All the run ins and ramblings didn’t do it for me. Couldn’t get past the first couple of pages. No thanks.

Jenny Lawson's new book does not disappoint. In her usual style, she seamlessly weaves back and forth between her crazy stories that have you laughing out loud, to the very real ways that depression continues to impact her life. It's impossible to finish this book and not be thankful for the gift that her life is and the way she uses her writing to share it with all of us. While some of the material is heavy, stick with her to come out to the other side, ready to embrace all of the crazy that life seems to drop on her doorstep.

Jenny Lawson is very funny in a highly inappropriate and sarcastic way, and I love her for it. I definitely laughed out loud when I was reading this, even when home alone. This book isn't for people offended by 4-letter words. Like in her previous books, Lawson focused heavily on her own journey with mental illness but it seems approachable and relatable to those whose own mental illness is less severe.

This book is more hopeful than her last one, and it was great to see the author experience significant improvements in her anxiety and depression due to an intensive type of treatment she seeks out. Virtually everyone in the US can probably relate to her chapter raging about her health insurance company and their arbitrary rules for what they will cover and what they won't. (It's a bit like the "Dear American Airlines" book, but shorter and angrier.)

Overall, anyone who enjoyed the author's previous books will like this. I also recommend it for fans of Laurie Notaro and Allie Brosh.

I really liked Furiously Happy, so I was excited to read Jenny Lawson's new book Broken. My verdict is that it is A-OK. Some essays were 2s and 3s, and some were 4s and 5s. I found that overall I was skipping over the more silly stories, and became really invested in her more serious stories about her anxiety and dealing with chronic illness. Sometimes I felt that her funnier stories would have done better as blog posts, cutting down on the amount of them in the book and making it a shorter and more cohesive narrative. Either way, I love the way Lawson writes so genuinely and honestly about her experiences, and how she still manages to find humor in hard situations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
What a perfect book to read during this drama-filled year. Jenny Lawson's humor and honesty are a breath of fresh air. Her chapters about her struggles with mental illness are so relatable, especially "An Open Letter To My Insurance Company". Other chapters are laugh-out-loud funny and quirky. Her writing style won't work for some people but give this book a chance because there are a lot of good points.

I adore Jenny Lawson! She always has me laughing out loud and nodding my head because she gets me! This was a fun read to help escape the things in life that are weighing us all down right now. Some of her writing is hectic but I think that's just who she is. It doesn't bother me. I will continue to read her stuff in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Jenny Lawson is a national treasure!! Hilarious, heartbreaking, amazing, everything I was hoping for and more! I cannot say enough of Jenny Lawson and her work. I go from crying from sadness to crying and howling with laughter. Jenny takes the reader on a wild ride through her depression and anxiety and her triumphs. She can't write enough in my opinion. Keep it up, Jenny! We're with you all the way. I give this book ALLLLLL the stars!!

Some of these essays were really well written and impactful and some of them were very goofy and the tonal shifts back and forth were kind of jarring for me?

Just what this horrible year needs right now is the return of Jenny Lawson, who is really the ONLY author ever to make me LOL so hard I cry, blow milk out my nose and pee my pants, all at the same time. I've now read all four of her books, and this is something of a return to the full power she exhibited in her first classic (Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir).

Along with the side-splitting, sometimes implausible, yet entirely true mishaps she relates, are also some sobering chapters that deal more intimately with her issues with anxiety and other illnesses, both mental and physical; along with her battles with medical professionals and dastardly insurance companies to get the help she needs. Long-suffering husband Victor and sister Lisa are back, as well as a cameo from the taxidermied mice of the first book, and a full contingent of bewildered new encounters. Some chapters don't quite measure up - the Shark Tank ideas one goes on much too long and devolves into some sophomoric scatology, but those missteps are few and far between. It's just a real comfort to have Ms. Lawson back to remind us that no matter how bad things are - she's probably had it worse!

Sincere thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for the opportunity and privilege to preview and honestly review this book a full 5 months before it's available to the rest of you! :-)

Sometimes awkward/shitty/crazy things happen, and you've just got to laugh. That was my main takeaway after reading this, which is a great reminder in this disaster of a year. It wasn't exactly my brand of humor, but there were still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, However, I found myself most engrossed during some of the more serious essays. Her frank descriptions of living with autoimmune disorders, the letter to her health insurance company, and the TMS therapy journal entries stood out to me in particular, I think it is fantastic that Jenny Lawson can be describing outlandish and shocking scenarios, and yet still somehow be completely relatable. I am also thankful that there was a note about the cover at the end, because it made me pause for a moment to actually take a look and appreciate it - kudos to the artist, Omar Rayyan.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This reads like a signature Jenny Lawson book.

