I really enjoyed this book. I laughed a lot. I felt an empathy with Kate and her life straight away. Allison Pearson is spot on about being nearly 50 and how you feel about life. This is a really good page turner about life and family and the laughter and tears through life. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. It is a look at life which deals with some heavy topics head on while still managing to make you laugh.

Brilliantly chatty and absolutely on the ball. A fabulous tale of mid life crises, somehow made hilariously funny by excellent writing and witty observations.
Probably best for ladies of around 45 and older. ( I am much older and loved it !)
Highly recommended

Sorry, didn't find this at all funny - and without laughs the heroine just comes over as whiny. Humour is always very hit and miss - more so than suspense or horror - and it's probably my sense of what is or isn't funny that's at fault here. For this reason I shan't be posting a review on line. Also, as I've stopped reading a quarter of the way through, I wouldn't have given a star rating if Netgalley hadn't insisted.

OMG I loved Kate Reddy the first time around but this time she really has become my absolute idol! I adored I Don’t Known How She Does It (NOT THE FILM! STAY WELL AWAY FROM THAT ONE!) and that iconic scene with the mince pies has always stayed with me. I can verify from personal experience that it was a very realistic reflection of the busy working mum. I once spent 6 months avoiding recipe requests for the “best brownies anyone had ever tasted” when I made them for the girls school Christmas Fair one year, unable to admit I had used a box mix from Costco! I think Kate spoke for a generation of stressed out mothers who were trying to prove that they could be all things to all people as an antithesis to that singleton life promoted by the Bridget Jones brigade. So I was delighted to see that Kate was coming back as an older, menopausal version of herself, her validity reflecting back at me as I also enter that particular phase of my own life, although Kate has yet to become a grandmother like me! Maybe there’s another book there for the future in fifteen years time!

Allison Pearson was able to bring out many conflicting emotions in me throughout How Hard Can It Be. I was mostly belly laughing out loud but just as quickly I would feel like bursting into tears with the poignant observations of a woman struggling to balance being one of the “sandwich generation”. Caring for elderly parents from both sides of the family whilst still having children is now much more common than it used to be and women are facing a pressure that can build up to a possible breakdown at a time when, once again, they have to be all things to all people. And they have to do this whilst facing the biological changes and stresses that come with middle age as they approach menopause. As Kate Reddy was born in the same year as me, I was able to relate to her character with much affection and understanding. I empathised completely with her life choices and the situations she found herself in whilst finding myself mentally cheering her along to the happy ending she deserved! And having tried to find employment recently myself at the grand old age of 52, I am used to being an “over qualified” candidate! Over qualified or “over the hill”?!

There were some very relevant observations here, revealed with an indulgent humour that captivates the reader from the very first page. I worshipped at the alter of the fabulous Kate before and I did so again here. I plan to re-read this one again in the near future as I loved it that much! It has shot straight onto my favourite books of 2017 so comes highly recommended by me!

Some women of fifty may go through a stage in life where they just can't articulate themselves as they used to. This can be put down to what we call 'menopausal fog' which makes us walk into a room then completely forget why. Words desert us, as we desperately grasp for the vocabulary which we once had, and know is still there hidden deep within our frazzled brains.

So, it's very refreshing to read about a woman approaching fifty who can articulate exactly how she feels, exquisitely and with laugh out loud humour..

Kate Reddy is fast approaching the big '5 0' , she is married to Rich. who is going through his own mid life crisis and has two teenage children. Her  son  hardly  ever looks up from his phone, and her daughter finds herself in a position where a particular body part is displayed to the World via Facebook

I loved how she referred to her brain as 'Roy' the dithery librarian who desperately hunts out information for her in a vast room of knowledge. Sometimes she will ask Roy the name of an acquaintance only to be told where she has left her glasses.

A cleverly written book which portrays the horror of the menopause, the hardships of returning to work as a forty-nine-year-old, and having to care for elderly parents who are becoming increasingly frail. However, the humour throughout this book makes it into a highly enjoyable, hilarious read.

The characters are so well portrayed that they could belong to members of your own family and Kate is purely adorable.

A book for all women because the subject matter is so often shunned and needs to be talked about more openly, and because we all need a really good laugh now and again.

The book was kindly sent me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was sent How Hard Can It Be? by Allison Pearson to read and review by NetGalley.
This Novel made me laugh out loud! It may be that it’s because I am a woman of a certain age and that I can identify with many of the issues the protagonist has to cope with, but I don’t think it is just because of that. The novel is well written and engaging. The main theme of the story centres around Kate Reddy, mother of adolescent children, whose husband has decided to give up his job and retrain as a counsellor. With her husband no longer earning Kate needs to get back out into the workplace herself to support her family, this would be a challenge in itself but she is also approaching 50 and perimenopausal.
I suppose it was inevitable that the further you got into the story, when Kate’s life becomes more sorted, there are fewer laughs, but despite this I would still have given the book 5 stars were it not for the fact I felt the ending was rather too rapidly and neatly wrapped up. Don’t let this put you off though, it is still a great entertaining and uplifting read.

I was very keen to read this book and really wanted to love it but, sadly, I was a little disappointed. It was a very well-written book, but there was none of the wit and humour that had featured in “I Don’t Know How She Does It”. Everything was resolved by the end of the book, and it did feature threads of real life, but I would’ve liked it to be a bit more light-hearted. However, I would still recommend the book as there will be plenty of people who will love it and I’m sure it will be a bestseller.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

I loved Allison Pearson writing when she was a columnist on the Daily Mail so was really looking forward to reading this book, I was not disappointed!
This is an excellent enjoyable read, well written, many laugh out loud moments as Kate Reddy tries to juggle work and home life, with a husband having a mid life crisis and two stroppy teenagers. Add to this about to be 50 and peri menopausal and you have a mixture of fun, exasperation with many witty observations.
I'm sure like me many women will have repetitive strain injury nodding their heads in total agreement with this book, e.g. When on the tube a few weeks ago twice two lovely men offered me their seat, was I grateful well yes, BUT, all I did was moan to my husband how old I must look now!!
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book honestly

As a 51 year old mother who adored Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It, I was delighted to see her new book on NetGalley and what a brilliant read it proved to be. As soon as I started reading it, I kept thinking of friends I'd buy it for. It's laugh out loud funny but has its sad moments. I tried to ration my reading of it as it was so good I didn't want to finish it too quickly. I could totally relate to Kate and the situations she finds herself in. The menopausal ones had me laughing and grimacing at the same time. I love the fast pace and feel so many 50somethings will relate to this clever and honest account of family life and a woman trying to hold it all together. I had to delay reading the last few pages as I wasn't on my own and could feel the tears welling up. Really really loved this book and have told all my friends about it. Thank you to Allison Pearson, the publisher and NetGalley for a superb read.

Thanks to Netgalley I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy of this book.
This is a great read, particularly for a woman in middle/late age. There are many laugh out loud moments throughout and I found myself a number of times muttering “gosh, I thought that was just me”! Loved, loved, Roy the memory finder. This book is the perfect antidote to menopause. No HRT required. It also made me cry, but of course, that could be the menopause!
I found the lead character’s relationship with her immediate family hugely frustrating at times, although, I think that’s likely more a reflection of my seething anger at the propensity for mollycoddling young people than in the storyline. There are some excellent observations of modern day challenges and her fears for young people growing up self obsessed and with few social skills are spot on. A good balance of humour and hubris and I really enjoyed it.

Seven years after leaving her high-demanding job, Kate Reddy’s life is still far from easy: her 16-year-old daughter Emily has problems at school and a picture of her bum has become a selfie (or "belfie") sensation on Facebook, while 14-year-old Ben rarely raises his eyes from the screen. Her husband Richard lost his job and he is too focused on his bike and his mindfulness to be of any help. Since her mother discovered technology she makes great use of it, including calling and texting all the time. Her in-laws are another worry on her to-do list and her house is a permanent construction site. The symptoms of menopause have the worst timings and she has to lie about her age to get her old job back. And when charming Jack, the man she’s been in love with for the past seven years, comes back in the picture, Kate’s life gets more and more complicated. Kate is nearing fifty but she is becoming invisible as everyone seems to take her for granted.

Women can relate to Kate both in her professional and her personal life in this sequel to I Don’t Know How She Does It. She juggles a boring husband, two irritating teenagers, and sexist and ageist co-workers. Thankfully she is assisted by Roy, her mental assistant (their exchanges are hilarious), and a group of friends who, like her, are going through a discovery of themselves. I loved how the author explores the relationships between women, mothers and daughters, sisters, friends and co-workers and how they support each other even during the hard times.

An entertaining book dealing with a common problem - a woman's balancing act between children, work and dealing with elderly parents. I have full sympathy with our heroine and that is certainly what she is. A very enjoyable read.

Some books are so brilliant you race through them. Others you ration yourself, savouring pages every night to eke out the joy for as long as you can. That's How Hard Can It Be? for me. A sharp and smart sequel years in the waiting but oh so worth the wondering how dear Kate Reddy would deal with midlife. So funny, so sad, and so educational - Allison has given me more of a 'what to expect' than any other source. It's a triumph of a sequel and it will have you crying, laughing and glowing. Bereft it's finished.

I really, really wanted to love this book. I thought "I Don't Know How She Does It" was a seminal book that showed what it was like to be a working mother and sold a gazillion copies for good reason. Women around the world looked up from the account of Kate Reddy's life and said, "Yup. I've been there."

