bak8382's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed Hartley putting into words something I've felt like I was carrying around alone.
shereadsshedrinks's review against another edition
3.0
Really felt like this was repetitive and the narrator wasn't great. (Learn to pronounce minutiae, please.) Also focused a lot on women with kids, which on one hand makes sense. But I think it could have benefitted from talking about the emotional labor that women without kids specifically have, as well. So many people forget that adults without kids have responsibilities too.
kiffage's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Changed my life. Fantastic book.
lucibello's review against another edition
She had many valuable things to say, and she wasn't necessarily wrong. But I do think she got a little whiny, and overall I found the book completely unhelpful to me in my own attitudes as I try to maintain the world that I have created. It's easy to shift the blame on society or men, or even our upbringing as women, but we make daily decisions that have supported the carrying of the work, and we are good at it. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, and so I found the book unhelpful to me in who I am choosing to be in character and attitude. I had to stop the book.
glasses07's review against another edition
2.0
DNF relatable, but very skimmable book that could have been a 20-pager. Autobiographical complaining about the dynamic between author and her husband. Regurgitation of her Harper Bazaar article and other authors. No real solutions or new ideas.
melanna's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
This is a passion topic for me (emotional labour imbalances in marriages). And I guess if this is the first book you have read on the subject it might be really good. But I felt like she put in very little new content. Most of the book is spent quoting other books and sharing anecdotal stories to show her point. But she doesn’t really give much of anything anything practical mostly just broad statements about how we need to do better. The biggest point was “don’t expect men to do things to your standards.” And that’s not incorrect. But not really enough to carry a book. I think she mostly had an articles worth and then tried to flesh it out with other peoples thoughts and stories. So 2 stars for the writing. 1 bonus one for a topic we need to talk about more and find solutions to.