What a resource this is! There are some great tips, tricks, advice and guidance in these pages. I'm just starting this journey and I'm glad to have access to this down-to-earth, accessible resource. Definite purchase for our library!

This was so informative and validating while also being easy to read and understand. I feel like it should be required reading ahead of age 40.

This book covers a meaningful topic in a way that is both informational and accessible. It reduced the shame and nervousness I felt about menopause and I was relieved and entertained while reading it. With perspectives and shared experiences with multiple experts, this offered the right amount of advice and commiseration. Highly recommend for anyone with a uterus, especially those experiencing menopause, peri-menopause,  or loves someone who is.

Are you a woman of a certain age and are having the "wonderful" experiences of hot flashes and the like? If you are, then you definitely need this book.  This is a wonderful book that will help guide you through this time in your life.  This book is that resource that you wish you had. I love this book and it is definitely a great resource.

As weird as this feels to say, I enjoyed this book.  It really made me want to learn more about menopause even though I'm in my thirties, and started a few very interesting conversations with my mom.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jancee Dunn, & G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Putnam books) publishing for the free eARC copy of this book and the chance to provide my candid review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Jancee Dunn’s voice is so easy to read, for those of you like me who fall asleep or just can’t force non-fiction books on yourself.
🤩 Hot and Bothered feels like the best friend of a book I didn’t know I needed.
🤩 Such a great premise: “It’s time to recognize, and normalize, this life transition. Let’s go.” And, “The days of suffering in silence are over.”
🤩 It’s so real, honest, & eye-opening, but in a big hug from a friend kind of way.
🤩 I honestly don’t think I actually knew what perimenopause and menopause meant before this book.
🤩 Practical information and recommendations about every part of your body.
🤩 It’s funny & entertaining—the best way to read about already stressful things happening to our bodies.
🤩 I highly recommend we start giving this book as a birthday present to all of our ovary/uterus containing friends turning 40. And, we should catch up, and give it as a special gift to all of our friends over 40, too.
🤩 We should have book clubs and buddy reads with this book. The real talk will be so good for us.
 
What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 I recommended this one to my library through the Libby App & the Notify Me tag. I hope will too.

Hot and Bothered is an amazing resource as you navigate a body going through "the change".  I absolutely hate that phrase..extremely antiquated, and sexist.  Don't we all change?!  Anyway, the book is slightly comedic, has many celebrity quotes, very informative, and is steeped in research and realness.  I learned about a few drugs and therapies I had never heard of.  I also don't feel as nervous about hormone therapy as I originally was.  I have stayed away from it due to concerns of cancers and blood clots.  Now that I have more info, I have called my doctor today to discuss options for MHT.  Pretty much MHT before the age of 60 is considered relatively safe.  Optimal age is 50-59 for less risk of breast cancer, but I'm not there yet.  It seems you have to accept some risk.  Knowledge is key.  I like how she explained in very clear terms that estrogen combined with progesterone is the formula for safeness. 
It seems estrogen patch is the best option over a pill too. 

As an over the counter girly, I have lost faith over the years sinking money into these pills that don't work long term, if at all and also taking so long to possibly, maybe kick in.  I like Dunn addressed the consumerism involved in that business. I also agree with her that 12 week studies do not prove long term effectiveness.  I did try Remifemin that she spoke of and it took a while, but it did work.  Short term.  Now it is back to sweating.  That is the absolute worst for me.

I had no idea about the increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia associated with menopause prior to this book. And your risk for disease is increases if you start menopause early (prior to 45).  Ladies, we are a walking time bomb.  Watch yourself.  Additionally historically black women go through menopause longer (~twice as much as Asians), start is earlier, and have more hot flashes and depression, but are less likely to get hormone treatment due to systemic racism in the medical community stemming from Jim Crow.  Shocker.  Be your own advocate people.  

I enjoyed this book and learned a lot.  Thank you Netgalley.

Hooray for honesty about menopause!

At a particularly relevant moment in my life, I decided to pick up this book. Within, is some autobiographical and a slew of informational detail of menopause. I found myself snickering aloud at some of the scenarios, having been there myself. 

But more than that, this book provided me with resources of where to go to get the answer to seemingly hundreds of questions I have about my own body right now. And you can’t put a price on that. 

