Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
- Downloads：6350
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-25 19:31:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Lauren Hough
- ISBN：B08DMWW3PR
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Eve
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No memoir is ever going to measure up to Glass Castle or Blackbird。 While I can appreciate that some people have terrible childhoods， we rise above them and be our best。 This book was a pity party。
Taylor
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Will never read。 An author harassing reviewers？ Wow， real mature。
Susan Crowe
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The worst book I've never read。 The worst book I've never read。 。。。more
Clint
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Note: all the negative reviews of this book do not address its content， but are part of a social media campaign against the author。 Read a few and you’ll see they have nothing to do with the content and writing of the book。Hough’s “I was a cable guy” has stuck in my mind for years。 This is a poignant accounting of her experiences， particularly of trying and failing adjust to “normal” American society with all its injustices。 But it doesn’t fall into the trap of being just trauma porn， and， truth Note: all the negative reviews of this book do not address its content， but are part of a social media campaign against the author。 Read a few and you’ll see they have nothing to do with the content and writing of the book。Hough’s “I was a cable guy” has stuck in my mind for years。 This is a poignant accounting of her experiences， particularly of trying and failing adjust to “normal” American society with all its injustices。 But it doesn’t fall into the trap of being just trauma porn， and， truth being stranger than fiction， doesn’t paint a bleakly one-tone picture despite all Hough has been throughout。 It made me deeply uncomfortable and laugh out loud。 And it made me hopeful for Lauren and want to see where her Winnebago takes her。 Read the stories。 。。。more
Arshdeep
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This author should definitely get a life。 If you cannot accept criticism， you shouldn’t have entered the publishing industry in the first place。 :）
Tina
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Brutally honest， witty， dark， and insightful！ The Slide and Speaking in Tongues essays were the ones that hooked me。 Yes， the cult stuff is interesting and weird， but Hough ties together many of the cults in our society。 Great perspective of the struggles of people living on the edges of society。 Ignore the 1-star mob， lashing out because of a stupid tweet， and taking themselves way to0 seriously。。。。to the point of becoming bullies themselves。 I've followed Hough on Twitter long enough to know t Brutally honest， witty， dark， and insightful！ The Slide and Speaking in Tongues essays were the ones that hooked me。 Yes， the cult stuff is interesting and weird， but Hough ties together many of the cults in our society。 Great perspective of the struggles of people living on the edges of society。 Ignore the 1-star mob， lashing out because of a stupid tweet， and taking themselves way to0 seriously。。。。to the point of becoming bullies themselves。 I've followed Hough on Twitter long enough to know that she likes to stir up conversation and debate。 She's honest， emotional， and passionate， and that sometimes rumples some feathers。 It also gets people thinking and talking about important issues。 。。。more
Ayush Rajeshwar
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This lady is a nutcase
Jessie
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I haven’t read this book but I find this entire review feed to be a frightening display of mob mentality。 From what I can tell this person wrote a deeply personal， raw collection about a lived experience that unfolded in real time。 They made a bitter comment on Twitter that obviously hit a nerve among goodreads reviewers and now those reviewers are out for blood。 The thing is， no matter how much fault you find with the author， when you have the power to tear someone down in a matter of minutes， I haven’t read this book but I find this entire review feed to be a frightening display of mob mentality。 From what I can tell this person wrote a deeply personal， raw collection about a lived experience that unfolded in real time。 They made a bitter comment on Twitter that obviously hit a nerve among goodreads reviewers and now those reviewers are out for blood。 The thing is， no matter how much fault you find with the author， when you have the power to tear someone down in a matter of minutes， maybe you should wield that kind of power with a little more care and consideration over who and what you’re actually going after。 Call out culture is toxic and I hope it stops soon。 。。。more
Laura Robinson
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So， I read this book after I bought it anyway even after I found out about the， you know， bullying behavior online。 Without excusing it I felt like the background of Hough's life made it understandable why she's so desperate for approval and while even enthusiastic but not ultra-enthusaistic praise feels insufficient for her。 So it made me sad for her， without justifying her actions。With that background: Some essays are better than others。 The last one feels unfocused。 The one on the prison is o So， I read this book after I bought it anyway even after I found out about the， you know， bullying behavior online。 Without excusing it I felt like the background of Hough's life made it understandable why she's so desperate for approval and while even enthusiastic but not ultra-enthusaistic praise feels insufficient for her。 So it made me sad for her， without justifying her actions。With that background: Some essays are better than others。 The last one feels unfocused。 The one on the prison is outstanding。 。。。more
