Johnston stands out for her attunement to the needs and anxieties of true beginners ... Johnston’s assertion that lifting 'completely changed how I think and feel about the world and myself and everything' sounds like another of the fitness industry’s wild overpromises. But I know what she means ... Weight lifting has stuck, for me and I think for Johnston, because it can also change the way one thinks about achievement. It serves as a pretty good metaphor for a balanced approach to striving that eschews both the Lean In–girlboss hustle and its 'I don’t dream of labor' anti-ambition backlash.
Reads as nothing short of a revelation ... There is...something misaligned about the plotted awakening that Johnston charts in her book, whose plain sentences conform to the recognizable beats of 'before' and 'after.'
Gripping ... Johnston’s prose slips down like a juicy post-workout burger ... The book is blessedly free of the pieties that can make American liberals so infuriating ... Johnston represent[s] a powerful shift in body standards for women.
Openhearted ... Johnston...effectively simplifies the science of weight lifting for a layperson, and peppers the narrative with charming anecdotes that chart her growing strength ... An empowering resource for women curious about weight lifting.
