memoir by Jennifer Romolini left me with mixed emotions. Memoirs are so personal and I honestly feel bad rating them less than 5 stars. However, with this one, my overall feeling is that I wanted more. More depth, more details, more of a connection with the author.

In Ambition Monster, Jennifer takes us through her young formative years and does a good job in showing how her childhood left imprints that haunted her throughout her life. Born to very young parents, a theme of a lack of safety was apparent. The author takes us through her failure to launch years and an early difficult first marriage. I was surprised to learn the author got into magazine publishing, with a role at Lucky magazine. She talks about her admiration of Sassy magazine as being the springboard for her desire to succeed in the industry, and she discusses her boss, Kim France, which took me back to my teenage years reading Kim’s letter to the editor musings.

As the memoir moves to the back third, I was clamouring for more insights to understand and connect more emotionally to the author’s struggles and ambitions. Then I felt Ambition Monster came to an abrupt end with not a lot of closure on some outstanding threads. The author does have a podcast co-hosted with her former boss, Kim France, so maybe that would provide an update on where the author is now in her life.

I appreciated the author shared her story, and frankly, most of it was really sad as to how unstable the stages of her life were all the way through.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think I was expecting Ambition Monster to be more “self-help” with a sprinkling of memoir — it was definitely the other way around, and I’m so glad I was wrong. Jenn’s story — her childhood growing up as the first kid of teenage parents, her toxic early partnerships and dalliances, her hard-scrabble crawl into media and corporate worlds who weren’t particularly welcoming of people with her background — is compelling, and her way of writing about it all even more so. I was hooked from the moment I started this story. There’s a lot of difference in my own life story and Jenn’s, but I connected so deeply with seeking validation, proof of your worth, a brief pat on the back through your work; through new titles and accolades and salaries that tell the world you’re better than they think you are — than *you* think you are. I feel like Jenn has so many more books in here; I’d read another just about her childhood, her marriage, her evolution as a parent, and more. But this first one (or second, really, but first memoir) was exactly what I needed to read. I’m leaving that last page feeling seen and inspired, and so grateful that Jenn shared her ambition journey.

I was curious about this book after hearing Romolini talk about it on the “Everything Is Fine” podcast. I read the memoir quickly after not knowing what to expect. Romolini is clear-voiced and straightforward about what happened as well as her insights on why she did what she did at various points. She is generous to her parents while not pulling any punches about her upbringing — an admirable approach in a memoir.

I felt like I knew Jennifer Romolini who grew up reading Sassy Magazine, listening to the Cure and drinking throughout NYC in the early aughts. Jennifer grew up with teen parents in a close-knit Italian community in Philadelphia, had a starter marriage and ended up working in magazines in NYC. After some assistant jobs, Kim France (of Sassy fame) hired her to work at Lucky Magazine as an editor. She turned it down, but the offer was too good to refuse. (Before there was internet shopping, there was a magazine about shopping, which was brilliant for the company because it was just one big add with editorial content. Yes, I read it and probably was a subscriber!)

Romolini chronicles her career as a workaholic, leaving print for tech media companies and eventually relocating to LA for work. As the main bread winner for her family (husband and one child), she threw herself into her career and constantly worked, pretty much at the expense of her family, her friendships and her health. At one point, she is literally forced to slow down by her body, but she still pushes on.

I loved Romolini’s writing, her apparent honesty and her deep dive into her experience with workaholic culture. I binged this memoir and could not stop reading. I then listened to an episode of her podcast with Kim France (A Girl of A Certain Age) and looked up all the women I looked up to as a teen when I read Sassy. Down the rabbit hole. Yes, I was influenced.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with this ARC.

How much did I love this book? I came to know Jenn Romolini when she joined Everything is Fine, a podcast I listened to from its inception. I've come to love her insights, her writing, and now, her history. The early parts of the book melted my Philly-by-way-of-Italian-American-outer-borough-NYC heart--have I ever seen the word "medigan" in print before? The idea of the "Sassiest 32 Year Old in America" made me laugh out loud. This book is chock full of insights about modern work and work culture, and a good read for anyone in the middle-aged squeeze of life, even if you're not familiar with Jenn's other work.

Jennifer Romolini has an incredibly interesting story to tell. Her viewpoint feels honest and detailed. I would love to read more about her childhood and feel like that section wasn’t as flushed out. When it got to her adult years, I was struggling to connect with emotion to the story.

