How Hard Can It Be?

It's all fun and games until someone posts a belfie.

Kate Reddy is back. And her daughters backSIDE is causing some trouble. We jump right into our favorite bad-a$$, anxiety-ridden, take-charge heroine Kate's life as she is approaching 50 and it seems the hilarity and struggles of parenting, working, wife-ing, friendship and everything else in Kate's life is just as amusing as ever.

Kate's daughter Emily has taken a pic of her butt and the crazy life of Kate's we all know and love, just cannot seem to get any more complicated - until it does. She's been out of the workforce, and looking to get back in, She's not having much of any sort of pleasant relations with husband Richard (yes, surprisingly, still married). She's having a mini show more mid-life crisis trying to accept she's almost 50, her parents are aging, and her kids are now teenagers and the struggles to communicate with these digital-age micro-adults is almost as difficult as communicating with Russian Investors.

As Kate tries to make her way back into the world of investing she once was so good at, she has some pretty cringeworthy experiences, and struggles to find a way in that world as an "aging" woman. We find several comparisons to the past, when just being a mother was the wall between her and success. She finds herself lying to herself and others, trying her best to tiptoe through a marriage in crisis and lack of communication with her children, and praying the looming milestone birthday isn't going to be the demise of any semblance of the woman that she knows she is, and desperately wants to find again. Oh, and did I mention Jack is BACK?!

The book is classic Allison Pearson: witty, entertaining and full of laughs. I didn't realize how much I missed Kate (I totally still picture SJP in every situation...) and I settled into a familiar routine of rooting for her to find her stride and finally be happy with who she is, who she's becoming, and where she might be headed next.

The story is nostalgic of I Don't Know How She Does It, but reads well as a standalone with snippets of backstory that are well-placed and don't interfere. Avoiding any spoilers, I'll just say that I'm pretty sure readers and fans of Kate Reddy will be pleased at how it all turns out. How Hard Can It Be? was refreshing but familiar and it felt like an old friend was back in my life.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Copy and opportunity to review this book. show less

Well, I didn't get quite the laughs that I'm sure other people did with this book due to the fact that I lived a lot of it (still am, with a late 20 something still acting like a teenager). Well, at least I didn't have the "belfie" to contend with. Thank the Lord for that!!!

However, I did enjoy the book. The scenes with boy toy (was it boy or toy? Ha!!) I found especially funny. Kate's mother-in-law definitely gave her son the correct name. I certainly would not have put up with his crap!! My last line he would hear from me would be "Don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord slit ya". Ha!!

I didn't read this author's first book, "I Don't Know How She Does It", but I did see the quasi good movie. And after reading this book, I am show more sure that the first book was a good one. Why can't Hollywood get it right? Is it really that hard?

I did learn something that I really needed to know from reading this book though. I NEED HRT!!!! I said yes to most of her questions. (shocked face!)

A very entertaining book that I did enjoy after I got through the teen angst. I especially loved the career side of the story. I could definitely relate to that working in a mostly men's industry of natural gas for so many years. I may have had a few up in the air fist pumps (well okay, several) while reading this part. And yes, there were a few tears at the end (see I need that HRT).

I'm really wishing now that I had read the first book, however, I can't read a book after I've seen the movie. I am, however, looking forward to the next one!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. show less

Having enjoyed “I don’t know how she does it” when my kids were small, it was with great joy that I picked up a copy of this book and realised that, right now, Kate Reddy is exactly the same age as me! The book was sold, no question.

As might be expected, there is much humour to be had, sharply satirical takes on modern life that had me nodding and agreeing time after time. So many things that rang true about being a parent of teenagers (her son has stretchmarks across his back exactly the same as mine, except that I didn’t know what they were and thought someone had been thrashing him – wish I’d read this first), trying to get back into work after raising a family, and coping with elderly parents. Hilarious, smart, show more entertaining escapism – though whether I can really call it escapism when so much of it mirrored my own life, I’m not sure. show less

An amusing, poignant story of the life of Kate Reddy a woman of the sandwich generation trying to balance the needs of her family and aging parents while negotiating the perils of menopause and the difficulties of reentering the workforce. Allison Pearson is spot on with her observations of the indignities facing the middle aged woman as she “gracefully” ages. She also is in tune with the perils facing teenagers today in a world that stresses social media.

I really enjoyed this book, although the ending was perhaps a bit too perfect!

Kate Reddy is no longer the hard-driving hedge fund manager who is determined to have it all. In her earlier novel, "I Don't Know How She Does It," Allison Pearson showed her heroine juggling deadlines at work while trying to tend to her family's needs. Now that she is approaching fifty, Kate is feeling a bit depressed. The house that she and Richard bought is more of a money pit than she had anticipated; her children have become surly teenagers who are wedded to their cell phones and video games; as she approaches the big five-o, her hormones are acting up; and Richard is unemployed and obsessed with cycling.

Now Kate frets over her body (it's okay, but not as toned as she would like). Her daughter, Emily, is getting into trouble with show more social media, Kate and Richard are drifting apart emotionally and physically, and although Kate wants to go back to work, she wonders if she should shave years off her age in order to get hired. Pearson finds comedy and pathos in Kate's situation, although the laughs are often bittersweet.

"How Hard Can It Be?" should find an appreciative audience among middle-aged women who struggle to balance their personal and professional lives. They will identify with this desperate housewife who tries to make ends meet without losing the romantic spark she and Richard once shared. There are aspects of this novel that are entertaining and amusing. The spirited dialogue, mockery of Richard's new age pretentiousness and egotism, Kate's attempts to fit in with a younger staff, and her reunion with Jack Abelhammer, an amiable and attractive hunk who won Kate's heart with his wit, intelligence, and kindness, keep us invested in the story. Ultimately, however, this novel, which shines when the author satirizes the sexism and ageism of our times, is weakened by its excessive length, contrived and cluttered plot, and wildly implausible conclusion. show less

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is Pearson's part two of the Kate Reddy series—oh how I've missed you, Kate! I actually liked this book better than the first, which I think is an anomaly to like the sequel better than the original.

Kate Reddy is re-entering the work force after being at home with her children because her husband, who appears to be suffering an identity crisis, has gone back to school. To bag the job, she lies about her age. She is feeling the pressure from the much younger workforce, from her demanding mother, ailing in-laws, her contractor, and from her sullen teenagers. And to top it all off, her marriage is F-L-A-T, flat.

How hard can it be to show more face 50, your husband's mid-life crisis, and to restart your career? Pretty hard I would say, especially when you are shouldering the entire household workload as well because your husband is useless, and you are also feeling strangled not only from your shaping garments, but from your obligations.

Kate is every woman, whether old or young, as she embarks on this often hilarious journey of self-discovery—she's more than just a career woman, mother, sister, friend, or wife. She is as smart as she is funny, she is sassy and strong, and above all, resilient. With every turn of the page, you will be rooting for Kate and wishing she was your friend. show less

This was scrumptious, though I felt that it was kind of sad how her marriage dissolved without much care. But at the same time, hilarious. I'm a bit young to be caring, but we do need more women's fiction dealing with menopause, and returning to work after kids, and all that fun jazz.