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ADHD for Smart Ass Women: How to Fall in Love with Your Neurodivergent Brain
An unprecedented guide for any woman with ADHD looking to celebrate her unique brilliance and to embark on a journey of self-discovery.
ADHD is one of the most common neurological disorders in the United States—yet a staggering 75 percent of girls and women remain undiagnosed. Due to the gender gap in medical research, which does not account for symptoms manifesting differently in women—leading to increased problems with anxiety, depression, working memory, sleep, energy, and concentration—many ADHD women are left to navigate a society that fails to understand their struggles and gifts. But what if every woman had the resources and support to uncover the hidden wonders of her neurodivergent brain?
Enter certified ADHD coach and podcast host Tracy Otsuka. Armed with her experience coaching thousands of women, cutting-edge medical research, and personal insights from her own diagnosis, she presents a revelatory guide tailored specifically for girls and women with ADHD. In it, Otsuka offers an entirely new set of tools, systems, and strategies to access a world of boundless productivity, focus, and confidence.
With her signature wit and levity—in entertaining chapters designed for ADHD readers—Otsuka explores the unique challenges that ADHD women face and illuminates the extraordinary qualities that set them overflowing creativity, laser-focused attention, deep empathy, and fearless entrepreneurial spirit. Even without an official diagnosis, readers will be equipped with the tools to conquer any to-do list and to tap into their true purpose, personally or professionally.
By dismantling the long-standing stereotypes and misinformation surrounding women with ADHD, Otsuka offers a beacon of hope for any woman looking to transform her symptoms into strengths. Comprehensive, lively, and long overdue, ADHD for Smart Ass Women is the key to unlocking unparalleled potential and to understanding your truly magnificent and brilliant brain.
Are you ready to discover your superpower?
ADHD is one of the most common neurological disorders in the United States—yet a staggering 75 percent of girls and women remain undiagnosed. Due to the gender gap in medical research, which does not account for symptoms manifesting differently in women—leading to increased problems with anxiety, depression, working memory, sleep, energy, and concentration—many ADHD women are left to navigate a society that fails to understand their struggles and gifts. But what if every woman had the resources and support to uncover the hidden wonders of her neurodivergent brain?
Enter certified ADHD coach and podcast host Tracy Otsuka. Armed with her experience coaching thousands of women, cutting-edge medical research, and personal insights from her own diagnosis, she presents a revelatory guide tailored specifically for girls and women with ADHD. In it, Otsuka offers an entirely new set of tools, systems, and strategies to access a world of boundless productivity, focus, and confidence.
With her signature wit and levity—in entertaining chapters designed for ADHD readers—Otsuka explores the unique challenges that ADHD women face and illuminates the extraordinary qualities that set them overflowing creativity, laser-focused attention, deep empathy, and fearless entrepreneurial spirit. Even without an official diagnosis, readers will be equipped with the tools to conquer any to-do list and to tap into their true purpose, personally or professionally.
By dismantling the long-standing stereotypes and misinformation surrounding women with ADHD, Otsuka offers a beacon of hope for any woman looking to transform her symptoms into strengths. Comprehensive, lively, and long overdue, ADHD for Smart Ass Women is the key to unlocking unparalleled potential and to understanding your truly magnificent and brilliant brain.
Are you ready to discover your superpower?
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 26, 2023
1923 people are currently reading
10961 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 599 reviews
January 1, 2024
**3.5 stars**
Overall I really enjoyed this one. It would’ve been a 5 star read if not for a few things. For one, Otsuka says that it’s her goal to make ADHD management accessible for all women. She then proceeds to discuss some very inaccessible options for ADHD management such as “hire a nanny” and “hire a cleaning person.” This would be fine; I understand that it’s ok to list things that may not be accessible to everyone alongside more accessible options. However, she then basically tells readers “find a way to afford this” such as hiring a teenager so you don’t have to pay them as much (which is kind of gross. Pay people what they’re worth, regardless of their age) or not paying $5 for coffee every day (which is an exhaustingly overdone, incorrect rhetoric used day in and day out by Boomers across the land). These suggestions just made me feel like she’s a little out of touch, which made parts of the book very unrelatable to me.
The second thing is that she often discusses “research” without citing her sources, or even naming who/what institution conducted the research. This makes me wonder about the credibility of what’s being quoted.
Those things aside, it really is a good read. I recommend it mostly to those who are newly diagnosed or who suspect they have ADHD but haven’t been diagnosed formally. I had many “yep, I definitely do that” moments, but as someone whose been navigating ADHD for 27 years it wasn’t as earth shattering.
Overall I really enjoyed this one. It would’ve been a 5 star read if not for a few things. For one, Otsuka says that it’s her goal to make ADHD management accessible for all women. She then proceeds to discuss some very inaccessible options for ADHD management such as “hire a nanny” and “hire a cleaning person.” This would be fine; I understand that it’s ok to list things that may not be accessible to everyone alongside more accessible options. However, she then basically tells readers “find a way to afford this” such as hiring a teenager so you don’t have to pay them as much (which is kind of gross. Pay people what they’re worth, regardless of their age) or not paying $5 for coffee every day (which is an exhaustingly overdone, incorrect rhetoric used day in and day out by Boomers across the land). These suggestions just made me feel like she’s a little out of touch, which made parts of the book very unrelatable to me.
The second thing is that she often discusses “research” without citing her sources, or even naming who/what institution conducted the research. This makes me wonder about the credibility of what’s being quoted.
Those things aside, it really is a good read. I recommend it mostly to those who are newly diagnosed or who suspect they have ADHD but haven’t been diagnosed formally. I had many “yep, I definitely do that” moments, but as someone whose been navigating ADHD for 27 years it wasn’t as earth shattering.
September 22, 2023
This book wants to teach you to accept your adhd & use it to your advantage when possible. It's quite positive, & does have helpful tips. However, there are 2 types of adhd & the author seems to have the more energetic, type A personality version, & she speaks more on what relates to her. I have the other type of adhd, so some things aren't relatable or helpful. It is still worth a read if you're like me
February 25, 2024
As l often do while listening to Tracy Otsuka’s brilliant podcast, I cried several times during this audiobook, simply from the joy of feeling seen and understood. I've read many books on neurodivergence and this is absolutely my favorite. Highly, highly recommend if you have ADHD, suspect you do, or love someone who does. Tracy doesn’t make light of the challenges ADHDers face, but she celebrates our talents and tenacity with fiercely charming optimism and brilliant insight. Thank goodness for Tracy Otsuka’s ADHD brain and her generous heart. This book is a gift.
