Name: Gracie Marsden's review of Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
Item: Girl, Wash Your Face
Rating: 3
Author: Gracie Marsden

Rachel Hollis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don't have a clue If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that's a lie. As the founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis developed an immense online community by sharing tips for better living while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own life. Now, in this challenging and inspiring new book, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and misconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively, lies we've told ourselves so often we don't even hear them anymore. With painful honesty and fearless humor, Rachel unpacks and examines the falsehoods that once left her feeling overwhelmed and unworthy, and reveals the specific practical strategies that helped her move past them. In the process, she encourages, entertains, and even kicks a little butt, all to convince you to do whatever it takes to get real and become the joyous, confident woman you were meant to be. With unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity, Girl, Wash Your Face shows you how to live with passion and hustle-and how to give yourself grace without giving up.

Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

Girl, Wash Your Face

Annie Utz

With wry wit and hard-earned wisdom, popular online personality and founder of TheChicSite.com Rachel Hollis helps readers break free from the lies keeping them from the joy-filled and exuberant life they are meant to have.

Gracie Marsden

Inspiring and motivating! I love her honesty regarding her imperfections, which in turn makes me feel better about not being the perfect mom, wife, woman, etc. This is a great read for anyone who struggles with perfectionism.

Girl Wash your Face

Cute, uplifting book! Wouldn't call it a page turner by any means but as far as inspirational memoirs go this was fine!

Zoey Novak

Sara Uribe

I'm not really into self help books. And I'm very surprised that I actually finished it... The thing I hate most about self help books is that it is from only the authors perspective. They don't take any time to research what others did to help them along the way. She is only telling you about these things because that's what "helped" her. Most of her advise was VERY general. Just go talk to your friends and they will give you the same advise if not even better ideas than what she is saying. It was very self centered and was like she was using this book as a validation for all of her actions. It was unrelatable and I just didn't like it at all. If I could give this no stars I would.

Briar's Reviews

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis is like the big sister pep talk book of the 2010s.

I'll be honest, I found this book as a charity book shop and I only read it because one of my friends RAVES about this woman. She swears that Rachel is her spirit animal and her books changed her life. Do I totally believe that? No. Was I still curious what magic this book had thrown onto my friend? Yep! 

This book isn't bad by any means, but it's not the crazy magic my friend makes it out to be. This entire book is a woman pep talk on all of the dumb things us ladies believe. We're not bad people, we're not bad parents, we're not bad girlfriends or wives or partners... we're just us. Nobody is perfect.

Rachel shares lots of personal stories and gives lots of useful tips (love yourself, do your best, live your best life sort of tips) on how to manage yourself. There are some personal stories she shares that are cringey, but don't we all have them? I definitely worried about her husband in the beginning, but their relationship lasted so I can't be one to judge. There are times when Rachel Hollis does seem like she's from the upper class poo-pooing the lower class, but that's just the tone I got (and tone is very hard to figure out in books). And then I realized, I was judging her like I didn't want to be judged. This book is so full circle for me, it's crazy. She even says in the book not to judge people... Man, this book is wild.

I can understand why this book works for some people. I can't lie, some of her advice I was nodding along and wondering why my big sisters never told me these things. A lot of her advice didn't apply to me, but it doesn't have to. At least I got something out of this book. It was a nice change of pace for me - I normally frequent romance and horror and thrillers instead of self-help books.

To top of this review, I want to talk about some of the BAD reviews I've seen of this book:
1. Someone didn't like that this book mentions you can create happiness. While you can't create overall happiness, sometimes you just have to make your bad day good. I've done that before - I told myself I was in a good mood and found joys to make it better. So, it's possible... maybe not to the level Rachel suggests. It's still good advice.

2. Rachel is a white, wealthy, Christian woman. So, yes, this book is going to be written in her point of view. Shocker, right?

3. Rachel brags a lot about her great she is and how great her job is. Well, I sure hope so! She worked hard to get where she is. If I'm ever that successful, I hope I humble brag a bit too.

4. Her expensive purse story is definitely not the normal for the typical woman who will be reading this book. But hey, a girl can dream right?

I do agree with some of the other reviewers who have picked this book up. Rachel has a very specific perspective and she may not have the healthiest and best life that she's portraying but this book will help at least one person.

Overall, this book is okay. It's not my favourite and I didn't great a crazy amount of help out of it. But, it was a nice change of pace for me. I also enjoyed some of the cringey stories - it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has some really awful yet funny stories to share.

