Being a mother is hard. Never knowing if you are doing the right thing, making the right choices. I often wonder how I am messing my kids up, and if any other way of doing things would mess them up less.
This is a brutal world to be a parent in, and Hanchett is so beautifully real.
This is a book that I will read and re read and re read again not just on my own, but with my mom friends as well.

I must say I didn’t find this an easy read. The author’s memoir detailing mental illness, addiction and struggles with motherhood is raw, candid and emotional. Ms Hanchett is certainly a strong and brave person to be so honest and forthright with her struggles. What saved the book from being too overwhelming for me was the deep layer of humour exhibited throughout. I’m glad I read this book because it is ultimately a testament to the strength and beauty of the human spirit. Therefore, uplifting and inspiring. A definite recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

For some reason, I am always drawn to memoirs from people with fucked up lives and this doesn’t disappoint in that category. It is a fast-paced, raw memoir. The writing is good, the content is so real you can feel it. I enjoyed this book and totally want to check out Janelle’s blog now. Thanks to the publisher, the author and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.

This is bound to be on the Best Seller list soon!! The author's style is raw, real, and as candid as you could hope a memoir to be. This book will appeal to different audiences because she doesn't just tell her story--she masterfully helps the reader understand where she's coming from and can help someone who doesn't understand the grip strength of drug and alcohol addiction.

As a law enforcement professional, I have seen addicts in their darkest hours and have spoken with more family, friends, and loved ones than I care to count. This book brought me back to so many of those incidents and I found myself asking how I would have responded if called upon to assist during certain times in this author's "renegade mothering" journey.

Special thanks to Net Galley for the ARC. I couldn't read this one fast enough!! I loved it around every twist, turn, success, relapse, tragedy, and recovery.

This book is written by a woman struggling with becoming a young mother while facing her own demons. with alcohol and addiction. The writing is raw and honest. I highly recommend it!

Currently reading this memoir called I’m Just Happy To Be Here by Janelle Hanchett. It’s about mental illness, addiction, motherhood, honesty, and I love it. Totally raw, no sugar coating. Told with a sense of humor, the book is well written and engaging, Ive been glued to the pages as Janelle’s story keeps turning.

Here’s the scoop:

Pregnant at 21 by a man she’d known three months, Janelle Hanchett embraced motherhood with the determined optimism of the recklessly self-confident. After giving birth, she found herself bored, directionless, and seeking relief in wine, which she justified as sophisticated and going well with chicken.

But over time, her questionable drinking habit spiraled into full-blown dependence, until life became bedtime stories and splitting hangovers, cubicles and multi-day drug binges–and eventually, an inconceivable separation from her children. For ten years, Hanchett grappled with the unyielding progression of addiction, bouncing from rehab to therapy to the occasional hippie cleansing ritual on her quest for sobriety, before finding it in a way she never expected.

I am looking forward to reading more later, sometimes it’s in books where we feel understood and I have a feeling the author would understand my struggles, life is hard! Thank goodness for books and brave authors.

Sometimes we read a book for fun, such as a book we take to the beach. Sometimes we choose a book because we are in the mood for something scary, or we like to solve mysteries, or we want to learn more about ancient China. And there are times that a book calls to us. "Read me so you can witness a life that seems so different from your own. So you can see what torment and suffering is. And so you can learn to love more."

I'm Happy Just to be Here is a great title for a book written by a young woman who had lost her job, children, dignity, health, mind and respect, and almost her marriage. The memoir of her years as a drug addict is one of the hardest books I have ever read. Every page seems to bring unrelenting misery and hopelessness and horribleness. Fortunately, it has a pretty happy ending.

And it's also fortunate that it is well written and contains gems such as If God only gave you the things you could handle, what would you need God for?

One of the best parts of the story for me was when the author learned that her grandmother had written a newspaper column for young mothers, 70 years ago. As many readers know, these days author writes a successful blog about mothering.

As a mother, this book was hard for me to read. "What if this had happened to my kids?" I kept thinking. But, this is a book worth reading, because it's a book about life. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hanchette Books for an ARC.

Jena C. Henry, March 2018

As a follower of Renegade Mothering I couldn't have been more excited to receive an advanced reader copy for her memoir. I'm Just Happy to Be Here is a sad, yet beautiful telling of Janelle's journey through addiction and the amazing resiliency of her family while she attempts to become sober. At times it was really hard to read because it felt so hopeless, but you couldn't stop hoping there would be a light at the end of the tunnel. It was very interesting to hear more of the backdrop story to have a better understanding of her blog. All in all it was a very eye opening memoir to addictions.

I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Copy of ‘I’m Just Happy To Be Here’ by Janelle Hanchett which is a brutally honest, raw and uncut story of the author’s struggles with addiction and mental illness and just plain adulting. She holds nothing back as she lays out her biggest mistakes and deepest regrets for us all to see and takes us down to the bottom while some how managing to still be relatable. I admit, I’m a sucker for a good hot mess story but, I think, what sets ‘I’m Just Happy To Be Here’ apart from other stories I’ve read is the author’s keen self awareness and her ability to take us in to her brain so that we really see what and how she was thinking rather than just scoffing at the actions that occurred as a result. I really enjoyed that different perspective and found myself feeling so connected to her that I sought out her blog because I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye.

Yo-yo-ing between bouts of sobriety & inebriation, but always depressed, Janelle is loud with hints of Janet Capron’s wild side and the harsh but oft sarcastic tones of Myriam Gurba. Here's a stellar self-deprecating memoir of mistakes while growing up, struggling under postpartum grief, and holding on to oneself (or not) while becoming/being a mother. Janelle’s stark skepticism, her innate ability to question everything (especially when religious leaders don’t have answers)— was highly appealing. Like she mentions several times about not having a place in any of the various existing categories of "mother", her admissions give me hope for the day I choose to have children, knowing that it's possible to not be a good mom while being a good mom, and it's ok to not love everything that's involved with parenting because, thank god it's finally out: PARENTING IS HARD and not (always) a joy.

A somewhat funny account on being a mother and so much more. When I say somewhat funny, her humor came off as whiny, and not so funny. Overall good book.