We barely get enough time on this planet, so it’s crazy spending that time pleasing others at the cost ourselves”. My parents divorced when I was five, so I had front-row seats to my mother’s dating life. I’d best describe her style as “I Need to Find a Husband or I’m Going to Turn into a Witch and Be Burned at the Stake.” My mother was (still is) a timeless beauty—she’s also smart and funny—but when she was dating someone, I’d watch her turn werewolf-style from a competent, determined authority figure into this entirely not-her version of herself: a desperate, overly flirtatious, subservient ding-dong for shitty men who’d inevitably dump her and leave her in tears. And yes, this is harsh, but this type of personality-corrupting toxic masculinity bullshit didn’t spring up from within her out of nowhere. She was taught to do this, taught that acting sweet, deferential, and noncombative was her best chance at securing a man, aka happiness.

In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness. But amongst all the tears and emotion, there’s so much humour, as to be expected from these two! Karen’s guide on how to be a latchkey kid is hilarious, as is her analogy that being an alcoholic is like shitting in a hot tub ie killing the buzz of everyone around you! LOL. And there were quite a few Stephen King references as well, which I particularly enjoyed... I feel like the story of how Georgia got into true crime is something that a lot of us murderinos can relate to. I watched her cycle through emotionally unavailable single fathers with mustaches and Volvos. They all promised her the world and charmed the crap out of her by being nice to her weird kids: Asher, Leah, and the angelic youngest … me. But eventually all those dads realized we were a hot-mess family of hyperactive neediness that presented itself as a bottomless abyss full of red wine (Mom) and daddy issues (us) (and maybe Mom, but let’s not go there). Ha... lots more ‘words-of-wisdom’ from where that came from. Eye-rolling cringing stories of “are you kidding me?”I love that this book is half stories about true crime and half just stories about their lives and the struggles of growing up with anxiety and depression and addiction and how being a 13 year old girl is the worst thing in the world it was all just so relatable

First of all, this isn’t a book about murder. It’s a memoir/essay collection. Second, those offended by language should “f&@k on out of here.” Third, I’m now fans of the authors and - gasp - already took time away from audiobooks to listen to a few of their podcast episodes. I feel like a lot of times, people who discuss true crime can rub others the wrong way - after all, this is someone's tragedy that you are consuming for your enjoyment. Their lunatic - crazy- years offers a ‘warning contribution’..... to young women. Personally - I think young adult women - ( daughters in college years), could benefit from this book: the Audiobook being the perfect vehicle. In Stay Sexy & Don’ t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness. The book is a dual memoir of Kilgariff and Hardstark. Along with the title of the book, chapter titles in the book are also common catch phrases taken from the podcast, My Favorite Murder. The book also includes personal photos from Kilgariff and Hardstark's life such as family photos or photos from their youth. Critics have noted that though the book does touch on true crime, it is largely a mixture of memoir and self-help. [4] Structure [ edit ]After a thoughtful pause, I thought maybe I'm just not the intended reader, as I had no clue who these people were or had ever heard of their podcast... Perhaps if I had already known and liked them I would want to hear their life story. For example, I met a new friend a couple of weeks ago (Stephany). I'm jonesing to learn more about her/get to know her better, and I would welcome any story she wanted to shared with me VS. you've never met Stephany so if she showed up at your house talking about her childhood and parents you'd probably yawn and tell her to get off your porch... I have a love/hate relationship with these girls. I love their podcast and normally enjoy listening to them, I love how casual the whole thing feels and I think they’re intelligent and hilarious. all in all, 3 stars. one for karen’s chapter about alzheimer’s, another one for karen’s chapter about paul bernardo and one more for karen’s chapter about heloise.

BUT that never happens with Karen and Georgia - they always respectful when discussing difficult topics. Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-to Guide is a nonfiction book written by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, host of the true crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder. The book is a dual memoir of Hardstark and Kilgariff and also discusses true crime. It was released on May 28, 2019. [1] [2] There is an audiobook available with Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff as the narrators, also with the help of Paul Giamatti. [3] Synopsis [ edit ] It’s not that I needed the advice given from this book ( I’m an old fart).... but I grew up in the 70s- like Karen did.

Love that they are always saying they aren’t the experts, and you’re only the expert in your own experiences so their advice won’t woe for everyone All the best advice your mother never told you.” —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy Readers who enjoyed “Tiny Beautiful Things’....advice on love and life by Cheryl Strayed might enjoy this one too. If Karen heard her parents fighting or felt the stress from their divorce she grabbed her books and her blanket and crawled under the stairway to read for hours. Reading was her lifeline. Loved hearing about her favorite childhood books.