Three out of five stars.

Kelci

I finally read “Girl, wash your face.” Other than the popularity of this book, the title is really what drew me in! Also the fact that it’s due at a the library tomorrow and the waitlist is 48 people long 🤣 Overall I would rate this at a 3.95/5⭐️ for me. I loved the message at the core, but a majority of the book didn’t apply to me at this life stage so I found it hard to relate (24, single, in my first full time job). See below for the quotes that resonated with me! And most importantly, Girl, wash your face. 
•••
We rarely hear the lies we’ve created about ourself because they’ve been playing so loudly in our ears for so long that they’ve become white noise.
••
I vowed to be authentic and sincere, and for every gloriously styled cupcake picture we produced, I shared a photo of myself with facial paralysis. 
•
[...] your life doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s at all, but it should at least be a creation of your own making.
••
This is your life. You are meant to be the hero of your own story.
•••
Moving doesn’t change who you are. It only changes the view outside your window. You must choose to be happy, grateful and fulfilled....you’ll still find happiness because it’s not about where you are but who you are.

Rebecca Shaffer

I really wanted to like this book, and I am a fan of tough love so the title grabbed me. However at times I found her personal anecdotes to be extremely unaware of her own privilege as a white, middle to upper class female. I liked the structure of each chapter being a lie she’s told herself, and the overall message of taking charge of your life. I just didn’t need all of the details around her religious faith & some of her personal struggles seemed narrow minded and annoying.

Sandi King

I really enjoyed this. It gave me some great ideas about how to make concrete change in a couple of areas that I struggle with.

linda

Got through approximately one chapter before I couldn’t take it anymore.

Natasha Musa

I have mixed feelings about this book. Rachel Hollis’s stories are mostly okay nothing extra-ordinary with exception to her brothers suicide and her journey in adopting children. I do however share almost the views/ principles she shares in this book. 

Is this a great book? It’s ok, it’s not high on my recommendation list cause I think there are better books out there to read that are more inspiring.

Shereen Evans

This was a great read! There were a couple of chapters that I couldnt relate to right now but probably in the future. This has helped me understand and get past somethings that I was holding onto.

Callie Anna

First of all, I am Hollis’ target audience and I enjoy self-help books.

Rachel Hollis is obviously a person of privilege, as am I, but I do think she makes clear that she realizes that and doesn’t expect everyone to have it.

This is not a Christian book. Hollis claims Christianity, and seems to rely on God, but this book is about personal experience, which was affected by her faith, but not about faith.

Use discernment when reading, as you always should, but do read! The writing style is casual but fun to read and engaging. Her main points are that you shouldn’t stand in the way of your goals and that you have control over the things you have control over. Sounds obvious, but I think there’s a place for this message. Many of the lies Hollis discusses I have struggled with myself or know people who do. Therefore, people need to hear that sometimes they are thinking wrongly, which leads to acting wrongly, which leads to a miserable life.

Shan

Ahmazing!! I have never ever even had an interest in self help books. However, this book has changed everything. I actually stopped reading for a bit because I felt that I was reading it too fast and not savoring it. Even the chapters that I couldn't relate to made me feel motivated and wanting more from my life. I now better understand what others are going through and have a better perspective on the struggles of life.

Sarah Ryan

I didn't enjoy this as much as 'Girl, stop apologising' - there was a little too much discuss of god and 'his plan' for my personal taste. But I did enjoy parts of it and parts of her story definitely resonated with me. A decent read if you don't object to the religious aspects.

Neisha Gabrysiak

I read the reviews on this before I read it (on here, on Goodreads, and from friends' Facebook posts). It was VERY highly recommended by friends, but reviews elsewhere had me wondering if I really needed to read it. A friend loaned me her copy and insisted I read it. It took me a few months to pick it up, but once I did, I devoured it!

I am SO glad I read it! Granted, not everything in it applies to my life, but it was still a mind-opening read for me. I've started to be more conscious of the thoughts that run through my head - turning them to the positive when I notice they're heading toward negativity.

I'll definitely be buying my own copy and bookmarking certain pages/passages to go back and read again when I feel the need for a little boost in confidence/motivation.

