A review by serenitylive
Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun

5.0

"This is a bumpy stretch. We should not expect to feel fine." Just one of the thesis statements in this book that left me crying with the relief of being seen and validated. The book also clearly states we midlife Gen Xers do not need more self-help advice, yoga, or products. We need solace. Like the 2017 article by Calhoun that is basically sprinkled throughout this book and which I could not stop thinking about, the book is mostly a stack of evidence against our happiness. There is some relief throughout—e.g., the phrase radical acceptance when it comes to the difference between reality and our expectations plus real advice about perimenopause—but most of the good news doesn't appear until the last chapter and is mostly an expounding on these. Even that seemed perfect. I needed this book, and I'm grateful for it.