Option B (Sandberg) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[A] remarkable achievement: generous, honest, almost unbearably poignant. It reveals an aspect of Sandberg's character that Lean In had suggested but…did not fully demonstrate: her impulse to be helpful. She has little to gain by sharing, in excruciating detail, the events of her life over the past two years. This is a book that will be quietly passed from hand to hand, and it will surely offer great comfort to its intended readers.… The intimacy of detail that fills the book is unsettling; there were times I felt that I had come across someone's secret knowledge, that I shouldn't have been in possession of something that seemed so deeply private. But the candor and simplicity with which she shares all of it…is a kind of gift.
Caitlin Flanagan - New York Times Book Review


Sandberg is wise and honest and funny and practical in ways that are likely to stay with the reader. Her deeply personal book is more than memoir; interspersed with devastating scenes are equally powerful strategies for coping when your world has gone tilt.
Tracy Grant - Washington Post


Being among the most powerful women in the world didn’t spare Sheryl Sandberg from the sudden death of her husband, not quite two years ago. Option B is at its best when pinpointing specific tips for coping with overwhelming grief. Sandberg writes how she created new rituals, such as taking a moment at dinner each evening to express gratitude for something positive that day, and declaring ‘small wins.’ Day by day, the book says, these small victories can become building blocks to a return to emotional equanimity.
Diane Cole - Wall Street Journal


Option B chronicles Sandberg’s devastating loss, her grief and how she emerged from it with a new perspective on life. The most affecting parts of the book recount not just Sandberg's grief, but that of her children.… "Tragedy does not have to be personal, pervasive or permanent, but resilience can be," she writes. "We can build it and carry it with us throughout our lives."
Associated Press


Intimate, personal.… Within Option B there are lessons for leaders who want to make organizations more resilient, help employees recover from a loss—or crisis—and create workplaces that are more prepared to deal with failure.
Jena McGregor - Los Angeles Times


Like her debut volume, Sandberg’s Option B is an optimistic book, even if one riven with sorrow. She argues that after adversity and loss, there is an opportunity for "post-traumatic growth." Thus the book is in part a moving memoir.
Rebecca Mead - New Yorker
 

Sandberg’s new book is tough, full of the raw, painful emotions.… Option B [has] advice for people who are grieving. But it’s also a book for nearly everyone — people who may not know what to say or do in the wake of a tragedy. It’s also a deeply optimistic book, framed around the question, what’s next?
Rebecca J. Rosen -  Atlantic


Admirably honest, optimistic.… Sandberg shares a great deal of herself and what she has learned. At its core the book helps those who have been felled by despair: a guide both for those who have directly suffered loss and for those who are close to people who have.
Economist


[H]elpful and hopeful.… [A]uthors show how… strengthened relationships and a greater sense of gratitude, can be gleaned from awful situations. Those suffering [or] seeking to provide comfort should find both solace and wisdom in this book.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) While the authors concede that everyone's story is different, they explore…what others have gone through in order to find joy and strength after difficulty.… This captivating memoir offers genuine hope.
Library Journal


A memoir of the loss of a husband and finding a path forward beyond the grieving process.…  A book that provides illuminating ways to make headway through the days when there doesn't seem to be a way forward.
Kirkus Reviews