It's funny, it's full of anxiety and fear and funny stories. The first almost half dives into Lawsons' mental and physical health. It's sad and relatable and so wonderfully well written. It captures the struggles of getting insurance to cover medications you know you need and trying to navigate out of depression.

The rest of the book is other anecdotes and stories. I don't think I've read a Lawson book where there isn't at least a couple stories about rodents and this is no exception. From social anxiety to fights with her spouse Lawson shares pieces of her life.

While repetitive at times this book is also laugh out loud funny and genuine.

Jenny Lawson is one of my favorite authors. Her funny and insightful explanations of living with chronic illness, anxiety and depression shape how I explain these things to myself and others. This book is pure Lawson. Her brokenness is devastating at times, hilarious and uplifting at others. One note for frequent readers of her blog, you will recognized several chapters of this book. However the best stuff here is original.

I laughed so hard that I cried so many times that my 6 year old kept asking me if I was reading my joke book again.

Some essays are heartbreaking and others are hilarious. Jenny Lawson has such an honest take on her mental illness.

Jenny Lawson has done it again!
I remember a few years back when a friend came up to me with this look of awe on her face, and she said "You HAVE to read this book! It's life-changing!" As an English teacher, I come across a lot of books that I think are life-changing, so I took it more hyperbolic than a serious judgment. However, once I started reading the first chapter, full of it's stream of consciousness writing mixed with the language of a sailor,I KNEW my friend's assessment had NOTHING to do with exaggeration. She was so right, and Jenny Lawson has literally changed my life.
As someone who suffers from auto-immune disorders topped with depression and anxiety, I instantly felt a connection with Jenny. And even though I didn't grow up in Texas with a taxidermist for a dad, I did grow up in Hillbillyville, West Virginia with a dad who was an avid hunter and fisherman. I clearly remember the taste of squirrel and deer and rabbit, so reading about Jenny's wacky childhood brought back a whole slew of my own memories.
In this installment, Jenny gives us more insight into her life, her marriage, her mental health, and makes us realize that we are NOT alone in this battle. Despite how our mental and physical issues make us feel, sometimes we just have to stand back and appreciate the $hi+-$how. Stop having regrets and STET!

There is a saying that goes "write what you know". Jenny Lawson writes her life experiences. And I get it. She writes with exquisite humor, blinding honesty and about deeply private episodes of depression and anxiety. Those that suffer mental health issues (such as myself) can read this book with hope, enlightenment and know we are not alone. She shares her journal during her Trancranial Magnetic Stimulation treatments (the new frontier as my shrink called it) and shares her up and downs during and after the sessions end.

In between chapters there is her beloved family, husband Victor and daughter Hailey that add to the fun that is life with Jenny Lawson. There are hilarious stories about animals, imaginary Shark Tank pitches and proper editing.' I thank her for sharing and believe all will find this book genuinely refreshing.
Thanks for the ARC #Brokeninthebestpossibleway #NetGalley

*Thank you to Jenny Lawson, Henry Holt & Company, and Netgalley for providing me with a E-ARC of "Broken (in the best possible way)" in exchange for an honest review* Jenny does it again. She's hilarious and more along my type of random type of humor then I realuzed at first? All of her and fans and new readers alike are in for a treat.

I adore Jenny Lawson's books, and this was no exception. My partner had to tell me to stop reading this book before bed because I was laughing so much that he could not fall asleep. Seriously. That being said, Lawson is an acquired taste and she is a random and zany writer. I feel that people probably either love or hate her work and I could see it being extremely polarizing. However, I firmly fall in the first camp and just loved it. Is it too soon for another book already, Jenny?!?

This is where I write a brief description of the book that I’ve read. But this is a Jenny Lawson book, and they tend to defy description. If you’ve ever read her previous work then you know she writes very zany, funny things, and a lot of tug-on-your-heart-strings things. If you like Allie Brosh or Samantha Irby, then you’ll love Jenny Lawson.

Jenny speaks very openly about her mental health issues, and how they affect her life. She also talks very openly about her family and their foibles, her taxidermy animals, businesses she can never go back to, tiny plastic penises flung around her car, and the insanity of everyday life.
This sounds like a cliche, but I laughed, I cried, and I always want more. The chapter on pitch ideas for “Shark Tank” alone is worth the price of the book. Buy this book!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and the author for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received an advance copy of Broken, by Jenny Lawson. I tried to like this book, but i could not even finish it. I really wanted to like this book, but i could not. The language, the absurd questions.