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You are allowed to want more for yourself for no other reason than because it makes your heart happy.

Okay, right off the bat, this book is catchy. It's like super catchy.

She knows how to say something and frame it in a fabulous way to keep the audience glued to this book. She knows how to make you feel ready and willing to roll up your sleeves and get into changing your life.

Something your mom, grandma, auntie, friend has told you a million times and you have always put it off...when Hollis tells you, you listen.

But that's the thing...the stuff she's saying in here isn't particularly new. It kind of feels like she snips these concepts out of other books, gave them a fresh coat of varnish and popped them into hers.

BUT the key difference between this one and all the others out there is the Hollis-Factor . Her little extra set of sprinkles that make the whole thing seem so much more appealing.

So on the one hand, this is a very easy and catchy book to read with lots of (fairly) solid advice but on the other hand, I feel like we have to consider that it isn't super original.

And then there's perspective.

Often, she frames this book as the every-woman book however, after reading both this one and her other, I feel like there's a fair amount of advice she gives in the book that applies to her socioeconomic status and relative privileged life and that it might not be nearly as applicable to someone who hasn't had the blessings.

Sometimes you can't just dust off your hands and put on your work boots and change everything about your life for the better in an instant (or even within a few years). Sometimes life just doesn't work like how Hollis says it should.

Not all of us can find rich husbands so we can take unpaid internships and learn the innerworkings of an industry. There's plenty of people fighting their own battles that cannot be overcome with a bit of pluck.

There are quite a few reviews that do a lovely job of dissecting this and bringing about many of the harmful assumptions and assertions that she does make within the book.

I would definitely recommend Johanna's 1-star review if you want to know more about the copying and elitism found in this book - she has done an absolutely amazing job of analyzing the problematic moments of the story and behaviors of the author.

The other than that bugged me (and yes...this is probs a bit petty of me...) was in the introduction of the book she mentions the whole 10% of the brain thing.

Most of us only consciously use a small percentage of our brain power. But have you ever seen one of those movies where the protagonist suddenly has access to all of it...I'm convinced that many women in this world of ours are...operating at a fraction of their potential..."

And that is a pet peeve of my mind for two reasons

1) it is a tired trope. Everyone has quoted it so often...and then to see it in her book, yet again...makes me even further question the originality of everything.

2) it isn't even factually correct. If we put all of the brain towards thinking...we'd be dead. There's a lot more to living life than that...how else do you think we can manage moving, breathing, digestion, sensory perception and more? The human race didn't spend several billion years inventing the brain and decide not to use it all so the self-help gurus can have a sick quote to throw at their audience.

All that being said, I do think this is an entertaining read...problematic at times, inaccurate and copy-pasted...but still entertaining.

Also, as a side note...I read this one and her other one pretty much back-to-back and for the life of me, I really can't pinpoint the difference between them.

I think they felt different while I was reading them, but now...months later...I'm just at a loss what was the point/big difference between them.

Ah well.

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