February 15, 2024
If you made this book a drinking game for every time the author tooted her own horn about her programs, facebook group and podcast Id have been dead by chapter 4.
That said; when it didnt feel like a total self promo book, she had some helpful points. If i had taken this as a jumping point maybe i would have learned something?
She goes on an on about how she doesn't hate medication, and that may be true, but she ABSOLUTELY has a bias. Thats allowed. Its not my preference. I want all options open to me, but im not mad i listened to it?
also screams of 'born to rich parents' privilege. I would very much love to be myself and work in a job that 'excites my passion' but alas the bills need to be paid.
That said; when it didnt feel like a total self promo book, she had some helpful points. If i had taken this as a jumping point maybe i would have learned something?
She goes on an on about how she doesn't hate medication, and that may be true, but she ABSOLUTELY has a bias. Thats allowed. Its not my preference. I want all options open to me, but im not mad i listened to it?
also screams of 'born to rich parents' privilege. I would very much love to be myself and work in a job that 'excites my passion' but alas the bills need to be paid.
March 20, 2024
Added later because I can't stop thinking about this as it relates to both my personal and professional spheres of interest and knowledge.
She says in her epilogue that writing a book was harder than she thought it would be, and the level of hubris to think that writing a book is easy will never cease to aggravate me. Having experienced the entire book, it shocks me not-at-all to find she's the kind of person who would have thought that.
And I can't stop thinking about how she said she likes to use AI to generate outlines (did she look through these to try and spot anything the AI missed that she should cover?) and to summarize longer works.
- Did she get AI to summarize sleep recommendations to her? Is that why they're all the standard neurotypical-aimed ones and not specialized/catered to ADHDers except in small caveats?
- Did she get summaries that missed the nuance in research or mischaracterized things because AI simply cannot understand language, it's not an actual intelligence, it's just a machine copy/pasting things similar to thought?
- Is this why the exercise chapter felt so weirdly repetitive full of lists of the same exercises in slightly different orders over and over?
This huge red flag buried in a later chapter of the book, and I don't feel like she had anyone reading over her shoulder and asking her to expand things or checking her on anything.
_________________
(DEEP BREATH)
(Because I didn't say this before: obviously all opinions are personal opinions and IANAD.)
My overall impression is: This is not the book for me/where I'm at on my journey. I think it has a specific audience in mind and it's also not me. It's a self-help book that feels like it was written for Lean In women who are already successful or successful-ish and know nothing about ADHD. I thought "smart ass" in the title was going to be irreverent and talk-back-y, but it was not, she means smart but she's trying to be cool (how do you do fellow kids?).
I don't know the age of the author, but a lot of the things she says leave me feeling like she's a boomer (definitely has a son who was near graduating college in one anecdote, but if she had him young she could plausibly be my age), things like suggesting people call up the smartwatch customer service to help sync online calendars to it if they have issues. (I'm sorry, you expect me to call a human person on a phone and ask for help PLUS hold a conversation? I thought this book was for people with ADHD.) (There are a number of other issues with this, beginning with assuming people can afford a smartwatch, and yes, assuming people will have trouble with technology does read as older to me.)
Which leads to one of the issues: She's got a very strong idea of who's reading this book and it's women like her. She doesn't seem to have any idea that a lot of folks with ADHD struggle to make phone calls, and another of her suggestions includes posting reminders around the house without acknowledging that for a lot of people, visual reminders meant for the long term quickly turn into background noise and become ignorable. Obviously these are two areas in which I struggle so I'm more easily able to pull this out and say "hey, you missed this." I may not have caught everything, but I feel like she really missed some big obvious issues.
Some of that stems from the overarching issue that, actually, there's relatively little research about women and people AFAB and adults with ADHD. With that in mind, sometimes she cites "research", but as far as I can tell she never specifies which studies or anything about them, and we all know there are some studies that are better than others, right? So to me it felt missing some academic rigor (this is a personal preference). Much of what she says tracks at least generally with things I've read elsewhere, but I have questions about a couple of assertions about the exact numbers of women who have ADHD and/or had missed being diagnosed younger. Minor quibble, I think, and in line with it being a self-help title and not an academic one.
Positive: This is definitely written with a more anecdotal approach and for the people who are like the author and the women whose anecdotes she shared, I can see that being SUPER affirming. Hearing anecdata from women who describe exactly things I've experienced has been huge for me and I can see why that would really really be useful for people who hadn't encountered many stories from women like them before. This is a book for people early in their self-discovery/research process who haven't heard all of this before.
On the flip side of this, a lot of her anecdotes are referenced back to: my podcast, my facebook group(s), my seminars, etc. It feels very full of self-promotion. It gets to be A LOT, especially when she's not citing a lot of other sources.
Positive: She does focus a lot on providing suggestions for ways to find things that work for you.
However: As noted above, a lot of her suggestions are things like throwing money at a problem (hiring a nanny and/or house cleaner; buying a smartwatch) or miss that they're solutions that are often problematic for the exact people she's meaning to help (visual reminders for long term items).
A fair number of her hacks are things that I think most people have figured out if they're already adult women with functioning (or semi-functioning) lives: choose a major/career you're actually interested in; play music you like or podcasts you're interested in to help get you into the zone for tasks you struggle with; use timers/reminders on your phones/etc. to make up for if you have trouble with time or remembering events exist.
Probably these are game-changing if they work for you and you haven't tried them by the time you hit middle-age.
She does have a fairly decent amount of discussion of RSD (rejection-sensitive dysphoria) which I think people might find useful.
If folks are unaware of other learning disabilities and mood disorders that often co-occur with ADHD, there are multiple mentions and lists throughout that can help. Also she does discuss different types of therapies and their relative efficacy in general for those with ADHD. This isn't the kind of book that can delve too deeply into any of this, but it's good to show how many things can be a part of a person's profile
I found the section on hormones/perimenopause/menopause interesting but also frustrating because it's primarily composed around an anecdote about her having medical concerns (largely brain fog) and having them taken seriously by her doctors and being forwarded for a lot of thorough medical tests before eventually being diagnosed with ADHD and then later learning it was related, and uhhhh, not all of us have that experience with doctors. Relatedly, some of the discussion of the diagnostic process was frustrating because she just *asked for* and *received* testing for dyslexia because her son had it and she didn't think she had it but wanted to check (she didn't). I mentioned privilege and this is an egregious example of having the time and money and ability to access these kinds of things.
