What I liked: 1) The validation that organization needs to be practical, not Instagram-worthy; 2) Based on reviews of previous editions, the author is more up to date in this 3rd edition (particularly in regards to gender), though who these days has a bread box or fine china?

What I didn't like: The basic takeaway of this book is "own as little as possible," which is shoved down your throat, presented in a continuously extreme, off-putting way, and hilariously out of touch with reality (Only keep 6 photos to document a vacation! And only 2 pieces of children's artwork per year! You're doing it RIGHT if you get rid of something you discover you actually need! Don't keep anything sentimental larger than a deck of cards! The number of birthday gifts for a child shouldn't exceed their age and after 12 it's event tickets only!).

These arbitrary guidelines ooze a paternalistic "I know what's best for you" and condescending "it's for your own good" attitude throughout the book. The book demands the "brutal purge" in a way that feels stressful, rigid, and rules-oriented for the sake of it, the exact opposite of Marie Kondo's fluid, feel-good approach focused on living in harmony with possessions. The author isn't wrong that getting rid of possessions will make it easier to tidy up, but the execution is frightfully militaristic. Her prescriptivism also doesn't encompass different manifestations of ADHD (e.g. everything should be visible, but for some the visual noise would be distracting).

The author doesn't have ADHD, and it shows in some of her attitudes and assumptions toward people with ADHD (e.g. that we're frustrating to the non-ADHD members of the family; that we'll be motivated to do things like wash the dishes when we're hungry instead of order takeout or make a meal out of snacks, or that we'll have the executive function to go to the store when we run out of something instead of go without).

I was willing to just take what was useful and discard the rest from this book, at least until one passage enraged me:

"Do not pack off your college kid with a month's worth of clothing. That is an overwhelming eight loads cycling through in a remote laundry area! Better they should run out of clothes once a week and then stand staring at the dryer in their bathrobe, totally focused, because they are hungry and need clothes to enter the dining hall." (emphasis mine)

What a way to show how little you understand ADHD and that you revel in doling out punishment. Staring at laundry is boring, which is awful for ADHDers, and the author hasn't considered that the ADHDer will just go to the cafeteria in their pajamas (or, again, eat unhealthily). Maybe this time crunch method will work for some ADHDers, but for many staring at the tasks they've put off (because they've run out of what they need) just fills them with self-recriminations that have intensely negative consequences years later. (Ask me how I know.)

After this point I just rage skimmed the rest of the book. Another gem is the author criticizing a parent for getting their child an entire 40+ book series that the child loved and "eagerly anticipated school library day so that she could check out the second and then the third book." The author claims that "forty-something books is an overwhelming reading list for anyone, never mind a child with ADHD. An eagerly anticipated and joyful treat had thus been transformed into a discouraging and burdensome obligation." What a load of bullshit. The child was super interested in this series. The author's assumptions here about ADHDers' reactions to something they love is so demeaning.

Other criticisms: The author's audience is solely those who live in houses with decent space, money, and a car. She mentions that you can find extremely useful-sounding apps but doesn't provide the names. You'd think by the 3rd edition they'd have worked out punctuation and missing/extraneous word issues, but they still run rampant. 

I feel horrible for the ADHDer who is subject to these methods.