Myla Larsen

Wow! What a eye opener. 
This book .. wow just wow. I don't even have the words to explain how amazing and life changing this book was for me. 
When I started this book I was at the biter end of a very toxic relationship. Possibly close to the worst time of my life. 
I had wanted to start this book for a while and I saw I had a few credits on audible for some books. I have never really been into audio books before this. 
I would read this book driving, cleaning, doing chores, anything mindless that I could listen to the book. 
This book helped me realize my worth and how much I deserve and what I can achieve. 
After reading about Rachel's first year in her relationship with her now husband helped me get that push I needed to get what I need and communicate it to the people in my life that I am not comfortable with my life in this moment so I am going to make a change. I was not happy in my relationship, so in my situation it was a bit similar to the authors. I moved out to a new town, a new life and I am so thankful to myself that I made that decision.

Thank you Rachel, I can't wait for your next book!

Julia

I loved this book. It made me have so many emotions and hit home is so many areas. Definitely helped me with growth! She is a Christian and speaks on that as it is her belief however she NEVER one times tries to witness. This is the first book that i have been able to read from a strong believer in God without feeling like i am being judged. It was just a breathe of fresh air. I have recommended this book to many friends already before i had even finished it. It’s just that good. She is so relatable!

Sarah Vaughan

I can’t even write an honest review on this because it was so tone deaf, privileged, and just generally full of drivel not beneficial for anyone that to expound on my thoughts would just lead to frustration. This is the worst book I’ve ever picked up. 

Don’t read this. Seriously.

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

girl, wash your face was an inspirational read that came at the perfect time. i’ve been feeling so
unmotivated, sad, and tired of my job and needed something that could get me out of this rut and back on my feet with smiles. and it did just that. i’m surprised that i enjoyed this book as much as i did since rachel hollis is a 30-something year old wife and mom with a lot of past and a lot of advice to pass on. even though i didn’t relate to every thing, i still found myself motivated and nodding along. some of the things that rachel shares with us really shocked me, it was so real and you could tell that there was emotion written in the book. i would recommend this to all you ladies that need help looking at life in a different way, needing to get out of bed and find a reason to wake up early again.

Hannah Knowles

There were some good takeaways from this book and I appreciate how honest she was while telling stories of her past. However, I found a lot of it to be very surface level and mostly just cliché self help quotes and ideas. I think she tried to make it relatable to everyone, but for the most part it seemed like the audience she was speaking to was just upper class white religious mothers. Also if I had known this was a Christian-based book I would not have decided to read it.

Chulandon leanday Bradley 

I think this books was a very well written book I also think that this book could help you and encourage you no matter what walk of life you are going through and I actually wished I would have read this book sooner. I give this book a 3.5 because there are still some points in the book that I can’t really relate to, and wished she would have talked about less but the advice she gives is good none the less I will definitely be recommending this book to a friend.

I'm so conflicted on my rating, I'm sure this book was so helpful to many people. I did get some things from it, especially the part about breaking promises to yourself but honestly most of it wasn't much for me. I think its because we are just very different people, I desperately want and would love to read more life improvement/self help books because I love the motivation I get from them but I only ever get a little bit from a sentence here or there because I just can't vibe with the authors who seem just like christian white rich women who run blogs about eating healthy and loving yourself. Some parts of this book in particular were good but some also made me feel horrible about myself. I'm going to read her next one because it seems a little more specific and more beneficial for me but I'm nervous.

Renee Delcourt

I don't think I have read so much while reading a book in my life. Everything about this book resonates with me. My sister was the one who wanted me to read it and I'm not sure I knew what I was getting into. However from the very start I loved this book. I loved the narration and how you feel as if Rachel Hollis is there with you. Talking with you. The way she writes this book feels like your just sitting with your friend in the room talking about some hard truths. With every chapter, or lie, you learn more about her story but also more about your own story as well. This book made me look at my self differently and that I am very thankful for.

Tori Carrillo

Is it life changing? Not really. 
Did it make me stop and think about some things I could be doing differently? Yes. 

This is a good book for those who have time for a quick read and need some motivation for goal setting and positive thinking. Not all of the situations are relatable but I do think the author does a good job of conveying an understandable and shared feeling or experience through her stories. A lot of “don’t feel guilty for being a mommy and putting yourself first” which for those of us who don’t have kids isn’t really relatable but because of how the book is set up, those chapters are easy to skip. 

What reeled me in?: Chapter 20
What was my favorite takeaway?: Chapter 2

Heather

Inspiring, a shot of self-confidence.
In my opinion, Girl, Wash your Face differs from others self-development books because of Rachel Hollis's faith. 
As an atheist, reading about her belief and explanation was exciting and thought-provoking.

Annie Utz &
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

Reviews

Join the club

Annie Utz &Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

Reviews

Join the club

Annie Utz &
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis