A book with some laughs in. I found it a little bit boring in parts. But interesting all the same.
Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

This was definitely an interesting book, and funny at times, but unfortunately I found it to be a bit "meh".

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest review! #dontbringyourvibratortorehab #netgalley

Pam tells her story of going from addict to rehab and then back to addict. This time you follow her through her journey of rehab number 2. Will she manage to stay sober?

I saw this title and immediately knew I must read this book.

This book does exactly what it says on the tin. A comedic memoir about Pam's life and how she overcame peer pressure, self esteem and of course relapse.

Only thing I felt the last chapter was very rushed. We went from day to day rehab life with minimal feeling of getting close to discharge. To then in a few lines Pam's discharged and the book ends from there. Slightly more feeling of change/ growth occurring in each day would feel less of a jump in the last few lines. Possibly hearing about Pam's life for a few days to months when discharged would also prevent this ending and address the issues with going from rehab to home.

Also some derogatory language towards others needs to be changed. We shod be supportive of each other snd a poor editing over sight

Laughter is sometimes all you have in the dark times. This book has it’s funny moments. Thank you for the opportunity to read for a review.

At times hilarious and harrowing, Gaslow paints a raw portrait of a woman held hostage by her substance abuse. Eventually becoming sick from marijuana toxicity, she finally finds the courage to seek treatment. Her journey via rehab from an entirely checked-out, lethargic, hopeless, and suicidally depressed pothead to a sober woman with clarity and gratitude is told with honesty, intelligence, wit, and a remarkable degree of self-deprecating humor. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I almost never rate any book this low, but this comedian's insulting references to her fellow addicts, including a transwoman, merited a poor review. The author is brash and funny but appears wholly unable to explore what is driving her to get high, nor to view her fellow rehab residents as fully human.

I started this book because the title was catching my attention. The beginning of the book, however, did not. I decided to stop reading it because I could not relate to anything that was written. As someone in the 18-24 years range, I do not think this book was marketed towards me. I should have thought about this before starting the book. There are still interesting aspects of it that can reach a certain category of people, women in their forties struggling with addiction, but that is a very specific group. I did think that the purpose of the book was interesting, but then again, it did not reach me and I would not recommend it.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

This was a relatively enjoyable and breezy read, detailing the author’s struggle with addiction and her final stint in rehab, following a crippling marijuana addiction after a decade of sobriety.

What first drew me in was the title – memoirs are not something I’d normally pick up, but the title intrigued me. I had a vague idea of what rehab entails, so thought this would give me a better insight into an addict’s journey to recovery; and now I know you’re only allowed the bare essentials in rehab (amongst other things). The author’s observations of what goes on in rehab and her fellow patients were funny (a little dark at times) and felt like she was talking (writing?) to a friend about her experience. I did enjoy some of her zingy one-liners.

At the same time, the writing style was frenzied (for lack of a better word), as though she had too many thoughts that could not be constrained within the pages of her memoir; and it was slightly distracting and disjointed. It also felt on the whole, a little superficial – not quite the deep dive into her struggles with addiction that I was expecting.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance e-copy.

There were parts of the book that were hilarious and I enjoyed it (in those parts) but I felt the book was a bit uneven and there were sections that were comedic genius and others that sort of fell flat, a bit.

The more I read the less engaged I felt with the author, which is probably not a great endorsement. I enjoyed it but at times it didn't fully keep me fully invested in what happened.

Stylistically brilliant, but overall it was a difficult read, at least for me.

Just not for me — the writing style was good, but the subject matter and take on it did not jive with my own viewpoints in a way that detracted from the book.

Well this was a confusing read for me. It felt like either the author or the editor got changed halfway through the book. I was really enjoying this at first. It had the quick wit of Amy Sherman-Palladino TV shows, but unfortunately that fell away to a frenzied writing style that at times I just couldn't follow. I wouldn't recommend this book solely for the writing style change which really throws a wrench at the readers.


I got this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

Pam writes about her journey in sobriety. She finds herself back in rehab in her 40s after a decade of sobriety. It's a raw and often funny account of what led her into rehab, and how rehab helped her. It isn't at all an insight into rehab, as it's definitely not detailed in that sense. It was more about herself and the other people in there. But because it's a short read, the fact it's not factual doesn't take away from the experience.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

I was drawn to this book from the title, Don’t Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab. I was expecting a funny book with absurd stories but unfortunately, this one fell flat for me.