One thing that particularly amused me was that she mentions medication, immediately suggests it shouldn't be a long term or only solution, then tries to be like "but lots of people find it useful", then goes on to explain that she tried a lot and the side effects were not worth it for her. Later, she finds herself mentioned on a reddit forum and gets bent out of shape that people said she seemed anti-medication (definitely the impression I got from the book section on it, despite her protestations), and she protested again. I think she is unable to discuss medication without her personal bias showing through and doesn't realize it. (She talks a lot about intuition as a "superpower", and that's mine about her.)
Speaking of superpowers: that mindset is helpful for some but largely regarded as problematic because it's negating and ignoring the actual issues that people with ADHD experience. She mentions an anecdote about a woman who is struggling to do one thing and it's costing her a bunch of money she doesn't have, but she doesn't mention that this kind of thing is often referred to as "the ADHD tax" because it's not that people don't want it fixed, it's that they can't do it for whatever reason (it feels like she doesn't use the term because it would sound too negative and like maybe ADHD is not, actually, a completely good and superpower-y thing). The book feels overly upbeat and positive and solution-oriented rather than willing to engage with the real issues people with ADHD face and taking them seriously. She mentions one time forgetting to pick up kids from school that she'd agreed to pick up as a favor to a friend, but this is told as a funny story instead of a horrifying screw-up? This feels like toxic positivity.
Also feeling like toxic positivity and absolutely wild to me: most of the section on finance is about how to invest and to repair your personal feelings toward the concept of finance. She suggests instead of impulse buying, try "impulse investing" and I'm like... this person has never had a negative balance in her bank account and still spent money? But she also talks about having two bank accounts and overdrafting, it just feels like we're totally going to ignore the problem of simply not having enough money to frivolously do anything, buy a Hershey bar OR invest? If you don't have enough money to not have to worry about the *missing money* part of impulse spending, you're not the demographic this book is intending to reach. ("Investing $5/day is the cost of a coffee.")
And some of this is just half-baked and needed more work, IMO, to make including these topics useful and rely too much on trendy concepts:
- "The best ADHD treatment I've found is exercise." There is research to back this up, but it rubs me the wrong way especially when she talks about it as better than meds, and relies on being able-bodied. She also apparently has a half-mile walking trail on her family's "property." Love that for her, I guess. She does address that exercising doesn't have to be specific things, and the focus is on movement and you can do chair yoga or whatever, but it's an afterthought. This entire chapter could have been a single paragraph, and a lot of it is lists of types of exercise.
- Sleep is hard. "Revenge bedtime procrastination" is what she describes herself as having (trendy phrase/idea), delayed sleep phase syndrome is a real thing, rather than a trendy social term, and is common in ADHD. She's not wrong about everything but she doesn't ever SAY "delayed sleep phase syndrome" (and she takes a moment to note that medications can make sleep harder, but after mentioning that twice she then points out that some doctors recommend it before sleep because some ADHDers actually sleep better that way). This chapter is a lot of recommendations -- like no screen time before bed -- that are included in literally every mainstream article about sleep, and don't seem to pertain particularly to ADHD (especially, IMO, missing out about caffeine, which is a stimulant and she says not to drink before bed, but does not mention that some ADHDers find it makes them sleepy).
- The number of times she says "poor food choices" and "overeat"... this chapter on food needs a trigger warning. I absolutely hate the way she talks about food and demonizes carbs/sugar. (And then she tells you to not moralize food/engage in diet culture, after she's done it.) She doesn't *ever* address the fact that many, many ADHDers have sensory issues with foods and that this can be a HUGE thing. She does have some specific recommendations of what TO eat, but things like "make sure you're hydrated" and "do intermittent fasting" seem like they're not specifically ADHD-aimed and are far more jumping-on-a-trend. This is, however, the section that made me realize she didn't mention a single sensory item throughout! Nothing about noise, lights, heat, nada! This is an incredible oversight.
General Red flag -- AI: she specifically suggests using ChatGPT/AI to outline work for her and summarize longer works, which absoluuuuutely makes me question whether she's got all the correct data/science included in this book. Sorry not sorry, that stuff is buggyAF at this point and nobody credible should be using it (she says you need to doublecheck facts but I'm giving it side-eye).
________________
70% done and I'm coming to realize a very important point: I read the title as "smart-ass" (irreverent), rather than "smart (I'm a cool mom look at me use curse words) ass", and it's deeeefinitely more of the latter than the former. I say this as a middle-aged mom myself. I feel like this is why it's not connecting with me. It's very normcore in its ethos?
Suggestions like hiring a maid or a nanny -- I mean, sure, but again this is *problematic* if your solution is "throw money at your problems". I'm not saying it's not hugely beneficial for some! But it's not a thing for all.
Also, getting a smartwatch ($$) and ??calling customer support?? if you have issues linking it to your online calendar???? From the bottom of my Xennial heart: ok, boomer. If you're the kind of person who can just?? pick up a phone???? and speak to customer service?????? You are a very different person than me. But then, I also grew up on technology and calling customer service for help is more of a frustration than a help since I've already turned it off and back on again thankssss.
And a less snark filled response: she suggests putting up notes and other things around the house as reminders, but if you're me, those types of solutions last for like a day and then the notes become part of the background noise of the landscape, they are no longer reminders, they live there now. But she doesn't address the (very large number) of people for whom my reaction is the norm and so notes don't work. What then? This is a blindspot she doesn't realize she has, or doesn't address knowing she has.
It's not to say there's nothing in here, but it definitely runs more toward the fluffy-self-help and even self-promotion (my facebook group, my other facebook group, my podcast, my seminar) than the scientific and research-based methods that address a more intersectional and diverse group. This is a book for the high-achievers who are also ADHDers, the Lean-In women who were told they could have it all and are struggling to do that.
She also spends time discussing how hurt she felt about reddit posts calling her out for being anti-medication, and telling us she's not, but 100% what I got from her section on medication is that *she knows she's not supposed to say she's against it* but she absolutely has feelings about it and you can tell (it's that ADHD superpower of intuition right?) that she is NOT A FAN. And like... I get it, it sounds like she had an awful experience with them. I have also turned down an offer of medication because my personal medical history made me wary of side effects, medication is not and never will be the solution for everyone. But like... oof.
