Published: January 25, 2021
Bold Type Books
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Jaffe is a Type Media Center reporting fellow and an independent journalist covering the politics of power, from the workplace to the streets. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, the Guardian, the Washington Post, The New Republic, the Atlantic, and many other publications. She is the co-host, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine’s Belabored podcast, and a columnist at The Progressive and New Labor Forum.

“We’re supposed to work for the love of it, and how dare we ask questions about the way our work is making other people rich while we struggle to pay rent and barely see our friends.”

This book was a lot deeper than I anticipated. When I applied for this book, I thought I was getting a book about how we have an impossible work-life balance and how many of us choose to work over home more than we should. Boy, was I wrong.

There is so much information in this book. I had to read it in several sittings, and I read three books during this book. I had to break the facts up and give my brain a break. The facts and statistics in this book are eye-opening and terrifying.

The first thing you are going to learn is that Sarah Jaffe is smart. Smart. She is knowledgeable, insightful, and driven. She has done her research. This is not a quick and easy read. This book is heavy. It’s deep. It’s dense. It is filled with facts and personal testimonials, and stories from those who have experienced things.

This book is intense and brutally eye-opening. The way work is defined forever been changed for me. I will never find any job simple or basic. And I will forever think of the paths that lead to a specific position.

This book breaks things down, by number, by race, by gender, by position in such a way that it made my brain hurt. I had no idea. This book will not only make you infinitely more aware of your privilege, but it will also make you smarter for knowing the journey it took to get to where we are today.

This book stats straight up facts regarding how women are treated in the workforce—starting from the beginning. This book breaks down how women of color paved the way and fought for every bit of success they earned.

This book is a must-read. We should all be informed. We should know these things, these statistics. We should know how work is truly defined, and we should recognize every aspect of work. This book was dense but so beautifully written. Sarah Jaffe did her homework, and she delivered her findings in such a powerful way. I learned so much from reading this book, and I feel like I am better for it. This book will be on my recommendation list for sure.

Find Work Won’t Love You Back by Sarah Jaffe on Amazon.