Reviews

I picked up and put down this book a lot over the past two months.. sometimes because I just wanted to stretch it out and savour it, sometimes so I could meditate on something she wrote, sometimes because a story hit so close to home that I physically felt an ache in my chest reading it and needed a good cry. I don’t think I could possibly recommend a book more highly and I know I’ll continue to pick it up and put it down for years to come.

wallflower_jacqueline's review against another edition

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reread: 5/18/24
i came back to this book intermittently over the past couple years, but this is only the second time reading it straight through. cheryl strayed seems like a fascinating person and i must read her memoir at some point. as for her advice, some of it was a balm to the experience of living (as advertised) and some of it made me want to scream a little bit. then again, i couldn't do any better. maybe i need to examine myself more, i don't know. maybe i wasn't in the right mood to read about such shattering concepts as deservingness and responsibility and hope. maybe i was projecting judgement that wasn't really there onto her words. idk i'm going through it rn

iriwindel's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

sarahknits's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It made me uncomfortable and felt like a voyeur for the first few stories because of how openly Strayed talks about honest raw feelings. She is exceptional at recognizing, naming and discussing these emotions in a way that feels like she’s giving you a warm embrace and a kick in the ass at the same time.

roxymaybe's review against another edition

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4.0

This was good, well written; it covered a lot of heavy topics with grace and clarity.

savaging's review against another edition

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3.0

Do you want advice? You want to be told what-for? Whereby? Whatnext? Again and again, sweet peas?

And isn't this why I do tarot card readings and interpret dreams? - because we all long for someone else to take us in their hands and push us in one direction, unambiguously. We have to believe it matters, our decision. We have to believe we've chosen the Right Thing, so we can begin biting our nails over the following right-or-wrong conundrum.

But probably Cheryl Strayed herself knows this secret: we carry ourselves whichever direction we move, and whichever choice, we'll find ourselves there.

You are certain to disagree with at least one of Strayed's strongly-worded opinions. But maybe the real advice isn't the opinions but the strong words. A meta-advice-column: this is how to write advice. Because she does clearly have a knack for that.

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