I wasn’t aware of the author before reading this and I did like the book but it didn’t fit right with the content somehow. Seeing other reviews shows there is some distance between book and author.

Couldn’t really get into this - too much manifesting and meditating! Shame, as the real story sounds like it would be fascinating.

A great premise for a book that I was really excited to read and whilst some great points were made I found it a laborious read that was quite repetitive.

Encouragement to live our best (mid) lives. All too often we put ourselves last on the ‘to do’ list and this motivates the reader to up their game on self care and live more fulfilling lives in middle age and beyond.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, however, I found the tone high handed and condescending. I’m sure there is good information there, however, I didn’t warm to the author at all.

A well-written book, and very relatable and practical. I ended up underlining a lot of stuff to remind myself... and i liked that i can edit at anytime, and not an overwhelming change my whole life and come up with a new identity.

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know how I start the review, right? I always start by saying that every book I read and review starts off with the full trolley-load of stars and that I always keep my fingers crossed that they are all still firmly in place by the time I close the back cover. You'll also know that I'm not shy about knocking off stars but that I always give my reasons for doing so within the review, they don't just vanish into thin air.

At over 400 pages long, this book is one of the longest I've read in a while... will the author be able to keep me with her throughout or will she lose me to boredom early on?

Let's open the book and get reading shall we?

Geez Louise! She's spent the first 2% of the book saying the same thing over and over again with different words, so unfortunately the first star is coming off for repeated repitition and the second star is already wobbling through boredom... will I get to 25% with more than 3 stars? I really hope so, but based on past experiences it unfortunately unlikely.

Oh dear. Not a good sign that I've already skipped forward through boredom... we're already down to 3 stars at 5% and my will to continue reading is sat in the corner shaking its head at me.

I've skipped ahead again, this time to chapter 4 and 28%... I've already knocked a star off for boredom so the third star is safe, but my high hopes for this book are currently being ripped to shreds unfortunately.

The author is, for the third chapter on the trot, talking about menopause... it's starting to feel like this author had great ideas spinning around in her head at a gazillion miles an hour but when you repeat yourself so often you quickly start to lose points from this reader. If chapter 5 talks about the menopause too then that's gonna be the third star lost unfortunately.

I'm up to chapter 7 at 53% and any last remaining hope I had of a comforting/reassuring/relaxing/helpful read has well and truly set sail. I don't think I've read more than 3 consecutive pages at a time without giving up and skipping forward. I'm giving this book until the end of chapter 7 to significantly improve or I'm knocking another star off and giving up.

I'm finally up to chapter 8 and while it didn't talk about being menopausal, it did go on and on and on and on about eating sensibly and got some things out and out wrong, for example some of the things the author said about veganism are true for vegetarians but not for vegans (I've been vegetarian for over 3 decades and *semi* vegan since 1999 but using her definitions I've been vegan since childhood) so if she got something so well-known wrong, what else has she been spouting that's wrong too? I'm taking off the third star and officially giving up at 63%

I was interested in the premise of this book, a midlife edit, but unfortunately it didn't deliver. It's like a giant infodump of a wide range of lifestyle and self-help topics (mindfulness, manifestation, swedish death cleaning, Marie Kondo, empty-nest syndrome, menopause, Blue Zones, intermittent fasting, self-compassion, journaling, breathing, positive thinking, etc.). I tried diving in but about a quarter of the way through it turned into a hard skim for me. The book is unecessarily wordy and lacks any organization or through line for the reader. Topics are scattered and repeated throughout which makes it hard to follow.

I didn’t get very far with this I’m afraid. It’s so overwritten that it’s difficult to pick out the relevant information from all the waffle. The title seems particularly ironic since the book itself could do with a good edit.

(I would prefer not to leave a star rating since I didn’t finish, but apparently I have to.)

As a forty something woman this book appealed to me as I'm trying to arm myself with as much information as possible about this time of life. As I've already done a fair bit of reading I hoped this book would go further and be more in depth than articles I've read, but it covered the same ground. May be useful to anyone be to the topic though.

