Oh wow, I really loved this book. As someone who is fairly early on in my career, this both encouraged and frightened me for what's to come. I saw a lot of myself in this book related to work burnout, and also aspire to reach my dreams of the husband/kids/'perfect family.' This is the most raw, honest book I've ever read, and the first book I've read where I know I'll be okay if I don't achieve those "dreams."

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The relentless pursuit of ambition at all costs is frequently lived out more than it is written about, so I was intrigued to encounter this memoir. As a recovering workaholic myself, it seemed right up my alley. The book is marketed as a memoir about the author's struggle with workaholism, but it's really a tell-all memoir detailing every self-destructive decision made by the author. It made for an exhausting reading experience.

I feel conflicted in rating this since there's no doubt Jennifer is a great writer. I appreciate the author's incredible honesty as she quickly peels back the layers from early childhood to modern-day motherhood, but I had to take frequent breaks from the book in order to finish it. I'm still tired just thinking about the book, but I'm grateful Jennifer shared her story.

Well-written, honest, and engaging, AMBITION MONSTER is a must-read for anyone who has dealt with burnout, struggled with being a people-pleaser, or navigated a delicate balance between succeeding at work and maintaining a thriving personal life. Jennifer Romolini takes readers on her journey through a traumatic childhood, tumultuous romantic relationships, and the treacherous side of ambition. The true highlight of this memoir for me was Romolini's writing style—not only is it compulsively readable, but it is so detailed and well-crafted, each sentence kept me hooked throughout. I also enjoyed how she covered so many aspects of her life and how they tied into the book's central theme, from familial relationships to romance to workplace/hustle culture. However, I wished the whole general idea of ambition and our culture's focus on high achievement and hard work, even sometimes to our own detriment in terms of mental health and well-being, was expanded on and explored a little more. Still, I really enjoyed AMBITION MONSTER overall, and would recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC, provided in exchange for an honest review.

This is an ambitious monster of a book! Jennifer Romolini tells her story and also the story of so many women who were quite frankly lied to. As a millennial woman, these were the women before us kicking ass and taking names. We watched them in wonderment, ready to join them and then watched as it all crumpled around us once we got there. I was taking the day to night look to happy hours while she was leading the way, but I find it so relatable especially as women are currently being put through a lose of rights and finding a place in the world that wants you to stay small. This really helped with my journey and I hope it helps anyone who reads it. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. Ambition Monster was the first work I've read by Jennifer Romolini and what a great writer she is. Jennifer's story of how she finally becomes aware that she's an "ambition monster" also known as a workaholic is very well paced and interesting. She has great stories to tell and her transformation as she realizes that work is NOT the most important thing in life is wonderful. A captivating memoir for anyone - not just workaholics.

Overwork treatise:
Perfectionism, burnout,
what gets left behind.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


I write haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.

This was an interesting and honest memoir. I thought it was enjoyable and well written.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the advance copy.

When I started this book, I wasn’t sure it fit the description of a woman addicted to work because of her ambition. She starts out with several chapters on her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, which included flawed parenting by a couple who married too young; a lot of drugs and alcohol, bad relationships and failure after failure in schools and jobs. Somehow, she discovers that she’s a good writer, and starts a different path with more solid educational experiences and the beginnings of more appropriate jobs. Her early life, however, continues to affect her choices as she moves up the corporate ladder, into heights that most people would consider dream jobs. Except they aren’t. Romolini describes in excruciating detail the trials of working at the top of the tech industry, publication and Hollywood. If you think people have it together when they reach that level, I can assure you, they don’t.

Romolini keeps at it - hoping not only to find something that makes her happy but that will provide for her family. It’s a losing proposition, as you might have guessed even without spoiler alerts. She works harder and harder, but eventually she does reach the breaking point. Her conclusions are not a surprise, and are presented, as is all of the book, with Romolini’s wonderfully witty and succinct observations.

I read this geek quickly and really enjoyed it. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this opportunity to read the ATC in exchange for mt honest review.

Ambition Monster is an interesting memoir, and one that I think was a little bit mis-marketed, at least for what I'm looking for. I was expecting a largely work-driven memoir, especially as we seem to be coming to the beginning of the end of #girlboss hustle culture. I was expecting a more focused memoir that was primarily interested in interrogating America's work culture, and the sacrifices we make along the way to some unknown "peak." Instead, this is really a memoir that spans a lot of Jennifer's life, much of it I didn't care to learn about.