Brittany Harden
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I dnf’ed this around halfway through。
Alfred
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No thank you。
Nancy Dawe
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This is a great collection。 When it comes to the essays themselves， there were some that definitely stood out。 I still loved Cable Guy， and Cell Block is now one of my favourite essays ever。 There are moments and vignettes from every essay that have stayed with me since I finished， and will continue to。 There are poignant lessons and humour seamlessly interwoven。 While not every essay was equally enjoyable （to me） or will stick with me as a stand-alone， they really work together to provide a hol This is a great collection。 When it comes to the essays themselves， there were some that definitely stood out。 I still loved Cable Guy， and Cell Block is now one of my favourite essays ever。 There are moments and vignettes from every essay that have stayed with me since I finished， and will continue to。 There are poignant lessons and humour seamlessly interwoven。 While not every essay was equally enjoyable （to me） or will stick with me as a stand-alone， they really work together to provide a holistic understanding of Hough's background and perspective to bolster insight across stories。 Her ability to present a person is incredible - the people she included in this book are so clear and substantial and are the element that remain most vivid when not actively reading。 And as bold and honest and forthcoming as these essays were， I suspect that Hough still has many stories to share and I look forward to reading them。 Like many， many people， I loved Hough's Cable Guy essay when it went viral and have been following her online since。 I've therefore been anticipating this collection since it was announced， but the actual experience of it became inextricable from the Goodreads backlash that took place on Twitter。Anyone who's followed Hough online knows that her method of communication is forward and brash and she is not afraid to engage。 This is at odds with how authors seem to be expected to behave online - to create a promotional presence that caters to ensuring nobody is too offended to buy the book。 This was never going to be Hough's MO and the reasons become quickly clear within her essays。 Having grown up in a cult followed by a career in the military - where as a lesbian she was under the Don't Ask Don't Tell rule - Hough has been told how to act， how to speak， when to smile and how much of herself she's allowed to share her whole life。 And punished in every way imaginable if she didn't stay in line。 Watching online personas mobilize to tank a book on Goodreads because they don't like how she engages with public content is indicative of reader expectation that authors demure in the interest of gaining public support， which is just a weird thing to ask of anyone who is using their voice。 And yeah， Goodreads is for readers， but that doesn't mean that authors can't look if they want to torture themselves by doing so， and it's not helpful to me as a reader if I have to go through a million 1-star reviews to find out what people who actually read a book didn't like about it - which is how I usually determine whether or not I'll enjoy a book。 。。。more
Fiske St。 Little Library
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I loved this collection of personal essays。 Through her writing， Hough was able to connect the reader to the difficult moments of her life and bring us along as she faced them with both honesty and humor。
Nicole
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calling those who read your book assholes just means those who haven't read your book will stay away calling those who read your book assholes just means those who haven't read your book will stay away 。。。more
Dylan
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Reading it was the hardest thing。。
TheSapphireFalcon
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Damn。 This girl's potential book success was on the Himalayas， then she looked below and said "Now how can I tumble all the way down， and crash land in the most magnificent way possible？" Damn。 This girl's potential book success was on the Himalayas， then she looked below and said "Now how can I tumble all the way down， and crash land in the most magnificent way possible？" 。。。more
Kimberly S
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This author compared getting poor book reviews to being sexually assaulted。 I think that says enough about her intellectual rigor。
Devxlysh
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Having a fit on twitter about a 4。5 star review sure didn't help the ratings on this book lmaoo Having a fit on twitter about a 4。5 star review sure didn't help the ratings on this book lmaoo 。。。more
Virginia Sole-Smith
