Rachel Hollis is honest if nothing else. Whew! Fan yourself with her book because it is so full of truths – she will be going along talking about something then Bam drop a bomb telling about something that she did or experienced or will make you say, “Whhhhhaaaaaaaattttt?” She grew up in Weedpatch, California, the daughter of a preacher-said preacher prone to rages with the family members so bad that her mother would take to her bed for weeks sometimes after one of his rages. The kids in her family did their best to stay out of his way, though, she says there were times when they had fun during the holidays and being together. Her older brother committed suicide when she was 12 and she was the one who found him. She was terrified to stay with his body until help came and after the funeral when helpful family members came over to paint over the wall where he had splattered his brain, they used the only paint that was on hand and to this day, Rachel says the sight of silver spray paint makes her sick to her stomach. She is still in therapy and dealing with that 5 minutes each day (per her therapist’s recommendation think about it then your mind will know it can let it go the rest of the day/night) and she is a grown woman with 4 kids (3 biological and 1 adopted). She talks about meeting her husband when he was 27 and she was 19 and had been surviving on 99 cent store food to make ends meet to be able afford an apartment. Being young, naïve and a virgin she fell madly in love with her now husband who pretty much saw her not as his girlfriend or even that they were “dating” – to him she was a booty call. When he finally told her it was over but then deigned to call her later to see if she was o.k.?, she realized exactly what was what and told him never to call her again in that controlled unemotional voice. It wasn’t long till he was back knocking on her door and they have been together ever since and yes, he married her. She talks about all the lies she and other woman believe and put up with in life and how women neglect their own well-being to take care of others. Many of her chapters start off discussing a different LIE. She talks about her self-medicating with food when her father screamed at her finding comfort in a pack of OREOs and how she had ballooned up 40lbs before she got out of her parent’s house. She moved from Weedpatch, CA about 10 miles outside of Bakersfield to L.A. When she got to L.A. she saw her size 10 had to go it was not the right size for the L.A. crowd so she and her roommate started taking diet pills until one day she saw 2 Iguanas sunning themselves in a window across the way. One of the iguanas turned to look at her and she stared back at it for hours afraid if she didn’t hold the iguana’s stare that something bad would happen. When her roommate found her they decided maybe they had done enough diet pills. She talks about when her kids were born she began to medicate with wine then later vodka to curb the stress and relieve the sorrow at having twin baby girls she and her husband fostered prior to adoption only to have them jerked away from them by the adoption agency when the father decided he wanted them even though they had begun adoption proceedings. Through it all her belief in God got her through her to lift herself up out of the bad times and she discusses every aspect good or bad of why things happened, how she dealt with the circumstances and how God brought her out of the bondage she let herself give in to. She tells her stories in such endearing truth that it must be fun to be her friend because she shares herself so transparently and despite her troubles, she can still make you laugh maybe that is to help make herself laugh, too. She has been an in-demand Hollywood party planner, she runs her own podcast and blog and she has written this book and a prior one that she self-published. A really interesting read. Once this gal gets going she doesn’t stop! Like a freight-train through a tunnel but the good news is there is light on the otherside. She is funny and bright, and her life reads like a Sophie Kinsella novel. I really liked her book, now I must find her self-published one, a fictional account of her real life party planning days titled, “Party Girl.” Loved title – it’s a take on Wash your face (from your tears making your mascara run into a hideous mask down your face) and get out there and live your life. Really good book. I liked it very much. She will blow your mind with her honesty!
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