______________________
38% done and these are my impressions:
I don't think I'm going to be able to give this one an *enthusiastic* recommendation overall, but so far nothing is making me quit. It's very intro-to-ADHD and that's not where I'm at, but we're getting into the recommendations-for-life section and maybe that will have more for me.
Reservations:
1. VERY "I want you to see ADHD as a superpower" in the intro and kind of more generally. There's a chapter with this title. I just... yes, okay, be positive about it but also *it can be limiting for people and problems are very real*.
2. Extremely gender binary: women with ADHD are like this, and that's why they don't get spotted. No mention of trans/nonbinary experiences or how socialization drives the differences we see (this is mildly alluded to but in a way that I'm not entirely sure the author knew that's what she was describing). (Many people with ADHD are LGBTQ+ as well so it seems like a major oversight to ignore that.) I realize this is specifically aimed at an audience of people whose diagnoses were missed in their youth, but I'm not loving the treatment of gender here.
3. Privilege. She's absolutely dripping with it and I don't think she realizes how much.
4. It's structured around concepts by chapter, but a lot of the content in the early bits at least comes back to her personal life and family - I think that's meant to make it relatable and is why the privilege feels so obvious.
5. I feel like there are a lot of stats and stuff mentioned without citation? This could be an audiobook thing, but some of her numbers don't track with things I've read elsewhere in more scientifically-minded resources. And a LOOOOOT of anecdata drawn from her own products-and-services (multiple facebook groups and a podcast) in addition to her life. I'm not here for "a majority of the women I polled in my own facebook group said xyz".
None of these are immediate deal breakers and it does seem to cover a lot of good basic information for someone beginning to ask these questions. But when I dug a little more into her bona fides, the book was featured on like Good Morning America, so it's clearly marketing-friendly easily-digestible from an "ADHD coach". Not necessarily a bad thing but not what I was hoping for. (She also has a podcast of the same name as the book that I'd never heard of.)
Additional comments: For the audiobook I did have to bump the speed up pretty significantly because the slow speaking was making it so I couldn't follow her.
Culturally, she talks about going to life coaches and being able to get referred to doctor after doctor trying to sort out things -- including getting in for and PAYING for diagnostic tests she didn't need to see if she was dyslexic and stuff, after having the ADHD diagnosis. Again we're coming back to privilege here, but she talks about the medical establishment seemingly taking her concerns seriously right out of the gate, and that doesn't match up with my experiences of medicine. It feels like she operates in space of largely wealthy-white-women (she is herself mixed-heritage), and this is just not the world many of us live in.
She says in her epilogue that writing a book was harder than she thought it would be, and the level of hubris to think that writing a book is easy will never cease to aggravate me. Having experienced the entire book, it shocks me not-at-all to find she's the kind of person who would have thought that.
And I can't stop thinking about how she said she likes to use AI to generate outlines (did she look through these to try and spot anything the AI missed that she should cover?) and to summarize longer works.
- Did she get AI to summarize sleep recommendations to her? Is that why they're all the standard neurotypical-aimed ones and not specialized/catered to ADHDers except in small caveats?
- Did she get summaries that missed the nuance in research or mischaracterized things because AI simply cannot understand language, it's not an actual intelligence, it's just a machine copy/pasting things similar to thought?
- Is this why the exercise chapter felt so weirdly repetitive full of lists of the same exercises in slightly different orders over and over?
This huge red flag buried in a later chapter of the book, and I don't feel like she had anyone reading over her shoulder and asking her to expand things or checking her on anything.
_________________
(DEEP BREATH)
(Because I didn't say this before: obviously all opinions are personal opinions and IANAD.)
My overall impression is: This is not the book for me/where I'm at on my journey. I think it has a specific audience in mind and it's also not me. It's a self-help book that feels like it was written for Lean In women who are already successful or successful-ish and know nothing about ADHD. I thought "smart ass" in the title was going to be irreverent and talk-back-y, but it was not, she means smart but she's trying to be cool (how do you do fellow kids?).
I don't know the age of the author, but a lot of the things she says leave me feeling like she's a boomer (definitely has a son who was near graduating college in one anecdote, but if she had him young she could plausibly be my age), things like suggesting people call up the smartwatch customer service to help sync online calendars to it if they have issues. (I'm sorry, you expect me to call a human person on a phone and ask for help PLUS hold a conversation? I thought this book was for people with ADHD.) (There are a number of other issues with this, beginning with assuming people can afford a smartwatch, and yes, assuming people will have trouble with technology does read as older to me.)
Which leads to one of the issues: She's got a very strong idea of who's reading this book and it's women like her. She doesn't seem to have any idea that a lot of folks with ADHD struggle to make phone calls, and another of her suggestions includes posting reminders around the house without acknowledging that for a lot of people, visual reminders meant for the long term quickly turn into background noise and become ignorable. Obviously these are two areas in which I struggle so I'm more easily able to pull this out and say "hey, you missed this." I may not have caught everything, but I feel like she really missed some big obvious issues.
Some of that stems from the overarching issue that, actually, there's relatively little research about women and people AFAB and adults with ADHD. With that in mind, sometimes she cites "research", but as far as I can tell she never specifies which studies or anything about them, and we all know there are some studies that are better than others, right? So to me it felt missing some academic rigor (this is a personal preference). Much of what she says tracks at least generally with things I've read elsewhere, but I have questions about a couple of assertions about the exact numbers of women who have ADHD and/or had missed being diagnosed younger. Minor quibble, I think, and in line with it being a self-help title and not an academic one.
Positive: This is definitely written with a more anecdotal approach and for the people who are like the author and the women whose anecdotes she shared, I can see that being SUPER affirming. Hearing anecdata from women who describe exactly things I've experienced has been huge for me and I can see why that would really really be useful for people who hadn't encountered many stories from women like them before. This is a book for people early in their self-discovery/research process who haven't heard all of this before.
On the flip side of this, a lot of her anecdotes are referenced back to: my podcast, my facebook group(s), my seminars, etc. It feels very full of self-promotion. It gets to be A LOT, especially when she's not citing a lot of other sources.
Positive: She does focus a lot on providing suggestions for ways to find things that work for you.
However: As noted above, a lot of her suggestions are things like throwing money at a problem (hiring a nanny and/or house cleaner; buying a smartwatch) or miss that they're solutions that are often problematic for the exact people she's meaning to help (visual reminders for long term items).