Unfortunately, the intervening years have left Kate Reddy bitter and brittle, and consequently, tough to like. She's trying to regain a foothold in The City, after having left her job at the end of "I Don't Know How She Does It." She's fallen out of love with her husband, who is now retraining as a counsellor. Her two teenage children constantly befuddle her with their technology use. Her elderly parents and in-laws require assistance hundreds of miles away. All the while, she oversees the renovation of a crumbling house.

Look, I get it. Being a "Sandwich Woman" (scrunched between the needs of aging parents and younger children) is no picnic. But surely there has to be some room for some joy in her life? She spends so much time being stretched between all of her responsibilities-- and complaining about them-- there are only rare glimpses of her really enjoying her family life.

Where Pearson shines, however, is highlighting the challenges of women trying to rejoin the workforce after having taken time out. She totally gets what it's like for women who are trying to jump back into full-time employment who might have to resort to lying about their age or taking positions they are completely overqualified for in order to get a job.

This novel undoubtedly will be a best seller. It definitely hits a nerve (again) about what it's like to be a modern woman. I just wish Kate Reddy hadn't become so bitter about it.

I really liked this book. Being 25 I'm just over half the age of the main character, and have never read anything from the author before, but this book was still funny, relatable and entertaining.

Kate Reddy is a woman approaching the dreaded 50 years old, and if that wasn't bad enough, her husband has given up his job to retrain as a counsellor forcing her to become the main breadwinner, her daughter has accidentally had her #belfie go viral, and her son can't pry himself away from his electronics long enough to find his own football shorts.

This is the story of the trials of aging while finding yourself thrown back to the wolves of working motherhood, tackling stroppy teenagers, elderly mothers and in-laws, and a MAMIL who uses your ladyshave more than you do. The humour may not always be politically correct, but it is authentic to the women I grew up watching, these are things my Grandmother would regularly come out with and that I learned were funny before I learned they could be hurtful. They were the things I would try desperately not to laugh at while reminding her that, 'You just can't say those sorts of things anymore!'. The vernacular used, too, is familiar to me, it's the way I speak in casual conversation and the way I think.

I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book. I didn't, however enjoy one massive plot point and don't think it was that necessary to the overall ending of the book. <spoiler> I didn't enjoy the use of the trope that it's okay to cheat because you find out later that your partner has also been cheating on you, for much longer. I didn't enjoy Kate's anger with her husband and her attitude that he is absolutely useless. Kate admits throughout the book she has been ignoring him and perhaps she should make more time for him, but never does. Instead she makes time to bunk off from work to cheat on her husband, and never feels guilty. I do not like those double standards, I absolutely despise cheating and hate to see it romanticised in books. Richard and Kate could have realised in other ways that their marriage was over. Kate did not have to sleep with Jack to turn him away again. Richard did not have to become involved with Joelly before the marriage ended. The two of them could have moved on happily and things would have turned out the same without any kind of cheating.</spoiler>

Overall I enjoyed this book and will be checking out more from this author.

Kate Reddy is back! And now she's juggling teenagers, a crumbling house and a Polish builder, a job she feels she's not up to, teenagaers, menopausal hormones, a husband who has suddenly gone from alpha male to mindful male and her upcoming fiftieth birthday!
This story is funny, recognisable, warm, sad and chaotic. And that's why we love it! There's a little bit of Kate in us all and this story will make you realise you are not alone in juggling life's challenges.

Alison has written a good thought provoking and plausible novel wherein Kate shows her feisty side when she returns to the work place..

I'm really not sure about this one. I liked it, but it felt rather samey; there seem to be several books about middle age around at present. Are we all getting old along with our favourite authors?
I am only part way through, and I haven't felt the urgency to finish the book. But I will, and I'll come back and edit this review. In the meantime, 3 stars is as much as I can give it.

To be completely honest I rate the book at three and a half stars. The half is knocked off because at times it reminded me of Bridget Jones' Diary.
Kate's middle age is referred to as the sandwich years. Being of a similar age I understand that only too well. At a time when you would hope life would have started to be kind to you aged parents stop parenting and become your responsibility. Children now out of childhook become as much liabilitie as responsibilities.
Unfortunately for Kate her husband just becomes a useless arse!!
Aaannd...the menopause. Okay Eve gave Adam an apple. In return we get menstruation, mothering and menopause. How can that be fair?
Allison Pearson has written an extremely good book with no holds barred. I think that is why I can't rate it higher. I like books to take me out of myself not catalogue my own life in graphic detail.
I would like to reassure women that it gets easier. Unfortunately not until the oldies have all shuffled off and children leave home in their mid twenties - although you will have to pay them to stop them returning. Sorry.

Thanks so much to netgalley for approving my request to read this book early. I loved I don't know how she does it so was really looking forward to this. I didn't disappoint and was a worthy follow up. This was a not a sequel for the sake of it. Kate is still struggling and just because her kids are not little does not meant they are any easier to parent. If you have read the first book you will enjoy this one and if you haven't then this book can definitely be read without knowing Kate's history.