This book is amazing. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and am still looking for resources. This one was great. I will definitely be using it to remind myself that I can do this.

Finally a book written by/for women with ADHD. after reading other popular titles on the subject, I never felt like I could relate to what the authors were stating because they were so male centric. This book was immediately a breath of fresh air and relatable. Now I need to check out her podcast!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! As someone who is 43 and just over the past year has realized I have ADHD this book was such a blessing. I loved that the book explains how our brains work while also giving tips and tricks to overcoming or working through the tough times. There were even times while reading that I’d realize something new about myself and why I do something. A few times I’d have to set the book down because I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn’t see through the tears. I wish I had this book when I was younger. I am definitely passing it along to my teenage daughter.

When you have a child that gets diagnosed as ADHD, you start doing a lot of second guessing- what have you done wrong, could you have done something else, why did teachers not catch it earlier, what do we have to do differently, etc, the list is so VERY long, as you come to grips with the past, look at the now, re-evaluate, pivot and lean for the future with many prayers. What keeps moms of teenage girls with ADHD up late at night is the worry about how they will cope with the stressors and realities of adulthood. And that is where this book is different than a lot of books out their aimed at parents about their kids.

In this book Tracy looks at late-diagnosed adults with ADHD, how most come to be diagnosed after their kids are diagnosed (wait, they get that from me, I think, hang on....let me make an appointment too, LOL), or after friends are, and they see themselves mirrored in the symptoms. What the reality is that ADHD is a spectrum and many may be on one end and stressors of puberty, pregnancy and peri-menopause can actually accentuate and send you further down the spectrum line, to where you may see that you do have symptoms/behaviors. So by looking at how different people have come to be diagnosed and the studies on teens/women with ADHD, Tracy looks to not only normalize being neuro-divergent, but for the reader to see what superpowers are needed to have it and still cope with adulthood. She then offers ways to help strategize, to look at ways that might be better to help you functioning (and not forgetting to pick the kids up from school, LOL). But the overall thread in the book is that ADHD does not have to LIMIT women, rather the special capabilities might actually be life changing- urging you into a different career, hobby, etc, that ultimately makes your life richer and happier! Pick this one up for any adult females you know with ADHD and especially for younger women, to help them to know they aren't alone!

What can I even say about this book? I already love her podcast but somehow this book is even better. It is precisely the book I needed when I was first diagnosed three years ago and was feeling lost and overwhelmed. Tracy provides a realistic yet inspiring message for all women with ADHD, and I am incredibly grateful she put this book out into the world.

It’s taken me a bit of time to gather my thoughts about “ADHD for Smart Ass Women” & not really in a good way. I will preface this review by stating: I am a woman in my 30s who received a late diagnosis of ADHD. So yes, I am technically the targeted audience for this book, which is why I picked it up as part of my continued 3+ year journey to better understand my diagnosis. But instead of feeling inspired & empowered, I feel invalidated. And it all started with the author’s actual statement of, “ADHD is also not a disorder.” While I can understand what the author might have been aiming for with this…y’all, it’s in the name. She also equates “disorder” with “defective,” & that is just not what that means.

I would best categorize this book into “toxic positivity.” I know that there are many out there who don’t struggle daily & see their ADHD as a “superpower,” but I struggle every day, as do so many in my life who have also been diagnosed with ADHD. This book made me feel like I am somehow “doing” ADHD “wrong” because I continue to struggle. But just because I struggle, doesn’t mean that I hate my diagnosis or that I’m sad/depressed or don’t love my life. On the contrary, I struggle AND I love my life. And yes, sometimes I struggle AND life is really difficult.

There were a few interesting bits here & there, but the advice really felt surface-level & also that it came from a place of privilege. Yes, I struggle with cooking - but I can’t hire a caterer to help with dinners I host for friends. Yes, I struggle with cleaning regularly - but I can’t hire a cleaning service. And I don’t have kids - but I DO know how expensive childcare is & saying that you should hire a nanny is uh…wildly unattainable for most. (And I would not support the suggestion to hire a teenager because, as she says, you don’t have to pay them as much as a professional nanny.)

