I was really interested to read this book as a woman with ADHD, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me. It didn’t offer much that isn’t already widely available online, and many of the “studies” referenced came from magazine articles rather than peer-reviewed research (though I appreciate that academic research on ADHD in women is still limited). I also found the quotes difficult to distinguish from the main text, which made it feel disjointed and hard to navigate as a reader. Jessica Kingsley has published some fantastic ADHD books, but sadly, this one just wasn’t it for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The (Slightly Distracted) Woman’s Guide to Living with an Adult ADHD Diagnosis by Laura Kerbey with illustrations from Eliza Fricker.

I was interested in this book because the blurb indicated that it provided "...advice you can actually use in your busy, everyday life." I mistakenly interpreted this to mean the book would provide guidance, tips, and tools to help someone with ADHD to better accomplish everyday chores or larger tasks.

The author, a woman with late-diagnosed ADHD herself, provides a lived-experience guide, including stories of the unique life events of adult women who grew up with undiagnosed ADHD and how these experiences affected them.

The book presents information in an ADHD-friendly manner with details broken out in small sections that are visually differentiated.

In it you will find UK centered information including:

-Research
-Tips
-Advice
-Links
-Resources

Topics broken out by chapter include:

* Childhood and education
* Parenting
* ADHD hormones and menopause
* Rejection-sensitive dysphoria and imposter syndrome
* Work and career
* Mental health
* Friendships and relationships
* Impulsivity and impatience
* Special interests, obsessions and random collections
* Shopping (and other addictions)
* Dropping the disorder and reframing ADHD

Whether you or a family member have been recently professionally diagnosed with ADHD or are just recognizing you may have ADHD yourself, this book may be right for you.

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July 21, 2025

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From the introduction, I felt understood, validated, less alone, and less weird.

I appreciate the author writing this book for/about women with ADHD because there doesn't seem to be enough out there. This is a good introductory guide to those who have just been diagnosed with ADHD, self-diagnosed, or even those suspecting. Especially, if they're adults.

I liked the anecdotes from other women with ADHD sprinkled throughout the book. I really related to a lot of their stories and felt comforted that I'm not the only one who has struggled with something similar.

I appreciated the format of this book breaking paragraphs into smaller portions with bullet point lists and the anecdotes into speech bubbles.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy to review.

A good book that I enjoyed. I like how it provided specific calls outs from other women who struggle with ADHD. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it wasn't so centered on the UK - but that's entirely because I don't live in the UK, but didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book.

It was a very interesting and enlightening book. Broken down in a way to make it easy for a ND person to read. And was well signposted and cited.

Only criticism is for the quotes by other people seemed to blend in to the text. It would be better if they were boxed of sectioned off somehow.

It is always nice to know you are not alone in your differences and in this book, we get glimpses into the lives of women’s adhd experiences.
I loved the range, the authenticity and the rawness.

I'm very torn about this book. It was very definitely not what I was hoping for, but I can see that it fills a gap in the market elsewhere, so I don't want to be entirely negative about it.

Where this book will be successful is with a reader who is VERY newly diagnosed with ADHD, or even just beginning to think about whether it might apply to her and whether she will want to pursue a diagnosis. It's more of a basic guide to "what is this and how does that show up in real life for women, not little boys", peppered with quotes from other women with late ADHD diagnoses, and it is thorough in exploring all the "symptoms" as they relate to the life of an adult woman. If you had no idea about how ADHD can look in real life, then this would be very informative, as it's simply and accessibly written, with an element of humour in the author's anecdotes about her own life.

Unfortunately, this was basically useless to me, a woman who's had plenty of time to come to terms with the diagnosis, doesn't need things like RSD or PMDD explained in basic language, and certainly doesn't need to be told that her ADHD is actually a creative superpower. I found a lot of the book patronising - in fact, the quotes thrown in throughout reminded me so strongly of the book about puberty my mother bought me in primary school that I struggled to take any of it seriously. This book collates the kind of information that is, perhaps, mindblowing when you come across an Instagram reel for the first time - for example, did you know that in adult women the "hyperactivity" of ADHD can be *internalised*? Wow. Yes. I think anyone who's seriously looked into a diagnosis, let alone pushed through the multiple forms and layers of getting one, is very aware of this. It does not offer practical tips beyond what a cursory search online will: be kind to yourself, be honest with your friends, try not to feel like a failure. I'm not sure how any of this really offers steps someone can put into action.

So I'm not sure who this book is for. Women who already know a lot about themselves and have therefore sought a diagnosis don't need it. Women who have no idea this could be them won't pick it up, due to the title's limitations of its own readership, or their own lack of interest in the subject. What I was hoping for was a book of practical organisation tips for the home; guidance as to how to convince doctors and other medical professionals to stop diagnosing you with anxiety and start looking at neurodivergence; perhaps a discussion of how to deal with burnout and boundaries. What I got was simple information that felt like it was meant to be a surprise, and anecdotes that felt like they were meant to be an inspiring community, but which ultimately felt patronising. For me, this was too light-hearted and too shallow a take to be of any help.

I love the structure of this book - throughout all the chapters there are real stories from women with late-diagnosed adhd that relate to the topics discussed in that chapter. It’s cool to read a bunch of other’s anecdotes and it made the book and engaging and more relatable. I would recommend this to any newly diagnosed adhd woman.