Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade

by Nora Princiotti

An entertaining and deeply nostalgic dive into how female pop stars broke through the music industry in the 2000s and altered the cultural landscape forever, from the Ringer writer and Every Single Album podcast cohost

“Hit Girls bridges our butterfly-clipped, bedazzled past with today’s music world, revealing how the pop songs we belted in our bedrooms shaped everything we’re streaming now.”—Kate Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author of One in a Millennial

Low-rise jeans, butterfly clips, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and Paris Hilton’s nights out. The early 2000s were a time of major moments in fashion, media, celebrity culture, and especially music. The aughts were a particularly fruitful era for female artists—still the only decade in the history of recorded music when women made up more than half the list of highest-grossing performers—and especially pop stars. Artists such as Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Beyoncé were leading the charge—their success not only leading to a new respect for female artists, but for pop stardom itself.

In Hit Girls, Nora Princiotti examines how these artists redefined the role of the pop star within the music industry and culture more broadly, and fundamentally set the stage for the women who top the charts today. Princiotti unpacks the shifts in genre, technology, and celebrity culture that sparked this evolution through the stories of the biggest names in aughties pop. Like how Britney opened the bubblegum floodgates at the start of the decade, inspiring both copycats like Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson and mall punk antagonists like Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. Or how innovations in technology led to the rise of EDM as Rihanna experimented with sound while Ke$ha and Katy Perry embraced the “party anthem.”

Along the way, Princiotti explores how celebrity evolved alongside the changes in media from the tabloid days à la Lindsay Lohan to MySpace, Instagram and how Taylor created one of the largest, most dedicated fandoms the world has ever seen.

The ultimate love letter to pop music, Hit Girls celebrates the women who revolutionized the genre, inspired the next generation, and—in some cases—are burning brighter than ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Audiobook, Pop Culture, Feminism, History, Adult

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2025

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of, Hit Girls, by Nora Priniciotti, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Britney, Avril, Taylor, Beyonce, Ashlee, Kelly, Lindsay, Paris, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Carly Rae, and so many more stars of the 2000's are talked about in this book. This was an interesting read.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

From Beyoncé and Britney Spears to Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and more, Princiotti breaks down the major players and their impact with humor, heart, and a deep appreciation for the genre. While the book doesn’t necessarily unearth new information or shocking revelations, it’s not really trying to. Hit Girls thrives in its nostalgic glow, inviting readers to revisit the music, the moments, and the memories with fresh eyes.

I enjoyed the authors writing style, it feels like catching up with a pop savvy best friend; casual, funny, and full of enthusiasm. It’s as if you’re sitting on the couch together, reminiscing about middle school dances, CD booklets, and the MTV Video Music Awards. The tone is light, fun, and totally bingeable, perfect for anyone who wants a joyful, slightly sparkly break from heavier reads.

Hit Girls might not offer groundbreaking insight, but it doesn’t need to. It’s a celebration, not a thesis, and for fans of 2000s pop, it hits all the right notes.

[Taylor Monson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE pop culture and am chronically online. To know me is to understand that Britney and her lore is a core part of my being (my husband mentioned this in our wedding vows). If you also spent most of your time curating your MySpace page and currently make playlists with names like “songs to emphasize with your hands” and “the course of music as we know it changed” (real playlists I have made) then this book is probably also for you.

Also, the author keeps her foot on the neck of my number one enemy, J*stin T*mberlake and I appreciated that.

Thank you to Olivia, my fellow pop girly, for the incredible rec!

[Kelsey O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book to support Nora, who (alongside Nathan) has taught me so much over the years about music that has contextualized and enriched my listening habits. This book furthered my education with an entertaining, subject-appropriate writing style and horrific reminders of my childhood culture with new meaning against a backdrop I wasn’t fully aware of at the time. As someone who loves pop music and the cultural zeitgeist, this book was written for me. Thanks, Nora!

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nostalgic, very fun trip down the lane of early 2000s pop stardom from a host of the excellent podcast, Every Single Album.

