This is a book for teenage daughters and sons too - as they need to know that the world and its inventions, achievements and so on, are not a solely male territory, as is so often implied.
Not perhaps a book to be read àt one sitting, but to be dipped into as the reason is required eg for a place, an invention, historical event etc.
It is good to see thee books being published alongside exhibitions such female painters of the ... century we are seeing along.

At first I didn't enjoy this book and stopped reading within the first 30% of the book. But recently I came back to it and I'm glad I did! I'll seek out more from this author.

This was such a fab and interesting read. This book is full of many women whose stories you are familiar of and a whole host who will be new. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and learned so much!

This was such a fascinating and pleasurable read. I don;t read a huge amount of non-fiction as often it can be a bit dry, but this book was so well paced an interesting it was just a joy. I found myself stopping to google some of these amazing women that, to be honest, I had never heard of before, but who were so important to world events and progress. I'm going to buy a lovely copy of this book to share with my daughter, and also my son, as they grow older.

I knew this would be an interesting and exciting read because I have watched Newman on the Ch 4 news for many years and respect her work. This book was a wonderful extension of her skills and I'm very glad to have read it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could reach a place where we say oh not her again, just like we say, oh not Henry VIII again. Thank you for approving me for this title.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I loved this book. It was really interesting to read and I was completely intrigued to find out so much about these women and the history that spans over a hundred years. Women have come such a long way and yet, it isn’t long enough. We have so far to go yet. So many fights and injustices to tackle. Great read for any body.

It was great to hear stories of amazing women throughout history, lots I’d never heard of and many I’d heard of but still found myself enjoying Newman’s descriptions.

It’s clear that this book is very well researched, perfect for dipping in and out of, and I would definitely recommend it as a perfect gift for older teens.

Well-researched and detailed, I'd recommend this to anyone with a general interest in social history who would like to know more about the role of women in Britain over the centuries. This is an engaging and accessible overview of an enormous topic and a great introduction to many fascinating women from the past.

I was totally sold on the premise of this book and it had the potential to be a powerful feminist read but, for me, it fell short. The writing style wasn't suited to the subject matter; at times the tone was distinctly 'gossip mag'. The sections were not clearly delineated and the stories ran into each other in a confusing and distracting way. It was still interesting though some of the women featured were very well documented elsewhere and at least one did not deserve the epithet 'bloody brilliant' but that's another story.

I loved this book. At first I thought it was one of a long line of books being published in line with educating us make about the women we wished we had known in school. But I felt this was a great book that was aimed more for my age. I hadn’t heard of many of the women discussed. I loved the writing style and also how the focus was on British History as my education, despite being raised in the UK, lacked any knowledge of British history.

Would buy this for my daughter when she is older and would thoroughly recommend.

Cathy Newman’s Bloody Brilliant Women is an informative book about a variety of historical and contemporary female figures. Unfortunately the formatting on my kindle copy meant that all numbers were blocked out which for a book with a lot of dates in was problematic. I enjoyed skimming past the dates and reading what I could though.

Who wouldn't love this book!? An extraordinary reflection of some of the most fabulous women of our time and recent times gone past. A great read - highly recommended.

Informative, lively and opinionated are words often attributed to Newman and this book is no different. Shines a light on women who have been long ignored or maligned and makes a perfect gift for the feminist in your life.

Truly inspiring. I kept thinking "why didn't anyone teach me about her? Or her?". These stories challenged me and put a different prism on history as I knew it. We need more books like these!

Cathy Newman's non fiction exploration of brilliant British women is a fascinating dive into what the history books left out.

Newman explores women from the 1800s onwards, making this a fairly recent account of brilliant women in history. The book covers an array of women from the more well known figures of the suffragette movement to lesser known women who made strides in politics, culture, science and technology. As well as exploring individual figures, Newman highlights the context of Britain in each age she explores, from the social deprivation of the 1800s to the unique circumstances women faced in war time. None of this is new exactly to someone interested in the subject, but if, like many people, you feel the curriculum didn't sufficiently cover these period's from the perspective of women, then it is certainly an interesting read.

Structurally, the book flows and one story runs into the next. While this does offer a flow to the text and make for more natural reading, it does perhaps diminish the stories slightly when one woman's blends to the next and perhaps could have been structured slightly more tightly.

Newman makes an effort to be diverse in her coverage, exploring all levels of class and all ends of the political spectrum, as well as women from different racial backgrounds and the challenges they faced. However, she is not consistently inter-sectional, primarily focusing on the experiences of white middle class women. While she appreciates that some women have failed to achieve things which helped other women, she does not look at the wider effects of an issue like Thatcher's government, which actually had negative effects for women due to it's impact on the working class.

While the book does miss some nuance in its coverage, it is still a much more comprehensive version of women's history than most of us have ever heard. This book is a must for absolutely everyone and especially those who have always felt there was something missing from their history lessons.

The book is a series of examples, showing women who won’t conform to traditional norms; who won’t rock the boat; and who don’t see why they can’t behave as men would have done in similar circumstances.
I learnt about so many women in history I hadn't heard of before. Especially loved the first female police officer Edith Smith's story. Made me feel very empowered to be a woman.

I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely one to dip in and out of instead of reading in one go. It's well written and such an interesting read. It was great to read about all the amazing women that we should have learned about in school..

I have been dipping in an out of this book, rather than reading it cover to cover. IBut everytime I've picked it up I've not only felt like I've learnt something I've enjoyed it too.. Bloody Brilliant Women is a really well written, engaging read that I think could appeal to those who think they don't like nonfiction books as well as those that do. I've recommended it to several people.

A disappointing read, given Cathy Newman's journalistic background. I found the book confusing and unstructured. Whilst Newman did a great job in exposing the untold stories of so many pioneering women, many of them felt unfinished. But maybe that was the point.

This book is brilliant and gives you insight into the (often overlooked) impact that women have had throughout history. 10/10 would recommend.