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Reviews tagging 'Medical content'
The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life by Lauren Martin
1 review
meganpbell's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
2.0
From a young woman plagued by bad “moods,” this self-help/memoir offers a collection of strategies for self-management that ranges from sleep hygiene and meditation to the more problematic—like believing setbacks are always for your eventual gain.
The author writes from a very financially and racially privileged viewpoint that shows so little curiosity for why she is the way she is and little consideration for how her “moods” or behavior impact other people—only herself. I was particularly horrified with how she treated people in service or retail positions. While the author maintains that she’s changed and these strategies are the means of that change, there’s little evidence in the book that she has grown as a person, and so, while many praise her vulnerability for sharing her worst moments here, it comes across as just a series of events where she behaved poorly and suffered for it.
I don’t doubt that the author has suffered or that many of the strategies in this book are helpful, but I don’t know if they can truly change someone who isn’t curious about the root of their personal problems, more systemic and structural issues, or the world around them and how differently it impacts people who aren’t financially secure, young, white, thin, straight, cis-gendered, or conventionally attractive.
The author writes from a very financially and racially privileged viewpoint that shows so little curiosity for why she is the way she is and little consideration for how her “moods” or behavior impact other people—only herself. I was particularly horrified with how she treated people in service or retail positions. While the author maintains that she’s changed and these strategies are the means of that change, there’s little evidence in the book that she has grown as a person, and so, while many praise her vulnerability for sharing her worst moments here, it comes across as just a series of events where she behaved poorly and suffered for it.
I don’t doubt that the author has suffered or that many of the strategies in this book are helpful, but I don’t know if they can truly change someone who isn’t curious about the root of their personal problems, more systemic and structural issues, or the world around them and how differently it impacts people who aren’t financially secure, young, white, thin, straight, cis-gendered, or conventionally attractive.
Content Warnings
Minor: Classism, Body shaming, Infertility, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Vomit
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