[kory. · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had high hopes for this because finally the millennial author of a pop culture book is my age! but boy was this disappointing. the high point was eminem being called “mr. shady” and the low point was the avril lavigne disrespect.

aside from my very strong feelings about how princiotti spoke about avril lavigne (which i will get into, in depth), my biggest problem with this book was the lack of focus and cohesion. each chapter felt like standalone essays that weren’t fully fleshed out and were then pieced together to create a book without a clear throughline or connecting narrative beyond having to do with popstars in the 2000s. i was never really clear what the point was or if princiotti made it convincingly.

the book was all over the place regarding timeline and chosen popstars. while princiotti branded this book as being about the first decade of the 2000s, or “aughts,” it actually covered more than a decade: 1998-2013. why? because princiotti wanted to include certain popstars, such as britney’s beginnings, katy perry’s teenage dream, kesha, and carly rae jepsen’s “call me maybe” (for some reason). i mean, if you’re talking popstars into the 2010s, how can you not talk about miley cyrus? ariana grande? demi lovato?

princiotti’s selection is at times spot on (britney spears, taylor swift, christina aguilera, avril lavigne, ashlee simpson, beyonce, rihanna, kelly clarkson) and at times confusing in how little some were discussed (mandy moore, jennifer lopez, jessica simpson, lady gaga, katy perry, and kesha; the last three were crammed into the same chapter) and who was omitted entirely (pink, gwen stefani, vanessa carlton, michelle branch, shakira, nelly furtado, hilary duff, miley cyrus, demi lovato, and selena gomez).

given that princiotti would say things like “this artist followed in that artist’s footsteps” and “this artist paved the way for that artist,” i wish she had taken more time to explore the impact and influence these popstars had on one another. princiotti would say things like “gaga set the mold” that “other popstars followed,” immediately bringing to mind the popstars who did it before lady gaga. the popstars of the 2000s didn’t spring up from nothing, and the popstars that came after them weren’t born solely from them.

now, in defense of avril lavigne

it’s unfair and mean for princiotti to repeatedly question avril lavigne as a songwriter, as if unable to accept that avril was indeed more a writer than her peers at the time. from the first comment about avril being described as a songwriter “despite not writing her songs on her own” (as if she had ghostwriters, not known and credited co-writers; which doesn’t make her any less of a songwriter), to saying avril was “involved in her own songwriting process” while britney spears “really wasn’t for her first two albums” (downplaying avril’s writing by stressing she was merely involved and overselling britney’s writing by implying she had greater involvement later in her career).

let’s compare, since the author felt the need to denigrate avril as a songwriter in order to protect popstars (mainly just britney) who didn’t prioritize writing from implications of...not prioritizing writing. in 2002, avril had 1 album and all 14 writing credits, whereas jessica simpson and mandy moore had 2 albums and 1 credit each, britney had 3 albums and 7 credits, christina aguilera had 4 albums and 17 credits, jennifer lopez had 3 albums and 22 credits, pink had 2 albums and 22 credits, and destiny’s chid had 4 albums and 31 credits.

to really highlight the difference: avril has 103/103 writing credits (2002-2025) and is sole writer on 16 songs, whereas britney has 51/155 writing credits (1998-2023), and is sole writer on 1 song. (lindsay lohan, hilary duff, mandy moore, and jennifer lopez have writing credits on less than half of the songs they’ve released and jessica simpson, destiny’s child, kelly clarkson, pink, mariah carey, nelly furtado, and christina aguilera have writing credits on more than half but less than all of the songs they’ve released. and like avril, spice girls and ashlee simpson have writing credits on all their released songs.)

the author took it further: “neither of them was the type of songwriter to sit down at the piano and come away with a whole new composition. lavigne might have been compared to artists like vanessa carlton and michelle branch, who were their own primary songwriters, but her actual process was somewhere in the middle, if not closer to the spearsian end of things.” both vanessa and michelle utilize co-writers, just like avril. what’s more is that lauren christy (co-writer on avril’s first album) said her and avril wrote “i’m with you” at the piano and avril said “i sat at the piano and wrote my life” about her sixth album.

princiotti used lauren once saying she wrote the songs and avril would sometimes “change a lyric here and there” to push the narrative that avril wasn’t the songwriting she claimed to be. however, avril said her and lauren “did the lyrics together.” which is an account lauren herself has repeated several times over the years. i think that one single interview that princiotti took as irreputable proof that avril wasn’t a songwriter like that was the result of some heat of the moment, bitter feelings about avril maybe not always mentioning lauren when discussing the writing of the album (again, lauren worked on a few songs, not the entire album) or the media not always acknowledging her while praising avril’s writing, because lauren has repeated over the years that she worked with avril on those songs, wrote them with her, not for her.

lauren’s instagram is filled with stories about writing with avril and attending avril’s shows and showing nothing but support. other matrix member, scott spock, said the collaboration was equal, with avril contributing lyrics and melodies; l.a. reid said avril’s songwriting was what sold him on her as an artist; avril has spoken about refusing to sing songs written by other artists pitched to her by her label; avril played songs she had already written for the matrix when she first met them; avril has said she writes so many songs for an album that she could drop double albums with them.

