I don’t listen to a lot of audio books. It’s not something I particularly enjoy; however, I am more compelled when the book is biographical (or somewhat biographical) and narrated by the author. Because I had listened to Girl, Wash Your Face read by Rachel Hollis, herself, when I saw Girl, Stop Apologizing available on my library app, I felt compelled to give it a whirl if for no other reason than to be able to have my own opinion on the pop culture/self-help phenomenon. Despite all attempts to give the book a “fair shot” by tamping down my frustrations with Rachel Hollis and the preconceived notions I had generated from other reviewers, the listen only reinforced my previously held opinions. I found myself rolling my eyes and waving my fists throughout the nearly six hours I dedicated to the recording.
Girl, Stop Apologizing is a step-by-step guide to living Hollis’ version of “your best life.” The book is broken into three sections – excuses to stop making, behaviors to adopt, and skills to acquire. Hollis urges women to embrace and accept themselves without apology in a no-holds barred challenge to her readers and fans.
The message of female empowerment is most definitely one I want to get behind and support. Unfortunately, Hollis contradicts this message over and over and over again. This book reads like it was rushed to print by the author and the editor in order to cash in on the popularity of Girl, Stop Apologizing and Hollis’s Rise Conferences. It is all. over. the. place. Furthermore, she repeatedly steals intellectual material. For example, she states, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” As a fan of Jim Rohn, I can certainly tell you that Rachel Hollis did not come up with that line, yet she does not refer to Rohn anywhere in the book. To top it all off, despite her intended message, Hollis again and again denigrates, among others, plus-sized women, differently-abled women, and working class women. At one point, she even berates the reader by saying, “Don’t be a dummy!”
Simply put, this book is a travesty. Dangerous, destructive, dis-empowering implications float under the surface of a shallow layer of glittery gunk disguised as shiny, beautiful empowerment. If I could give it zero stars, I would.