I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to read this book, but it just isn’t for me. But neither do I know anyone I would recommend it to who might find the advice helpful or more relatable than I might have. If the topic wasn’t one that is an actual disorder that many struggle with, I wouldn’t have felt as strongly. In the words of Amy Poehler, “Good for her! Not for me.”

Thank you to Williams Morrow & NetGalley for providing a digital advance copy for review. All thoughts & opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for a review.

So I think I might be the wrong audience for this book even though I do have ADHD and I am a woman. I just could not get through this book I actually could not finish this one - this is a DNF for now (and probably forever). One of my biggest problems with this was how hard it was to read I like reading ADHD books that don't make me feel bad for forgetting what I read, this book did. This book was not ADHD-friendly in my opinion and it was not too memorable (and for a 'self-help' book you would want to remember the advice right?) My advice skip this one and read How to ADHD: An Insider's Guide to Working with Your Brain by Jessica McCabe.

This is a good choice for newly diagnosed ADHD women who are coming to terms and trying to understand themselves better. It would also be helpful for the "I saw a thing on TikTok and now am questioning my whole brain" crowd.

This is a mix of introductory facts about ADHD, reassurances, and tidbits of advice. The subtitle suggests it a bit rah-rah but I thankfully didn't find it to be. The author does point out good qualities that tend to be found in ADHD women, such as empathy, innovativeness, and creativity.

(I thought we were past the trend of putting curse words in self help titles. Cursing is delightful, but I don't quite understand them used in this way, especially in an otherwise delicately written book.)

I liked Otsuka's writing style and have subscribed to her blog since reading.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Y'all. This book! So do I "officially" have ADHD? NOPE. But I live and love several people who do and find myself questioning whether or not I have it.
This book helped me. It showed what the root is at with a lot of different reactions to how this works in our brains and manifests in our lives.
It's empowering. It makes things seem doable instead of insurmountable.
I'm giving it a SOLID, SOLID, 4.8 because it spoke to me in a way that a lot of others books set out to do and failed.
Thank you for making me feel seen, even if I'm not "officially" part of the club. Thank you!

I think this book will be popular among mainstream ADHDers. Otsuka shares her personal experience in a humorous and thoughtful way, just like she does in her podcast. The author talks a lot about ADHD as a superpower and rejects the idea that ADHDers are broken.

Nonetheless, I would have liked to see more perspectives brought in from the neurodiversity paradigm and the social model of disability. I think we need to push back a lot harder on the narrative that ADHD is a problem focused within an individual that can simply be fixed with medication. Instead, ADHDers experience a significant mismatch between how our brains work and our environments.

This book is a gift I wish I could have given my 20-year-old self. At 40, during a candid moment with a new female medical provider, I shared my struggles, and she suggested I might have ADHD. That 'ah-ha' moment was followed by a mix of emotions. For years, I believed I was dumb and broken, only to realize my brain is wired differently. This book acknowledges every struggle I faced, from adult ADHD diagnosis to dealing with depression, potentially linked to childhood trauma and medical bias. It doesn't just focus on challenges but also highlights the incredible aspects of individuals with ADHD, reframing the way we think.

"I've never met a person with ADHD who wasn't brilliant at something. Not one."

Thank you Tracy Otsuka and NetGalley. This book is incredible.

I want to preface this review by saying that I'm not diagnosed with ADHD but I tend to benefit from a lot of suggestions people provide on managing time and life that works well for people diagnosed with ADHD. So I was interested in reading this book from that perspective. The book begins more generally providing insight into ADHD and how it presents in women, which was also very interesting for me to see and find correlations to my behavior. So there's a lot of good information in the beginning, that is not widely shared from my experience, around how ADHD manifests in women differently to help you understand how your ADHD is impacting your life, which sets a good foundation for the second-half where Otsuka goes into different tactics and strategies to help you work with your ADHD, or general neurodivergence. All of which I found extremely helpful and actionable, despite not having ADHD myself. So whether or not you are diagnosed with ADHD, I feel like this book provides great, alternative strategies to approaching life and to be successful that women don't always find in nonfiction books. So, if what everyone else suggests you do to stay organized and grow isn't working, try something different and pick up this book!

