Scan barcode
tatterededges's review
3.0
I was keen to read this book from the moment I first heard about it. Sales manages to take a really interesting and rich subject matter and make it so bland that I often found my attention waning. Instead of focusing on the human interest, she feels the need to water it all down with statistics and probability.
Stuart Diver tells her he’s secretly worried that he’ll be alone forever because nobody will want to be the 3rd Mrs Diver and Sales response is to waffle on for 15minutes on the probability that his next wife will die before him.
In researching and putting together the book, she spent hours talking to a plethora of fascinating people and produced a book that is largely all about her. And that would be fine if she’d written a biography and marketed it as such. But she didn’t and so every time she derails the conversation to talk about herself I just felt frustrated and lost interest a little more.
The beginning where she talks about her own blindside/Ordinary day is raw and honest and written in a way that made me feel her pain. Unfortunately, the rest of the book never quite reaches that same level and feels fairly superficial.
Sales seems to be dancing around a semi-formed idea and never quite manages to bring into focus. There were many times during the book where I found myself questioning why she was talking about this or that.
Finally, I listened to the audiobook version and I really wish I hadn’t. Sales is a terrible narrator. She clears her throat, swallows, sips water constantly and it’s really off putting.
fantine's review
5.0
A compelling and thought-provoking read Leigh Sales delves into the extraordinarily complex and often mishandled subject of trauma, a topic often shied away from for reasons ranging from embarrassment to fear.
I admire Sales candor about her own part in the fumbling of sensitive topics in her career, the moral quandaries she faces as a journalist, and even her own personal experience of trauma. Her beautifully empathetic writing really shines through this dark subject matter.
Sales speaks to survivors of terrorism and gun violence to illness and freak accidents, and a poignant thread begins to weave these stories together; the perseverance to continue to live and more importantly to love. In a world where so much is uncertain this book is a testament to incredible endurance of the human spirit.
I admire Sales candor about her own part in the fumbling of sensitive topics in her career, the moral quandaries she faces as a journalist, and even her own personal experience of trauma. Her beautifully empathetic writing really shines through this dark subject matter.
Sales speaks to survivors of terrorism and gun violence to illness and freak accidents, and a poignant thread begins to weave these stories together; the perseverance to continue to live and more importantly to love. In a world where so much is uncertain this book is a testament to incredible endurance of the human spirit.
michhellongrace's review
5.0
An incredible book about surviving trauma and hope. Absolutely recommend this book.
kimswhims's review
5.0
20 Jan 2019
Update after listening to the audio version: By Hook or By Crook, Get your hands on this Book!
20 October 2018
This book really spoke to me. After a couple of my own blindsides (Thankfully none worthy of media attention) I had come to many of the same conclusions, so Leigh Sales really spoke to my own confirmation bias. There was quite a bit that she researched that I hadn't and I was surprised to learn that some quirks of thinking that we all go through when something blindsides us have been documented in the research.
I found it really interesting not only reading about what some of those people have gone through in their very public blindsides and the way they coped but also I found it interesting reading about the professionals who were the best help to them and hearing directly from them and how they assist people the best and be there for them in their worst times.
Such an excellent book. Underlined many bits and will be recommending this to everyone I can. Although they may have to get their own copy because I intend to read this again and again.
Update after listening to the audio version: By Hook or By Crook, Get your hands on this Book!
20 October 2018
This book really spoke to me. After a couple of my own blindsides (Thankfully none worthy of media attention) I had come to many of the same conclusions, so Leigh Sales really spoke to my own confirmation bias. There was quite a bit that she researched that I hadn't and I was surprised to learn that some quirks of thinking that we all go through when something blindsides us have been documented in the research.
I found it really interesting not only reading about what some of those people have gone through in their very public blindsides and the way they coped but also I found it interesting reading about the professionals who were the best help to them and hearing directly from them and how they assist people the best and be there for them in their worst times.
Such an excellent book. Underlined many bits and will be recommending this to everyone I can. Although they may have to get their own copy because I intend to read this again and again.
More...