Follow up to I Don't Know How She Does It, set about ten years forward. I liked this book which accurately described the difficulties of long term marriages without any sugar coating. It wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first novel, as Kate is now trying to dig herself back into the workforce which is proving difficult given her somewhat older age.

Kate Reddy has returned and is just as funny as always! How Hard Can It Be? continues her story seven years later, and as always, it is easy to relate to Kate's predicaments (teenage children, menopause, a somewhat lovable but clueless husband, and struggling to juggle work, family life, and friends. Overall, this was an enjoyable read! I particularly liked Kate's willingness to admit that things have not gotten easier over the years.. Pearson approaches this character in such a way that you feel like you are catching up with an old friend. I highly recommend this book!

Absolutely loved her style of writing. This is my first book of hers, and am looking forward to more!

I recommend this on my blog Modern Mrs Darcy in a post called "17 books everyone will be talking about this summer"

As a woman of a certain age, I really wanted to read this book. I hadn't realized it was a sequel and almost didn't read it but am so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found her struggles realistic and humorous.

I enjoyed this book, and Pearson's writing style is fabulous. The characters are well written, and the plot is well crafted.

This was one of the books I had a chance to read during bouts of caring for my ailing Mom and what a godsend! I’d often wondered how I will handle turning 50. I always prided myself on viewing getting older as a chance to continue to be the woman I’d so carefully cultivated through the years. But as I’ve gotten older, I laugh at how I have become so many of the things I swore I would never be - and I laugh even harder at the reality that I no longer care about all the things that were once so important to me.

Given all that, the antics and adventures of Kate approaching the big 5-0 are absolutely on point. Everything she faces I could relate to and I questioned were it me how would I handle it? The big bonus of “How Hard Can It Be” is how absolutely hysterically funny this read is. If you want a read to warm your heart, this is it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advance read!

Hating to be somewhat contrary, but I have always found this author’s work to be a bit overrated… I either cannot finish or have to slog my way through, feeling frustrated. I will keep trying, maybe my mind will change… Cannot recommend this one though, I’m afraid. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

I hadn't read the book that preceded this, and after reading How Hard Can It Be, I'm not even remotely tempted. Pearson tries to cram far too many serious issues into a single book (cutting, menopause, ageism in the workplace, and cheating, to name just a few). Add in the fact that she tries to be funny and as often not fails...

As others have noted, Kate is a doormat. Her kids walk over her, her repairman walks over her, even her dog doesn't listen to her halfhearted commands. Every once in a while she shows a glimmer of backbone, but not nearly enough. Plus she's clueless about what's happening around her. The HEA ending was not nearly enough to redeem the rest. I could not in good faith recommend.

*ARC via netgalley*

How Hard Can It Be will draw out resounding guffaws, nods, and “Amen sister” from working mothers, especially (pre)menopausal ones, from all over the world, with a husband/spouse/partner going through a mid-life crisis of their own.

Most of the time, this book is humorous but at times it sounds passive aggressive, which makes me dislike Kate as a character sometimes. Why? Because she walks around carrying the burden of running a home and a family, all the while complaining inwardly about it but doesn’t actually say something about it to her family. The result is a very biased point-of-view that makes her family look like selfish brats, including Richard the father. Us readers can’t see the better sides of her family because it’s tainted with Kate’s POV.

This book is terribly accurate, in regards to the realities of working mothers of teenagers in the 21st century, and of observations of the progress on the status of women for the latest 100-or-so years. It’s also accurate in terms of the attitude most working mothers assume. Kate is heavily laden with love and loyalty to her family, with thoughts running 100 different directions (all of them revolving around her loved ones), which are thoroughly laced with sarcasm. When I think about it, without sarcasm, this book will sound so depressing especially because it mirrors real life so vividly. It also saddens me that this book reflects the dire state of modern marriage where adultery is so common.

I don’t know if this book can be enjoyed by the (traditional) male population of this planet. I’d love to read their take on How Hard Can It Be.

This book has a fantastic pace and resolves well. It’s highly engaging and I don’t think there’s a pointless scene in this book at all. Everything contributes to the point the author is trying to make a.k.a the title.

Trigger warning(s): Adultery, Self-harm

This book delivers exactly what it promises. I di not read the first book but this is a sequel where it feels like that would not be needed.
Overall this book was funny, on point, and at times a lot more graphic than I would have expected. I cannot relate to all the issues that Kate Reddy is facing but I have a strong hunch that many women at or closing on being 50 who are trying to juggle being a Mom and a wife with being a woman, going back to work and well, the body growing older and changing.
If you are out looking for a light, funny, and honest read, this might be one for you. If you are around 50, this might be even more so enjoyable.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchage for an honest review.

