalence of gender based violence in American society.

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Women are nine times less safe in the home than out of it.

Throughout the history of the world, and the United States, gender based violence has been widely considered to be a personal issue rather than a societal issue. Gender based violence occurs most often in situations where the perpetrator maintains the perception that he has the right to behave in a violent manner toward the victim. In the United States, this most often occurs within the context of an intimate partner relationship and thus has often been viewed as a private matter. This view has often lead bystanders to ignore the violence, believing that it is “none of their business.” Continue reading “Annotated Bib: “Gender and Violence”” →

Bibliography, Book Reviews

The Annotated Bib: Amazons and Mothers?

Mandy Webster

Have you ever had to write an annotated bibliography? I have, once, and I hated it! Well, guess what I get to do for the Studies in Women’s Writing course I am taking this semester. You guessed it: an annotated bibliography! This assignment requires that I read and analyze a minimum of ten scholarly secondary sources on the subject of “women’s writing.” The annotated bib will be almost as long as my final paper!

After all these years of blogging, it seems like a waste of time to me to put so much effort into writing something that will result in nothing more than a grade. As with much of my other school writing, I am adapting this assignment to generate content for my blog. Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my individual annotated bibliography entries as blog posts.

So, without further ado, I present to you the very first entry in my annotated bibliography!

Amazons and Mothers? Monique Wittig, Helène Cixous and Theories of Women’s Writing

Griffin Crowder, Diane. “Amazons and Mothers? Monique Wittig, Helène Cixous and Theories of Women’s Writing.” Contemporary Literature L’Écriture Féminine 24.2 (1983): 117-44. JSTOR. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/103007438

This article explores the modern feminist notion that the oppression of women is a changeable social construct that does not depend on the fact that women are born with the potential to bear children. The article discusses the women’s writing theories of French feminists Monique Wittig and Helene Cixous. While “Cixous views motherhood as a primary trait of women” (132), Wittig views the tendency of women to identify primarily with the role of mother as oppressive. Continue reading “The Annotated Bib: Amazons and Mothers?” →