jeaninesmith1962's review against another edition
4.0
Jenny Lawson is hilarious and poignant and overwhelmingly honest. I appreciate her humor when describing her special kind of brokenness. Her honest descriptions of suffering from depression and anxiety have given me insight that I didn’t have before. As I read, I kept thinking about who I could share this book with - who would get the importance of Jenny’s stories.
jiggityjog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
ktxx22's review against another edition
4.0
Lawson does it again with a hilarious, but also deeply personal book. I really enjoy how she views the world and her relationship with her husband is something else. It really brings joy getting to read her stories in regards to her life. Definitely something you should pick up if you need a pick me up, and if you suffer from any mental illnesses or autoimmune diseases I think you’ll find comfort in the narrative here.
beccaruthe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
bookitalum's review against another edition
4.0
I love Jenny Lawson. Immensely. I think she is brilliant, honest, and hilarious. I’m certain we would become fast friends given the opportunity. That’s why it pains me to give this book anything less than 5 stars.
“Broken” felt more aimless and disjointed than her last two books. It didn’t necessarily feel like the emotional range was greater, but somehow the shifts from humor to pain and poignancy were faster, sharper, more unpredictable. Maybe that was her intent? It definitely felt broken or left me feeling (more) broken. Maybe it was me? Regardless, it was still a good read. I recommend it. But, if you’ve never read “Furiously Happy,” start there.
“Broken” felt more aimless and disjointed than her last two books. It didn’t necessarily feel like the emotional range was greater, but somehow the shifts from humor to pain and poignancy were faster, sharper, more unpredictable. Maybe that was her intent? It definitely felt broken or left me feeling (more) broken. Maybe it was me? Regardless, it was still a good read. I recommend it. But, if you’ve never read “Furiously Happy,” start there.
wanderaven's review against another edition
5.0
Honestly, I'm not sure I would've ever believed that Lawson could get even better.
I've followed and adored The Bloggess for so long now, and have thoroughly enjoyed and loved her previous works. It was without any hesitation that I requested this ARC from Henry Holt & Co the moment I had the opportunity.
I don't recall, from her previous books, quite the amount of depth and focus on the darker stretches of her mental illness. Don't get me wrong - her dark stretches have certainly been expressed and discussed before, but never with quite the illumination here. It can be difficult reading; she is eloquent but also realistic and brutal. So often, Lawson expresses her frustrations with a deft entwining of humor and weightiness but there are chapters/segments in Broken that are just the weight, just the dark, just the seriousness, however well written and brilliant her turns of phrase.
These chapters are skillfully balanced with the dark humor, cleverness, and wittiness we've come to expect from Lawson, and, though it can be a high tightrope, I never despaired that she would keep me safe with the balancing act.
And, once again, every single time I was reading, my partner kept saying, "Okay, tell me already, what is so damn funny?" It's always a long path Lawson guides us down; already so many pages to get to the full on uncontrollable laughter that I always shake my head and say, "You just have to read it."
There's a chapter, towards the end, where she proposes (horrible) ideas for Shark Tank that was a huge miss for me; it felt like someone else trying to write like Lawson but really missing the mark. She does explain that these ideas were generated by herself in collaboration with some friends, so perhaps that's why. I definitely could've done without this bit - it felt like a genuine outlier to the rest of the book, though, and since it was the only one, it wasn't enough to ding my rating.
Only my second or third five star for this year, so far!
I've followed and adored The Bloggess for so long now, and have thoroughly enjoyed and loved her previous works. It was without any hesitation that I requested this ARC from Henry Holt & Co the moment I had the opportunity.
I don't recall, from her previous books, quite the amount of depth and focus on the darker stretches of her mental illness. Don't get me wrong - her dark stretches have certainly been expressed and discussed before, but never with quite the illumination here. It can be difficult reading; she is eloquent but also realistic and brutal. So often, Lawson expresses her frustrations with a deft entwining of humor and weightiness but there are chapters/segments in Broken that are just the weight, just the dark, just the seriousness, however well written and brilliant her turns of phrase.
These chapters are skillfully balanced with the dark humor, cleverness, and wittiness we've come to expect from Lawson, and, though it can be a high tightrope, I never despaired that she would keep me safe with the balancing act.
And, once again, every single time I was reading, my partner kept saying, "Okay, tell me already, what is so damn funny?" It's always a long path Lawson guides us down; already so many pages to get to the full on uncontrollable laughter that I always shake my head and say, "You just have to read it."
There's a chapter, towards the end, where she proposes (horrible) ideas for Shark Tank that was a huge miss for me; it felt like someone else trying to write like Lawson but really missing the mark. She does explain that these ideas were generated by herself in collaboration with some friends, so perhaps that's why. I definitely could've done without this bit - it felt like a genuine outlier to the rest of the book, though, and since it was the only one, it wasn't enough to ding my rating.
Only my second or third five star for this year, so far!
taylorreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audio book because I love hearing Jenny read, she makes me laugh as easily as an old friend. But listening to her read her letter to the insurance company just broke me.
natcommon's review against another edition
2.0
5 stars on discussion on mental health and her experiences, but docked it stars due to some random stories that didn't seem to help the narrative of what she was trying to say.