Being a fan of chicklit, I am slowly realizing that I am getting older along with the authors who seem to write what they know. <I>How Hard Can It Be?</I> was not as lighthearted as I expected it to be. It was chock-filled with middle age clichés. Everything that women go through once reaching late-40s is threaded throughout this book. As chick lit centered around a coming of age 20 is filled with promise and only good things to come, this was chick lit highlighting old age, the demise of elderly parents and marriages, teenager strife, and the onset of menopause. So many pleasant things to look forward to.

While this book did offer up a completely honest view, my advice is to go into it prepared for the brutality of the honesty.

Charming, Clever and well written, this author excels at reaching and understanding women through her words. The story will catch you immediately and keep you hooked.

How hard Can it Be by Allison Pearson. A cute book funny at times. A lady going through menopause. I think that time of life is hard for women to go through. There is a lot going on nowadays jobs, school, trying to keep children to use the right conduct on the internet and ailing parents.

A humorous read about the struggles of a woman tuning 50, trying to get back into the work force. Much truth about womanhood, middle age, and mothering. I really appreciated this rollercoaster of events and reinvention. Thank you NetGalley, and Martin Press Publishing for the copy. All opinions are my own.

How Hard Can it Be is the sequel to I Don't Know How She Does It, however you dont have to have read the first book, or seen the movie. Kate, the main character, is kind of an everywoman, running up against all the dilemmas of the sandwich generation. Perhaps it hit a little too close to home for me. I did not find Kate a sympathetic character (and I think I remember feeling the same in the first book). the story itself was entertaining, if a little predictable. What would you expect to happen to a woman of a certain age? Menopause, mid life crisis, relationship issues - friends and family. All those situations and more abound in How Hard, and to tell the truth it read more as a film adaptation than as a novel, and it is a bit overwhelming. My overall impression, entertaining, a light easy read.

This book is right in the middle for me. It was a bit of a slower read than I was hoping for. It had it's funny, laugh out loud moments that were somewhat relatable for me, and others where I just wanted to shake the main character for being so blind or oblivious. But I'm happy with the way it ended and that Kate finally saw the truth and was able to move forward.

How Hard Can It Be is a second book but could easily be read as a standalone. I did read the first book right before this one, and I would not recommend that since both books were very similar to each other.

Kate Reddy is about to turn 50. After she took time off from a high stress low work/life balance job to take care of her family she needs to get back into the game. She ends up in her old job and fights the same problems she did when she was younger but now add menopause.

It was funny and quirky. I think I related more to the first book since it aligned closer to my life. It is a great fun read as entertainment.

As far as I understand, this is a sequel to a previous book centred around the main character Kate and her family. It can however be read as a separate story on its own with no issues.

I have found this mostly endearing and it has made me chuckle on quite a few occasions. I have sympathised with Kate often throughout the story and I have also thought to myself that I don’t want to get close to being 50 - it sounded tough! I felt that the writer approached the various issues pertaining to the heroine’s life as a nearly 50-year-old woman, wife and mother in today’s world with humour and kindness.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

Kate Reddy is turning 50 and feeling overwhelmed. Life is good, sure, but also chaotic. Her teenage kids are getting into all kinds of trouble, her in-laws are beginning to have serious health problems, and her husband is having a midlife crisis. She's also struggling in her career and trying to deal with looking---and feeling---older. How Hard Can It Be? is about Kate's exasperating, yet entertaining, journey into a new "older and wiser" life chapter.

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This is the sequel to I Don't Know How She Does It. I never read the first book, but I was able to follow this one just fine. How Hard Can It Be? is an easy read with lots of relationship woes and family drama. Usually that's my jam but, unfortunately, not this time. 

Author Allison Pearson is funny, but not as funny as she wants to be. A lot of the drama here feels manufactured. Moments that I consider to be normal or not that terrible are treated with exaggerated frustration, and I found myself thinking "uh, what's the big deal?" many times. Even with Kate, I could tell I was supposed to see her as the sympathetic and cool character, but I mostly found her as annoying as everyone else.

This book is a solid meh for me. However, even though I didn't particularly enjoy it, I can acknowledge that other people probably will, especially people in their 50s who are going through the same things.