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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I love Jessi Klein's debut and love this one even more. Especially relatable for mothers who had children "late" in life, but also super relatable for any woman in her 30s/40s; any person living in Los Angeles who is not a size 2 and who does not have it all together? But you don't have to relate to enjoy these essays. Just have a good sense of humor and a hearty heart. If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would do so in a heartbeat.
I feel like this book says all the things women in their 30’s and 40’s think or worry about, especially moms. I started reading the book and thought it would be better digested via audiobook and that was a great choice. While not on the motherhood path, I have incredible respect for parenthood and appreciate how Jessi calls out the things not everyone talks about that truly are struggle as I feel a lot of new parents think they’re alone in that. Her voice and tone are a little dry but I enjoyed it
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
I’m not a mother and I’m not entirely sure how this book ended up in my library holds bucket, but I’m glad it did. The essays are funny, emotionally raw, and to the point. I listened to the book nearly non-stop for two days and am looking forward to reading more of Klein’s work.
3.5 stars rounded down. I loved Jessi sooooo much on Las Culturistas but this audiobook was a mixed bag for me. It was laugh-out-loud funny at times, very poignant at other times, but also sometimes felt out of touch and cringe. Overall I liked but didn’t love it!
I bought this book because the opening essay about motherhood as a hero’s journey made me cry, it was that powerful. The rest of the book is a mix of 5 star essays and more like 2-3 star essays. I also couldn’t get over how a lot of the sentences ended in question marks? Like this one? Overall, 3.5 bumped up for the phenomenal first essay.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Can I give 10 stars? This book is incredible and should be required reading for all moms and everyone who knows a mom. Thank you Jesse Klein for your honesty, insight, and hilarious wit.
I enjoyed the poignancy and humor in Klein's essays, and I could identify with a lot of it as a parent, but I found the book to be a slight letdown after reading the (viral) excerpt (which was the first essay in the collection) last year in The Cut (www.thecut.com/2022/04/excerpt-ill-show-myself-out-jessi-klein.html). That essay made me instantly buy this book, and I was anticipating more of that kind of writing. Also, lately I've enjoyed short humor pieces (online) rather than book-long things. (I wasn't a big fan of Tina Fey's or Amy Poehler's books that were so popular years ago, for example. And now I've referred to three white-woman humor collections in this review -- I need to branch out in that area for sure.) Maybe it's because I write short humor myself, or maybe because my general attention span has been decimated by TikTok and the dumpster fire that is the world right now; who knows.
I got a little tired of the parenting stories. Could be a lack of parenting experience myself, because I generally find Klein funny, but I was over it.