princiotti gave other artists credit for their writing, even while downplaying avril’s. she noted that kelly clarkson co-wrote on every song on my december after being upset about not getting input on “since u been gone.” she noted lady gaga’s songwriting deal and listed off other artists’ songs she has writing credits on. she’s also just inconsistent about when she notes someone wrote a song or co-wrote a song. she said kara dioguardi wrote “ain’t no other man” and “rich girl,” despite there being several writers on it, including christina and gwen, respectively. she said john shanks and kara “packed” ashleee’s debut album “full” of emo lyrics, with no mention that ashlee is credited as a writer on all of those songs and even referred to ashlee as “positioning herself” as a songwriter.

the chapter was just unnecessarily critical and is negative in tone in a way the others aren’t. when she wasn’t saying avril didn’t write, she was saying when she did it wasn’t good. she talked about how avril’s second album didn’t do as well, her third album was dumb and empty, her career got “pretty weird,” and she “decline in popularity.” she also made sure to thoroughly detail avril’s teenage “not like other girls” attitude (which most teen girls have at one point or another).

princiotti made no mention of avril’s 2022 album love sux (pop punk excellence), which avril said was the “album she wanted to make her whole career.” it is avril’s “highest rated album of her career to date” according to metacritic: in the u.s. it debuted at #9 on billboard 200 (her 6th top-ten album, out of 7 albums) and #2 on top rock albums and top alternative albums charts, was the second best-selling album of that week, and went to #2 on billboard top album sales chart. princiotti basically portrayed avril’s career as inauthentic (claiming to be a writer when she wasn’t) and going downhill immediately after her first album.

but don’t worry, she spent plenty of time explaining the clone conspiracy.

other things that bothered me

princiotti used the term “male gaze” in a way that annoys me, as it disregards that it’s a term used in film critique about women being portrayed through the lens of men, whether it’s the male protagonist, director, writer, or viewer. it’s not supposed to be weaponized against real women expressing themselves, and it also does not refer to anything that a man might find attractive.

princiotti stated early lady gaga did “a lot of stuff that subverted the male gaze,” which carries the implication that “the male gaze” is something real women adhere to or subvert depending on how they express themselves. she argued that a lot of the “party girl aesthetic” was “quite blatantly about appealing to men,” which is confusing, because i don’t see the party aesthetics of early kesha or tove lo and think, “ah yes, the purpose of this is to arouse men.” nothing about it lines up with heterosexual men traditionally find attractive. furthermore, princiotti never explained how these artists “subverted” or “appealed” to the male gaze, just stated that they did.

most confusingly, princiotti insisted that katy perry’s “california gurls” wasn’t “made for men to ogle” because “the dream of the song is to be [a california gurl], not to have one,” and that the intent “wasn’t to be sexy, it was just about having fun.” (the latter is more accurate to say about the party girl aesthetic, but whatever.) however! i vehemently disagree with the assertion that “california gurls” had nothing to do with being sexy or wanting a california gurl. katy sings about boys wanting them and to boys about how desirable they are, snoop raps about desiring them, and the music video is filled with sexual imagery. the song and video are objectively about how the boys all want an uber desirable california gurl. “the dream is to be one, not have one” is blatantly false.

princiotti came off at times as incredibly judgmental. she said ashlee simpson “didn’t beat the charges that she was a phony” because she told people to love their bodies and then got a nose job, without zero mention of making changes to your body not being incongruous with body positivity. she described pop music of 2006-2007 as a “flop,” “boring,” and “deeply, deeply annoying,” simply because she didn’t care for the music of snow patrol, daniel powter, james blunt, and whatever music soundtracked one tree hill and medical dramas. it was all very hypocritical (and unnecessary).

she is also one of those people who are unfairly hard on “i kissed a girl.” she said it was “clumsy,” “cringey,” “questionable,” “sleazy,” and depicting intimacy between women as “pure titillation that only happens with the express purpose of getting guys really turned on.” i wrote an entire article on how “bashing ‘i kissed a girl’ isn’t queer activism” so i don’t need to say anything more than princiotti was very, very wrong in her take.

princiotti kept mentioning how we have moved on from strict genre categories, but while it’s all well and good that the likes of chappell roan can move freely between pop, rock, and country without fuss, have we forgotten the gatekeeping and outrage (and plain racism) over black artists like lil nas x and beyonce doing country music?

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora Princiotti (b. 1994) is an American pop culture writer whose interests include the '00s female-fronted music of her childhood, explored in her 2025 book Hit Girls. As it happens, the '00s are also my favorite decade of music, as they spanned my formative music years from high school to college to early grad school, and I've really appreciated the recent popularity of books about this underlooked (in my opinion) decade in pop culture.

