This book was received as an ARC from Twelve Books - Twelve through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Wow, I now am convinced that Alyssa Mastromonaco uncovered secrets that the American public will struggle to get their grip around. Alyssa's confidence, intelligence, and strength is admirable and she displayed, and conveyed that throughout the book. Her experience working for President Obama before the White House in my opinion, prepared her way before he got elected as President. She provided insight that nobody could've provided leaving it all on the table of how the White House operated under President Obama. I also admire her resilience throughout the job, and I can relate to her Vatican bathroom story, and the humiliating pain she was going through. You have to be a woman to understand that struggle. She sure was the right person for the job as Chief of Staff. She is an inspiration to women worldwide, and I know I feel more empowered than ever after reading Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

Alyssa Mastromonaco is a woman of strength, resilience, and intelligence to inspire many for generations to come. This book deserves 5 stars.

I hope this does not come across harsh, but while I really wanted to like this book, I am not sure how I feel about it. This is full of amazing essays, with some amazing stories, but maybe I did not mean that every essay was amazing. I felt like some of them could be a little boring, but then the next one would be great. It was a little distracting that they did not go in order of a specific timeline as well. But I will say this, I would love to hang out with Alyssa. She seems like a truly great person, and would be a lot of fun.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot guess how much coffee Alyssa Mastromonaco drinks in a 24hr period.

As the former chief of staff for President Obama, her honest take on the basic chaos that happens on a daily basis, when everything goes right, fascinated me. Far more that goes on behind the scenes than I could have ever anticipated.

But Mastromonaco worked with Obama before he became president, so they had a good, mutually respectful professional relationship and it's great to read about adults acting like adults.

Pulling off miracles at crunch time as well as keeping gratitude during it all, comes through her words.

She's fearless and funny with a great flare for making the impossible be possible.

Geared towards a YA crowd, but enjoyable for anyone who likes reading about behind the scenes stories, I enjoyed this book.

I appreciate the publisher giving me the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
I love Barack Obama and was excited to read more about his time in office. I especially enjoyed the humorous moments.

Usually I’m not one for memoirs or political nonfiction, but Alyssa Mastromonaco’s narrative of her years working for Barack Obama was a joy to read.

I first became aware of Mastromonaco when she was a guest on Bad on Paper podcast. Her no-nonsense style of talking politics combined with her sense of humor and empathy make her not only a likable Nonfiction protagonist, but one who is aspirational as well.

I could have done without all the TMI bathroom info she shared, but the rest of the White House Staffers: They’re Just Like Us! schtick played beautifully.

This is a nice short read that provides a bit of education on how the presidential machine functions day to day, written by a woman who you’ll wish was both your boss and your best friend.

Wow. Just wow. The openness of this book was astounding. The true grit and depth the author takes you to is wonderful.

I really enjoyed this book! It is rare that I read political memoirs, but this one grabbed my attention. From the first page I related to the author and was also captivated by her window into the presidency.
I think it is a great read for anyone interested in Obama, fans of Veep, or just readers who enjoy humorous essays. This book has a lot of appeal for a wide range of readers.

Mastromonaco feels like an old friend who just happened to work for Obama. This book is a quick read/listen full of anecdotes and pieces of professional advice. I also loved her casual mention about how IBS affected her life on the road working for POTUS, and I almost cried when, after her cat died once she left the White House, Obama called her to send his regrets. Because he’s simply the best. I’m excited to listen to Mastromonaco’s new book.

A very interesting memoir of a young person's political education and working with President Obama. A very honest book, the author engages with not only her own mistakes but doesn't sugar-coat problems that arose during the Obama administration. Engaging, sometimes entertaining, and filled with interesting observations about life, work, politics, and the presidency. I really enjoyed it. (Also highly recommend the Crooked Media podcasts, on which Mastromonaco is a frequent guest.)

Alyssa Mastromonaco is a hilarious woman who deserves her own talk show. I loved reading about a normal woman's journey to the white house, instead of someone with connections and money making it big. It's a nice reminder that at one time the White House wasn't full of scandal.

I was really excited about reading this book (yes, even though it took me over a year to do so), but I have to admit that I was left disappointed. I enjoyed Mastromonaco's dry humor and the interesting anecdotes, however the writing seemed a bit scattered and jumped around quite a bit -- a few pages would cover her time in the White House and then all of a sudden readers who thrust into her part-time job during high school. It was disjointing and difficult to keep attention when I had to keep reminding myself of what time in her life she was talking about. I greatly respect Mastromonaco and wish I had better things to say about this book.

