This story and history is really interesting and Shetterly has done the world a great service in all of her massive research and interviews and compilation of a rarely told story. That said, the reading experience isn't super engaging. It feels like a series of facts and events, but there's no strong cohesive through line. I feel like you could reach the chapters/sections completely out of order and be almost totally fine. She obviously had so much history and she wanted to share so much (and as it's available nowhere else, that's a good instinct). I don't know if it needed an editor or something, but I found reading it to feel like homework sometimes. And also, I could pick up and put it down without feeling like I'd lost anything. At times there is extensive technical discussions (which are necessary in order to explain the roles being performed by these people) and at other times I felt like important details were left out. Still, I learned a lot and I'm glad I read it. But, unlike most book/movie, I was actually really glad I'd seen the movie first. It was fascinating to see all the changes the film made to make a better story, but also, having some emotional connection to these women from the film, it helped insert some heart into the reading of this.