Renee's Reviews > Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

Update (2021):

I'm changing my review of this book because since I read it, I've realized that I was totally bamboozled by Rachel Hollis's particular brand of bullshit -- plagiarizing from other people, blaming her mistakes on her "team," being very snotty and rude to her now-ex-husband on live streams in front of thousands of people.

In my original review of this book, I wrote that I felt fat-shamed, and that general feeling from Rachel Hollis has only intensified over time. This book isn't good advice. This book is just platitudes. This book is encouraging toxic positivity and toxic hustle culture instead of helping anyone as they learn to have normal human reactions to stressors and to create boundaries to AVOID toxic hustle culture.

The long and the short of it is that this is a privileged white woman who won't sincerely acknowledge her privilege because she's "just a nobody from Weedpatch who never got a college degree but learned how to use Google!" Ok, fine, but working harder than everyone else in the room doesn't make you an expert. It sure does make you burn out though. And what books like this teach is that IF you feel burned out, you're doing it wrong. Shame on you. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and PUT A POSITIVE SPIN ON IT. It's such total bullshit.

And for someone who is constantly talking about being the victim of mean girls, SHE IS THE MEAN GIRL. She seems very shallow and judgmental. It's cringey and uncomfortable. I hate how she uses her daughter as a trophy of how accepting she is. How do her songs feel knowing that she wanted to adopt a daughter because they weren't enough for her, too? She's always talking about authenticity and being your authentic self, and there is nothing authentic about her. She's fraud and a phoney. Snake oil salesman. I got bamboozled. I bought into it for a while. Wish I had my time and money back.

Don't buy this. Don't listen to it. It's full of lies and bad advice and a healthy separation from Rachel Hollis has given me the perspective that I'm way better off without her and her cult of personality.

ORIGINAL REVIEW (2018):

I learned about Rachel Hollis a few months ago and have been loving her Chic Tribe for the reasons that I always find it so motivational and it's backed by a community that is so supportive. I pre-ordered the "hustler's edition" of the book from Barnes & Noble.

On the whole, I'd probably give this a 4.25. I loved how it mixed memoir with practical advice in a way that felt kind of like sitting down with a wise friend who always knows what to say about all of life's struggles. Sometimes the "tough love" approach doesn't work for me and makes me feel a little alienated, so that's why I didn't give it a full 5. There was one chapter that talked about body issues and she said something to the effect of "I don't care what your excuses are for being overweight," and in that chapter and that chapter alone, I felt fat-shamed and extra frustrated with my weight loss struggles AND the diseased thyroid that contributes to them.

The rest of it, though, was great. I've been really into personal development lately and trying to work on being the best version of myself that I can be, so this went hand in hand with that goal. I liked the "Here's what helped me" sections because I didn't feel like they were too preachy, but they were practical enough that they felt adaptable. It didn't come across as "this worked for me so it will work for everyone," but instead, "this worked for me and it might work for you, but feel free to take it as a suggestion and make it your own."

It's not a long or difficult book, and if I hadn't had a super busy week while I was reading it, I probably could have finished it in a couple of days. But it's one that I know I could come back to and open up again for more inspiration whenever I need it.