Princiotti, who would have been aged 6-16 in the '00s (vs. 13-23 for me), writes about this decade of music from her own childhood and middle school recollections, as well as from research she's done using both contemporary and retrospective sources, including from some music producers and writers of that era (though less so from artists themselves). I generally agree with how she divided the decade of pop music:

- pure bubblegum pop in the early '00s (notable artists she covers here include Britney Spears first album Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Lopez)
- the rise of pop/rock in the early/mid '00s, and the image battles for authenticity vs. manufactured artists (Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson - "Autobiography...a 43 minute album by a woman with middling interest in music and the best producers money could buy that happens to be really, really good" - very true for me, except that last part - I was not a fan of Ashlee Simpson then, and still am not now; I did appreciate all the brief shoutouts to the non-US-based pop/rock artists I closely followed here, though, like The Veronicas, Lillix, Fefe Dobson, etc.)
- the brief popularity of pop/R&B in the mid '00s (Beyoncé)
- electropop/EDM-influenced pop in the mid/late '00s (Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad era; Britney's seminal Blackout era, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton's short-lived musical careers)
- the end of the decade - Gaga's debut, Katy Perry, Ke$ha

Overall, the only classification I don't really buy is Kelly Clarkson as an exemplification of how the indie/hipster sound went mainstream (based largely on the argument that Since U Been Gone was loosely adapted from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Maps) -- in my opinion, Kelly Clarkson's '00s output was decidedly pop/rock, leaning heavier toward pop when Clive Davis was primarily steering the ship (Breakaway, All I Ever Wanted) and more toward rock when Clarkson had more creative control (My December).

I was impressed by the depth of Princiotti's knowledge and research here, especially as she was quite young during the '00s and probably doesn't associate certain songs with cultural zeitgeists like those of us who were teens or young adults during that decade. That being said, some notable omissions in my opinion include Hilary Duff (especially as Princiotti opens the book reminiscing about how Duff's debut Metamorphosis was the first album she ever bought!), Pink, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, Bonnie McKee (moreso as a songwriter than an artist in her own right, though she's done both), Liz Phair's pop era, the late '00s Disney girls (Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez), American Idol artists beyond Kelly Clarkson, and girl groups/girl-fronted bands (PCD, Diddy's girl groups like Dream and Danity Kane, Play, etc., as well as bands like Paramore that get brief mentions but not much feature). Robyn is really the only non-US artist to get more than a passing mention, though so much of my American-teen-chronically-online '00s listens went to British pop artists of the '00s, like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Lily Allen, and girl groups like Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, Girls Aloud (Xenomania really was the cutting edge years before similar sounds hit the US), The Saturdays, and similar acts -- and this was due to the accessibility of these songs by P2P file sharing (which Princiotti doesn't mention) and internet forum subculture. I would have omitted Taylor Swift from the discussion (she got quite a lengthy inclusion) since her mainstream pop crossover wasn't really until the '10s, though clearly Princiotti is a big fan. That being said, this project has huge scope, so I'm sure there were parts that were cut to tighten the scope.

Princiotti pegs the end of the '00s music era to the early '10s, with pure pop earwormer Carly Rae Jepsen providing some last gasps before Lorde debuted. In my opinion, by the time Gaga and her brand of bizarrely choreographed artistic pop arrived on the scene in the late '00s, music fundamentally sounded different (read: worse) to my ears, so I spent more time shuffling my old playlists than actively seeking out new music (though this could also be because I was approaching my mid-20s and in a very different stage of life with much less free time than where I'd been a decade prior).

This was a fun, quick listen that those of us who grew up in this era, or are fans of pop music in general. I still unironically enjoy this decade of music for its many juxtapositions and iterations, and the last decade where collecting CDs and/or downloading music was really a thing before the internet, social media, and streaming platforms changed how society interacted with music.

Further reading: the '00s
Toxic: Women, Fame, and the Tabloid 2000s by Sarah Ditum
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert
One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy
Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything by Colette Shade

Further reading: music
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook (referenced several times in this book)
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly

My statistics:
Book 237 for 2025
Book 2163 cumulatively

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a millennial pop girlie, this was the book for me. Such a fun read! I'm a HUGE fan of Nora Princiotti from her podcast Every Single Album that she co-hosts with Nathan Hubbard, and I was ecstatic to be among the first to read this. Princiotti revisits the mega female pop stars of the 2000s, devoting a chapter to each (including Britney Spears, early Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, early Taylor Swift — of course! - and more). While the pop stars and the big hits weren't new to me, this was a terrific exercise in nostalgia. I also loved learning more about the cultural context of these artists and songs. At the time, I wasn't thinking about cultural or historical context, of course; my childhood and adolescent self was just enjoying the bops. Princiotti finds a great balance between well-researched, thoughtful commentary and infusing her deep connection to the music. Her unique voice so clearly comes through, and because of the pod, I could literally "hear" her voice in my head as I read some of this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for giving me a complimentary digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. Also thanks to Nora Princiotti — you rock! Hit Girls releases June 17, 2025.

