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zelma's review
3.0
Overall I really liked this. I liked the use of different voice/authors rather than one person trying to expound on life issues. I related quite a bit to the early sections about marriage and relationships, but ended up skimming later sections about children and middle age. I just didn't relate to any of it. And the sections about having kids kind of irritated me because they all talked about how stressful yet wonderful they were. Even the essay about choosing not to have children ended with the author planning to adopt. I was a tad annoyed about that.
quinnster's review
2.0
Right off the bat I realized my mistake. I picked the audiobook (because it was available right away) instead of the actual book. There are just some people who are not cut out to read out loud and this book had a lot of them. Some were so bad even my husband who only heard a couple of minutes of one essay said 'What are you listening to? That is the worst thing I've ever heard!' because it was. I wanted to scream.
It didn't help that I couldn't relate to these women. These working women. These working women with flexible schedules. I didn't understand this anger towards their husband. This fighting and rage. My husband and I bicker, of course, but to fight? To be angry and resentful towards him? I don't have that and these women do.
I felt guilty for thinking of them as whiny, but all I thought about when I was listening to them reading was 'oh my god the whining.' Which I suppose is something I should feel guilty about, the unsupportiveness of those of my gender who 'want it all', but these women don't 'want it all'. They want perfection and they want it their way, without sacrifice or compromise. They want it all, but they want someone to give it to them. Sure they want to work for their reputations in their chosen careers, but everything else, they want those people to just give it to them and that's just annoying.
There were a couple of essays that I did enjoy, hence the 2 stars instead of just one, but pressed at this moment I couldn't tell you what those ones were about or why I liked them and that kind of says something too.
It didn't help that I couldn't relate to these women. These working women. These working women with flexible schedules. I didn't understand this anger towards their husband. This fighting and rage. My husband and I bicker, of course, but to fight? To be angry and resentful towards him? I don't have that and these women do.
I felt guilty for thinking of them as whiny, but all I thought about when I was listening to them reading was 'oh my god the whining.' Which I suppose is something I should feel guilty about, the unsupportiveness of those of my gender who 'want it all', but these women don't 'want it all'. They want perfection and they want it their way, without sacrifice or compromise. They want it all, but they want someone to give it to them. Sure they want to work for their reputations in their chosen careers, but everything else, they want those people to just give it to them and that's just annoying.
There were a couple of essays that I did enjoy, hence the 2 stars instead of just one, but pressed at this moment I couldn't tell you what those ones were about or why I liked them and that kind of says something too.
cristyd's review
2.0
A mix of personal journeys. Too much self-imposed anger and child-focus for me. Several times I shouted to myself "Check your damn privilege and show some humility for f@@@'s sake!" I read this out of interest in The Bitch is Back, but will have to find the rare mood to read more about the struggles of bubbled white middle class urban women.
2 stars for the few good essays.
2 stars for the few good essays.
cl1ch3's review
3.0
Upon reading the first few chapters, I assumed the book would be the same thing throughout - women complaining about deadbeat boyfriends and husbands they married. To my pleasant surprise, the book actually contains essays from women from all kinds of different backgrounds who talked about a variety of life experiences. A very enjoyable collection of stories from women.
atroskity's review
5.0
It sounds corny, but this book helped me get through my first year of marriage with my sanity and our relationship intact.
lindsayb's review
3.0
I read this about six years ago and liked it, but I'd be interested to read it again...see how my perspective has changed.
clairelorraine's review
3.0
Contrary to other reviewers, I like when collections of essays/stories have common threads and laser-focused themes. In this case, this group of writer ladies (mainly White, middle-aged, married with children, and middle-class) all lament the conflicts between their notions of feminism and their TRUE LIVES - also how they fight becoming "the bitch in the house," but alwaysssss lose. This book made me feel a little...worried more than annoyed "that they complain about nothing." It isn't nothing if it feels like something to you, right? My only problem with this book is that I wish I were introduced to some more radical ideas/alternatives and I wish the book had included a wider range of female voices. However, like I said, it's focused enough that you can have a sustained kind of conversation with yourself as you read.
kit_carmichael's review against another edition
4.0
Good overall, but focuses too much on women of a certain demographic (white, upper-middle-class, writers and/or in media).