While I enjoyed this memoir, I don't think my students will.

Interesting to get a woman's insider perspective but I didn't really like the author based on reading this.

Loved this inside look at the working of the Obama White House. Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade and knows the ins and outs of Washington politics. From her "glamorous trip" to Buckingham Palace (she didn't know she'd be meeting the Queen and was wearing jeans) t grinding out 16 hours days in the West Wing, the author paints a vivid picture of life in the White House.

This book should be required reading for all young women before starting their careers. The advice the author gives, such as how powerful your words can be, is timeless. I enjoyed her antidotes, as well. However, her writing about her relationship with her cat was what really got me. I have several furbabies and could relate so much to this relationship. Read this, you will not regret it!

I loved this book.... but it made me miss President Obama even more. It was great to get the behind-the-scenes look at his life as a Senator and his presidential campaign. It is written with more humor than insight, but it also includes a memorable story about access to tampons in the White House.

I wasn't too sure at first - Mastromonaco's voice took a while to win me over but after a while I was hooked and reading about a woman in such a powerful role but being human was brilliant.

I really enjoyed Alyssa's voice and I think that she definitely had some gems from her time in the White House. But this book was alllll over the map and it brought the reading experience down considerably. I didn't necessarily object to her giving career advice but it was haphazardly placed and not any more illuminating than the many career books that have come before this. And even though she mentioned that she didn't want the book to be chronological it would have benefited from that greatly considering this is a political memoir. When you're dealing with elections and Obama is a senator, presidential hopeful, first term president and second term president all in the same book and it keeps shifting from one to the other out of order, things can get confusing. Overall we needed more anecdotes from the WH, and more about the government and politics.

As a person working in politics (at the state level) who just recently finished legislative session, it's the perfect time to review Alyssa Mastromonaco's Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?. Mastromonaco was the deputy chief of staff to President Obama, and the book is structured around various personal qualities she feels helped her rise in her field (leadership, preparedness, etc). As she talks about these concepts, she fills in details about her experiences in the political world, from interning with Bernie Sanders to working on the Kerry campaign, to getting her start in with Obama when he was a senator and staying with him through the presidential race and then into the White House. There are highs and there are lows, and there's even some romance (and a look at the gentler side of her husband, a former Harry Reid aide known, like his boss, for being caustic).

Mastromonaco is up front about why she wanted to write her book: while there are plenty of works out there from male political types talking about their time in public service, there are comparatively few by women. Part of that is because there haven't been as many women walking the hallways of power, but even among members of that group there's some reticence about being out there about what they've experienced. Mastromonaco wanted to write something honest about being a young person, and a young woman person specifically, living and working in a field not necessarily known for being welcoming to females. And honest she is: she talks openly about her IBS and dealing with it when traveling around the world with the President, being walked in on at the office doing sit-ups, coping with the death and illness of a pet, and the sleep/health destroying stress and pressure that come along with working in the nation's most exclusive address.

I really enjoyed reading this book. When I'd seen the press around the book before I read it, it was described as being as if you had a smart, funny older sister who happened to work closely with Barack Obama, and that's exactly what it is. Mastromonaco's voice is warm, droll, and strikes a great balance between downplaying her success and bragging about it. She owns that she worked really hard and sacrificed a lot to earn what she earned, and how frustrating it could be to deal with people who sometimes let themselves treat her like her youth and gender made her less worthy of their respect. As someone who also works in the general field (though nothing like DC, thank goodness), her words and experiences rang true to me. Politics is exciting and frustrating and there are some of best people who work in it, but also some of the worst. There's nothing quite as great as the feeling of pulling together with your team to get some really good work done and winning the day, but there are also the days when you go cry in the bathroom stall because there are just too many things happening at once and it's overwhelming.

If I was going to offer a critique, it would be that the timelines could get a little hard to keep track of, jumping back and forth from the later part of her time at the White House back to the campaign trail, then forward and then backward again. Organizing around subject areas keeps it cohesive, and by the time you get into the back half off the book it's more chronological, but there were some moments of confusion when I started to read it. Overall, though, it's a look at a side of political life that most people don't ever think about, much less get to see, and I think it would be a great read for anyone interested in what it's actually like to work in this crazy field. I would recommend it particularly highly to women, but men absolutely should read it too. It's a very solid book.