[Lyon.Brit.andthebookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Report: Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade

At First Glance: A lineup of ladies from my bring up…say less!

The Jist: An entertaining and deeply nostalgic dive into how female pop stars broke through the music industry in the 2000s and altered the cultural landscape forever.

My Thoughts: Anytime there is a new book released that makes me reminisce about sparkly butterfly clips or whether I should layer another lace tank top over the two I’m wearing, gets immediately added to my TBR. This was a pure pleasure read (I wasn’t given a copy) My girl Libby (library app) hooked me up on release day and I’m forever grateful. When I first started listening I knew it would be a good one so I savored this walk down memory lane alongside author Nora Princiotti who does a fantastic job narrating. As she should, she is the co host of Every Single Album podcast which I haven’t listened to yet but now is on my podcast rotation. Any who… if your a fan of all things early 2000s this is good look at not only what we were listening to but how these pop stars paved the way for the next generation. If that doesn’t catch your fancy there is an incredible chapter about Mother (Taylor Swift) with fun bits I haven’t heard before.

My Question for Nora: If you could host a dinner party with three women from music history (dead or alive), who’s getting the invite?

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...

[Alex Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to @meggywalsh for recommending the book that got me out of my reading slump. Everything in the world is terrible. Basking in the sugary pop songs from my girlhood felt great. Would recommend to any fan of pop music, but especially to fellow millennials. Its a true joy to revisit the albums many of us (often secretly) loved with our full hearts. Grateful to have evolved into a time where the musical interests of women and girls are finally taken seriously. Many thanks to the ladies that painfully paved that way for us all. Dare I say… Ashlee Simspon walked so Olivia Rodrigo could run?

[Rosie Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so entertaining and informative!! I was born in 2000 and am a massive fan of pop music and Nora’s other work! I learned a lot- some of the music covered was slightly before my time because Nora is 6 years older than me (I think) but as a pop music lover now it was so interesting to learn about!! I loved listening to the audiobook because Nora narrates it. If you listen to Every Single Album you’ll love this! 💗

[Meredith Semrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Nora’s work on the Every Single Album podcast, but this book didn’t feel quite as polished. At times the information felt a bit scattered, making it harder to follow the throughline. That said, I loved revisiting so many pop girl moments. It’s such a memorable music era for me, and that nostalgia made it fun. While it wasn’t as sharp or cohesive as I’d hoped, it was still an enjoyable trip down memory lane with new information thrown in!

[Sam Wescott · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was fun! It was a surprisingly short book for one that covered a pretty wide span of time (roughly 1995 to 2010/2015 ish) and a pretty wide range of topics (music genre, pop politics, celebrity, fandom trends, production etc) even if she did stay focused on huge female pop stars. Because of this speedy pace, it’s definitely more of an overview and cultural history than a deeply focused analysis and I came away with more fun facts than particularly engaging insight. But it was a fun ride and I actually learned a lot more about music styles and genre influence than I expected!

The tone of the writing was just the tiniest hair more chatty and colloquial than I tend to like in my non-fiction, but the narration was good (which makes sense since the author is a podcast host). The songs mentioned were almost universally ones I knew and the internal soundtrack that accompanied my reading experience was pretty impossible to ignore. I’m surprised there doesn’t seem to be an official companion playlist on Spotify with all the songs mentioned in order.

I was honestly shocked at the last chapter though when the author used Carly Rae Jepson as an example of someone who missed the peak pop wave, as she is the only artist mentioned whose music I’ve intentionally sought out and enjoyed?? EMOTION was an almost universally beloved album among my peer group and I thought it was a notable hit. Finding out that that’s not how the author categorizes her has left me wondering if the music listening experience has become siloed and individual that a book like this will even be possible in the future. It was a weird little jarring moment to end the book on, haha.

But, overall, I enjoyed this more than I expected as someone who mostly listened to Christian music until college and only knew these songs through sleepovers with less religious friends and kidzbop commercials. As an apostate in her 30’s, I still don’t really listen to Top 40 type music, but this overview was very helpful contextualizing all the stuff I picked up late. A quick and interesting read!