A deeply personal exploration of the often glamourized yet relentless world of hustle culture. Through her candid memoir, Romolini delves into her own experiences as a woman navigating the demands of a cutthroat media industry, shedding light on the toll that relentless ambition can take on one's well-being. Romolini's introspective narrative peels back the layers of what drives individuals to embrace a mindset centered on constant striving and sacrifice. Her raw honesty invites readers to confront the complexities of ambition and its impact on personal fulfillment. Ambition Monster serves as a thought-provoking reflection on the pursuit of success in today's fast-paced society, challenging readers to reconsider the true cost of chasing one's dreams at any cost.

Wow. This book is so engaging. I have always loved reading memoirs and this is the perfect example of how well they can be done. Jennifer does such a great job of setting up her life story and showing how her childhood was the foundation of all that would come later.
I must admit that I expected this book to be almost entirely about her professional life but I was very pleased to find how well it covered her personal life. There is nothing more interesting than finding out how people become who they are always meant to be.

Jennifer Romolini had everything. People wanted her thoughts, her speeches, her book, her attention. Jennifer Romolini was also a workaholic.

This memoir could not have come at a more perfect time. Last year, I quit my long held job as a VP at a marketing company because I couldn't do it anymore. I was mentally and physically falling apart. I hadn't had a day off since...well, since 9th grade. All I ever wanted was more, to be the lead, to be the best.

9 months later, after time with family, traveling, concerts and too many movies, I shifted my career into something that is rewarding every day. Jennifer Romolini has written a memoir for the overachievers who burn too quickly. I love every single page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A gripping memoir that I couldn't put down. I thought it was well written and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

This memoir is a personal look into the roots that may underlie some of what we label today as hustle culture. It's a personal look into one media woman's journey through the trenches of a very specific kind of ambition that propels her into approaching her life and career through a lens that's built towards tolerance of suffering and grinding. This memoir provides a sensitive and revealing glimpse into what may cause people to become entrapped by corporate structures and deficiencies. A little sad in the way that the events in the memoir unfold and how one decision leads to another, how one emotions and past events can add up in ways not explicit, but have very explicit outcomes that may seem irrational to someone who haven't gone through the journey that the narrator has. In many ways, this memoir feels like both an accounting through the author's perspective as well as an attempt of the narrator to write herself out of that particular brand of ambition. Overall a thought-provoking look at the structures within many white collar jobs and what may motivate those pursuing them, it's an extraordinary glimpse into our unresolved aspects of ourselves can lead us down paths that are both deeply unsatisfying. A look at how in the end, internal wisdom and professional externalized markers of success flow down almost contradictory paths.

Great book, really enjoyed the twists and turns that this took me on and I would definitely recommend to a friend.

Jennifer Romolini's memoir AMBITION MONSTER is well written and very impressive in its candidness. I didn't even realize the book she's written prior to this one or that she is a co-host of a podcast with Kim France. My interest dipped in the childhood chapters and it felt like the "ambition" thread was a bit lost. These chapters do add value to the book and to Romolini's story; I found myself impatient to meet the writer as an adult and follow her path there.

I did not like this at first. I kept putting the book down and dreading reading it.

But I think that says more about my own ingrained misogyny. “Who does she think she is, bragging about what a good writer she is? I’ve read two chapters! Prove yourself! OK stop trying to prove yourself! Use fewer words!”

Basically, I was the enemy yelling: Shut up and smile, lady!

As it went on, I found myself viscerally reacting and empathizing. This could be any high-performing woman in the workplace’s story. IT MAKES ME SO MAD. we have to fight for everything we get, and then we have to fight to stay there, and we get so burnt out, we don’t have space to take care of ourselves.

It’s absolutely maddening.

Read at your own peril.

And then we fight at dawn.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy. Thank you to the author for being brave enough to share this story.

This book was fast paced and easy to follow. The author has a writing style that I enjoy. Her life and struggles are interesting but I don’t really relate to it because of the status she reached. I understand it but don’t identify with it. Folks who live high profile lives or have actual high paying careers will likely see themselves in this story and love it. I would read another book by her because she is clever. This particular work seemed like it could have been shorter because the message seems pretty simple. It is the story of her life so far and it definitely centers around her workaholism.

I've used the words honest and raw before when describing a book, but y'all, Ambition Monster exemplifies these words on a level all its own. The memoir is really divided into two parts, and both are so important. The first half is the "before work stuff," and the author explaining her childhood, her relationships, and the experiences from this time in her life that impacted her most as she reflects back. The second half is focused more about her work experiences - both as an individual, but moreso about the (very broken) systems. The author doesn't hold back on sharing all the things, and that perspective was so relatable and refreshing. She shares how she fit into that system for better or worse, and she also talks about the other side of all of this. I found myself highlighting so many passages as I read, and I just love that this book exists. I now need so many people I know to read this, so we can discuss so many things! Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this June 2024 release.