This book was not very detailed and incredibly surface level. There was no depth in any part of the book and readers don’t actually learn anything about the author. You learn more about the people around the author than anything else and even then, it’s quick, meaningless conversations between people.

What I did like was the author mentioned a Newfoundland dog, which is my favorite breed so that was a personal plus for me.

Overall, this was a very quick read but I would recommend skipping this one if you’re on the fence about starting it.

Don’t Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab

The cover and title definitely attracted me to this book. The pros, it was a fairly breezy and quick read and the frenzied way the author went around writing this memoir was kind of relatable to me who has a dark humoured and quick adapting mind. However I did find it to be rather shallow. It was very much “ME ME ME!!“ The whole time. The dark humour kind of worked with the overall self-centredness of Pam during this time in her life because let’s be honest addicts can have that trait but I can understand why people didn’t feel a great connection to this book.

I think a 3 out of 5 for me.

This could have potentially been a depressing read, but the authors wit & funny one liners made it a funny read.

Pam has an addiction to Marijuana and has been living in a haze for 2 years before she decides enough is enough and takes herself to rehab.

You don't really get to know the other people in the story very well & I think that's reflective of Pam's own experience. She didn't really form relationships during that period of her life. Sex & marijuana were all she really cared about.

It was really interesting to have her perspective from rehab. I'm of similar age to Pam & most addiction stories are from a younger perspective. Her humour at the ridiculousness of some of these places made it a great read. And I still don't understand why you can take a vibrator to rehab??!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy of this book. What follows is my honest opinion.

This book broke my heart. Not because I was so moved by the substance of the writing but because what started as a strong read fell apart in the end. The book started strong and I was in love with the author's tone and quick wit. I know a few other readers were annoyed with the author's tangential thinking but I found her random sidebars and crude remarks hilarious at first. I was so enthralled by the first couple of chapters I committed myself to reading the book in its entirety today. That's exactly what I did. I parked my butt on the couch and laughed, then gradually got bored and then got angry. The book seems to be two different books pasted together and while the writing itself isn't bad the jokes grew stale and the author lost that sparkle that made the first half so exciting. Unfortunately, I fear this book was a tight five dragged out over a decent recovery memoir. What was unacceptable was the author's clumsy writing about the Trans woman she went to rehab with. When she referred to Nicole as transitioning from a guy to a girl, I thought it was unnecessary but excusable. Not all people are well informed of the proper way to address transition. However, when she referred to Nicole as technically still a man, my blood began to boil. I guess she ran out of material and thought this horrendous statement would get a little chuckle. Whatever her intentions it's disgusting. It came across as incredibly dense and transphobic. This book broke my heart because despite the lull in the material I still enjoyed much of the book.

Don't Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab
by Pam Gaslow
Pub Date: January 11, 2022
BookBaby
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the chance to read this book. I was drawn to the book by it's cover and title and that's about all I can say that's positive.
I did not enjoy reading it and found the writing a bit frenzied. There was no true depth to the writing. I have read much better books than this one on rehab.
I cannot recommend or buy this book for our library.

2 star

Although this cover and title of this book were eye catching, I didn’t really enjoy the book.

The first few chapters were fab and then it just became a bit boring and jumped around quite a bit.

Not going to lie, I wanted to read this one purely based on the title and a little bit because of the cover, and let that be a lesson to me because this was an absolute cringe fest for the most part. This is a book about an addict who checks herself into rehab because she realises she can’t continue with all her self destructive tendencies anymore. I can’t personally comment on how accurate the portrayal of addiction is (having neither been an addict myself), it does shine a very scary light on the medical problems that you can suffer after sustained use of narcotics. This is essentially a book filled with a woman obsessed with sex and not understanding why she can’t manage to find a partner, and her battle with her inner demons.

It was okay but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone and I can’t see myself reading anything else by this author any time soon.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy in exchange for my review.

A light hearted quick read from 'Pan' about her lifetime battles with addiction. A great spin on what must have been a hard recollection of events.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.