I will say this - it's a bold choice of anyone writing a memoir to leave in the less appealing bits. And there is a lot of that here! I think her trauma clearly has had long-lasting impacts on her own personal growth, and that's okay. But I didn't want or need to read about it in a book that's ostensibly about unhealthy work habits.

There may be people for whom this memoir works! It just didn't hit for me, unfortunately. Two stars; thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Jennifer Romolini offers a compelling narrative on how workaholism, rooted in childhood trauma, impacts one's life and the journey towards healing. She begins by revealing how work served as an escape from her feelings of inadequacy: "Work made me feel like I was somebody other than the unlovable monster I was quite sure I was inside." Her memoir details the lengths she went to for approval, sacrificing her health, ethics, and personal life, through a career that spanned from waitressing to the corporate suite.

Romolini's recount of her tumultuous career, including a notably dysfunctional period at Yahoo, illustrated through the "Bobbie Had a Nickel" anecdote, highlights the dark side of her ambitions.

While the memoir offers an insightful glance into the toxic #girlboss culture and resonates with the fears many women harbor about their careers, it leaves readers wishing for more on how Romolini confronted and healed from her long-standing traumas. Her story of navigating out of a detrimental work mindset and finding balance would have added depth to an already engaging tale.

Decent memoir, but I'm not sure it does what it sets out to. She doesn't seem ambitious so much as a workaholic who doesn't know what to do to find balance. I think she's the way many of us are in our 30s. Not talking about her time as a podcaster means that those who don't know she's now business partners with Kim France are likely confused as to why she spends so much time speaking with her. I am amazed that she still talks with her very toxic parents.

I'm so happy I got to read an advance of this book - thanks to NetGalley - in exchange for an honest interview. I'm a fan of Jenn Romolini - I love the podcast she co-hosts with Kim France called "Everything is Fine" which is wise and hysterically funny at the same time and I loved her first book.

I think the way this book was described - and by its title, I expected more of a continuation of her first book, more career stories / struggles / lessons learned, but it was more of a straightforward memoir (as the subtitle says!) in which a few chapters dove in deep to select jobs she held. Other chapters recounted her childhood as the daughter of parents who were just teenagers themselves. For me the chapters about her work at Lucky magazine and at the tech company (had to be Yahoo based on the descriptions of the female CEO - I've read about her before!) were the strongest and most compelling to me and I wished for more chapters like those. The book was beautifully written and I'm glad I got the chance to read it.

You can tell that the author has worked in publishing and editing for years -- the voice is strong, every word is carefully chosen, and the entire book was such a pleasure to read. This is a very personal story and she really opens up -- seeing someone come from a family that prizes clawing one's way up the ladder from working-class roots really showcases just how much more has to be given. The toll it took on her mental health was palpable. The ending was a bit rushed and there was never a particularly satisfying conclusion, but of course, this is an ongoing story!

Thanks NetGalley, Jennifer Romolini & Atria Books for an ARC of this book!
I will say this memoir was refreshing in that Jennifer Romolini doesn’t go out of her way to make herself seem nicer/a better person like so many people do when writing about themselves. With that said, I still found myself force reading this to be able to fully review the arc.
So much of it sounds like a complaining teenager that it grated on my nerves. I understand some of that was necessary for the narrative, but it went past what was needed. I also felt like this could have been broken down into three main sections: young life (growing up with the Romolini Parents, which I would have loved to read more about), young adult life and adult life once having “gotten it together” enough to have a successful career and family. Each section referenced each other giving enough information, but felt like it was also just dipping your toe in the water instead of wading into it. There was so much depth and detail that at times it felt like there was neither.

Reading Ambition Monster was like reading something from the older sister I wish I had. Her stories could have worked together in so many ways (say, in a book of essays) but I'm glad this was the end product. Starting before her own birth set the stage for a life I found easily relatable.  I appreciated Romolini's ability to accurately describe her experiences in such a cold, corporate world. Her incredibly-crafted paragraphs are layered with emotion and humor, a kind of 'yeah, and?' attitude that demonstrates just how memorable, impactful, and important sometimes small and sometimes large moments in her life were, confirming my early interest in the book. It's hard not to relate, or at the very least, understand, even when Romolini does something the reader might disagree with. We all know something bad will happen if she makes a questionable decision in Ambition Monster, but of course she'd try getting that chair upstairs just a couple days after giving birth. Her stories stick to me, the lessons learned and lessons ignored, the reality of setting boundaries with unhealthy family members, the loss of incredible close female friendships, the unhealthy partners, the drag of a career that isn't just unfulfilling, but hurting you AND others. And seemingly, you're the only one who sees it. 

