I had never read a book by Sarah Knight before, but I've always been intrigued by the titles. So when I saw this available on Netgalley, I snapped it up. Sarah Knight gives some great tips on how to say no to your bosses, your friends, and your family. However, a lot of the book was the same thing repeated over and over and over again, this could have been a super short book or even an article on a blog. This book was entirely too long and the repeating of the information was unnecessary.

I love Sarah Knight's books. They make you think, reflect, and remind you that you do not need to live to appease others. It is a nice reminder to make decisions for oneself and recognize that it is okay to say no. As a person who always wants to be there for other people, and often feeling over extended beyond my capacity, I needed to hear this message. This book was made for me.

Sarah Knight gives good advice in a humorous way. This author takes a compelling approach to thinking through a word that many find hard to say.

The concept of this book is good. Listening to ourselves and knowing what we truly want. Do we want to take on another project at work that is beyond our job description - probably not. There are some great strategies on how to get around taking on more than we can handle.

The book is very very repetitive. It could have been half the size. The "saying no" strategies can come off quite rude and abrasive at times which is not relatable or helpful. I feel that this could have been a magazine article instead of a book.

A book on learning to say NO in specific situations that will appeal to a section of the market. While I appreciate that this writing style will be suited to some I find that there is rarely a situation where you need to be rude or abrupt. It was also a little repetitive despite being quite a short book. The title will grab attention along with the authors other books, and I appreciate that it will be very helpful to some people, it just wasn't for me.

How does someone get better at saying "No?" Why would you want to be better at saying no? According to Sarah Knight and her successful series of books that tackle everything from not giving a f*ck to putting oneself first, there is a myriad of tricks and practices everyone who has problems with saying no can learn out of the safety of their lounge.

How is this book written for the audience?

Sarah Knight has made a successful career out of helping people face their fears and shortcomings, and she continues this stride with her latest book, F*ck No!: How to Stop Saying Yes When You Can't, You Shouldn't, or You Just Don't Want To. Sarah is a TED speaker and a New York Times bestselling author. So what makes it so easy for some of us to say no, and why is it so hard for others? Sarah speaks from personal experience as a full-time corporate book editor who got tired of giving authors lousy news daily. Ask yourself if you have ever been the person that always has to please everyone? Or the push-over that always caves when they should stand their ground? Or even the overachiever that takes on way too much work for minimal reward or none at all? If you can relate to any of these scenarios, you will benefit greatly from reading this book.

Some of the highlights of this book included the following advice that Sarah offers unapologetically to the reader:

- Building real, applicable boundaries for yourself and those people in your life you find it hard to say no to. These people can be family members, friends, bosses or colleagues. It doesn't matter because Sarah's advice can be moulded around to fit with any relationship that you have.
- Having personal policies that help you to apply the boundaries you've created to real-world situations.
- Dealing with those people that won't take "no" for an answer and how to continue being in control when you don't feel in control
- Dealing with the guilt of saying "no" in a responsible way that can come in many shapes and forms
- Approaching the "fall out" or consequences of saying "no" and working to move beyond these limitations

The language used – is it simple enough to understand for the everyday reader?

One of the essential concepts in Sarah's book is that not all situations and examples will be something you can relate to. This book is structured in such a way that you can skip and re-read sections that are relevant to you and your life. After all, this book is all about improving yourself, and only you know where that improvement needs to be applied.

As an example, I'll use my own experience here - I don't have a single problem with telling telemarketers "no" or telling door-to-door sellers "no, but thank you!" But some people might. Sarah has thought about her material extensively, and I do mean that this book is extremely comprehensive and covers just about every situation you could imagine and then some. So again, you can pick up this book and apply what you've learned to Sarah's material - look at the chapters you want to look at and ignore the rest. Or, if you're a completionist (like I tend to be), read the entire book and apply only what you know to be relevant when required. It is that simple.

That said, however, the language used in this book may be a little "blunt" for some readers. Not all readers will appreciate the way Sarah uses certain words (mostly slang and swear words) in her writing. So this book won't appeal to everyone. But I enjoyed the stripped-down nature of the book, and its rawness made it easier for me to feel comfortable reading about difficult situations. I prefer the no-nonsense approach.

What can be gained from the book – does it educate the reader?