Jancee Dunn and I happened across each other (or rather I chanced upon her) at exactly the right moment in my life. I am forever grateful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to review. I was interested in reading this for two reasons: the title and the subject. I've been noticing menopause being talked about more by celebrities in the last few years and other than hot flashes and the inability to have kids I didn't know much about it. Interviewing menopause experts and sharing her own journey, she shares the who, what, where, when, and whys of menopause. I noticed several times I was annoyed at her "just find __ (medication, doctor, skin care item) and all will be better" tone. It was odd because she also acknowledges that there are barriers to quality care (lack of insurance, sexism, racism, etc). This will hopefully keep the conversation going on how to provide quality healthcare for all stages of life.

I appreciate this book - it presented a lot of options and info from a variety of medical professionals, and the science is there to back it up. But the book is written conversationally, with an extensive notes section at the back with the articles (and hyperlinks in the ebook for those available online). I absorbed more of the helpful info from the book with it being written without in depth scientific explanations - just like info most friends would give, but with the backup easily available.
I am not at this life stage yet, but I feel more prepared having read this.

An important and necessary book. Menopause is still a neglected, even taboo, subject, despite the fact that it affects around half the human population. The author, a health journalist, was shocked by her own unpreparedness for this transition and decided to embark on a noble quest: to help other women understand and cope with what happens to their bodies after 40. The result is a mixture of memoir, popular science and practical guide, written in a witty and accessible style.   

Highly recommended for any mature woman who doesn't want to suffer in silence but wants to live her life to the full.

Thanks to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This book is a must read for any one who menstruates. The research, sources, and anecdotes the author provides are fantastic in an easy to digest writing style. It's so nice to get personal stories and medical information in a book that educates and resonates. I'm recommending this title for my library and honestly for anyone and everyone to read. We need more books on women's health-especially on menopause and perimenopause.

While I'm still about five years away from needing the content of this book, it was helpful, friendly, and written in a very conversational tone. I have to admit that it alarmed me some, since I hadn't really considered the realities of menopause, but it is helpful and definitely gave me some good things to consider.

Feeling alone and confused as you enter perimenopause? This honest, funny, informative book is for you!

Since this a topic that doesn’t get much attention publicly, it is nice to read a book that feels like you’re having a conversation with a friend. While the author includes some personal details to make the reading experience feel personal, she is careful to present information in a neutral way based on the research that she has done and the experts that she has interacted with. Also, she is always careful to note that she is not telling people to do what she has done, but that decisions must be made based on one’s personal circumstances. There were also some good starting points to feel like more of a community so that people can join in a sisterhood of sorts even if they do not have one in real life. By checking out people that she references, including following them on social media, the book is really an entry point to a greater ongoing community.

Dunn covers many different aspects of menopause from peri- to post- and includes specific recommendations. She includes advice and anecdotes both personal from the many professionals interviewed. I found this book easy to digest and informative. I would recommend it to those looking to better understand what they or loved ones are going through.

This book is a fantastic, well researched resource for any person that is in perimenopause or menopause. There has been so much shame and a stigma associated with these times in women’s lives that it not talked about enough. This book should be handed out to every woman on their 40th birthday. It’s so jammed packed with actual useful advice and information.

For reference this reader is a cisgender female, mid"40s.  I was excited to see this book release.  Menopause is so rarely discussed in media or in literature, it was great to see some awareness around the subject.  Overall there was relatable and at times humorous content in the book but much of it was medically heavy and clinical in nature.

This paints a bleak picture about perimenopause itself and how negligently it’s addressed by medical professionals. The tone is conversational as I’m told to get a (rare) menopause specialist as I face gaslighting from most medical professionals along with osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, depression, ageism, and the slew of symptoms on the way. 
I read this to be better informed but it certainly makes your 40s and 50s sound like the worst time to be a woman. Certainly not when Gwyneth Paltrow is highlighted as a menopausal aspirational woman. I’m all for normalizing menopause, addressing symptoms, and bringing it into the open, but I’m dreading the experience myself after reading this.

Hot and Bothered is the deeply informative, serious yet humorous book about menopause that I didn't know I was waiting for. Packed with a blend of anecdotes from menopausal people and actual advice from medical professionals, I came away from this book feeling much more secure in my knowledge about this new phase of my life and much less frightened about the changes that may be ahead of me. I've also recommended this book to every person I know who menstruates, which frankly is the highest praise I think I can offer. Huge thanks to Jancee Dunn and her entire roster of experts who were consulted in the writing of this book, and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy. I'll definitely be buying a physical copy on release day (and maybe one for my doctor as well).