A fair number of her hacks are things that I think most people have figured out if they're already adult women with functioning (or semi-functioning) lives: choose a major/career you're actually interested in; play music you like or podcasts you're interested in to help get you into the zone for tasks you struggle with; use timers/reminders on your phones/etc. to make up for if you have trouble with time or remembering events exist.
Probably these are game-changing if they work for you and you haven't tried them by the time you hit middle-age.
She does have a fairly decent amount of discussion of RSD (rejection-sensitive dysphoria) which I think people might find useful.
If folks are unaware of other learning disabilities and mood disorders that often co-occur with ADHD, there are multiple mentions and lists throughout that can help. Also she does discuss different types of therapies and their relative efficacy in general for those with ADHD. This isn't the kind of book that can delve too deeply into any of this, but it's good to show how many things can be a part of a person's profile
I found the section on hormones/perimenopause/menopause interesting but also frustrating because it's primarily composed around an anecdote about her having medical concerns (largely brain fog) and having them taken seriously by her doctors and being forwarded for a lot of thorough medical tests before eventually being diagnosed with ADHD and then later learning it was related, and uhhhh, not all of us have that experience with doctors. Relatedly, some of the discussion of the diagnostic process was frustrating because she just *asked for* and *received* testing for dyslexia because her son had it and she didn't think she had it but wanted to check (she didn't). I mentioned privilege and this is an egregious example of having the time and money and ability to access these kinds of things.
One thing that particularly amused me was that she mentions medication, immediately suggests it shouldn't be a long term or only solution, then tries to be like "but lots of people find it useful", then goes on to explain that she tried a lot and the side effects were not worth it for her. Later, she finds herself mentioned on a reddit forum and gets bent out of shape that people said she seemed anti-medication (definitely the impression I got from the book section on it, despite her protestations), and she protested again. I think she is unable to discuss medication without her personal bias showing through and doesn't realize it. (She talks a lot about intuition as a "superpower", and that's mine about her.)
Speaking of superpowers: that mindset is helpful for some but largely regarded as problematic because it's negating and ignoring the actual issues that people with ADHD experience. She mentions an anecdote about a woman who is struggling to do one thing and it's costing her a bunch of money she doesn't have, but she doesn't mention that this kind of thing is often referred to as "the ADHD tax" because it's not that people don't want it fixed, it's that they can't do it for whatever reason (it feels like she doesn't use the term because it would sound too negative and like maybe ADHD is not, actually, a completely good and superpower-y thing). The book feels overly upbeat and positive and solution-oriented rather than willing to engage with the real issues people with ADHD face and taking them seriously. She mentions one time forgetting to pick up kids from school that she'd agreed to pick up as a favor to a friend, but this is told as a funny story instead of a horrifying screw-up? This feels like toxic positivity.
Also feeling like toxic positivity and absolutely wild to me: most of the section on finance is about how to invest and to repair your personal feelings toward the concept of finance. She suggests instead of impulse buying, try "impulse investing" and I'm like... this person has never had a negative balance in her bank account and still spent money? But she also talks about having two bank accounts and overdrafting, it just feels like we're totally going to ignore the problem of simply not having enough money to frivolously do anything, buy a Hershey bar OR invest? If you don't have enough money to not have to worry about the *missing money* part of impulse spending, you're not the demographic this book is intending to reach. ("Investing $5/day is the cost of a coffee.")
And some of this is just half-baked and needed more work, IMO, to make including these topics useful and rely too much on trendy concepts:
- "The best ADHD treatment I've found is exercise." There is research to back this up, but it rubs me the wrong way especially when she talks about it as better than meds, and relies on being able-bodied. She also apparently has a half-mile walking trail on her family's "property." Love that for her, I guess. She does address that exercising doesn't have to be specific things, and the focus is on movement and you can do chair yoga or whatever, but it's an afterthought. This entire chapter could have been a single paragraph, and a lot of it is lists of types of exercise.
- Sleep is hard. "Revenge bedtime procrastination" is what she describes herself as having (trendy phrase/idea), delayed sleep phase syndrome is a real thing, rather than a trendy social term, and is common in ADHD. She's not wrong about everything but she doesn't ever SAY "delayed sleep phase syndrome" (and she takes a moment to note that medications can make sleep harder, but after mentioning that twice she then points out that some doctors recommend it before sleep because some ADHDers actually sleep better that way). This chapter is a lot of recommendations -- like no screen time before bed -- that are included in literally every mainstream article about sleep, and don't seem to pertain particularly to ADHD (especially, IMO, missing out about caffeine, which is a stimulant and she says not to drink before bed, but does not mention that some ADHDers find it makes them sleepy).
- The number of times she says "poor food choices" and "overeat"... this chapter on food needs a trigger warning. I absolutely hate the way she talks about food and demonizes carbs/sugar. (And then she tells you to not moralize food/engage in diet culture, after she's done it.) She doesn't *ever* address the fact that many, many ADHDers have sensory issues with foods and that this can be a HUGE thing. She does have some specific recommendations of what TO eat, but things like "make sure you're hydrated" and "do intermittent fasting" seem like they're not specifically ADHD-aimed and are far more jumping-on-a-trend. This is, however, the section that made me realize she didn't mention a single sensory item throughout! Nothing about noise, lights, heat, nada! This is an incredible oversight.
General Red flag -- AI: she specifically suggests using ChatGPT/AI to outline work for her and summarize longer works, which absoluuuuutely makes me question whether she's got all the correct data/science included in this book. Sorry not sorry, that stuff is buggyAF at this point and nobody credible should be using it (she says you need to doublecheck facts but I'm giving it side-eye).
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70% done and I'm coming to realize a very important point: I read the title as "smart-ass" (irreverent), rather than "smart (I'm a cool mom look at me use curse words) ass", and it's deeeefinitely more of the latter than the former. I say this as a middle-aged mom myself. I feel like this is why it's not connecting with me. It's very normcore in its ethos?
Suggestions like hiring a maid or a nanny -- I mean, sure, but again this is *problematic* if your solution is "throw money at your problems". I'm not saying it's not hugely beneficial for some! But it's not a thing for all.
Also, getting a smartwatch ($$) and ??calling customer support?? if you have issues linking it to your online calendar???? From the bottom of my Xennial heart: ok, boomer. If you're the kind of person who can just?? pick up a phone???? and speak to customer service?????? You are a very different person than me. But then, I also grew up on technology and calling customer service for help is more of a frustration than a help since I've already turned it off and back on again thankssss.
And a less snark filled response: she suggests putting up notes and other things around the house as reminders, but if you're me, those types of solutions last for like a day and then the notes become part of the background noise of the landscape, they are no longer reminders, they live there now. But she doesn't address the (very large number) of people for whom my reaction is the norm and so notes don't work. What then? This is a blindspot she doesn't realize she has, or doesn't address knowing she has.
It's not to say there's nothing in here, but it definitely runs more toward the fluffy-self-help and even self-promotion (my facebook group, my other facebook group, my podcast, my seminar) than the scientific and research-based methods that address a more intersectional and diverse group. This is a book for the high-achievers who are also ADHDers, the Lean-In women who were told they could have it all and are struggling to do that.
She also spends time discussing how hurt she felt about reddit posts calling her out for being anti-medication, and telling us she's not, but 100% what I got from her section on medication is that *she knows she's not supposed to say she's against it* but she absolutely has feelings about it and you can tell (it's that ADHD superpower of intuition right?) that she is NOT A FAN. And like... I get it, it sounds like she had an awful experience with them. I have also turned down an offer of medication because my personal medical history made me wary of side effects, medication is not and never will be the solution for everyone. But like... oof.
______________________
38% done and these are my impressions:
I don't think I'm going to be able to give this one an *enthusiastic* recommendation overall, but so far nothing is making me quit. It's very intro-to-ADHD and that's not where I'm at, but we're getting into the recommendations-for-life section and maybe that will have more for me.
Reservations:
1. VERY "I want you to see ADHD as a superpower" in the intro and kind of more generally. There's a chapter with this title. I just... yes, okay, be positive about it but also *it can be limiting for people and problems are very real*.
2. Extremely gender binary: women with ADHD are like this, and that's why they don't get spotted. No mention of trans/nonbinary experiences or how socialization drives the differences we see (this is mildly alluded to but in a way that I'm not entirely sure the author knew that's what she was describing). (Many people with ADHD are LGBTQ+ as well so it seems like a major oversight to ignore that.) I realize this is specifically aimed at an audience of people whose diagnoses were missed in their youth, but I'm not loving the treatment of gender here.
3. Privilege. She's absolutely dripping with it and I don't think she realizes how much.
4. It's structured around concepts by chapter, but a lot of the content in the early bits at least comes back to her personal life and family - I think that's meant to make it relatable and is why the privilege feels so obvious.
5. I feel like there are a lot of stats and stuff mentioned without citation? This could be an audiobook thing, but some of her numbers don't track with things I've read elsewhere in more scientifically-minded resources. And a LOOOOOT of anecdata drawn from her own products-and-services (multiple facebook groups and a podcast) in addition to her life. I'm not here for "a majority of the women I polled in my own facebook group said xyz".
None of these are immediate deal breakers and it does seem to cover a lot of good basic information for someone beginning to ask these questions. But when I dug a little more into her bona fides, the book was featured on like Good Morning America, so it's clearly marketing-friendly easily-digestible from an "ADHD coach". Not necessarily a bad thing but not what I was hoping for. (She also has a podcast of the same name as the book that I'd never heard of.)
Additional comments: For the audiobook I did have to bump the speed up pretty significantly because the slow speaking was making it so I couldn't follow her.
Culturally, she talks about going to life coaches and being able to get referred to doctor after doctor trying to sort out things -- including getting in for and PAYING for diagnostic tests she didn't need to see if she was dyslexic and stuff, after having the ADHD diagnosis. Again we're coming back to privilege here, but she talks about the medical establishment seemingly taking her concerns seriously right out of the gate, and that doesn't match up with my experiences of medicine. It feels like she operates in space of largely wealthy-white-women (she is herself mixed-heritage), and this is just not the world many of us live in.
June 21, 2024
guys, i think this lady has a podcast. guys, i think this lady might have a facebook group. there’s no way to be sure.
god i hate to be the pessimist but this was not for me… maybe i need a book called “ADHD for dumb sluts”… she seems like a nice woman but i can’t shake the feeling that this book (with advice like “hire a nanny and a cleaner and buy a smartwatch”) is meant for rich people whose ADHD minimally affects their life and who have little interest in taking accountability for their actions. i commend trying to shift away from negative language that treats mental health conditions like ADHD as a curse, but the full-force pendulum shift into “superpower” feels inappropriate to me honestly… but i do understand the intention and how it can be helpful for people who are learning about ADHD for the first time.
also, she says that she uses AI to help her write, and it shows. not a lot of sources are cited, and there are A LOT of contradictions, which was one of my main gripes with the book.
god i hate to be the pessimist but this was not for me… maybe i need a book called “ADHD for dumb sluts”… she seems like a nice woman but i can’t shake the feeling that this book (with advice like “hire a nanny and a cleaner and buy a smartwatch”) is meant for rich people whose ADHD minimally affects their life and who have little interest in taking accountability for their actions. i commend trying to shift away from negative language that treats mental health conditions like ADHD as a curse, but the full-force pendulum shift into “superpower” feels inappropriate to me honestly… but i do understand the intention and how it can be helpful for people who are learning about ADHD for the first time.
also, she says that she uses AI to help her write, and it shows. not a lot of sources are cited, and there are A LOT of contradictions, which was one of my main gripes with the book.
January 25, 2024
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'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.
May 4, 2025
DNF at 64%.
I tried, I really did. Got through about 2/3 of the book before I tapped out.
The book didn’t offer anything new—it mostly repeated information you could easily find online about ADHD. It felt more like a long list of referrals to different specialists, depending on your symptoms, and a lot of self-promotion for the author’s podcast.
I kept waiting for some fresh insight or real talk, but it never came.
The writing was kinda dry too, which made it hard to stay into it.
I tried, I really did. Got through about 2/3 of the book before I tapped out.
The book didn’t offer anything new—it mostly repeated information you could easily find online about ADHD. It felt more like a long list of referrals to different specialists, depending on your symptoms, and a lot of self-promotion for the author’s podcast.
I kept waiting for some fresh insight or real talk, but it never came.
The writing was kinda dry too, which made it hard to stay into it.
August 19, 2023
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
I got a lot of great info from this book as a neurodivergent woman. Some of the info was not new, or necessarily relevant to me. I definitely took a lot of tips from this book. What struck me most was how women are taught by society to “hide” their symptoms or “act” a certain way. It was so validating to hear that this cycle girls get stuck in (neurologically speaking) isn’t “my” fault.