Romolini speaks a lot of truth in Ambition Monster, but unlike other tales of women in the workplace, this one feels genuine. She recognizes the fear that's been there her whole life, and when recounting her past relationships, does so with the benefit of who she is now, understanding her own place and responsibility in situations that many might recount differently. The honesty in Ambition Monster is inspiring and grounding. It's not just me, others have been through similar experiences. There is hope in a community of people who understand what it's like to keep chasing something that just isn't there. But they are honest, and most importantly, they truly want to be better people.

Ambition Monster is a memoir in which the author describes her journey to becoming unhealthily obsessed with her job. Even though she became extremely successful by working her way to the top of her field and doing all the “right” things to get to that point she was always unhappy. The reader watches as Jennifer Romolini accepts that she is unhappy in spite of her thriving career and learns to find her own definitions of success, happiness, and satisfaction.

I have absolutely nothing good to say. Let’s move on to the criticism.

I think there was much too much time spent on Jennifer’s life outside of work in general but ESPECIALLY on her love life. I don’t know how to politely say this but… I didn’t care about her love life. I only came to read about her relationship with work. That’s all this book was promoted as so I do think that was a fair expectation on my part. I didn’t know I’d be getting her entire life story. I even got her parents’ life stories which is DEFINITELY not what I signed up for. So little of this book is focused on her relationship with work when compared to how much focused on every other aspect of her life. I wish the story had started with when she moved to New York and started working in publishing. That way Ambition Monster really would have been about when she became a woman who was massively focused on career. But that didn’t happen until I spent 60% of the book reading about almost everything but her career.

I feel a little conflicted about saying this because this is a story about a real person. This is an author telling her own story. But I don’t believe in backing down from criticizing memoirs so I’ve decided to just say it: I couldn’t find a real reason that I should care about this particular story enough to read an entire book about it. Yes every single person on earth’s life story is valid and important. But… I don’t want to read entire books dedicated to every person on earth’s life stories. And frankly Jennifer Romolini’s story isn’t one that I want to read an entire book about. Like I said before I came to read about her career life. Instead I read about her entire life… I wish I didn’t have to do that. But honestly even her career life wasn’t interesting enough for me to want to continue reading an entire book about it. Yes she did become completely absorbed in her work to an unhealthy degree. But that happens to a whole lot of people. It’s happened to me. It’s happened to lots of my friends. I didn’t see what made her specific version of this experience intense enough or interesting enough that I should feel motivated enough to read 305 pages about it.

I read Ambition Monster three and a half weeks ago and a lot has happened in my life since then. So I don’t really remember everything I wanted to criticize about it. I remember that I had countless things to criticize. But this review is already long enough anyway. I think you’ve gotten the idea. I don’t recommend this book.

The #girlboss #hustle era is OVER!!! Although it takes Jennifer many many years to come to that conclusion. We watch as she struggles through life in NYC as a wannabe writer, dating a string of unworthy men and yearning for more. When she finally gets to the top, she realizes it's not worth all that she's had to give up for success. This is a memoir about workaholism, capitalism, and people-pleasing, and why none of those things will lead to a happy life. She writes with honest wit and interesting anecdotes, making it an enjoyable story even if you want to scream at her the first 90% to make different decisions.

A memoir I devoured in a day. the author brings us into her life her world.I loved following ,her experiences her life.This is a book I will be recommending and gifting to friends.#netgalley #atriabooks

I really enjoyed this memoir, and it turned out to be one of those books that I was sad to finish because I felt like the author was my friend. I think the title is a bit misleading -- I would classify this as more of an autobiography than a memoir about work and ambition. Romolini recounts her life since she was born and the trajectory of her professional career is a part of that but I think it's too reductive to say that this reads strictly as a memoir about ambition (just my two cents). The real winning element here is the author's voice. She has such a strong command of language and I really like her writing style, which is sharp and polished. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot -- it wasn't an enlightening read for me (I don't relate to being overly ambitious) but I think anyone who enjoys reading memoirs will appreciate it.

I have read memoirs in the past that when you read it, you knew there was an end goal in mind and it was leading somewhere.

It seemed that the author didn’t really know what she wanted to do with the story but to tell us every small event that took place in her life. Because of this it was too detailed for my liking.

It is understandable that everyone goes through things in their lives, but no one needs to know everything, especially when it makes you want to stop reading multiple times.

3 stars is generous for this story as it was funny in some parts and not because of the writing, but because I couldn’t believe someone would actually put this in a book.