I cannot believe I finished this book. And I don't mean that like "I have ADHD, and I can't believe I finished a book" kind of way. I literally can't believe I finished this book. I'm not really sure what I read here. I'm not even sure who their target audience was. Was it for ADHDers? Neurotypicals? Parents of kids with ADHD? I couldn't tell. 

This is a book about ADHD by Penn Holderness. And there is a lot of projection of his problems that happen to be in the narrative. It also shows a lot of privilege. Penn had no problem getting diagnosed as a man with ADHD. He then only tried one medication and decided that all medication wasn't for him. Which would be fine, except for the fact that he does have access to great American healthcare and could try so many different medications. And medications for ADHD now are different than they were in the 90's. 

He's also got an excellent support system. Not all ADHDers have this. And he doesn't talk about what to do as an ADHDer if you aren't him. He isn't very inclusive. And the thing I love about the ADHD community is that it is so inclusive. So I don't know where this comes from. 

The only thing I appreciate from this book is the positive language they use to describe and reframe ADHD. I do like being able to talk about ADHD more positively and I love that they add that to the overall  conversation. But the positivity almost becomes toxic because it isn't nuanced. 

When I was a kid or a teen I would have liked a book like this because there weren't a lot of positive books like this. But I can't tell if this book is for teens or adults. 

If you read this book, listen to the audiobook because it's read by both of the authors and they're very animated and sometimes they sing songs and make noises throughout the book. I can't help but wonder why this wasn't a podcast series on their podcast. They've only done a couple episodes here and there that are ADHD focused. 

I can't recommend this book.

Content WarningsHide content warnings

• Ableism
• Bullying