I found this empowering for myself, as well as for my daughters who likely will grow up with neurodivergent features (because genetics). I hope to teach them that they are valid and they can absolutely act like themselves in order to inspire confidence. This book is a must read whether you’re diagnosed or not. There are excellent resources and support throughout this book. I was shocked to find some of the techniques I already did and “taught” myself. Easy 4.5 stars!
I got a lot of great info from this book as a neurodivergent woman. Some of the info was not new, or necessarily relevant to me. I definitely took a lot of tips from this book. What struck me most was how women are taught by society to “hide” their symptoms or “act” a certain way. It was so validating to hear that this cycle girls get stuck in (neurologically speaking) isn’t “my” fault.
I found this empowering for myself, as well as for my daughters who likely will grow up with neurodivergent features (because genetics). I hope to teach them that they are valid and they can absolutely act like themselves in order to inspire confidence. This book is a must read whether you’re diagnosed or not. There are excellent resources and support throughout this book. I was shocked to find some of the techniques I already did and “taught” myself. Easy 4.5 stars!
January 19, 2024
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
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
December 28, 2023
After loving Tracy Otsuka's podcast of the the same name, I was excited to pre-order her book. I wasn't disappointed. This book is full of concrete ideas to help build on ADHD strengths, and workarounds for our typical weaknesses. I particularly appreciated Chapter 7: Ways to End Overthinking, Overwhelm, and Self-Doubt.
Getting overwhelmed and shutting down/procrastinating has been a struggle in my life, and I have already begun to implement some of Otsuka's tactics in my work life.
I received an ARC of this book, but I also purchased my own copy. I will be buying more for the other ADHD women in my life.
Getting overwhelmed and shutting down/procrastinating has been a struggle in my life, and I have already begun to implement some of Otsuka's tactics in my work life.
I received an ARC of this book, but I also purchased my own copy. I will be buying more for the other ADHD women in my life.
February 4, 2024
This actually had so much helpful information and tangible things to try and manage ADHD. Worth a read if you have ADHD (or even suspect that you do!)
February 16, 2024
I have a lot of different feelings about this book and on the whole those feelings are negative. I think this wasn’t the right book for me and I wasn’t the right reader for it. I’m not the ADHD optimist so this book was like nails on a chalkboard for my pragmatic, pessimistic brand of ADHD and depression.
Anyway, it’s still a good introduction to ADHD for those who are just beginning their journeys. There are lots of helpful tips and explanations in this book. None of them are new, by any stretch, but it’s convenient to have them all in one spot rather than spending several years digging online to figure it out yourself (like I’ve done).
Anyway, it’s still a good introduction to ADHD for those who are just beginning their journeys. There are lots of helpful tips and explanations in this book. None of them are new, by any stretch, but it’s convenient to have them all in one spot rather than spending several years digging online to figure it out yourself (like I’ve done).
August 5, 2024
There are a few good points but they were outweighed by the constant références to women with ADHD being optimistic and have big personalities. There didn't seem to be a lot of space in her (possibly ChatGPT written book) for alternate ways of being. The women she uses as examples indicate maybe the book should've been ADHD for Wildly Successful Women.
I doubt I'll check out her podcast(s) or Facebook group(s) or seminars.
I doubt I'll check out her podcast(s) or Facebook group(s) or seminars.
October 30, 2023
This book is fantastic for those of us who are neurospicy or typical. If you at all suspect you have ADHD please read this.
It will change your life.
Tracy changed mine.
If you know someone with ADHD please read this. You'll understand them a whole lot better.
Thank you Tracy for your podcast, A-OK, and this book. You rock!
It will change your life.
Tracy changed mine.
If you know someone with ADHD please read this. You'll understand them a whole lot better.
Thank you Tracy for your podcast, A-OK, and this book. You rock!
March 14, 2024
I didn’t see anything new in here that you wouldn’t find through a web search about ADHD.
Being the inattentive/introvert ADHD type, I don’t feel like I can relate to her hyperactive/extrovert ADHD writing style & story-telling.
Skimmed most of it just to finish, in typical ADHD fashion. Considered not finishing midway but pushed through until the end.
Being the inattentive/introvert ADHD type, I don’t feel like I can relate to her hyperactive/extrovert ADHD writing style & story-telling.
Skimmed most of it just to finish, in typical ADHD fashion. Considered not finishing midway but pushed through until the end.
November 8, 2024
Le livre le plus validant que j’ai pu lire sur le TDAH féminin 🥹.
Je le conseille à tout personne vivant de proche ou de loin ou gestionnaire d’une personne vivant avec un trouble du déficit de l’attention.
Faut être plus doux avec nous-même 🫶🏻.
Je le conseille à tout personne vivant de proche ou de loin ou gestionnaire d’une personne vivant avec un trouble du déficit de l’attention.
Faut être plus doux avec nous-même 🫶🏻.
January 7, 2025
De schrijver is geen psycholoog of iets dergelijks, maar heeft zich wel jaren verdiept in dit onderwerp. Daardoor komt zij met veel nuttige voorbeelden en tips. Gelijktijdig blijft het makkelijk leesbaar.
July 1, 2024
this book was so eye opening to me. about a month ago, i went to my therapist confused and helpless explaining that i have felt so different for so long and that i was sure something was wrong with me.
why can’t i motivate myself? why can’t i have structure? why is it so hard for me to focus on mundane tasks? why is my anxiety and depression bad? why do i ruminate and hyper fixate on things that happened months ago and in the grand scheme of it all don’t matter?
going into my diagnosis journey, this book gave me a lot of insight into what ADHD is, how it has affected me, and how i can cope and have learned to cope with it for so long. AND how we do not talk about ADHD enough in women.
i’ve always been “different,” a little too much, too chatty, always interrupting, always late, empathetic, high achieving, hard working and intuitive. all symptoms of ADHD in women. do i still love myself? 100%. it’s made me who i am! have i struggled and haven’t known why? yes. LOVED THIS BOOK!
why can’t i motivate myself? why can’t i have structure? why is it so hard for me to focus on mundane tasks? why is my anxiety and depression bad? why do i ruminate and hyper fixate on things that happened months ago and in the grand scheme of it all don’t matter?
going into my diagnosis journey, this book gave me a lot of insight into what ADHD is, how it has affected me, and how i can cope and have learned to cope with it for so long. AND how we do not talk about ADHD enough in women.
i’ve always been “different,” a little too much, too chatty, always interrupting, always late, empathetic, high achieving, hard working and intuitive. all symptoms of ADHD in women. do i still love myself? 100%. it’s made me who i am! have i struggled and haven’t known why? yes. LOVED THIS BOOK!
