Diary Of A Confused Feminist by Kate Weston

You know you’re getting old when British YA diary novels are no longer compared to Sue Townsend’s or even Helen Fielding’s oeuvre.

For all that I am now an old, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of Kat Evans, the fifteen year-old girl who wants to be a good feminist even as she worries about friendships, boys and school, roughly in that order. She and her two best friends, Millie and Sam, are determined to raise awareness about feminism at their secondary school. But when Millie and Sam both get boyfriends, while Kat’s own budding relationship with Hot Josh is thrown into jeopardy by mean girl Terrible Trudy, Kat fears not only that’s she’s being a bad feminist for her negative thoughts but also that her besties soon won’t have time for her any more. As Kat’s anxieties escalate, will she be able to overcome her concerns about being seen as a baby in order to reach out for the help she desperately needs?

This was a humorous yet realistically drawn look into the life of a typical young woman battling not only the pressures of everyday life in the 2020s, but also mental illness. I loved how matter-of-factly Kate Weston presents anxiety: she deftly shows how it’s not a life sentence but a completely manageable condition. Even without the mental health aspect, it’s great how she encourages teens (and older readers!) to aim for clear communications with friends and family. It’s so easy to stew in one’s own emotions and concerns, letting them build in pressure in your head, when support for most is so easy to find nowadays (as I recently discovered in my own personal life! But also I fully acknowledge how lucky I am to have sensible, supportive friends, new and old.)

I also loved the insertion of real feminist issues, particularly period poverty, in the proceedings. Between the hilarious conversations about crushes, menstrual cups, and what is and isn’t feminism, the commitment to an actionable cause is laudable. Ms Weston does a terrific job of breaking down feminist issues for confused readers, and encouraging said readers to incorporate more fairness and honesty into their own lives.

This is the first of a series, tho the follow-up works have yet to be published outside the UK. Hopefully, those books will come to our shores and beyond soon.

Diary Of A Confused Feminist by Kate Weston was published January 2 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers and is available from all good booksellers, including