I didn't choose to review this book because of any particular need that I had other than I wanted to read it because I thought the subject matter would be interesting. And I also appreciate the way that Sarah approaches her material. But the further into this book I progressed the more I began to realise that this book is addressing experiences I have had. I remember feeling like I couldn't breathe or like I was choking because of the pressure other people in my life were putting onto me. I remember the horrible feeling that crept over me whenever I said "yes" to a person I didn't like. I remember how annoyed and disgusted with myself I felt because I had given into the guilt, yet again. I am one of the people that Sarah has spent a considerable chunk of her career trying to reach out to. Perhaps something subconsciously was telling me I needed to read this book. Maybe the experience can be the same for you too. This book could be a revelation or could provide clarity into your shortcomings or even deeper than that.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review another wonderful book from Knight. I love her work! I felt like this book was written for me!! "how to stop saying yes when you can''t" YES! I really enjoy her writing style and how she is not just harping at you. It feels like she is talking to you and telling you how you can really change in a practical way.

There is so much power in setting boundaries and being assertive. For me, it’s a necessity for my mental health and well-being. I love how she stated that she had a limited number of fuck bucks and she had a fuck budget to maintain. I feel that to my core. I strongly believe that you can be assertive, and still be polite. Great book, but was a bit repetitive.



* Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I pretty much worship at the altar of Sarah Knight witty, curse-filled wisdom, so I had high expectations for her latest self-help book.

In case you’re not familiar with her works, Sarah Knight has written four previous self-help books on the topics of not giving a f**k what others think, getting your s**t together, just being yourself, and staying calm in tense situations. I’ve read all of her previous books, own a few of them, and frequently pull them off the shelf when I need some advice. I find her advice to be practical, helpful and the survey results she includes make you realize you’re not alone with your messy life.

Saying no to other people is something I’ve always struggled with, and I’ve never clicked on ‘request ARC’ faster. I’m a bit of a reformed perfectionist but I still struggle with people-pleasing, which often leaves me saying yes to more things than my mental health can handle. So, I’m more than aware that I should say no more, but I’m more at odds about what exactly to say to people.

In this guide, Knight lays out several techniques for saying no for a variety of categories, including requests from strangers, telemarketers, friends, bosses, coworkers, and family. She offers several different types of ‘no’s’ for you to try. My favorite thing about this guide is that Knight is realistic about saying no. She values politeness and honesty when possible but realizes the value of a white lie in certain cases. She also points out that in some cases, saying yes can be more valuable to you in the long run than saying no, which is a sad but true fact of life. Sometimes, a little bit of annoy is worth more joy in the long run. BUT I do appreciate that Knight helps you draw a line between what is necessary and what is just more busywork for you.

A useful book on assertiveness and how to learn to say no.
It's well written, informative and full of useful advice.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Sometimes I do have a difficult time saying no and setting boundaries. So I was hopeful to learn some new information or strategies from this book. The book was witty and fun to read but did get a little daunting at times with some of the harsh examples. There are so many useful tips for asserting yourself, and this book may be helpful for those who haven't read any self-help books before about this particular topic.

Overall, it was an informative book with good examples and tips. But, for me, it was challenging to get through and stay invested in this author's writing style.

I would give this book 3.5 stars.

This is a short book on saying no.

If you have trouble saying no to your boss, co-workers, family and friends, this book can give you a lot of templates to help you say no.

My problem with the book was that the author was not very polite in some situations, maybe it's because she didn't have any boundaries earlier and now had to try harder to say no but it's easy enough to say no and be polite at the same time. My boss used to do it all the time. :P

The book could also have been an article. The same things were repeated over and over again.

I received a free book from NetGalley.

An excellent guide on how to say. No .If your constantly being bombarded with requests to do favors be on committees personal favors.Feeling overwhelmed sick of all the requests this is the book for you it’s entertaining funny but most importantly you will learn how to say no establish boundaries,#netgalley#littlebrown

Thanks for the ARC. I won't be publishing a public review, because I didn't quite enjoy this read and I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself instead of doing a disservice to the author. But honestly, all her books are the same. Maybe I'm wrong to expect something different, maybe that's her style... But I just don't feel like reading the same things over and over and over again. Maybe that's good for the people who will only buy one of her books... But if she expects to have a loyal public, something needs to change.

While I don't like swearing I have found that the most well-written of these types of book actually use the 'word' to hook you in, and then teach you something about boundaries. This is an excellent example of that. Readable, witty, and most of all - useful. It's a shame that many people won't buy it because of the swearing because it's teaching me some genuinely useful techniques.