[Jane Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the nostalgia in this book and learning more about some events I vaguely remember. I did get caught up in a lot of the technical jargon and had to skim some of it.

[Amanda Denning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a loyal listener to Every Single Album since before Fearless TV, so I’ve listened to a LOT of Nora talking about pop music. She’s just as funny in writing as she is on the pod, but I was pleasantly surprised by how detailed and well researched this book was as well. It’s a really well done history of music (and not just fangirling over all of these songs, though there’s enough of that to keep you entertained). Here’s hoping we get a followup for the 2010s!

[Laura Silvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO. NOTES.
This book far exceeded my expectations. Written with a glitter gel pen, infused with cultural nostalgia and fangirl codes, and structured as mini essays on some of the most powerful icons of the 2000s, this book was so FUN. But at the same time, Nora was serious, researched, and intentional in her writing. She clearly studied this decade and had a lot of insightful conclusions on the cause and effect of different events within pop culture. She also touches on racism and feminism without getting preachy (a rare gem!). If you listen to any pop culture podcast, this book is for you. And if you do read this, you must then listen to her podcast, Every Single Album.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

super fun listen for the girly pops!!

[Erin Jochum · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, I am a pop culture girly to my very core. I grew up watching E! Network (E! News, Daily 10, Kendra, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, the original Keeping up with the Kardashians (and the spin-offs, etc.) reading Teen Vogue, Tiger Beat, Seventeen, and People Magazine ... anything that revolved around the celebrities I loved, I consumed it. My love for pop culture runs deep and is inexplicably intertwined with being a fangirl. I loved having shows and magazines like that to tell me what was cool.

I think growing up, I thought if I knew random things about celebrities my peers would think I was cool (they didn't). No one cared that Lindsey Lohan was arrested for her first (of many) DUI's, or that Britney was dropping her (at the time) scandalous video for her new song "Womanizer", signaling her comeback to pop music. I cared.

Now in the tale end (last 3 months) of my 20's - I still love all of those things. I've also discovered people that love those things just as much as I do. Including the author of this book, host of 2 of my favorite podcasts (shameless plug for "We're Obsessed" and "Every Single Album" both on Spotify) - Nora Princiotti.

I was super excited to hear that Princiotti would be writing and publishing a book, and it delivered. It can difficult to talk about pop culture and women in pop culture in the 2000's because of how expansive it was. Princiotti touches on all of it: the alt rock/pop rock of Ashlee Simpson, Avril, the R&B and Hip-Hop influences a la Eve, Beyonce, Destiny's Child and of course the pop girlies we know and love: Britney, Christina, Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson (although short lived), Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and as the book touches into the 2020's, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina, and Chappell.

I appreciated that the book gave each artist its due and space to discuss their careers and the impacts on culture during that time. It's easy to gloss over artists like Mandy, or Ashlee, or Jessica simply because their careers didn't have the longevity or success that say Britney, Beyonce, or Taylor have had. It was clear a lot of research went into this book and it showed. I also loved that she read other books on subjects that revolve around this book, it gives me more books to add to TBR, plus, more books need to written about 2000's pop culture.

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The changing of a clock does not define a new era. Only Britney Spears can do that.”

Read on Rob Harvilla’s recommendation and as an enjoyer of Every Single Album. While I learned a few new things from this book (I enjoyed the sections on Taylor Swift’s MySpace entrepreneurship and the circumstances that made Umbrella, and therefore Rihanna, a hit), it’s a very general overview of about a dozen pop stars who helped define the soundscape of the 2000s. Also my beloved Carly Rae Jepsen, for some reason. If you already have a baseline familiarity with this subject, you probably won’t take a lot away from it.

While a persuasive and well-compiled overview it is, this book falls into two traps that I keep noticing with similar nonfiction books.

1. Princiotti doesn’t contribute anything new to the subject here. Historical reviews have their place in the field, but this one isn’t particularly enlightening. That’s forgivable for a book about, say, a niche subject from 300 years ago, but this covers recent events that are still strong in our collective memory. I’m not sure that there really was a gap in the literature. Some kind of new study, interviews, or primary sources would have made this a more interesting read.

2. Princiotti makes some sweeping generalizations. I’m not talking about the conceit of the book that these women changed music as we know it—she had a book to sell and also, that’s very arguably true. The one that stood out to me was in the Taylor Swift chapter, “How Taylor Swift Invented the Internet.” As I previously mentioned, I found that chapter very insightful. But she makes some broad claims about fandom as a whole, without recognizing that music fandom is only aspect of a greater fan culture. Before The Grateful Dead, there was Star Trek and comic books. Before Taylor Swift, there was Buffy and The X-Files and Harry Potter and Lost. Taylor certainly mastered the tools that were available to her as an internet native, but she was far from the first thing bringing people together online. I think that a bit deeper of a dive into the pervasiveness and intensity of Swiftie culture, which is truly unique, could have been more valuable here.

