Chaotic Good, by Whitney Gardner

Chaotic Good, by Whitney Gardner

From my Kirkus column about Chaotic Good, by Whitney Gardner:

Chaotic Good is just over 250 pages long; it reads mostly light and fluffy and fun, while engaging with some serious and difficult issues. It shows how unwelcoming and unfriendly male-dominated spaces can be for women and girls; it shows how those attitudes, off-the-cuff remarks, and “jokes” can create and foster internalized misogyny and the belief that traditionally femme interests, looks, and art are somehow inherently lesser than traditionally masculine ones. It shows how online abuse carries over into the physical realm—heightening anxiety, never allowing you to quite relax—and it parallels that experience and the related emotions with some of the more everyday challenges of presenting as female in this world.