Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I’m not a big review writer, but this book bothered me. Admittedly, this is not the kind of book I’d have picked up on my own (it was for book club), and I had no idea who the author was going into it. I had two major problems with the book. The first was that the advice was incredibly trite (work hard! Don’t take no for an answer!). I could have gotten past that, however, if not for the author’s complete and utter lack of self-awareness and general tone-deafness. She spends a whole chapter talking about how she accomplished this all on her own and how great she is- but never acknowledges the fact that she’s starting from a place of incredible privilege. Her husband was a big Disney executive- she had access to industry contacts most people could only dream about. Plus she was playing with a HUGE monetary safety net. There’s nothing wrong with either of those things- use what’s at your disposal- but don’t then turn around and claim it was all on you. To me, her insistence that she was totally self-made killed her credibility. Either she’s totally clueless as to her own privilege or she’s disingenuously tailoring her story for mass appeal. It’s especially sad because she didn’t need to. This book could be much better if she delved into deeper stuff- she’s had some tough experiences! But she just doesn’t.