December 2, 2024
Pretty good, there were many parts that I felt seen and understood which I appreciated. However, a lot of it felt very surface level and it was soaked in privilege—like recommendations to hire a nanny or someone to clean your house???—unrealistic.
August 23, 2023
I can NOT wait to read this!
January 14, 2025
— 3.5 STARS —
I didn’t think this was great but I did highlight a lot of lines so….
This book simply didn’t have much structure to it and mostly spit out facts I already knew, occasionally peppered with anecdotes of the author/people she knows. There was a slight culty vibe from the author that I didn’t love but maybe it’s just me. But! It concisely stated a lot of things i’ve experienced — I especially liked the talk of hormones because PMS is HELLISH for me (terrified about menopause now 🥲. but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it). I think this book is firmly OK. I wish my teachers and my parents had read it while I was growing up because that would’ve prevented decades of shame and neuroticism but it is what it is. Overall — eh. Not horrible.
I didn’t think this was great but I did highlight a lot of lines so….
This book simply didn’t have much structure to it and mostly spit out facts I already knew, occasionally peppered with anecdotes of the author/people she knows. There was a slight culty vibe from the author that I didn’t love but maybe it’s just me. But! It concisely stated a lot of things i’ve experienced — I especially liked the talk of hormones because PMS is HELLISH for me (terrified about menopause now 🥲. but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it). I think this book is firmly OK. I wish my teachers and my parents had read it while I was growing up because that would’ve prevented decades of shame and neuroticism but it is what it is. Overall — eh. Not horrible.
July 25, 2025
Er staan hier best wel nuttige dingen in, maar weinig is echt vernieuwend. Veel van de tips van de auteur zijn dingen waar je zelf waarschijnlijk ook al wel achter was gekomen, zoals “drink geen koffie na 4 uur” en “sport veel” of “gebruik timers en muziek voor stomme klusjes”. Daarnaast is veel anekdotisch (wat niet altijd erg is maar dat vermindert het niveau wel een beetje) en refereert de auteur veel naar haar eigen werk. “Research shows” ben ik allergisch voor, maar ik heb het fysieke boek niet dus kan niet checken hoe haar bronvermelding eruit ziet.
Toch biedt het boek wel herkenning en daarmee erkenning en kan het een manier zijn om eigen ADHD eigenschappen meer te accepteren. Maar dan nog mis ik diepgang: hoe zit het met de moeilijke aspecten? Of met vrouwen die zich niet herkennen in het positief-hyper beeld van ADHD? Dit is meer een self-help boek (oppervlakkig, maar wel fijn om te lezen) dan een stevig boek met diepgaande analyse en onderbouwing. Is oké, maar dan vind ik het ‘certified ADHD coach’ niet bepaald veelzeggend. En: hoe ‘smart’ zijn die “smart-ass women” dan, volgens de auteur? In ieder geval niet bijzonder kritisch…
Toch biedt het boek wel herkenning en daarmee erkenning en kan het een manier zijn om eigen ADHD eigenschappen meer te accepteren. Maar dan nog mis ik diepgang: hoe zit het met de moeilijke aspecten? Of met vrouwen die zich niet herkennen in het positief-hyper beeld van ADHD? Dit is meer een self-help boek (oppervlakkig, maar wel fijn om te lezen) dan een stevig boek met diepgaande analyse en onderbouwing. Is oké, maar dan vind ik het ‘certified ADHD coach’ niet bepaald veelzeggend. En: hoe ‘smart’ zijn die “smart-ass women” dan, volgens de auteur? In ieder geval niet bijzonder kritisch…
June 11, 2025
UPDATE- 3.5: Feels a bit hyperbolic to say it changed my life, but it sure felt like it at times. As someone who is at the beginning of this journey, this was a great resource for discovering more about ADHD and actionable steps to take to manage ADHD symptoms. This was especially true if they directly aligned with the author. If not, it was tough to relate.
I had some concerns with the author's open use of AI to write and her many uses of personal experience to justify points that were not relatable to my experience with ADHD symptoms, as well as the constant self-promotion throughout. Great starting point on the topic, but not the end-all-be-all on the subject.
I had some concerns with the author's open use of AI to write and her many uses of personal experience to justify points that were not relatable to my experience with ADHD symptoms, as well as the constant self-promotion throughout. Great starting point on the topic, but not the end-all-be-all on the subject.
April 7, 2024
Short but sweet Tracy gets right to the point and down to the nitty gritty of it all.
Not only does she have the ability to empathize with the reader, she formatted the book so it doesn't seem overwhelming and all the advice she gives, she also gives the sources so you can further your own research. This has made me very curious about her podcast.
Not only does she have the ability to empathize with the reader, she formatted the book so it doesn't seem overwhelming and all the advice she gives, she also gives the sources so you can further your own research. This has made me very curious about her podcast.
December 24, 2024
Incredibly insightful, I feel I learned so much about myself
January 16, 2025
3.5
This book took me a while to get through. I really like this book. I learned a lot and took in some of the tips that was given. I would suggest this book for woman with ADHD.
This book took me a while to get through. I really like this book. I learned a lot and took in some of the tips that was given. I would suggest this book for woman with ADHD.
April 29, 2025
Absolutely loved this book and found it so useful. I think it would have been more helpful earlier on in my life bc I’ve learned a lot of the tools she talks about on my own, but definitely still learned some new things!
June 19, 2024
5 Stars- Super informative and love all the research and how this author has committed herself to learning and teaching about ADHD.
December 9, 2024
My daughter sent me this book and the timing was perfect. I was really excited. The intro was so beautiful and felt like the sweetest pep-talk I’ve had in a long time, but it was written about the author not me! I found myself in so much of what he said. I need to find that guy and read all of his books. He writes beautifully❤️. That being said, I didn’t think the rest of the book was all that riveting for me because I’ve already done so much research on ADHD. There wasn’t a ton of new information. BUT, if you’ve just recently received a diagnosis, this is one book you can’t miss. It was really good. And in the end, I did feel a little less discouraged and a little more hopeful about this condition
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