Great book at the perfect time. Navigating this time of life is definitely not easy. The author is friendly and relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!

A funny take on dealing with perimenopause and menopause. I felt like my Mom was talking to me and telling me candidly about her experiences - something I know we all would appreciate - people who have come before us sharing life experiences (maybe that just me) I wish more women would talk about things that affect all of us but we keep silent about. If you know about something before you experience it, it can give you time to prepare and adjust?

"What Fresh Hell" is the book everyone who is going through menopause needs to read. It is funny, smart, and will affirm the heck out of your experience. Sadly too many books and medical professionals want to fix things in a manner that is unhelpful. Heather Corinna provides you with the necessary guidance to advocate for yourself in many situations.

As someone tiptoeing towards perimenopause, I found this book super helpful. I really appreciate someone laying it all out there about what to expect.

This audiobook was everything I didn't know I needed or wanted!! Hearing Heather Corinna talk about menopause in such an inclusive way kind of blew my mind. Having DISABILITIES included in anything always is astonishing but to hear trans bodies not only be included but also just thought of at every turn? It was such a welcoming book and something I needed as someone who went into surgical menopause at 25.

Imagine if you will your older sister coming over and telling you all about perimenopause and menopause, and you've got this book. It's snarky, fun, blessedly all-inclusive of people, medically accurate, but told in a fashion that's not heavy with facts and figures (there are no charts or graphs) but in a way to give you the lay of the upcoming land. There's also some sibling rivalry thrown in (my perimenopause is so much worse than yours because Mother [Nature] loves you more) which I found distracting in it's repeated remarks.

Perfect for those who are just entering or are curious about the transition and what an overview of what to expect.

Heather Corinna has written a smart, inclusive, HILARIOUS, relatable, extremely useful guide to illuminating a part of our lives that many (most?) women have never truly understood — I thought “menopause” was having a few hot flashes and being cranky for a month or two and then just never having a period again, rather than the sweaty, years-long perimenopausal slog through a river of blood and emotions and terrible sleep and other nonsense that I and so many of my friends are going through.

Normalizing talking about our bodies and all of the crazy stuff that happens to them and not feeling ashamed is a big step towards improving women’s physical and emotional health. We’ve been indoctrinated our whole lives to think that women’s bodies are gross and we should be ashamed of the gross things our gross bodies do, *especially* as we age and lose our reproductive value. I’ve done a pretty solid job internalizing all of that self-loathing for 46 years and am trying my hardest to not pass that garbage along to my daughter (and son, because boys should know this too).

ANYWAY. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know and will be referring to it frequently as I carry on with this magical journey.

What Fresh Hell is This? is honest, frank, and full of information on how to navigate, manage, and thrive while living through perimenopause and menopause. This ought to be required reading for all women BEFORE they reach this stage of life. I’ll be purchasing and gifting this book to my best girlfriends - thank you to Heather Corinna for writing this!

Thank you to Hachette Books and NetGalley for this highly informative ARC.

After an online friend raved about this book, I felt like I had to pick it up. I’m approaching my forties, the time when, according to this book, many people start entering perimenopause. I knew going in that I was incredibly uninformed about it, and turns out, everything I knew was pretty much completely wrong.

“I’m not here to fix you. I’m just here to try and help you get through this hot mess.”


Apparently, I’m not the only one. The author starts with some of their own history, an example of how lack of knowledge about menopause – even among doctors – can lead to costly and frustrating issues. Throughout the book, the author is thoughtful and honest about their own struggles, and I really appreciated that. The next section goes over the history of (mis)treatment of menopause, with gems such as doctors stating that outliving your ovaries means you’ve outlived your use as a human being. It’s a bit hard to read, but it’s a good background to see where some of the cultural and medical misunderstandings that still persist today come from. While obviously no person’s menopause will be the same, there’s some common areas to focus on, what the author calls “Ya Basics” – things that honestly everyone should be doing, from hydration to movement to sleep to stress reduction. It’s basically self-care, but something that I, at least, recognize that I struggle with even now. After that, there’s sections devoted to possible issues – hot flashes, mental health issues, cognitive issues, digestive issues, urinary and genital issues…. – you get the point, menopause is a lot of issues – and suggestions for what may help.

