I’ve been a fan of Wendi Aarons since she was part of the Mouthy Housewives – yes, I know, I’m aging myself but it seems appropriate for this review – so of course I wanted to grab this memoir as soon as I saw it.

This coming-of-middle-age story captures the essence of middle age in a nutshell – humbling, undignified, and insulting, but also surprisingly full of perks. Snarky, irreverent, and downright hilarious, Wendi shares her journey from young womanhood to her mid-fifties, relating the confidence and self-assurance of finally knowing and embracing who you are and the freedom of not give a f*** about what other people think.

Many women of our generation grew up shrinking ourselves to fit in instead of making our environments grow to fit us: Primping for the male gaze, losing ourselves in motherhood, trying to conform to fit in with other moms Like Wendi (albeit a few years younger), I find myself at the crossroads of young and old, so her story is ultra-relatable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Wendi Aarons is the voice of a generation, people. There’s literally no limit on what she can make you feel better about, and if you’re laughing about your problems, you’re surviving them.

I’m only a few years younger than Wendi, so I’m basically living every word of this collection of hilarious essays. Am I a bit jealous that she wrote this book before I could? Yes. Am I glad I didn’t have to go to the trouble because I’m tired? Yes. Thanks for that, girl.

From menopause to weight gain to activism to Texas life, Wendi takes us on a journey of self-reflection and self-acceptance. You may not see yourself on literally every page (like I did), but you will undoubtedly see yourself somewhere along the way. Do yourself and favor and find out you’re not alone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free copy.

This was my first introduction to Wendi Aarons. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite not being a mother and being 15+ years younger than the author. Fans of authors like Jenny Lawson and/or Jen Lancaster should also enjoy I'm Wearing Tunics Now; there were several times throughout the book that I was reminded of both authors.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

Basically this book focuses on aging. The first maybe third of the book is about Aaron's life - she talks about her journey into motherhood, her struggling to find other mom friends, and how the changes impacted her. She also talks about the rise of internet virality and mom blogging and how those shaped her success and her life. From there the stories are largely around aging and how women move through different life phases and what it was like for her. While I generally enjoyed the stories and found Aaron's life interesting, some of the stories drug on and felt repetitive at some point. Sometimes they felt a bit over the top talking about how hard it is to get old. Some stories like the reality of being called ma'am and her attempt to find friends felt relatable and overall it's an interesting collection.

I'll have to circle back to this one. While parts were funny, after a while it just dragged on and felt like a chore to read. I think the book would be well received in tiny doses like in a magazine but I didn't need that much in one sitting.

I have not read any Wendi Aarons up to this point but found her to be humorous and unapologetic. This was a funny but heartfelt and anecdotal read on growing older (not old! just middle-aged!) and the ebbs and flows that come with it all. If folks are looking for something laugh-out-loud-until-your-stomach-hurts funny, they might be a bit disappointed. But there are definitely parts in each chapter that will give you a little laugh or a smile or a nod in acknowledgment and understanding. It was a perfectly great book for what it was!

I appreciate what this book is trying to do, but it was just so boring to me. There's a lot of anecdotes in here that is sometimes fun to read but drags on for too long and kept on circling on to the point instead of just going straight to the point.