It’s not a decent book with some great anecdotes and a healthy dose of nostalgia. I like listening to Nora talk. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it.

Also…there’s a crucial (to me) error within the text. Referring to Lindsay Lohan’s Freaky Friday character, Anna, Princiotti says, “She played one half of the girl band Pink Slip.” But she was one of five members, three of whom sang and the other two of whom were boys. I guess no one thought to fact check that, but that knowledge lives deep within my soul.

[Meghan Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book earmarked from the moment Nora announced it. I love Nora and Nathan on the Every Single Album podcast, and I had little doubt that I would love this book just as much. Reading and listening about your favorite music is fun, duh! This collection of chapters on the late 90s & early 00s pop girlies was a thrilling nostalgia ride back through my teen years. Because of Nora’s nods to certain songs, I honestly had my Spotify on while reading, in order to resave the pop classics I had forgotten….Lindsay Lohan’s Rumors, Mya’s Case of the Ex, to name a few…. This was a light but thoughtful rewind through modern female pop history, chronicling the major changes that specific stars made to the industry at large. It’s a compassionate look at the leaders who defined the pop genre then, and many of whom continue to do so now. But I’m equally glad DJ Earworm got some love here too!

[Mary Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was.... fine. The narrative was all over the place. I was not expecting a dissertation, but it was pretty surface level with some off-color comments from the author. She didn't quite mesh her personal opinions/snark with the "research", so the tone feels mechanical, rambling, and passive aggressive at times. All told from a very millennial- "core" perspective as she would call it (in the MOST cringingly millennial way possible).
It read like the author was attempting to stretch a longform podcast into a novel. I legitimately found myself wondering if this book was so random because it was created from a collection of various podcast episode outlines. After I finished the book, I found out that the author was indeed involved in a pop culture/music podcast. Make of that what you will.

MAIN WEAKNESS
I think the main thematic issue with this book is that it seems like the author felt compelled to include topics that she did not care to research and did not want to talk about. The weak writing was viscerally spotlighted when she discussed any, "hit girl", that she clearly didn't like (or know about), but felt compelled to include. Example: when discussing Avril Levine / Jessica Simpson / Lindsay Lohan / Kesha - her tone was pretty nasty. The irony of adopting such a tone while also discussing how disgusting & misogynistic the paparazzi of the era was... is ..... a strange choice.. For the sake of brevity, she omitted mentioning so many icons of the era. This makes the choice to highlight so many artists that she has no insight on and seems averse to, truly bizarre.

WHY ARE YOU DISCUSSING CRUNK LIKE THIS
I really could not get over how her tangential description of the 2000s crunk music era was filled with blatant micro-aggressions. Commenting wide-eyed on the overt explicitness and "aggression" of this music (in contrast to the sparkly pop hits that permeated the radio beforehand). Uh, OK girl. I was bumping the Yin-Yang Twins AND Hillary Duff on my mix CDs back in the day with no issues lol. Clearly she is not from the south .... just because it only came on YOUR radio then, does not mean that this music didn't exist before you knew about it. Maybe it shocked her midwestern/East Coast(?) mind at the time but after 20-ish years have passed, you're still qualifying music like "Yeah", by Usher & Lil John as aggressive? Let's not.
Regardless - the crunk music artists she rambles about are mostly men ... not the, "hit girls". Very off topic! Either get into it or don't! I found the tone of this brief section really odd given how, in the beginning of the book, she tries to do brief lip service to the general contributions of the black community to pop music in the aughts. While she explains that it is impossible to contextualize 2000s pop hits without the contributions of the black community, she explains that she will not really be doing that. She then proceeds to examine it with ignorance and in absolutely terrible taste. Sigh.

WHAT YEAR IS IT??
There were so many artists / years shoved in the last few chapters that it got confusing. At least, the author seemed confused. I was conscious and consuming media during most of the eras she describes, albeit a few years behind her. I clocked her age IMMEDIATELY when she used the phrase "hipster-core". Literally almost no one said or says this but a very specific set of millennials. It's so corny I cannot.
Anyway... as an example of the author seeming confused - she brought up the Owl Cities song "Fireflies", but claimed that it was a hit in 2019.... as the era of Carly Rae Jepson confusion pop (2011 ish) was on it's way out. Totally neglecting that this song was #1 in 2009? The track did have a resurgence on Tik-Tok at one point since then, but its original impact was in the late 2000s (in the era of Snow Patrol type hits soundtracking medical dramas and Walgreens pharmacy waiting lines everywhere). Seems like a typo or factual error.