“It is not uncommon for some people in menopause to take a look at their whole lives or some big part of them and come to the conclusion that what it really needs is some gasoline and a match. There may come a time in this when our fucks all come home to roost, we size them up, and say, “Oh yeah? Let’s dance.”


When listing it all out like that, this book can get rather terrifying at times so it’s good that it’s also hilariously funny. From silly things like a Rick Astley reference to one-liners, to a multi-page ode to a cooling pillow (one of the tips for getting better sleep, since apparently night sweats start with your head) there’s a lot of good humor. And while the author doesn’t sugarcoat that perimenopause can be rough going, they also provide lots of suggestions, and even a chapter at the end of the “benefits” of menopause. It was a lot like sitting down for a very frank chat with a good friend, honest and informative but also caring.

“Self-acceptance and self-love don’t require that we have no hard feelings or nothing we don’t like; they mostly just ask that however we feel about our bodies and ourselves, we’re not a dick about it.”


One of the things I really appreciated is that this book is inclusive, especially in terms of gender and disabilities. The author uses the term “people with utero-ovarian systems” as a shorthand, and the book specifically includes info for people who start taking testosterone for gender transitioning or affirm reasons. Look, this crap is scary and can be even more so for those outside gender “norms” or who already have some form of disability or marginalization. I’m cis, so I can’t speak to the sections for trans men and women, but tt was nice to specifically see sections that mentioned my specific disability and how it might affect whatever symptoms I experience. It’s also extremely body positive, for example, acknowledging that tracking foods (one recommendation for people having digestive issues) might not be a healthy option for everyone.

Overall, I found this incredibly informative and helpful, and I’ll definitely be buying a copy to refer back to when I inevitably need it.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This IS the perimenopause book I've been waiting for. Rather than wading through oceans of patriarchal BS about making sure not to disrupt other people while you retain your supple flexibility and people-pleasing properties, this book acknowledges, names, and even celebrates the many transformational experiences of peri- and menopause. What you'll find: discussion about sexual and body changes; how to cope with other people when you want to tell them all to f off; radical self-care; calling in and being support systems; radical acceptance. What you won't find, and thank the Lumpy Space Princess for this: transphobia/transexclusionary language, misogyny, queer erasure, capitulation.

Extra super special points for Heather Corinna's listing their special webpage in the appendix - it includes great mixes, drink recipes, and the hilarious (and perpetually necessary) acknowledgement that sometimes that cool punk person from days of yore is now deeply problematic and probably should just be shelved for the time being.

I recommend this book to ANYONE who knows ANYONE who is, was, or will experience menopause.

I received a proof of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You came to my attention following emmalita’s positive review of it earlier this month. The title alone intrigued me, what fresh hell is this is something I say in my day-to-day life, so an author that chose to use it as their title would very likely be an author I’d want to read. That the book was about perimenopause was (almost) secondary.
I’m probably not in perimenopause yet (based on the evidence I’m most likely in my Late Reproductive phase where things start to go a little haywire from what they’ve been the past couple decades), so why would this book be something that I would want to read? The answer is simple: it’s coming for me. I’m a person with a utero-ovarian system which means this is an inevitability. Also, like everyone else, I’m living in a reality where the patriarchy has pathologized natural occurrences in the body systems of people with uteruses (or otherwise experiencing menopause). Information is quite literally power in situation surrounding our health, and as I experience some of the things that are hallmarks of perimenopause its time to get informed.
And what a fun time it was getting informed. What Fresh Hell is This? is health-forward, feminist, empathetic and practical guide that offers straightforward descriptions of what is happening in our bodies and how it effects our minds and lives. Sex educator Heather Corinna (they/them) gives practical, clear information that also includes affected populations who have long been left out of the discussion, those with disabilities, queer, transgender, nonbinary and other gender-diverse people, the working class and other marginalized folks. The inclusivity of this book goes to the length of including an appendix written by Joanne Mason about menopause as experienced by people who were born with testicular systems.
The whole book isn’t for me right now, but it will be for me eventually. There was an incredible amount of useful information, and just good level setting provided that reminded me to do what I can for myself to make this transition easier as it comes (or at least less confusing and scary). If nothing else Corinna’s ten points for managing stress are worth the time investment, but the book has so much more to offer.

