Don’t Yell at Her!

A Memoir by Carmen Joy King

“Fearless, raw and unapologetically honest.”

Now Available!

- Bryan Armen Graham, The Guardian

A Memoir of Psychedelics, Crossing Borders, and Finding Freedom from Love Addiction

A book, and a trip, by Carmen Joy King

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"OIL, LIKE MEN, IS IN THE MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING."

At forty-three, Carmen Joy King blows up her life in Montreal, quits her corporate job, and drives 4,000 kilometers alone from Calgary to Cabo San Lucas to take an African psychedelic called Iboga. Determined to cure her chronic anxiety and decades-long pattern of love addiction, she embarks on this journey with her dog, Stevie, navigating treacherous mountain passes and facing her deepest fears.

As the desert landscape unfolds before her, so too do memories of a complicated childhood, toxic relationships, and her desperate quest for validation. Through vivid, unsparing prose, Don't Yell at Her! takes us through the wild terrain of her past—from rural Alberta to lovers in Paris, from teaching English in Japan to a spontaneous marriage in Brazil—while charting a new path forward.

Part road trip adventure, part spiritual awakening, Don't Yell at Her! explores what happens when a woman finally decides to listen to the voice under all the noise, trading external validation for self-trust.

Raw, irreverent, and ultimately hopeful, Don't Yell at Her! speaks to anyone who has ever longed to break free from destructive cycles and find their way home to themselves.

What Readers Are Saying

  • “In a battered hatchback packed with LaCroix, tarot cards, and too many shoes, Carmen Joy King drives from Canada to Mexico chasing some version of peace. What follows is a journey through the wreckage of love addiction, psychedelic reckoning, family ghosts, and small-town girlhood. With biting wit and sharp insight, King documents encounters with old flames, dead relatives, and wild animals—real and imagined. For fans of Cheryl Strayed, Jenny Slate, and Melissa Febos, this is a road trip memoir that grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go.”

    —Joselin Linder, The Family Gene

  • “Don't Yell at Her! takes us on one woman's journey towards understanding her life and living authentically. As Carmen races forward to what she hopes will release her into a more self-determined future, she also travels backwards, unearthing events and choices that shaped her. Every woman will recognize some part, or parts, of themselves in this story, as well as get lost in the vivid language that brings Carmen right into our hearts.”

    – Joan Flood, Left Unsaid

  • “This is a rare, brutal look at how trauma shapes our most maddening behaviours, and how true freedom only comes softly and incrementally. This is a journey inward, but in King’s capable hands, we come out renewed.”

    —Alle Mudrick, Blue Hour Homecoming

  • “Fearless, raw, and unapologetically honest, Don't Yell at Her! is a memoir of unshackling from love addiction and reclaiming the self.” Bryan Armen Graham, The Guardian

About The Author

Carmen Joy King is a memoirist whose writing has appeared in adbusters, The Humber Literary Review, New York Magazine's The Cut, and the literary anthology "emerge". She’s an alumna of The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University and contributed to Sheila Heti's collaborative book “Women in Clothes”. As a former global copywriter and current communications professional, she's developed a narrative approach that turns complex emotional landscapes into compelling, accessible prose. Don't Yell at Her! is her debut memoir—a work that transforms personal transformation into a powerful story of resistance and healing. Carmen has lived in France, Japan, Brazil, and across Canada, experiences that deeply inform her writing about identity, belonging, and breaking free from destructive patterns.

She currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her dog Stevie, where she paints and continues to write about healing, transformation, and women's liberation.