I was hoping to find encouragement and inspiration at a time in my life when I'm ready for huge changes. I really wanted to like this; however, it's ending up as :Did Not Finish" book.

I don't understand why anyone let the author ramble on during the Prologue and first chapter about everything the book offers--repetitively., If I'm reading the book--you don't need to try to continue to get me to pick it up. All that building herself and her book up by he author got old.

I'm sure there's good stuff in it later--at least I hope so. On that note I'm giving it three stars. Life's too short to read the same idea over and over again.

As a 48-year-old approaching midlife, I wanted this book to be informative and helpful.
The introduction is repetitive, including text that is duplicated in the first chapter.
The author lived in a 22-room "house" prior to her "edit". Not relatable to the majority of the population.
Anti-fatness is the first thing mentioned; anti-fatness, self-compassion, and meditation...in that order.
I was greatly disappointed in this book.

3.5 stars - not what I expecting
I’ve been following @FiftySister (Gail McNeill) on instagram for a while now, and I love her. She has some fantastic tips and tricks, and she’s very inspirational. I’ve been on a fitness campaign since giving up alcohol nearly 4 years ago and I felt akin to her, so I was so excited to start her first book. It wasn’t what I was expecting though, I found it a little too complex and in depth, there were too many complicated words and statistics and it went over my head in places. I felt like I was reading a college textbook at times. There was also a lot of repetitiveness when it came to symptoms, disorders and I felt like I was being lectured a little. I was expecting an entertaining, informative read. Even though there were some interesting pointers in and amongst, sadly it wasn’t the enjoyable and entertaining read I was expecting.

Gail McNeill has a compelling life story and a vibrant online presence, and her book is written clearly and easy to follow. I guess I am a bit disappointed that "The MidLife Edit" doesn't seem to have much new information on midlife and aging. However, if you are already a fan of McNeil's you will probably enjoy this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
#TheMidlifeEdit

I really liked this one. I thought it was quite refreshing and while not a lot of it is new it's packaged in a useful way. I needed this.

The Midlife Edit was inspired by the author's experiences of massive changes in her life. Her inspiring message is that midlife is a time for women to reimagine and transform their lives rather than simply disappearing. The book is full of helpful advice about self care and practices to help both the body and the mind.

Lots of useful information, nothing new or groundbreaking unfortunately, but still helpful to someone who might not have done much reading/research into this subject already. I wish the author had shared more of her own story, it would have given the book a personal edge which I feel I would have connected more to as a reader. I wanted to read how her own adventures in middle age had turned out. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher.

There were some things I really liked about this book - it’s positivity, its emphasis on also empowering and supporting others and it’s clear advice. It is an easy book to follow. Over chapters it started to feel a little repetitive but this did give emphasis to the benefits to be gained from embracing midlife.

This book was a great resource to remind us of what is important in life and how to live it to the fullest. Obviously, we all know we should eat healthy and meditate and exercise etc but the way she spoke about these topics was refreshing and motivating.

The Midlife Edit : A Transformative Self-Help Journey for Women. When the blurb said this was a book where the author shares her story of midlife metamorphosis I was excited. Especially when it opened describing how she bravely sold everything and moved to Portugal. I thought it would be biographical with the story of the move. However there was very little of the story, just some sailing related metaphors, and a snippet here and there. Instead it was a collection of high level advice tips covering a wide range of popular self help tools (mediation, journaling, getting out in nature, self care etc...). Being well read in self help none of this was useful to me, so I felt a bit disappointed. I was expecting to read the story of the move with lessons related directly to her story. It felt as though the author didn't want to share herself. It may be useful for middle aged women who haven't read many books on self help and want a starting point. If the author writes her story (warts and all) I would love to read it. There must have been many adventures and personal thoughts as she bravely followed her heart. I admire her bravery and willingness to make midlife a new adventure. Her writing style is beautiful and eloquent and I will definitely love to read the Portugal adventure if she shares it in a future book.