A down to earth, factual and honest look at perimenopause and menopause. What Fresh Hell is This is the perfect title to grab the attention of Gen-Xers who are currently or about to enter this phase of their lives.

The upside of my disappointment about that other menopause book I reviewed was that several people reached out and told me that there was another book about menopause available for request on NetGalley. What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities and You is exactly what I was looking for – gender inclusive, pragmatic, compassionate, and truly, deeply feminist.

Why do I, a cis woman, care that a book about menopause is gender inclusive? The answer is, as is the answer to many things, because patriarchy. The lens of patriarchy distorts reality, and one of those distortions is making gender a binary and narrowing the range of gender expression. It is also the reason menopause was treated as an illness to be avoided or minimized. Patriarchy determines that a person in menopause is becoming irrelevant. Any book about menopause that does not acknowledge that not everyone with a uterus is a woman is adhering too closely to the reality distorting lens of patriarchy for me to trust the information within.

Heather Corinna (they/them) is a sex educator and brings their many years of experience explaining sex, sexuality, and bodies to What Fresh Hell is This? It is not a prescriptive book. It describes what happens in the body, what the impacts of those processes can be and a variety of ways those impacts can be managed. Throughout, Corinna reiterates that our individual experience with perimenopause and menopause is not isolated from the rest of our life. Genetics, overall health, wealth, marginalization, past trauma, living situation, and all the factors that make up our life play a part in how perimenopause and menopause impact us. Rather than pointing to a one true path, Corinna illuminates the many paths of which they are aware and is honest about what they don’t know. Anecdotes are used to illustrate, but not as evidence. While I did not see footnotes in the advance reader copy, there is an appendix of additional resources at the back, and as Corinna moves through the book they reference and include material from relevant sources.

Any major changes in my body make me nervous, because I am low income and have very limited access to healthcare. I found a lot of What Fresh Hell is This? reassuring. After one read through I feel like I am doing a lot of the basic things I can do for myself. My gift to myself this Summer will be buying a physical copy to keep on hand for as needed refreshers.

I genuinely feel better about going through perimenopause after reading What Fresh Hell is This?

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The inclusivity in WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS makes this book an amazing, necessary resource. I especially appreciate Heather Corinna's use of language like "people with vaginas" and otherwise lack of gendered language. I've already recommended this to colleagues and will also be sharing it with a national queer writing group I facilitate. So many people are going to benefit from this book!

This is everything I've been waiting for in a perimenopause book. The key element is the "I" voice. The author is an expert in their own experience who has also done their research in what the menopausal transition might be like for others. They are also honest about what a reader may expect. They touch on what perimenopause might be like for people experiencing medical menopause, e.g., cancer survivors, as well as people assigned male or female at birth but have transitioned to another gender via hormones or surgery. However, they alert the reader that they won't feel as seen in What Fresh Hell Is This as they may in book written specifically for their own population. And yet they attempt to touch on the issues and experiences of people going through a different kind of menopause. They are clear, too, that everyone's menopause is different.

Corinna is a GenXer who writes with a gentle authority--again, using a first person narrative or by interviewing people holding other facial, ethnic, and gender identities from theirs, as well as people with disabilities of which Corinna is one. Their expertise doesn't have the ring of "I Am The Expert" that other medical and medical adjacent books I've read do.

I've also read more casual books, comics, and zines that deal with perimenopause. While they can be a lot of fun, none of them has provided the symptom by symptom rundown that Corinna does. It is reassuring, or maybe preassuring for people earlier in the meno that periods are likely to get closer together before they get farther apart. You might have flooding periods. They're normally--but here's how to recognize when they're not. I wish I'd had WFHIT five years ago. I also wish partners and family members and anyone who lives with people going through The Change would read the book. My cohabitant is going to!

Comprehensive book on something you wish you didn't need. Great information.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.