A book review of Women Waking Up: The Midlife Manifesto for Passion, Purpose and Play by Wendy Valentine
Stars: *****
New World Library (2025)
Women’s Interest
272 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: What if midlife isn’t a crisis… but a wake-up call? In Women Waking Up, Wendy Valentine doesn’t just challenge the outdated narrative of decline and invisibility at midlife—she blows it up and replaces it with a bold, badass manifesto for reinvention.
With raw honesty, a wicked sense of humor, and hard-won wisdom, Wendy invites women everywhere to toss aside society’s limiting scripts and step into the most powerful, playful, and purposeful chapter of their lives. Whether you’re feeling stuck, burned out, or simply wondering Is this all there is?, this book is your call to action—and your roadmap forward.
Drawing from her own dramatic transformation—from broke, sick, and newly divorced to thriving entrepreneur and podcast host—Wendy walks you through her groundbreaking
FREEDOM Method.
You’ll uncover your signature superpowers through her Spectacular Six Superhero Quiz, create a customized Wheel of Midlife to prioritize what matters most, and craft your personal Midlife Mantra to keep you focused and fired up.
Because this isn’t just a book—it’s a midlife revolution in motion. With guided exercises, real-life tools, and soul-stirring meditations, Women Waking Up becomes your personal coach, cheerleader, and roadmap. It’s a hands-on journey of reflection, reinvention, and reawakening that helps you not just read about change—but live it.
Wendy’s message is clear: You are not too old, and it’s not too late. The second half of your life isn’t about fading—it’s about rising. If you’re ready to stop sleepwalking through midlife and start living with soul, Women Waking Up is the no-nonsense, deeply empowering guidebook you’ve been waiting for.
Women Waking Up
This is a great self help book for women but don’t expect to just read through it quickly and be done with it. It’s not going to help to just read the book. You have to DO the exercises. It was because of this that it did take me a long time to get through the book. Not because it’s long, not because it’s boring but because I had to DO the work. There are parts of the book where you can find a printable form of the work to do on the website.
The book also comes with a Spotify playlist which I love. I’ve added it to my fav lists and I listen to it DAILY. It’s well curated.
The book starts off with a task I’ve seen elsewhere basically but after you do that it has tons of information and help that is new to me and I read a lot of self help. So the first thing you do is use the worksheet and questions to pin point where you are at in the different areas of your life. Then you choose one area you want to work on first. I chose health.
As you go through the book you will come up with ways to improve that area, and figure out which ones to work on first. The author also gives real life stories to help you learn important truths about women in midlife. Honestly some of these points are relevant to any woman. However midlife is when we tend to reevaluate where our life is.
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