From Bustle columnist and Twitter sensation Sophia Benoit, this âcharming and often laugh-out-loud funnyâ (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhoodâfrom finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate lifeâs constant double standardsâperfect for fans of Shrill and PEN15.
Like so many women, Sophia spent her formative years struggling to do the ârightâ thingâto make others comfortable, to take minimal and calculated risks, to live up to societyâs expectationsâonly to realize that there was so little payoff to this tiresome balancing act. Tired of trying so hard, Sophia finally let go of the crushing pressure to be perfect.
She navigates the highs and lows of the dating world (high: being a beta tester for Bumble; low: hastily shaving her legs before a hotel hookup and getting blood all over the sheets), and walks the line between being a âchillâ girl and making sure her boyfriendâs nonchalance about altitude sickness doesnât get him killed. She learns what it means to be a feminist, how to embrace her own voice, and when to listen to women who have been through more and have been doing the work longer.
With topics ranging from how to be the life of the party (even when you have crippling anxiety), to an ill-fated consultation with a dietician who deemed Sophiaâs overindulgence in ketchup a serious health risk, to a masterful argument for why no one should judge you for having an encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Well, This Is Exhausting is not only âone of the funniest books youâll read this year, but itâs also one of the most importantâ (Shondaland).