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

Love, love, love. As a late-diagnosed neurodivergent person (early 30s), I have been throwing myself into any and all content I can find on neurodivergence, ADHD, and autism. While 99% of the time, I believe my neurodivergence to be my superpower, there are off days here and there. My logical brain knows deep down this is because we live in a late-stage capitalist society that is not built for neurodivergent people to survive in, much less thrive in, but alas...

Tracy Otsuka's book is filled with excellent knowledge about ADHD and how to best take care of and support your neurodivergent brain. While there wasn't any groundbreaking information in here for me (because, hello, neurodivergent = I research the crap out of everything), I did find many of her "tips and tricks," so to speak, very helpful and found myself frequently bringing them up to other neurodivergent folks in my life.

This book is very well written and incredibly approachable; I would recommend it to all people (not just women) with ADHD.

Never before have I felt so seen as I did when reading this book. After struggling with anxiety and feeling constantly overwhelmed, I was diagnosed with ADHD at 39 years old. Reading this book brought me so many lightbulb moments that it all finally made sense. Tracy's positive outlook on ADHD spoke to me. This superpower makes me who I am and her advice, tips, and explanations have already improved my life. THANK YOU for bring more awareness to ADHD in females and sharing this book with the world. It is one I will be referring to for quite a while.

Love this! Such a great guide! This is something I will be using in the future. As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD from a young age - I’ve taken meds, tried therapy, etc. I love that there is finally more books coming out for people
like me!

I’d like to thank Tracy Otsuka and William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publisher for this ARC. My review is mine and only mine.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘋𝘏𝘋 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯."

Sneaking ONE more in under the belt for 2023!

And man, did I learn SO much from this book (a lot of which I won't necessarily retain... the irony is not lost on me 😅)

I'm very early on in my ADHD journey. I haven't been "formally" diagnosed, but my PCP does agree that I have ADHD tendencies. And while I'm currently on an anti-anxiety medication, which is helping some, I now know that there's actually so much more going on. And it's something that I will keep in mind as I start the process of looking for a therapist (one of my many goals for 2024).

I can't say enough good things - this book was so easy to read, and allows you to jump around is something doesn't resonate specifically with you. It also provides a ton of references at the end, along with a glossary of terms and additional suggested readings if you want to further your own reading.

Thank you so much to @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!
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I've been following Tracy Otsuka for a while and was excited to see she was coming out with a book. I'm a late diagnosis, so I'll be taking all the help I can get! I don't think we present the same in terms of ADHD, but the book still provides guidelines and looks like it'll be quite helpful.

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

ADHD for Smart Ass Women was an awesome read! While I don't have the ADHD type that Tracy does (and this book mostly focuses on), I still found significant swaths of this book helpful and insightful in how I navigate my own ADHD. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

The title is peak Gen X cringe (the forced insertion of cuss words to seem colloquial), so I hesitated before reading this. But I’m glad I gave it a shot!

This could’ve been shorter (there were excessive parts that felt slightly tangential, like a 101 on therapy types and learning disabilities), but there were some helpful tips in here that are actionable!

I do wish she cited more studies. She does do this sometimes, but often it felt like she was making recommendations based on her own anecdotes (of which there were too many for my taste).

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow books for an ARC of this fantastic read!

I don’t think I have ever highlighted a book so many times. Reading this made me feel so seen as a woman with ADHD.

I think my favorite part of this book was that it managed to be very informative, but in a way that felt approachable.

I definitely will be purchasing a hard copy of this book to reference later!