[5] The Boston Globe wrote that "there is much to admire", such as her "insightful" essay "What We Hunger For"; Bad Feminist "signals an important contribution to the complicated terrain of gender politics.

"[6] The Huffington Post was more effusive in its praise – "Gay's essays expertly weld her personal experiences with broader gender trends occurring politically and in popular culture" – and gave the book an 8/10 rating.

"[8] In the United Kingdom's The Guardian, critic Kira Cochrane wrote: "While online discourse is often characterised by extreme, polarised opinions, her writing is distinct for being subtle and discursive, with an ability to see around corners, to recognise other points of view while carefully advancing her own.

In print, on Twitter and in person, Gay has the voice of the friend you call first for advice, calm and sane as well as funny, someone who has seen a lot and takes no prisoners.

"[10] The Chicago Tribune noted that while "Gay writes incisively, fearlessly, sometimes angrily, often wittily and always intelligently on an incredibly diverse array of issues: race, domestic violence, pop culture, food, social media, child sexual abuse, the Obamas and, of course, feminism" in her columns, Bad Feminist is somewhat lacking: "why, then, is there not more to admire in this collection of Gay's new and previously published essays?