LEAVE THE 2010s TUMBLR SAD GIRLS ALONE WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH
Based on her "observations" about the 2012-2015 sad girl tumblr era hit girls, she had clearly aged out of their general audience. Her comments on this era were pretty out of touch and lacked nuance about their impact. Claiming that Halsey was able to rise up in popularity thanks to the wave of Lorde's first album success was a genuinely wild thing to say.

MAIN STRENGTH: HOW THIS LED INTO THAT
Focusing on the reactionary relationship between different pop music eras/aesthetics vs scattered & generalized 2000s nostalgia would have been a stronger direction to go in. The most thought provoking sections were when she discussed how one popular musical movement might have impacted pop culture and at times, created a reactionary counter culture.
Examples of this - poptimism/ reactionary emo rocker chick. Rhianna / the rise of EDM. Pop Punk / Shiny Pop. Medical Drama Trauma Indie Rock/ Recession Pop.
My favorite section of the book was the crammed-in portion exploring the post-2008 recession-pop / party girl uprising of the early 2010s + how it was affected by the aughts pop. The arc of Rhianna + rise of EDM, and the resurgence of pop punk as a foil to "shiny pop" were some of the only compelling sections and I wish she'd given more time to them.

CONCLUSION
The book was really weakened by odd pacing, frequent off-topic tangents, and the vast era-bending timeframe she allowed herself in order to avoid specifying a refined point. In the end, the author just didn't seem to have any particular insight or a strong enough thesis to effectively dissect the behemoth of 2000s pop music as she attempted to.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look at pop music in the 90s and 2000s through the lens of female artists. It is a light and easy read. While I might have wanted even more depth, especially more analysis on how ideals of womanhood reflected in the pop music through the years, I enjoyed every chapter and never found myself bored.

The author narrates the book and she was great. Her passion for music and the artists she writes about came through her narration.

[Rachel Libke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect vacation read ✨ I felt constantly at war between the urge to stop and listen to a song discussed in the book and the urge to binge gleefully on to the next page, and that kind of push and pull is my favorite type of reading experience.

[Sara Platt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for pop culture / music nerds. I loved it.

[Eleanor Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for the nostalgia, stay for the really well-researched dive into pop history.

[Renay Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this - a good history of women in pop in the early 2000’s

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, lighthearted audio read about music I enjoyed in the aughts decade.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. Audiobook #28 2025. Listened to this in one day. Loved the walk down memory lane, knowing what we know now.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically the book version of my favorite throwback playlists. What more could you ask for?

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll just get this out of the way: I loved this book. Like it will make my top books of the year sort of book. Thank you @netgalley for a copy in exchange for a review!

Nora Princiotti is one of my favorite podcasters. She hosts the podcast Every Single Album along with Nathan Hubbard which initially started out as a podcast taking a closer look at each of Taylor Swift’s albums. It has since evolved into a podcast that reviews and commentates on other artist’s latest pop music. Like her podcast, I found Hit Girls to be an informative, entertaining and nostalgic look at the evolution of pop music from 1998-2012 by focusing on the big playmakers who made it happen like Britney, Beyonce, and Avril Lavigne. The entire book is basically the order in which I grew my childhood CD collection.

While I came for Princiotti’s commentary, I stayed for the nostalgia. In today’s world, where the US is in constant turmoil, I found myself embracing the nostalgic escape this book offered and remembering simpler days like: Why was my …Baby One More Time CD baby pink and my friend from summer day camp’s Blue?! Or: “I finally figured out why I never pay attention to lyrics or realize 5 years later what a song is actually about! Lyrics from songs from critical periods of my young music listening years were nonsensical! (Looking at …Baby One More Time and I Want It That Way)

Pop music was not considered “real” music in the same way people try to other romance books as not “real” literature. Listening to pop music by female artists and boy bands always “othered” people who enjoyed listening to it. It wasn’t cool unless you were an 8 year old girl. As Princiotti puts it “Pop is a youthful genre, but the language used to describe it is often condescending…Fans are “teenyboppers,” artists “pop princesses,” and the music itself a “guilty pleasure.” What Princiotti accomplishes with this book is illustrating the work that it took for pop to be the respected genre that it is today and how it finally broke out the shadow of constantly being compared to rock music.

If you’re looking for a hit of nostalgia and a closer look at the modern history of pop music, look no further than Hit Girls. It’s an absolute gem. Pub day July 1, 2025.