As soon as I saw the title and cover for this book, I just knew that, as a wife and mother, I'd feel seen in my deepest parts through Julie Chavez's words. This book is both deeply, uniquely personal while also resoundingly universal. There were so many beautiful, raw, and/or honest lines I stopped to reread. I recommend this book to every multi-tasking woman on the planet.

I related to Julie's memoir in the sense that I too have felt the extreme overwhelm of life. motherhood, wife "duties", work, and all the things! There are so many to list! I thought Julie told her story in a clear and detailed way and I like how she captured the intimate details of her struggles. It made me feel less alone and I love when a book does that. Awesome cover as well! Thanks to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars.

You must read this book!

It is for anyone who is feeling (or has felt) overwhelmed with daily life. Though the author is a wife and mother of two young boys, this memoir is not just for parents!! I have grown children who have been out of the house for years, and I related to it in a big way. Life, today, can be a challenge and this book shows us how the author hit bottom and found her way back to the top.Beautifully written, this memoir made me laugh, and it made me cry. I hope it has the same effect on you. I recommend you read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zibby Books for the early copy. I am so grateful to Julie Chavez for writing it!

I really enjoyed reading Julie's story, which was told well with clear writing and evocative descriptions. The use of dialogue was prominent as well. I listen to Julie's podcast and it was nice to hear a different voice of hers here, but also still recognize her curiosity and love of her job at the school library. I think this book, which also demystifies therapy and medication by making it all sound like no big deal, will really help some people who need to hear this story and apply its lessons to their own lives.

A compelling book detailing the complicated emotional life of Julie Chavez, a wife, mother, writer, and librarian. Told in the first person, the author draws us in with her description of her painful experiences with massive anxiety attacks, panic attacks and depression.

Is part of her emotional make-up related to her creativity, her gifted way with words, or perhaps her early years? She explores all her options, seeking help from a primary care doctor (who advised her to quit her job) to a thoughtful PA who prescribed meds, to a caring therapist who took the time to lead the author from darkness to light. Anyone who's ever suffered from crippling anxiety will admire her bravery and courage a she works her way through difficult situations and eventually emerges stronger and more resilient than ever. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed this book. Very well written. I couldn’t quite figure out if the trip to the allergist was the event that started all this or not. Author’s telling of the events seem to happen right after. But then she never mentions the allergist to any of the other doctors she seeks for help.
I related to how overwhelmed she was and how not all doctors can be helpful like the first one she goes to for help. Even the front desk people, so infuriating that they can act so uncaring to a patient. She makes the point that what do women do who don’t have resources and this is true.! The best part of the book is hee writing style. She is a gifted writer and I’m glad she got the help she needed and that her family was so supportive

When Julie Chavez writes that she added thirty hours to her week when she took on a paid part-time job, but didn't substract anything from an already busy schedule raising two boys with a partner who travels for work, we know she is in for a reckoning. When Julie Chavez deals with a frightening and unexpected anaphylactic reaction, we know that the reckoning will be swift and harsh. Indeed, over the long night she "cannot turn off the lights" Chavez has a debilitating panic attack. We would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't suffer from the catch-all "anxiety" but Chavez's becomes unmanageable and she loses her long-honed coping skills. When that happens, she learns to ask for help and does the very hard work of turning around the ship of her life that's become unmoored and off course. Chavez writes a relatable memoir no matter what stage of life you are at - who hasn't laid awake at night certain that all that stands "between my children was me, as I alone held up the galaxy around them." Who else hasn't "wanted to fast forward through the uncertainty" - of life, of aging parents, of family illness, of growing children, of job insecurity. I am grateful for Chavez's honesty in sharing her journey in such a compelling, wry and accessible way. Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Everyone But Myself reads like you are having coffee with a close friend. After an experience that unsteadies her footing on her already busy life, Julie Chavez opens up and explains a series of events that lead to her reaching out for help. From explaining her feelings of buzzing with anxiety, to the honest and frustrating experience navigating our healthcare system, this book feels honest and relatable. I appreciate you sharing your story, and hope that you know there is an entire audience of other over stimulated moms that can relate to your experiences, even though circumstances may be different. This book may cover what feels like a heavy topic, but it does so as a quick read, and in easy to digest chapters that never felt overwhelming to me as the reader. This is a book that I will highly recommend, and I think it would also be great as a gift. Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions are my own. Thank you to Julie Chavez for sharing your personal experiences, I admire the strength you clearly have to open up as you do in this book.