I’ve been a huge fan of Gretchen Whitmer’s ever since the pandemic when she stood up to Trump. She showed real courage in pointing out the ineptness of his administration during the crisis, and she was a genuine advocate for the people in her state. She also lived through a kidnapping and assassination plot by a group of domestic terrorists. And she’s survived all of this with intelligence, humor, and compassion for the people she’s dedicated to serving.

Her book really captures her liveliness, and I loved how much snark was in it. She’s never mean-spirited, but she’s still great at pointing out the hypocrisy and hurtful elements in politics today. The book dives into some of the most meaningful events in her life (including the time she went public with her story about being assaulted in college to help convince Republicans not to move forward with a ‘rape insurance’ law). I admire Whitmer for being willing to explore some of these more difficult moments in her life, but I would have loved a little more detail about how some of these events impacted her emotionally. Just like her personality though, there’s mention of these hardships but then she just moves on past them.

This book made me even more convinced that Whitmer would make an excellent candidate for the presidency one day. She’s fierce but she also understands what her role as a politician truly is: to help people as much as possible. Her words gave me hope that there are still some civil servants out there that want to make the country better instead of dividing it even further.

4.5 stars

*Free copy provided by Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review*