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I’ve loved Lauren Hough since her cable guy essay and this book is a masterpiece。 Having grown up in a cult， Hough recognizes the same toxic elements in our military， the prison industrial complex， and corporate exploitation of low wage work。 It’s also a searing exploration of how close to the line most of America lives to poverty， hunger and homelessness。 Hough knows there are no neat answers to these questions， but she asks anyway， and without apology。 I will be thinking about this book for a I’ve loved Lauren Hough since her cable guy essay and this book is a masterpiece。 Having grown up in a cult， Hough recognizes the same toxic elements in our military， the prison industrial complex， and corporate exploitation of low wage work。 It’s also a searing exploration of how close to the line most of America lives to poverty， hunger and homelessness。 Hough knows there are no neat answers to these questions， but she asks anyway， and without apology。 I will be thinking about this book for a long time。 。。。more
Elise Trimmer
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Quote from the book: 'I'm better at lying than telling the truth'。 Quote from the book: 'I'm better at lying than telling the truth'。 。。。more
Karen
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Strong voice and， yes， brilliantly written。 Frequently heartbreaking。 So very worth your time。 Ignore any review that isn’t four or five stars。 Any reviewer hung up on Hough’s social media posts does literature a disservice by panning this book。 Just read the collection and see if you aren’t changed。
Sarah Smith
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TW SA， Nazi， Will never read。 Attacked reviewers who gave her book a 4。5 star rating， is a bully who called them assholes， when was called out， compared the situation to rape culture （WTF）， and then made fun of people putting trigger warning in their comments for SA， and referred to reviewers on youtube as book-burning Nazi's。 No apology， no responsibility for her actions， playing the victim by dragging in serious issues that have no relevance to the situation。 People who think 'Cancel Culture' TW SA， Nazi， Will never read。 Attacked reviewers who gave her book a 4。5 star rating， is a bully who called them assholes， when was called out， compared the situation to rape culture （WTF）， and then made fun of people putting trigger warning in their comments for SA， and referred to reviewers on youtube as book-burning Nazi's。 No apology， no responsibility for her actions， playing the victim by dragging in serious issues that have no relevance to the situation。 People who think 'Cancel Culture' is the worst thing in the world need to reevaluate。 This behaviour is not okay and if an author sees reviewers as "nerds on a power trip"， "assholes" "Nazi's"， etc etc。。。。。 why would any reader or reviewer want to read their book？ How is this behaviour worse than someone being cancelled？ This is so messed up。 。。。more
Karina Coombs
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I started following the author on Twitter because she made me laugh and feel something。 Her honesty and candor kept me coming back。 So when I found out she wrote a book I knew I’d have to buy it。 I just finished reading Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing and am blown away by her story telling and her ability to put herself out there。 The essays are poignant， infuriating， funny， tragic， sad， and breathtakingly exposed。 I don’t understand the book review drama surrounding this， but after everything s I started following the author on Twitter because she made me laugh and feel something。 Her honesty and candor kept me coming back。 So when I found out she wrote a book I knew I’d have to buy it。 I just finished reading Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing and am blown away by her story telling and her ability to put herself out there。 The essays are poignant， infuriating， funny， tragic， sad， and breathtakingly exposed。 I don’t understand the book review drama surrounding this， but after everything she’s been through to get to this point - and having written a hell of a good book to describe it all - to see that people are tanking the reviews on purpose is as disgusting as it is predictable mob behavior。 The essays are fantastic。 And I can’t wait for more。 。。。more
Rachel
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Just absolutely the best most heartbreaking human book I've read in a long time。 Just absolutely the best most heartbreaking human book I've read in a long time。 。。。more
Heath McKenny
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Absolutely fucking brilliant。 Should be read by all， especially the overly-sensitive and self-important。 You might learn something。
Miu Yui
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was this written by a 5 year old？
Erin Swaller
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Some of the essays are really great and in all the entire book is fascinating。 It felt unnecessarily rambling at times which could have been edited out and it probably would have been more impactful。
James
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Raw， hilarious， and clever。 An unflinchingly honest take on the struggle for those who don’t quite fit into the tribes they are expected to join。
Joud Mohammed
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Humble yourself。
Vcb
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