Kate Reddy is no longer the hard-driving hedge fund manager who is determined to have it all. In her earlier novel, "I Don't Know How She Does It," Allison Pearson showed her heroine juggling deadlines at work while trying to tend to her family's needs. Now that she is approaching fifty, Kate is feeling a bit depressed. The house that she and Richard bought is more of a money pit than she had anticipated; her children have become surly teenagers who are wedded to their cell phones and video games; as she approaches the big five-o, her hormones are acting up; and Richard is unemployed and obsessed with cycling.

Now Kate frets over her body (it's okay, but not as toned as she would like). Her daughter, Emily, is getting into trouble with social media, Kate and Richard are drifting apart emotionally and physically, and although Kate wants to go back to work, she wonders if she should shave years off her age in order to get hired. Pearson finds comedy and pathos in Kate's situation, although the laughs are often bittersweet.

"How Hard Can It Be?" should find an appreciative audience among middle-aged women who struggle to balance their personal and professional lives. They will identify with this desperate housewife who tries to make ends meet without losing the romantic spark she and Richard once shared. There are aspects of this novel that are entertaining and amusing. The spirited dialogue, mockery of Richard's new age pretentiousness and egotism, Kate's attempts to fit in with a younger staff, and her reunion with Jack Abelhammer, an amiable and attractive hunk who won Kate's heart with his wit, intelligence, and kindness, keep us invested in the story. Ultimately, however, this novel, which shines when the author satirizes the sexism and ageism of our times, is weakened by its excessive length, contrived and cluttered plot, and wildly implausible conclusion. ( )

This was scrumptious, though I felt that it was kind of sad how her marriage dissolved without much care. But at the same time, hilarious. I'm a bit young to be caring, but we do need more women's fiction dealing with menopause, and returning to work after kids, and all that fun jazz. ( )

This is another book that landed on my doorstep as an ARC without me having realized it was a sequel.

Overall, I think this particular book was a mismatch for me (ask me again in sixteen years). I just didn't find Kate's life all that interesting, and while I appreciate having a narrative about a middle aged mother returning to the high-pressure business world, I couldn't really relate to her. ( )

I'm sooooooo bored! Bailing at 26% (3:35:29).

If this were a movie or tv show, I would call it a tragicomedy. It is about very serious things in the life of Kate, a working mother of two teenagers (spoiled, rude teenagers), whose husband quit his job to focus on bicycling(!), and becoming a therapeutic counselor, told in often hilariously funny detail. She lies about her age in order to get a job at the very firm where she was once the top performer (of course, no one she knew still works there, so no one knows that.) She juggles menopause, clueless coworkers and clients, devil-children, ailing parents (and parents-in-law), a checked out husband (these are just for starters). Of course, in true chick lit fashion, it all ends happily ever after. A good, fun, read.
It reminds me so much of "The Knockoff", I kept checking to make sure it wasn't by the same author. It isn't.