This is a fairly straightforward memoir that starts with Jennifer Romolini's childhood and follows her navigating personal relationships and various aspects of her career. So if you have followed her work and are interested in her story, this is a no-brainer. It's well-written and honest.

I, however, was not familiar with Romolini's work, but I was intrigued by the title and decided to give it a try. While some sections felt unfocused and at times overly detailed, I was mostly invested in her story and the driving theme of ambition as the narrative force. It's a story of how society views achievements as our only measure of self-worth. It's a personal journey into understanding the harm this can cause to us as individuals but also as an increasingly connected world. There's something valuable about reading a first-person, visceral account of how trauma, insecurity, and ambition tangle together and overwhelm us in a way that is sanctioned by external forces (such as work culture and capitalism) but can be very destructive to the individual.

Jennifer Romolini’s chaotic childhood sets the stage in “Ambition Monster.” Spending her formative years with her immature teen parents, Romolini begins her decades long quest for approval, an intangible and moving target. Once she strikes out on her own, she begins to hustle on an upward path through the media industry, killing herself to do it all for companies that only see employees as cogs in an ever more demanding field. Her personal relationships also fall victim to the pursuit of career success. Romolini grapples with her workaholic nature once she realizes it will never be good enough.

This was such an honest and compelling read. Romolini’s searing descriptions of corporate culture are a reflection of the unhealthy ways America can value productivity and efficiency more than its employees. Anecdotes from her time at Lucky Magazine, a tech giant, and an online start-up are as funny as they are appalling. Romolini writes with candor; a refreshing voice and point of view. This book left me wanting to hear more from the author!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Ambition Monster was a surprising, engaging, and worthwhile read for anyone who's ever drank work-ahol to excess (or was the loved one of someone who did). Romolini's memoir begins with her losing her voice on her first book tour, then goes back to her childhood as the firstborn of young parents, follows her forays into back-of-house and waitressing work and her own early and brief marriage, briefly chronicles the last days of New York media pre-McKinsey-cuts at Conde Nast publishing and hipster Brooklyn, before bringing us full circle to her lost voice in California in the #girlboss 20-teens. The early chapters on her family's relationship with work, class, and status form a strong foundation for the rest of book's story of a woman avoiding the soul-searching some end up doing in their 20s and 30s (and some never do) about work and its proper place in life. The heat in the kitchen of Romolini's career goes up and up, from waitressing jobs to C-suite positions at tech startups and promoting a book on career tips for weirdos, until Romolini boils over in her mid-40s and finally begins to address herself and her past via therapy. During the "rising heat" chapters, I found myself wondering how it would all come to a head, what price would be paid. Surprisingly, the landing from burnout seemed surprisingly gentle given the years of genuine chaos that precede it. Romolini writes about said chaos of her work addiction and the lessons she's learned in recovery from a mature perspective worth reading. Watching her bind herself to the working stiffs until her promotions to management slowly but surely unravel the author's ethics is harrowing but fascinating as well.

Going into the memoir, I kept waiting for it to take more technical/analytic turns into capitalism in America, the nature of work addiction, and the particular pressures/fears/discrimination women face in the workplace. However, when I got to the end, I realized that all three had been addressed, mostly in the book's back half, and were expertly woven in to the story as it was told. Additionally, the story Ambition Monster tells is suitably trauma-informed and showcases the author's lessons from her emotional growth and healing in therapy.

Ambition Monster also includes a lot of job dysfunction in a somewhat gossip-y way at unnamed startups and companies. I preferred the chapters where companies like Lucky magazine and Conde Nast were mentioned by name to the unnamed companies for ease of reading, but legal needs must.

I highly recommend Ambition Monster, especially for anyone who read Romolini's first book, which she addresses in this one. But mostly for anyone who's ever reaped the outside benefits of work addiction (status, healthcare, connections — Romolini is honest about all of this) while inside they went on missing some deep and real part of life and acceptance, or has loved someone who's walked that path.

Thank you Atria Books for providing this e-book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I've been on a memoir kick lately and wow; Jennifer Romolini's story really delivers. Jenn is an ambitious, high-achieving perfectionist who consistently gives it her all in every role she has taken on: waitress, fact-finder, corporate tech team leader, editor, but most of all- writer. With this memoir, Jenn really drives the point home that regardless of her career path, she was destined to be a writer most of all.

We follow her on a brutally-honest rollercoaster ride through the many highs and lows of workaholism, starting from her traumatic early childhood to seeing her transform into a potentially problematic mother herself. During this journey, the reader can do nothing but watch as perfectionism turned her life into chaos, a chaos that trampled over the people she cared about the most while on the incessant quest for external validation. The memoir definitely exceeded all expectations and was very hard to put down. Highly recommend for fans of Kristi Coulter's Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.