winterzeshoek's review against another edition

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Erg Amerikaans.

skbledsoe's review against another edition

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5.0

I don't usually highlight and take notes, but this book really engaged me. It was written more from the perspective of people living with someone with ADHD, which is something that I need. It gave me insight how ADHD affects others around me. What's more important though is that the author takes time to outline strategies and suggest other resources to find out more about certain ideas.

harperhoney's review against another edition

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3.25

Definitely dated, and the book pre-supposes the ADHD is causing major relationship issues. Rather than being about the broader ADHD experience in relationships or centering the ADHD partner, this book is specifically written for people who don't have ADHD and are having major issues in their relationships with a person who likely or definitively has ADHD. The core of this book is a support group for partners of people with ADHD. It focuses on identifying those problematic behaviors that might be caused or exacerbated by ADHD, not to excuse, but to help you start addressing the actual problem rather than just chalking things up to someone being an a**hole. It is not at all a holistic look at ADHD and specifically focuses on extreme cases of impact on partnerships. It's also worth noting that while there are multiple gender combinations at play (all binary, but some queer relationships) there are much more stories of women without ADHD with men who have ADHD. Gender roles and issues have a big impact on how ADHD plays out in the relationship and who does or doesnt get credit for what roles in the household. This book does not really account for that-- like I said, it's very dated. This is from 2010 and for the younger adults who don't know where that places us, it's 5 years before same-sex marriage was even legalized in the US.
It focuses on the disabling and dysfunctional parts of ADHD, so you will not hear of it talked about as a positive, because this book is specifically geared toward validating the real issues it can cause. The parts of ADHD that can create outward success can lead to partners of people with ADHD gaslighting themselves or believing they are the problem. I think this book is helpful to a limited degree in talking about a very particular part of the ADHD experience that many people do not have. But I do think it is a decent resource for people who ARE struggling with these issues and don't understand the negative potential impacts of ADHD, and how it manifests in adults. It is geared towards non-ADHD partners better understanding and supporting their partners with ADHD, with pharmaceutical treatment being seen as a particularly helpful intervention. It tries to separate ADHD as a treatable, managable condition from the person's values and personality, which is not always helpful, but can be in these specific instances. There are multiple stories of relationships on the brink being turned around once both the person with ADHD got treated and the non-ADHD partner learned how to better understand and cooperate with their partner. 
So.... take with many grains of salt. But, if you bear all this in mind, you will have a better experience of the book. 

lente_88's review against another edition

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informative sad medium-paced

2.0

Some parts of the book are informative, and made me understand my ADHD more. 

However, I feel like the author wrote this book solely based on her experience as a woman married to a man with ADHD. I think most of the book is not applicable for women with ADHD in a relationship with a ‘neurotypical’ man. And I feel she has thoroughly mixed up her understanding of ADHD with the more general issues of gender and inequality in heterosexual relationships. 

The book made me feel quite frustrated, and I also felt like I was constantly being judged for having ADHD. 

My advice to the author would be to read some feministic books / papers, and hopefully realise that it is indeed mostly NOT adult ADHD, but the different expectations spciety places on a man vs. a woman. 


arcanumxiii's review against another edition

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4.0

As an ADHD partner myself, untreated for a long time and now with a problematic situation in my relationship, I needed help. At first to see if I could make my partner understand, but very fast it started to be clear that my untreated adhd had major effect on our lives.
I don't know if my current situation will solved itself positively. But I learned a lot about what is problematic in myself, what I can do to change that and how to move forward.

If you're in couple with a partner that seems to suffer from ADHD: go for it. Be patient though — it's a long book, and the positive aspects arrive at the end. If you suffer from ADHD: it helped me tremendously to understand what she lived.

tarabrynn's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.0

vudcnh's review against another edition

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1.0

The pinnacle of ADHD fear mongering and lies, BS of the condition

castevenson's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

user226's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.5

I don't have a lot to compare it to, but it seems like a very helpful resource. I did struggle with how long and wordy it was, and an overall lack of structure (it didn't help that the eBook had misassigned chapter breaks to subheadings and didn't reflow to different screen sizes).

kimia_hyperfocuser's review against another edition

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This book rather shows its age, as the ADHD cases it discusses are all severe. With the new wave of ADHD diagnosis in women and people who have the inattentive type or just a less severe form of ADHD, the book is not as useful.